JC Music Scene showcasing diversity of voices, genres

DJ Leeroy Green of Jersey City will be featured in JC Music Scene's showcase on Thursday, June 8, 2023, at Butler Cafe in Jersey City. (Ignacio Marro photo)

Musicians alone don't make a music scene. They need allies like Jacqueline Smith, the face behind JC Music Scene.

With equal parts passion, hard work, and ingenuity, JC Music Scene has set up two showcases for a variety of artists in the coming weeks, one at Butler Cafe in Jersey City on Thursday, June 8, and another at Downtown JC's weekly Groove on Grove concert at Grove Street Plaza on Wednesday, June 14.

"I consider JC Music Scene a ‘branded music community,"" Smith explained. "It's a music community in the sense that it has always existed and is made up of musicians, artists, music enthusiasts, entrepreneurs, businesses and venues right here. But it's ‘branded’ in the sense that the product has been named and has a place where it now resides largely across social media."

@JCMusicScene on Instagram and the JC Music Scene page on Facebook are Smith's primary means of communication, but her behind-the-scenes networking and encyclopedic knowledge of local acts and venues across myriad genres make it all possible.

"I couldn't call this project ‘JC Music Scene’ and only share certain facets of the sounds being born in Hudson County," Smith stressed. "Hudson County is one of the most diverse areas in the nation, and diversified bills are always a primary goal for this project's events. I want my audience to be introduced to and inspired by genres and artists they wouldn't have had exposure to necessarily when keeping to just their smaller circles."

Making those goals a reality often means thinking outside the box, like arranging for a music showcase at the Butler Cafe, a small space located in the CoolVines wine and liquor store in the Powerhouse Arts District. There, on June 8, Smith will host DJ Leeroy Green and up-and-coming songstress Amanii Sun. For the June 14 edition of Groove on Grove, Smith has booked an eclectic bill including DJ/producer 622 Chaos, R&B singer Jessica Peros, singer-songwriter Sebastian Ortiz, and "cosmic-soul, funk, alt-rnb musical warrior" Bymaddz.

"Each booking opportunity has different goals for me so each experience is approached slightly differently," Smith said. "For larger show partnerships like Groove on Grove (booked in conjunction with "Dancing Tony" Susco's RockitDocket Productions), I strive to curate a high-energy show that offers mass appeal. Acts are lively, dance friendly, family friendly, and the bill is completely mixed.

"For smaller artist nights like the Cool Vines artist series, the emphasis is on exposing a more arts enthusiast and tastemaker audience to one particular sub-genre," Smith continued. "The focus is more on artist discovery and an intimate experience that also allows for networking with like-minded individuals."

Last month's showcase at Butler Cafe, for instance, featured an acoustic/indie rock and dream-pop bill. June's show with Leeroy Green and Amanii Sun, Smith said, "will feature alternative R&B, lo-fi, chill DJ beat influences."

Jersey City's Green deejays frequently around the area. At Butler Cafe, he’ll provide a mix of the popular music he plays on weekends with some of his own instrumental compositions and beats.

"There's a lot of talent in Jersey City, not just limited to rock and pop, but electronic and hip hop and acoustic, and I enjoy the fact that Jackie showcases all flavors, all types, all genres, every chance she gets," Green said, "especially when there's so many new faces on the scene. Jackie has been a big help with that."

Green, who writes beats and music in collaboration with other artists, said he's currently wrapping up a single with rapper Zen Dash.

"It's always fun collaborating with him, and I have a few more collaborations in the works with other artists," he said.

Butler Cafe/CoolVines is located at 350 Warren St., Jersey City. The 8 p.m. show is free and open to the public.

Jessica Peros will perform at the Wednesday, June 14, 2023, Groove on Grove event in Downtown Jersey City, backed by her band, the Living Room NJ. (John Manuel Gomez photo)

For June 14′s Groove on Grove, Smith put together a cross-cultural bill of cutting-edge live and electronic music. She described Hoboken's 622 Chaos -- an "alternative electronic" artist with several albums online (and a brand new diploma from Stevens Institute of Technology) -- as "super-talented and coming on strong." The bill also includes indie rocker Sebastian Ortiz, soul/funk songstress Bymaddz and a promising young singer named Jessica Peros, who will be backed by her band, the Living Room NJ.

"I would describe myself as an R&B singer, that's where my heart is with my music," said the Jersey City-based Peros, who's been writing songs since she was 12. "I like to think my music resonates with how I feel, whether it's R&B or EDM."

Her foray into electronic dance music, "Wildest Dreams," earned kudos from one hip-hop critic who wrote, "The record embraces the beauty after salvaging what's left after breakups and proves that by healing with self-love, you can change your inner peace and soul for the better."

Groove on Grove runs from 6 to 9 p.m. every Wednesday at the Grove Street PATH Plaza.

The June 21 show will be a vocal group showcase that includes enChoir, North River Sing, and Gotham Singers, while June 28′s bill will feature acts sponsored by the Non-Linear Knitting Studio and The Latest Noise.

Jim Testa is on Facebook at facebook.com/Constant-Listener-Jim-Testa-On-Hudson-Music-108591071738628. He can also be reached at [email protected].

If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation.