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Blue Jersey Band Blue Jersey Band plays “Django, Jazz, and Bluegrazz” – swing, jazz, blues, bluegrass, gypsy jazz – something for everyone – tunes from the 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s. Tight harmonies, masterful flatpicking by two-time NJ Guitar Champion. Instrumental and vocal programs. The 3-member band includes: Frank Ruck- mandolin, guitar, vocals; Ellen Ruck- guitar, vocals; and a bass player rounding out the trio. We have played libraries: Princeton (NJ), Westfield (NJ), Randolph (NJ), Middletown (NJ), New Canaan (CT); festivals: Musikfest (Bethlehem PA), Communiversity (Princeton NJ), New England Folk Festival (MA), Bordentown Green Fair (NJ), New Hope Arts & Crafts (PA); and a host of other venues: South Brunswick Jazz Café, Perkasie Patchwork Coffeehouse, Salon 33, Halo Pub Series, Rock n Joe’s, Albert Music Hall, ArtsQuest, Perkins Cultural Arts Center (Moorestown). We also do cocktails, dinner parties, contra dances, house concerts, weddings. Frank Ruck, originally from the Jersey Shore area of NJ, started playing guitar at a young age but then went to Rowan University as a piano major. In the 1980's, he won the NJ Traditional Styles Guitar Championship two times and then he 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. He plays mandolin, guitar, and banjo and continues to study gypsy jazz. He has a large repertoire of hot club gypsy jazz music. Ellen Ruck started playing guitar at age 10. 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. Ian Young, bassist, is from North Brunswick, NJ and graduated from the Mason Gross School of the Arts with a concentration in Jazz Studies. He was trained on trombone and upright bass, his specialty. He plays fluently in all musical genres on both bass and trombone. and accompanies many types of bands in the Tri-State area. He also travels around the country and internationally with several bands. Kai Gibson is a bassist from Princeton, New Jersey. He attended the Berklee College of Music jazz studies and performance program and graduated in 2021. He has experience playing across the Tri-state area and the Boston Bay area. He is fluent in many genres of music including: jazz, blues, bluegrass, rock, latin, and many other styles. Ed Jankiewicz, on bass, plays a wide range of music including bluegrass, country, rock, classical and jazz. He has been a church musician and singer since the age of 14 and has played guitar and electric bass for about as long. Later, he took up string bass and has been playing in the Hunterdon Symphony Orchestra and in several acoustic bands. Louise McClure, fiddle, is one of the original musicians with Princeton Country Dancers starting in the 1970s. She is a full-time Suzuki and traditional strings teacher in Princeton, having studied in Japan with Dr. Suzuki. She runs a fiddle camp during the summer, organizes a mixed-age dance band for young musicians, and performs on classical violin/viola with area musicians. She joins Blue Jersey Band for contra dances in NJ, PA, NY and surrounding areas. Allan Rubin, on fiddle, started playing violin at age 8 and contra dancing at age 20. He has found a way to merge the two - he plays fiddle with Blue Jersey Contra Band. He also contra dances with his wife. Trained in classical violin, he grew up in the D.C. Youth Orchestra Program. He has played in various community and semi-professional orchestras in Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and California. Since moving to Princeton, he has been playing in string quartets and Blue Jersey Contra Band. |