The jewelry will be included and on sale at Woolpunk’s “What’s Love Got to do With It” exhibition, on view until February 18th. The gallery is located at 298 Newark Avenue.

Newly-opened Steam Cafe will be holding their fourth art show Wednesday, February 8th, from 6-10pm. The cafe (276 Newark Avenue) will have music and refreshments on hand.

“The art shows have been very well attended,” said Christina Coaker, the cafe’s owner, who sees art as an integral part of the cafe. “The idea is to sell the art, not just hang it.”

The show, which will feature 19 pieces by 9 artists, is in celebration of Black History Month.

THE DETAILS

Steam Cafe | 274 Newark Avenue | 201.706.2489 | Steam on Facebook | Steam on Twitter

Roseanna Vitro isn’t short of accomplishments. This sultry jazz vocalist has a discography that dates back to 1985, holds a spot in the Arkansas Jazz Hall of Fame (where she’s from), and is a former U.S Jazz Ambassador — and somehow still somehow finds the time to be a mom, tour the world and teach at New Jersey City University, all while recording album after album.

Music wasn’t something Vitro happened upon by chance. From her childhood days in Arkansas, where her father had a nightclub in the ‘50s, the young talent was always surrounded by music: gospel, rock, R&B and classical.

And although Vitro had her heart set on being a rock singer, it wasn’t until the ‘70s when she was living in Houston that vocal coach Ray Sullenger took notice of her powerful gift and introduced Vitro to the world of jazz.

Vitro is still making waves in the industry. Her most recent release, “The Music of Randy Newman,” received critical praise — and garnered a 2012 Grammy nomination for Best Vocal Jazz Album.

We were curious how Vitro, a woman who does it all and does it so well, was feeling about her latest bit of success — which we’re sure won’t be her last.

JCI: How does it feel to be nominated for a Grammy in the Best Jazz Vocal Album category?

Roseanna Vitro: It feels pretty amazing. I’ve been singing jazz with a passion since the late ’70s, so you could say I’ve put a little time into my craft. I’m very grateful to be acknowledged by my peers in the industry. There was a New York City Grammy party [late last month], honoring all the nominees that live in the New York area. What an incredible feeling to have my photo taken with all of them and to be in a group with Tierney Sutton, Kurt Elling and Karrin Allyson. Terri Lynn Carrington couldn’t make it. Those are all the individuals in my category.

JCI: You pretty much have the liberty to live and work anywhere in the world. What makes you stay in New Jersey?

RV: I actually live in Warren, N.J., but I have been teaching at New Jersey City University for fifteen years. Ed Joffe, who is head of the Jazz Department, has built a program with a high level of integrity and musicianship. Catch one of the concerts at NJCU and you’ll see what I mean. Arturo O’Farrill was just there in concert and it was fantastic.

JCI: What do you get more pleasure from, performing or teaching?

RV: I love teaching and passing on the tradition of jazz singing. Knowledge of our history affects our future. I am honored when I see my students get major record deals and perform locally in the New York area and around the world. It’s very gratifying.

I also love to perform. I plan on singing and touring as long as I can sing an in-tune note and please an audience. I love what I do and I’m very lucky to still be doing it.

JCI: What advice would you give your students who wish to have the kind of success you have?

RV: I advise them to remember they are giving a “gift” when they perform. Each artist should do their best to work hard, handle criticism as best they can, learn from their mistakes, stay humble and grateful. Know and honor our musical history and when you think you’ve given all you have to give, just know that you’ll have to give more. Never give up.

JCI: What do you make of the current state of music education?

RV: New Jersey is a great state with many excellent musicians and teachers hailing from Jersey. The current leadership in Trenton is gutting our education system and the arts are always taken for granted. We need support for more arts classes in our public schools and state colleges. Every voting-age citizen should get involved and vote. Music is a universal language and it can be used in so many ways to teach academic subjects.

This is an issue of importance to me and to the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark (NJPAC) where I teach in the Jazz for Teens program on Saturdays. New Jersey City University is struggling with budget cuts, but we have a great music program lead by Dr. Ed Joffe and Donna Connolly and Dr. Min Kim. You will always see and hear a vibrant jazz concert or play presented by our dedicated students, teachers and touring artists.

