CBA Hosts Kevin Eubanks…and All That Jazz!

The CBA Jazz Series at Christian Brothers Academy in Lincroft, NJ presented an exciting performance on May 25, 2017, headlined by the renowned musician Kevin Eubanks and his jazz band. Mr. Eubanks is known far and wide as a talented jazz guitarist, recording artist, and former longtime bandleader on “The Tonight Show” with Jay Leno.

Founded by Joe Tort of Rumson, the mission of the annual CBA Jazz Series is to offer audiences and students the opportunity to experience legendary jazz sound at the school’s intimate Henderson Theater, as well as to raise funds for the burgeoning performing arts program at CBA. This year’s performance by Mr. Eubanks is the latest in a growing list of outstanding talent that has attended the Jazz Series, with previous shows by David Benoit, Terence Blanchard, Ravi Coltrane, Yellowjackets, and Max Weinberg.

The talented students of the CBA Jazz Band presented a polished opening act and then were joined onstage by Mr. Eubanks for several songs, to the delight of the packed audience of beaming teachers, administrators, families, school supporters, and jazz fans. The joint repertoire included a magnificent solo performance by a student vocalist. Then it was Mr. Eubanks and his band in the spotlight for the remainder of the evening, with tunes that ran the gamut from rousing complexity to haunting simplicity, all with pitch-perfect precision. Joining the bandleader were Bill Pierce on sax, Rene Camacho on bass, and Marvin “Smitty” Smith on drums.

Only 350 tickets were sold to this exclusive, one-night-only event, which was generously sponsored by Two River Community Bank. Prior to the performance, there was a special reception and private meet and greet with Kevin Eubanks for the evening’s sponsors, many of whom are alumni themselves and/or have students of their own in the school, and all of whom have long, proud, and loyal ties to Christian Brothers Academy.