TENAFLY, N.J. — A musical tradition born in Washington, D.C., will take the stage downtown Tuesday evening when The JoGo Project performs as part of the borough’s municipal concert series.
The free concert begins at 7 p.m. at Huyler Park.
Led by Washington, D.C., native and jazz musician Elijah Jamal Balbed, The JoGo Project blends jazz improvisation with the rhythms and traditions of go-go, a style of music that emerged in Washington in the 1970s and became deeply connected to the city’s cultural identity.
The group was created in 2014 after Balbed, then a student at Howard University, had the opportunity to perform with Chuck Brown, widely recognized as the “Godfather of Go-Go.” Balbed continued playing with Brown until Brown’s death in 2012, and later created The JoGo Project as a way to bring together the jazz and go-go traditions.
The band has since performed at venues including the Kennedy Center, Strathmore and Blues Alley, earned two WAMMIE Awards, and brought its music to audiences beyond the Washington region, including through a 2018 cultural diplomacy tour in Russia sponsored by the U.S. State Department.
The Tenafly appearance also has a local connection through resident Alona Wartofsky, a former music journalist with The Washington Post and an author of Crankin! Power and Resilience in Washington, DC’s Go-Go Culture.
Wartofsky’s book explores the history of go-go music, from its origins through the musicians and communities that have sustained it for more than five decades. The book has received praise from journalists and go-go advocates, including Kevin Merida, former managing editor of The Washington Post, who called it “the indispensable biography of go-go music and its gurus.”
Wartofsky tells Northern Valley Press that Tuesday’s concert offers Bergen County residents a chance to experience a musical tradition that many may not know.
“Just as New Orleans has jazz, Washington has go-go,” she said.
Go-go was designated the official music of Washington, D.C., in 2020.
For residents unfamiliar with the genre, Wartofsky said the best introduction is a live performance.
“Go-go is meant to be felt as much as heard,” she said.
The JoGo Project performs Tuesday, Aug. 18, at 7 p.m. at Huyler Park. The concert is free and open to the public.