JCI: Did you ever think your career would take off the way it has with so much longevity?

RV: Araceli, I have been a very focused and driven artist since I first knew I would be at singer at 4 years old. My entire family sings and I had the bug from that moment onward. I followed my heart and my dreams, ignoring anyone who told me that my dreams were impossible. I’ve had some amazing successes and experiences in my 30 years as a performer. I’ve also had some unbelievable mistakes and heartbreaks and somehow, I dried my tears and started over again each time. At my age, I would never have dreamed that I would be nominated for a Grammy. This has been an unforgettable ride and an honor to be recognized by my peers in the music industry. I feel for my life’s work, I just received an A-plus and it feels great. I am totally re-inspired.

JCI: If you had never become a jazz singer, what do you think would have been your path?

I’m not sure what I would have done because I never had any other desire. I do know that I love being a mother. I love cooking and I love teaching. When one of my students gets a record deal, like Melissa Morgan on Concord Records, or say my latest star Vanessa Perea who graduated from NJCU last year and is gigging in New York City and garnering rave reviews, or Brittany Henderson from my NJPAC Jazz for Teens program was accepted to Berklee College of Music — I feel very satisfied that I am making a difference. What better can we do with our lives than to help others and enrich the planet? Life is good.

JCI: What’s been your most important highlight in your career thus far?

RV: I’ve had many highlights. It’s too long to tell! This Grammy Nomination is the highlight.

JCI: You’ve accomplished so much in your career, what’s next on your horizon?

RV: My next horizon will be to improve my musicianship, work on new compositions and improvisation. And to plan my next recording. I’ve got several ideas and one is the Ballads of Charlie Parker with the NJCU Big Band.

The Grammy Awards are this Sunday, Feb. 12.

Images of Roseanna Vitro (second from right) and the Randy Newman Project band courtesy of Roseanna Vitro.

Bar LITM (140 Newark Ave) will be holding an opening reception for Darin DeField’s “Afrocentricity,” an exhibition of mixed media collage that explores race, gender, sexuality, and identity, on Tuesday, February 7th, from 6pm-8pm.

One of Jersey City’s most influential artists, DeField’s work has appeared in both public galleries and private collections such as the Merrill Lynch Corporation in New York, the Case Museum in Jersey City and Goldman Sachs Corporate Offices in New Jersey. He has also spoken in reference to his work at Essex County College (Newark campus) and The Jersey City Museum.

Gallery goers may recognize Defield’s most acclaimed work, “Head Series,” in which he re-considers the idea of indigenous tribal masks by extrapolating from African sculpture and archaeological artifacts.

For more information, please contact LITM.COM

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If you had walked into the Route 440 strip mall three hours earlier, it would have been hard to believe that the record shop was having a bad week, let alone going out of business. The store was filled with people sifting through the CD bins, browsing the movie and poster racks, and eyeing the assortment of buttons and memorabilia lining the glass counter and hanging from the ceiling. It reminded me of all the classic record/video shop movies. The sight was surreal. The moment was bittersweet. As customers shuffled through the racks digging for goodies, it was easy to overlook the signs posted around the store letting everyone know that the shop was going out of business and everything was 40% to 70% off.  

I caught up with Maersk Doydora, a longtime customer and avid Michael Jackson fan, after he made his last purchase.

“It’s a sad day,” he said. ”I’ve been going here since I moved here, since ’87 when it was Wow! Records. I used to come here all the time, back in the days, when I was getting into rap and hip-hop, and they had all the good stuff here. It’s sad to see the place go.  I’m here to pay my last respects. 30 years is a good run.”

Tristine Baccam, a regular for the last three years, walked out with an Anberlin 45. “After moving here from Houston 3 years ago, this has been one of the few stores that actually feels like it belongs in this community,” she said. “It’s not all about getting the sale. They would go out of the way to find what you were looking for and talk to you about it.”

“Virtually the last man standing, Supersounds, you were a great champ — thanks for the memories!” was all Jonathan Bondoc had to say after I rang up his purchase of some reggae vinyl and a copy of Aladdin on VHS. (I was the assistant manager of the store for years, and I couldn’t resist using that old register one last time.)

