Schedule & Events

Rare vintage videos each day:
Admission free with Bash admission or $5 for each film show only.

Friday

8:00pm: Rare film and TV clips by jazz collector and film historian David Weiner.

Jazz collector and film historian David Weiner will present two hours of rare film and TV clips, showcasing jazz and pop artists from the 1920s to the present. Among the featured performers in this all-new show will be soloists Louis Armstrong, Papa Celestin, Pete Fountain, Melba Liston, Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich & more; the bands of Paul Whiteman, Hudson/DeLange, Gus Arnheim, Ted Weems, Jan Savitt, the Dorsey Brothers, Tony Pastor; and vocalists Ethel Waters, Ruth Etting, Dick Powell, Sammy Davis Jr., Bing Crosby, the Mills Brothers, James Melton, Rosemary Clooney, Mahalia Jackson & Louise Beavers. Plus vintage jazzy cartoons and batch of current bands superbly recreating the sounds of Fletcher Henderson, Ben Pollack, the Coon-Sanders Nighthawks, Artie Shaw, Spike Hughes and the Boswell Sisters!

Saturday

4:00 to 6:00pm: Will Friedwald Clip Joint

Will Friedwald’s CLIP JOINT presents COLLECTOR’S BASH 2017: CENTENNIALS and 90TH BIRTHDAYS!

2017 is a banner year for one-hundredth birthdays of jazz and other musical greats! Come join us at WILL FRIEDWALD’S CLIP JOINT (at the 2017 Bash) as we honor the centennials of such iconic performers as: Dean Martin, Buddy Rich, Ella Fitzgerald, Lena Horne, Helen Forrest, Celeste Holm, Betty Comden, Dave Lambert, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, Jo Stafford, Desi Arnaz, and Hans Conreid.

Plus a very special shout out to three living legends of song who have just turned 100! Vera Lynn, Bea Wain, and Louise Tobin.

Lastly, an even more special salute to three more great American artists who are all still going strong even as they celebrate their 90th birthdays (between 2016 and 2018): Tony Bennett, Harry Belafonte, and Marilyn Maye!

Rare footage will be shown for each – stuff, that, as in all CLIP JOINT shows, can NOT be seen on home video or youTube! Presented by Will Friedwald with the invaluable assistance of Stephen Kramer.

Will Friedwald writes about music and popular culture for THE WALL STREET JOURNAL & VANITY FAIR (and reviews current shows for THE OBSERVER and Citiview). He also is the author of eight books including the award-winning A BIOGRAPHICAL GUIDE TO THE GREAT JAZZ AND POP SINGERS, SINATRA: THE SONG IS YOU, STARDUST MELODIES, TONY BENNETT: THE GOOD LIFE, LOONEY TUNES & MERRIE MELODIES, and JAZZ SINGING. He has written over 600 liner notes for compact discs, received ten Grammy nominations, and appears frequently on television and other documentaries. He is also a consultant and curator for Apple Music.

New Books:

• THE GREAT JAZZ AND POP VOCAL ALBUMS (Pantheon Books / Random House, October 2017)
• SINATRA: THE SONG IS YOU – NEW REVISED EDITION (Chicago Review Press, May 2018)

Saturday

8:00pm: Ron Hutchinson of the Vitaphone Project

Ron Hutchinson, co-founder of The Vitaphone Project, will be screening over a dozen rare early sound music and vaudeville shorts this year, including many only recently restored in the Project’s partnership with Warner Bros, UCLA and The Library of Congress. Included are 1928-29 shorts by Molly Picon, vaudevillians Zelda Santley, Gil Wells, singing quartet The Croonaders, corpulent vaudevillians The Big Paraders, comedy duo Barry and Whitledge, and the only surviving reel of Willie & Eugene Howard’s The Music Makers set in a Victor demonstration room! Also to be shown are shorts with Paul Whiteman’s Ramona and The Three X Sisters. Ron will also report on the latest film discoveries and restorations.

General admission: $20.00 covers buyer’s admission for two days (Friday & Saturday).

After 5:00 p.m. Friday (including Saturday re-entry) and all day Saturday admission is $10.00.

Early buyers will be admitted Thursday evening after 7:30pm for $40.00.

Doors open 8:00am on Friday & Saturday

Directions

By car:

IMPORTANT: Although the hotel address is on Raritan Center Parkway, it is safer to enter the hotel grounds from King Georges Post Road. For those approaching the hotel via Raritan Center Parkway, online mapping websites and GPS devices will instruct you to make a U-turn. Ignore those instructions and follow those below.

Via I-95 (NJ Turnpike) to exit 10. Keep right, follow signs for and merge into County Road 514 – Woodbridge Ave. Keep right and in less than ¼ mile take ramp to Raritan Center. Continue on Raritan Center Parkway. At the first traffic light turn left onto King Georges Post Road. Make first left to hotel.

Via Garden State Parkway south: Take exit 129. Keep right at fork and follow signs for County Road 501. Take CR 501 about 1.5 miles. Entrance to hotel is on right, just before Raritan Center Parkway.

Via Garden State Parkway north: Take exit 127 (Industrial Ave / Riverside Dr). Continue on Riverside Dr approximately 2 miles. Turn right on Clearview Rd and take it to end. Turn left on King Georges Post Rd. Hotel entrance is about ¾ mile on right, just before Raritan Center Parkway.

Via I-287 south: Continue to NJ-440 North and take exit for County Road 514 West – Woodbridge Ave. Keep right and in less than ¼ mile take ramp to Raritan Center. At the first traffic light turn left onto King Georges Post Road. Make first left to hotel.

From Outerbridge Crossing:

1. Take NJ 440 South to exit for Industrial Ave / Riverside Dr and then follow directions as Garden State Parkway north, above.

OR

2. Take NJ-440 South to I-95 exit toward County Road 514 (Woodbridge Ave) West. Merge into CR 514. Keep right and in less than ¼ mile take ramp to Raritan Center. Continue on Raritan Center Parkway. At the first traffic light turn left onto King Georges Post Road. Make first left to hotel.

By public transportation:

Convenient from Penn Station in New York City, Newark Penn Station, Newark Liberty International Airport and Trenton, NJ. Take NJ Transit to Metuchen station on Northeast Corridor line. From Philadelphia 30th Street Station, take SEPTA to Trenton, NJ and transfer to NJ Transit NEC.

From Metuchen Station:
[or any point within a 3 mile (5km) radius of the hotel] A free shuttle is available to hotel guests and attendees of the Bash. Call the hotel ahead of time for shuttle pickup. From NYC, Metuchen is one stop past Metropark.

Hotel Reservations

It is now past the deadline to make room reservations at the special event rate of $119 + tax. The regular rate is $209, however, there are discount rates for AAA, AARP, seniors, etc. Check: Hilton website

Vendors / Dealers

Vendor space: All tables are 6ft x 3ft. Cost in advance is $85.00 per table for 2 days, $55 for Friday only or $35 for Saturday only. A 50% deposit is required. On or after June 22nd, cost will be $90.00 per table (for 2 days) on a space available basis.

Dealer Setup: Dealers may set up on Thursday night after 7:30 pm. The room will not be available prior to that hour.

Payment Methods: Payment in advance by check or money order. Cash and checks will be accepted at the door.

R.I.P. Rich Conaty

Longtime Attendee Of The Jazz Bash

Rich Conaty:
1954-2016