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Between 1910 and 1970 — long before Asbury Park became known for rock music — the city’s African American community rocked the sounds of jazz, gospel, and rhythm and blues on Springwood Avenue.

An upcoming gallery exhibit that highlights Asbury Park’s black music scene, from Count Basie to Billy Brown, is on its way to Heaven & Art Gallery from Sunday, Jan. 11 through Monday, Jan. 19 [Martin Luther King Jr. Day] during Asbury Park’s annual Light Of Day concert series.

The exhibit will contain scores of rare photographs plus phonograph records, posters, sheet music, and other memorabilia from Asbury Park’s West Side.  It will cover jazz, gospel and R&B music, and will also highlight black radio, record labels, record stores and Springwood Avenue nightclubs and theaters.

“This is the first, and probably only, exhibit of its kind ever presented to the public and I urge everyone to stop by and see an important part of Asbury Park’s rich musical heritage that is often overlooked,” Historical Society President Don Stine said.

The Asbury Park Historical Society and Classic Urban Harmony, LLC., are working in connection with the Light Of Day Foundation and Monmouth University’s Center for the Arts to bring the exhibit first to Asbury Park, then to Monmouth University’s Pollack Gallery.

The Light Of Day Foundation funds research into Parkinson’s Disease and their concert series, the bulk of which is held in Asbury Park from Jan. 11-19, brings thousands of music fans from around the world to the Asbury Park area.

Music historians Charlie & Pam Horner, also members of the Asbury Park Historical Society, curated the exhibit. The two point out that the city’s West Side music scene between 1910 and 1970 laid the groundwork for, and was a major influence on, Asbury’s rock music of the 70’s and beyond.

“Springwood Avenue was the place to go for the area’s hippest, cutting edge music,” Horner said.  “From jazz to R&B and their roots in gospel music, this ten-block area had it all. West Side music touched the lives of Count Basie and Duke Ellington as well as Lenny Welch, Billy Brown and Clarence Clemons. Springwood Avenue clubs and musicians introduced black music to countless shore area performers.”

The exhibit will first open in the Heaven Art Gallery, located at 721 Cookman Avenue, Jan.11-19. Gallery hours are Sunday and Monday from noon to 5 p.m. and Thursday from noon to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m.  The gallery is closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Following the exhibit’s close in Asbury Park,  Monmouth University’s Pollak Gallery will host the exhibit for the entire month of February and will include vintage musical instruments and posters. The Pollack Gallery is located at 400 Cedar Avenue, West Long Branch.

Additional related events are planned and will be announced.

For more information, visit www.classicurbanharmony.net or www.aphistoricalsociety.org.

[Photos, from top down: Billy Brown and Bruce Springsteen at the Wonder Bar on April 3, 2011; Asbury Park’s Bobby Thomas [right] with the Orioles; and Asbury Park’s early vocal harmony group The Vibranaires.]

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