Supersounds took the place of Wow! Music in 2003, and was managed by Ron Akiyama and Ed Leppard. The shop in Hudson Mall had been a community staple since the early ’80s, and they were the torchbearers bringing music to the next generation.

In 2003, we were seeing the beginning of the shift to digital. Consumers were moving away from physical formats and towards digital downloads, but against the odds, the shop was able to stay afloat with support from collectors, enthusiasts and individuals who hadn’t yet made the leap to a digital collection.

Ron believes it had something to do with the community.

“The urban market still embraced physical format,” he said. ”More so than other areas. There was still a love of music. The people seemed passionate about this genre. And I’m sure that every genre has it’s fans, but it seemed urban was one of the last groups to still want that physical product.”

Even as the neighborhood changed and the genres shifted, it was still the place where you would go to buy music, listen to music, find out about new music, and hang out with other people, that simply, loved music.  

When I had a chance to sit down and talk to Ron, I asked him to describe who his customers were, and it wasn’t easy. What he said showed the heart of what the store actually was. “This [place/neighborhood] was a throwback,” he said. “It’s own world. The people here just seem to have a different lifestyle, a different outlook on life. It’s a very urban area, but people are people. And I loved to listen to their stories.

“I’ve heard a lot of heartbreaking stories,” he went on, “so many more than the great stories. But they felt the music kept them going, and that’s why I still felt a sense of purpose in providing that knowledge. Because it made them happy, the music made them happy. From the people that were poverty stricken, to people that were addicts, to people riding the line, it all came to banding around everyone being equal in loving the music. And if you were in that set clique it was a great clique to be in.”

Anyone who is familiar with music or book retailers understands that there have been many hurdles to overcome in the past 20 years. From the advent of the entertainment mega stores like Virgin and FYE to massive retailers like Target and Walmart, it would seem that independent business have been playing against a stacked deck. And for a long time, it looked as though Supersounds had weathered the brunt of the storm. But in the last days, Ed explained, “As customers dwindled and employees got less and less, I mean, I was here by myself most of the time, and there were hardly any customers. There wasn’t really much going on.”

At the end of the day it’s not easy to say that one thing killed the music industry. “It’s such a combination platter. There are a lot of factors that go into it. Besides downloading, retailing itself has changed. At the end of the day if we had seen an increase, just some kind of increase it gives you more incentive. I think the small music store is history,” Ron said.  

But if there was a straw that broke the camel’s back it was, in his words, “Music companies never changing their policies until it was too late. I still blame the music companies for the downturn. If they had changed their prices 15 years ago, across the board to $10, like Universal finally did. But as wholesalers they intended to charge us $11 to $12 per product which turns into $16.99 for the customer and they’re not going to pay that anymore.”

The question becomes, is it possible for a small independent record shop, in a not so affluent area, to not only survive but succeed?

Ed’s response was no. “There is not going to be a record store,” he said. “I think Tunes [in Hoboken] has the right idea, because they incorporate a lot of online business, their entire catalog is online, and as a result they sell a lot of product.”

As the last customers left the shop, I saw a lot hugs, a few tears, and more “we’re gonna miss you guys,” than I’ve heard in a really long time. This isn’t just a small store shutting down and another one taking its place. This is most likely the last time Hudson Mall, if it lasts, will ever have a record shop.

At 9 pm the registers were counted and I was able to chat with old friends and co-workers without the worry of leaving our friends, the customers, neglected. As we reminisced about old times, we tried to think about what made the place so special. 

Corey Braiterman, a Supersounds employee from 2005 to 2012, has worked with Ron for practically his entire post-college life. “While everyone is outside working in the cold, I’m sitting inside listening to music,” he said. “It could be a lot worse.”

I worked at the store from 2004 to 2010, and I’m going to remember it as the place I could always go when I had nothing to do or needed someone to talk to — and where music was the only thing that mattered.

After the doors were locked one last time, we were left with a cast of characters that only a reunion at a small record shop could conjure. I stood at the counter and made my last purchase at a store that has come to mean so much to me over the course of my life that any words past this point would fail to do the memories justice.

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TODAY

Rob Piersanti’s first Pop Art Show of the year takes place at Boca Grande, complete with a complimentary wine tasting and live jazz band (6 pm, free).

The Black Maria Film Festival returns to NJCU for the 31st year. Admission is free to the premiere of the film festival, and refreshments will be served (7 pm).

