In January 2015, while members of the Asbury Park Historical Society, we were researching the rich musical legacy of Asbury Park’s predominately African American West Side. The area along Springwood Avenue had influenced the music careers of Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Claude Hopkins, Erskine Hawkins, Fats Waller, and other jazz greats. But it had also given rise to vocalists Bobby Thomas & the Vibranaires, Lenny Welch, the Endeavors, the Broadways, the Moments/Ray Goodman & Brown, Nicky Addeo and many others. In association with the Light of Day Foundation and the Asbury Park Historical Society, we installed a primarily framed photo exhibit in the Heaven Art Gallery on Asbury Park’s Cookman Avenue. An opening nught reception brought in numerous local celebrities including Ron Coleman, Billy Brown, Caleb Morris, and Dorian Parreott. The exhibit was spotlighted in local papers and was visited by an endless stream of music tourists there for the Light of Day Winterfest.
