Multi-instrumentalist maestro Marc Muller (above right) leads his Dead On Live ensemble back to the Basie Friday night. Keyboard wiz Matt Wade (below) plays a concert for the Boys and Girls Club Saturday in Fair Haven. (Muller photo by Brian Stratton)
Friday, November 1:
RED BANK: While the greater Red Bank green doesn’t lack for savvy channelers of the Grateful Dead (see our own Jim Willis and his Dead Bank brethren, appearing Saturday at the Walt St. Pub), there exists an even deeper dimension of obsession, and it’s the bailiwick of Marc Muller — master multi-instrumentalist, sought-after session ace, adjunct professor at Monmouth University, and scoutmaster of the Count Basie Theatre‘s Rock the Basie band-camp program.
A flexibly floating lineup composed of Muller and a rotating roster of talented friends, the entity known as Dead On Live is “deadicated” to the comprehensive transcription (and note-for-note reproduction) of the Grateful Dead’s body of officially released recordings. And on Friday, Muller returns to the Basie boards for a Halloween Double Drumming Dance Party that combines psychedelic 60s’ classics (“St. Stephen,” “The Other One,” “Alligator”) with the epic trilogy from Blues for Allah and dual-drummer hits and set standards (“Shakedown Street,” “Touch of Gray,” “The Music Never Stopped”). Take it here for tickets ($19.50 – $45) — and here for our archived feature on Muller and his Dead On Live project.
A sunset view from Sea Bright looking west up the Navesink, ‘River Watch’ by Anthony Migliaccio is among the scenes on display at the Middletown Arts & Cultural Center as the annual group show of the Plein Air Painters presents an opening reception this Saturday.
FAIR HAVEN: Kul d’ Sac finds new outlets for pop melodies by driving them through a bluegrass sensibility of acoustic instruments and fine harmonies. Free. Knights of Columbus Red Bank Council 3187, 9 p.m.
Saturday, November 2:
MIDDLETOWN: A great excuse to get out in the woods at the height of the fall foliage season — and a late-season recreational tradition on the rollercoaster wooded trails and open fields of Tatum Park (140 Holland Road, across from Deep Cut Gardens) — the 18th annual Woods Hollow Classic Mountain Bike Race runs three separate courses in a three hour session — an 11.4 mile track for experienced mountain bikers (9 am); a 1-mile Kids Race for ages 12 and under, and a 7.8 Beginner level race. There’s still time to register on the day of the event; take it here for complete details.
MIDDLETOWN: With the township still celebrating its 350th birthday, thoughts inevitably run toward memories, keepsakes, and the best ways to preserve them in the here and now. With that in mind, Middletown Library and local digitization company Digital Memory Media offers local residents a chance to drop off their personal collections of photographs and other printed/paper items for professional scanning and storage to DVD. Items will be accepted between 11 am and 2 pm, and 20 percent of the proceeds will benefit the MTPL and its programs.
MIDDLETOWN: The gallery at the Middletown Arts Center (MAC) adjacent to the train station on Church Street is the setting for Coast to Coast, the 11th annual Plein Air Painters of the Jersey Coast Annual Member Show. Encompassing some 90 paintings by 22 New Jersey artists, it’s a look at the work of “a family of New Jersey residents who gather in a different location each week to share the joy of the trade,” and who “encourage each other and share information from over eleven years of experience painting together at the New Jersey Shore.” With Sandy having thrown everyone for a loop over the past year, the 2013 show features scenes from as far afield as the Atlantic Coast of Maine, Florida, Puerto Rico and even the Pacific. Already on display, the exhibit opens officially with a wine and cheese reception from 7 to 9 pm, and remains on display during regular gallery hours (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday – Saturday 10 am to 4 pm; Wednesday 10:30 am to 4 ) through November 23. Admission and parking are free, and a portion of the proceeds from show sales will benefit the MAC’s art-related community projects.
FAIR HAVEN: A celebrated wizard on the piano, Hammond organ and other keyboards, Shore-based singer and songwriter Matt Wade takes center stage for a special benefit concert at Knights of Columbus Red Bank Council 3187. Scheduled for the hours of 8 pm til midnight, it’s a fundraiser for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Monmouth County, and it’s a 21-and-over event, with beer available for purchase and tickets $20 at the door.
Sunday, November 3:
RED BANK: Actor, author and playwright Martin Moran — currently appearing in not one but two autobiographical solo shows at Two River Theater, under the banner title “A Map of the Soul” — does one for the record books beginning at 3 pm, when he performs his Obie winning piece “The Tricky Part.” Then at 7 pm, the Broadway veteran performs the recent followup to “Tricky,” 2013’s “All the Rage,” in the first of three such Sunday marathons on November 3, 10 and 17. Performances of the two plays alternate for the next two weeks (Moran has an additional doubleheader set for Wednesday, November 13); take it here for tickets — and here for a full length Q&A with Martin Moran on redbankgreen.