Ladies on The Mic presents First Songs of Spring, a free concert celebration featuring two bands that cross pollinate their classical training with other musical genres like jazz, rock & pop–at Art House (7 pm, free).

American vibraphonist Eldad Tarmu performs at Raphs Plaza African Market and Internet Cafe (8 pm).

TOMORROW

There’s a weekend-long Dogfish Head Beer Benefit at the Iron Monkey. A portion of sales from all Dogfish Head drafts and bottles will go to 3 different charities (all day).

The Museum of Russian Art hosts a closing reception for two shows: Red Show and Mechanical Theater (4 pm).

Jordan’s Lounge hosts a National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day Benefit. The event, presented by Our Youth, features dinner and celebrity impersonators and will honor HIV Activist Timothy Daniels and Jersey City councilwoman Viola Richardson (4:30 pm, $10).

The Laugh Tour returns to Art House for “an evening of hilarious stand up comedy” (7 pm, $15 in advance, $20 at the door).

SUNDAY

The Dogfish Head Beer Benefit continues at Iron Monkey.

St. Matthew’s is holding a Winter Rummage Sale fundraiser complete with home-cooked meals (12:30 pm).

-SUPER BOWL STUFF-

The Brightside Tavern – Two separate package deals, both include an open bar and buffet. Plus they’ll pick you up with a free shuttle service. 141 Bright Street.

The Lamp Post – A pre-tailgate party starts at 4 pm with $1 Clam Chowder and $5 Boilermakers. $3 shots with every touch down, $2 Kamikaze shots throughout the game. 382 2nd Street.

LITM – Will be showing the game on the big projector screen, and have drink specials and food specials all day–including $2 off all drinks if you’re wearing a Giants jersey. 140 Newark Avenue.

Lucky 7 – Food and drink specials all day, plus Giants jersey give aways at the end of every quarter. 322 2nd Street.

O’Connell’s – Happy Hour all night, $5 food menu, and give aways. 111 Montgomery Street.

Powerhouse Lounge – $40 presale/$50 game day package for open bar and unlimited food during the game. 360 Marin Boulevard.

Zeppelin Hall – The beer garden is boasting the most biggest hi-def screens and half price beer and wings. They will also have mug and jersey giveaways. 88 Liberty View Drive.

Saxophonist David Robinson and pianist Richard Banks will be leading the band in a “salute of the legends of the music.” Michael Goines, a Jersey City native and an author, playwright and visual artist, has been called “one of today’s most insightful and dynamic poets” by radio personality Deja Dee of Kiss FM. The Vietnam Vet has received the Hudson County-C.Y.O. Man-of-the-Year award and has featured at the Moja Festival, one of the most prestigious poetry festivals in the country. His books include What Happened to the Revolution, Spoken Words of Unspoken Truths, and Sailor.

CAS’s future was put in jeopardy after funding for all library programming was cut, but David “Daoud” William, the co-founder of the group, showed persistence at City Council meetings until the city eventually found more money for the group.

For more information, call 201-547-6907 – or to be included on Email list: thefriendsofcas@yahoo.com

In her paintings, videos, and collages, Margaret Murphy either debases Catholic icons to the lowly status ordinarily set aside for mass-produced knickknacks — or she elevates dime-store trash to the celestial ranks usually reserved for patron saints and martyrs. At first glance, Murphy’s work can strike the viewer as the “found paintings” often seen hanging inside thrift stores. On repeated viewings, her work reveals an artist who is not only in total command of her medium and vision, but in conversation with the masters of art history as well.

All of this combines to make Margaret Murphy’s new exhibition, “Decoding the Marketplace: coupons, dollar stores, eBay,” the must-see show of the season.

Dr. Midori Yoshimoto, director of galleries at New Jersey City University, first encountered Murphy’s paintings of porcelain figurines at the Jersey City Museum several years ago. Yoshimoto was struck with their consistency, clarity, and strong visual appeal.

“What I like particularly about her work is the accessibility of the subject matter: Tarot cards, henna hands, and dollar-store porcelain dolls, which are all found in our daily life,” Yoshimoto says. “Yet they can be mysterious and seductive to invite varied reactions from the viewer. Over the course of a decade, one can see her development as an artist in producing numerous series that have consistently critiqued American commodity culture.”

