THE ONLY LIVING BOY IN HOBOKEN: Paul Simon Engagement Comes to Sinatra Park — THURSDAY, JULY 19

Posted on July 17, 2018 in Events, hNOW

(ABOVE: Photo via Paul Simon: The Life — biography by Robert Hillburn)

Paul Simon, a titan of songwriting who has worked tirelessly his entire career to avoid being pigeonholed into any one genre, has announced his retirement from live performing at the conclusion of his current tour.

This Thursday, you can catch some of our area’s most talented musicians pay tribute to the man with ALEO Music‘s Paul Simon Engagement on the Hoboken Waterfront at Sinatra Park.

“We’ll be covering music of this catalogue through Hearts and Bones, Rhymin’ Simon, Graceland, Rhythm of the Saints and some other gems,” says ALEO’s Jamie DeJesus.

“There are a few artists that are difficult to categorize because they exemplify their own unique thing. For example, Stevie Wonder, Prince, Phillip Glass, Frank Zappa, Joni Mitchell—Paul Simon.”

ALEO Productions has brought some incredible shows to life in Hoboken, including the Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, Prince and Amy Winehouse Engagements, as well as a Grateful Dead American Beauty gig last week at the City’s SouthWest Park concert series.

The Paul Simon Engagement, with the NYC Skyline as a backdrop, is destined to be a remarkable event—kicking off at 7:00 p.m.

“He writes gripping stories with some soul-wrenching lyrics,” says DeJesus. “‘He looks around, around—he sees angels in the architecture—spinning into infinity—he says, Amen, Halleluia!’ And then he writes such clever and sonically natural melodies and chord progressions that resonate physically with your body with the same simplicity as watching at a sunset or experiencing the leaves and flowers blooming into the next season.”

Chris Capaci/Capacity Images Photo

As you watch the sun set along the Hoboken Waterfront, be prepared to be dazzled by the stellar lineup of powerhouse musicians who continue to bring it all to these performances.

“We have a large crew of musicians now, that can be dedicated to certain areas of expertise. Our drummers are wise—we have four percussion stations plus the drummer for many of these tunes,” says DeJesus. “We can light up our space at Sinatra Park this Thursday with many well thought out rhythmic ideas that compliment the melodic instruments. And dig deeply into the earth with them. All of our horn players are spot on with everything. As a music community, we have found a really nice balance of self expression and selflessness in support for the musicians we are playing with.”

The show is bound to go Late In The Evening, and you can catch even more at the afterparty at Finnegan’s.

“You can expect to get your faces blown off by the percussion section, the vocalists, the guitar work, and the bass and keys holding it all together,” says DeJesus. “You can also expect to weep a bit at some of the beautiful moments we’ve been caressing in our rehearsals.”

No, we would not give you false hope…

PAUL SIMON ENGAGEMENT
Thursday, July 19 at 7:00 p.m.
Sinatra Park, Hoboken

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Tags: Live Music