Amber Blues, which will perform in Milltown Saturday, include (clockwise from top left) Tarek Ismail, Dave Brumberg, Jimmy Clark and LaMar Prout. MILLTOWN – Amber Blues will show some love for the birthplace of jazz when they perform in the borough Saturday.
The five-man band will bring its musical flavors to the Ice Cream Depot, Washington Avenue, to raise money for Project NOAH (New Orleans Area Hope), an organization that helps rebuild homes in New Orleans.
“It sort of gets people together a little more,” keyboardist Tarek Ismail said of such events. “It’s a conscious thing, so that makes us feel good.”
Ismail and his bandmates – bassist Dave Brumberg and guitarist Jimmy Clark, both of East Brunswick, along with drummer LaMar Prout – must be feeling pretty good. Amber Blues has made charity events as regular a part of their repertoire as the genre-bending jams they crank out. Around for five years, the band has done a number of philanthropic forays, including shows at Asbury Park’s legendary Stone Pony nightclub benefiting organizations like the Valerie Fund and the Boys and Girls Club of Monmouth County.
“A lot of times, charities come to us, because we have such a reputation for these kinds of events,” band manager Danni Challender said.
The band decided to help make things easier for those in the Big Easy after learning about the organization through Challender, whose father has been taking trips to New Orleans to help the organization for the past two years. When she heard him say the group was running low on funds for travel, tools and supplies, she enlisted the band, and they were happy to help.
Guitarist Jimmy Clark caught wind of the Ice Cream Depot’s call for bands for its summer concert series, and the event came together.
“It’s outdoors, and all ages can come,” Challender said. “It’s perfect.”
Members of Project NOAH will be on hand to educate the public about the organization, showing videos and distributing handouts illustrating the group’s mission.
The band will continue its own mission of helping others Aug. 30 when they will again take the stage at the Stone Pony, also playing host to a number of other local bands and artists. Possible surprise visits from a famous guest or two may help to further entice music lovers to come out.
Proceeds from that event will go to Drums and Disabilities, an organization that provides music therapy to children with mental disabilities.
Charity endeavors have not been the only thing keeping Amber Blues busy. Since the release of its CD, “A Year and Some Days” in January, the band has been doing miniature tours up and down the East Coast on weekends, when they are able to escape their day jobs.
Hitting the road to play venues in places like New Hampshire, New York and North Carolina, the boys are finding that their popularity is growing along with their musical catalog.
“Of course, we’re still not a completely nationally known band … but usually we have a few sales at every show,” Ismail said, adding, “A good chunk of our songs are changing, and we’re constantly adding new songs to our repertoire.”
With bookings and CD and merchandise sales going well, the band decided to take things to a new level by starting their own company, Amber Blues LLC.
“It is our hope to one day turn our company into a record label or promotion company,” Challender said. “In the meantime, we are meeting with lawyers, selling merchandise and doing our best to help other up-and-coming bands.”
If what comes around goes around, the band that goes out of their way to help others should not need any help at all.
The Ice Cream Depot event will begin at 6:30 p.m. To find out more about other shows, visit amberblues.com.