To view Murphy’s work is to genuflect before a plastic altar wrapped in second-hand chintz that was mass-produced in a random factory somewhere in China. My favorite paintings of hers include the images of porcelain girls that read like Zurbarán’s portraits of female saints and martyrs, but for the trash collector who cries during feminine hygiene commercials. It’s as if a halo of White Castle sliders reverberates around her pictures. To create great masterworks, artists require muses. A 45-year-old Picasso used teenage Marie-Thérèse Walter. Francis Bacon used rogue, alcoholic George Dyer. Like the aforementioned artists, Murphy, too, has a muse, but it’s a cheap, bazooka-bosomed figurine in fishnets and stilettos.

To read her pictures of porcelain dolls as lightweight would be easy but dead wrong. Murphy is indebted to the critique of how women are objectified in American society. She writes: “The female figurines represent the ‘woman’ in a post-feminist analytical arena, one that has been objectified on many levels.” In her work, Murphy is constantly returning to issues regarding gender, class and consumerism.

Also, she is constantly pushing herself as a painter — experimenting with medium, color, composition, light and shadow. The paintings of figurines owe as much to the 19th-century French painter Manet, or the 20th-century American Alex Katz, as to kitsch. Murphy draws inspiration from her native Baltimore and adopted hometown of Jersey City, with its diversity, blue-collar neighborhoods and eclectic mishmash of dollar stores.

What is most fascinating about Murphy’s work is how she is able to balance the “serious” and the “playful,” without allowing one to undo the other. She is often cited as working in the tradition of Pop Art, which is true, but it’s not the whole truth. Like Warhol, she is concerned with making art about banal objects of mass consumption. But where Warhol was cool and ironic, Murphy has the sweetness of a cherry Blow Pop.

If you go to one exhibition this season in Jersey City or New York, make it Margaret Murphy’s “Decoding the Marketplace: coupons, dollar stores, eBay,” at New Jersey City University’s Harold B. Lemmerman Gallery.

Details:

The Harold B. Lemmerman Gallery  
Hepburn Hall, room 323
New Jersey City University
2039 Kennedy Blvd. Jersey City, NJ  

Exhibition Runs: January 30 – March 7, 2012




Artist’s Reception: Thursday, February 2, from 5 – 7:30 pm

Artist Talk: March 6 at 5 pm (in the gallery)



For more information on the artist, please visit margaret-murphy.com.   

Photos courtesy of Margaret Murphy

The Actors Shakespeare Company of New Jersey City University will be screening iconic Japanese director Akira Kurosawa’s aptly-titled and “Macbeth”-inspired Throne of Blood on February 12, at 3:00pm in Room 144 of NJCU’s Grossnickle Hall (2039 Kennedy Boulevard). The screening comes ahead of ASC’s staging of “Macbeth,” which will run from March 16 – April 1 at NJCU’s West Side Theater.

“Akira Kurosawa used film to introduce to the world the noble culture and history of Japan,” said ASC resident artist James Rana, who will be on hand to discuss the film. “His second masterpiece “Throne of Blood” — I consider “Seven Samurai” to be his first — is one of the most powerful interpretations of “Macbeth”.

“The mission of Shakespeare on Screen is to share Shakespeare as interpreted by internationally renowned filmmakers with the public,” said Rana, who produced the series. All screenings are free.

For more information about “Shakespeare on Screen: Throne of Blood”, call ASC at NJCU at 201-200-2390 or visit www.ascnj.org.

NJCU’s Grossnickle Hall is located on Kennedy Boulevard near Culver Avenue, just minutes from Routes 440, 1-9 and 78. Parking is available in the University’s lots and on Kennedy Boulevard.  Public transportation is available by Red & Tan bus 99-S from Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York City and bus 10 from Journal Square in Jersey City; and by Hudson-Bergen Light Rail to West Side Avenue.

Modeled after National Public Radio’s Selected Shorts at Symphony Space, Jersey Shorts will feature prominent local figures for readings of funny and inspiring short stories, along with local musical acts for a night of story and song.

Jersey Shorts will take place Friday, February 10th, 8 – 10 pm at 252 9th Street, just off Hamilton Park.