Sundays at Three: Free Concert with Blue Jersey Band at Bernardsville Library

Enjoy a free concert on Sunday, January 29 at 3:00 pm when Blue Jersey Band brings an eclectic mix of swing, jazz, blues, bluegrass, gypsy jazz to Bernardsville Public Library. The three-member band includes masterful flat picker Frank Ruck on mandolin, guitar and vocals; Ellen Ruck on guitar and vocals; and John Burton on 4-string and 5-string bass. They will provide a lively, swinging afternoon of music with something for everyone in tunes from the 1920s to the 1960s!

Frank Ruck, originally from the Jersey Shore, started playing guitar at a young age, but then went to Rowan University as a piano major. In the 1980s, he won the New Jersey Traditional Styles Guitar Championship twice and then traveled to Winfield, Kansas to compete in the National Flatpicking Championship. He took up mandolin at age 40 and has not stopped playing it since.

Ellen Ruck started playing guitar at age ten. She was a guitar teacher at age 16 for the Guitar Workshop in Roslyn, NY. She has continued studying jazz styles at Ashokan Western & Swing Camp. Over the years, she has also played classical recorder with several ensembles, taught guitar, and collaborated with Frank in several bands. She is also the sound engineer for the band, as well as the band’s agent/manager.

John Burton is a multi-instrumentalist with a wide variety of musical tastes and experiences. He began as a drummer, taking many years of lessons. Then he taught himself to play guitar, bass, and some piano, playing in bands in the San Francisco Bay Area. A chance encounter with a singing teacher, turned into a 10-year career as a professional singer. He left the opera world to start a family and has now returned to playing bass in Blue Jersey Band.

This concert is funded by the Friends of the Bernardsville Public Library. It’s free and no sign-up is needed. There will be light refreshments. Doors open at 2:45 pm. For further information, call the library at 908-766-0118.

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Photo: Blue Jersey Band members Ellen and Frank Ruck