EO Summer Jam Music Fest on tap this weekend

EAST ORANGE, NJ — East Orange 3rd Ward council members Quilla Talmadge and Ted Green are once again teaming up with their 4th Ward counterparts to host the eighth annual Summer Jam Music Fest on Saturday, Aug. 20, from 12:30 to 8:30 p.m. in Elmwood Park.

According to Green, this year’s event will feature house music, jazz, gospel, reggae, R&B and hip-hop performances. The artists scheduled to appear this year include The New Moments, Deep River, Shawn Pryce, Aly-Us, Joe Branch, Cocoa Radiant, Toni Bowens, Kenny Bobien, DJ J-Hunter, DJ Mooky, DJ Qua, Megan Parker and many more.

For more information about the Summer Jam Music Fest, call 973-266-5120. The rain date for the event is Sunday, Aug. 21.

The Music Fest is being billed as “an event for the entire family” and Green said that sounds about right to him.

“We have a nice lineup featuring The Moments, Kenny Bobien, Deep River — a local reggae artist — and it’s all going to be hosted by Vinny Brown of Naughty By Nature,” said Green on Monday, Aug. 15. “We also have up-and-coming artists, as well as Elias, who sings the classic, ‘Follow Me.’ Over the years, we have featured many talented local artists. This year is special, because we’re going to be featuring a lot of our local singers.”

“This event is for the entire East Orange community and it’s being sponsored by the 3rd and 4th wards, including … Talmadge and council members Kasim Gomez and Tyshammie Cooper. It’s a free event that’s open to the public. It’s an opportunity to enjoy the kids, families and the city that we live in.”

Green said the collaboration between the 3rd and 4th wards is free to the public because of the many generous sponsors who come together to make it happen.

“We pay for most of this because we consider it a service that we provide for our constituents from the community,” said Green. “But we also get a lot of support from our sponsors, including local businesses, merchants and others. Everybody knows this is something good for the community … so they all try to help us and support what we’re doing any way that they can. And we appreciate them for it.”