Blogfinger

By Eileen and Paul Goldfinger for Blogfinger.net.   Reporting from the OG Boardwalk Pavilion 8/16/25 with  videos and photographs.    Sponsored by the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association.

Here is a taste of the jazz selections  brought to us  by the US Navy Band jazz  ensemble.   Click once on still images to enlarge.     If you click on the lower right corner you will find a square.  Click on it for an enlargement .

All photographs by Paul Goldfinger, Blogfinger.net. Ocean Grove, NJ, USA. 8/16/25 Click once to enlarge.

I was kidding the tuba player about the absence of Sousa marches today, but he pointed to his instrument saying, “Well, this is a Sousaphone.”

The US Navy Band has musicians performing all around the world.  Today an ensemble of 8 highly talented players  appeared at the Boardwalk Pavilion.

All of their music, expertly and enthusiastically  presented, was exciting and entertaining, if not recognizable by the OG audience today.  The sailors  happily interacted with the Grovers who came to see them, and their music was mostly high energy jazz.

This group is on a tour of the Jersey Shore with us included.  They seemed to enjoy playing as much as we enjoyed hearing and seeing them.

I was in the Navy a long time ago, but my instrument was not musical–it was a stethoscope.  Today I got to chat with these sailors, and they loved interacting with the folks.  I shared with some of them the historic connections with John Phillip Sousa at Asbury Park and Ocean Grove.

Tenor saxs soloist. She was the only woman among this 8 “man” ensemble.

Musicians enjoyed socializing with the folks after the concert

Three of my uncles were in the Navy during WWII, but not all their stories were military.

The concert ended with a rousing performance of the Navy  theme song “Anchors Aweigh” which was written in 1907 and is still the most glorious theme of all the branches of our military.

This high-definition  recording is by the US Navy Band.

Another tune near the end was a Four Seasons hit, “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You,”   where the musicians led a surprise sing-along with the Grover crowd. Put your cursor at the lower right hand corner of the video and click on the square to enlarge.