Great South Bay Music Festival
Jason Didner and the Jungle Gym Jam
Jungle Gym Jam Photo
Performing: Sunday July 16
Stage: KidZone
Set Time: 1:00PM – 1:45PM
Official Website Click Here
Bio:

JASON DIDNER AND THE JUNGLE GYM JAM

for Kids and Families who Love to Rock

Family vacations are made of moments – the ones that become treasured memories. ‘Jersey Jason’ and ‘Awesome Amy’ from the Jungle Gym Jam treat their concerts for kids and their grown-ups as opportunities to create moments that are just as special and lasting, turning family concerts into mini-vacations for all involved.

To create the moments, Jason and Amy draw on sights, sounds, sensations and emotions that make a complete experience. When they sing their funny song about Jersey dinosaurs, they’re joined by “Bruce,” a hadrosaurus puppet, so the kids can roar along. Freeze dancing is a vital part of the show, where kids’ reaction time to the calls of “freeze” and “go” are tested, to fun effect. The couple don simple costume elements to add the experience of being among firefighters and superheroes. The sound is a decidedly Jersey Shore rock sound, influenced by such greats as Bruce Springsteen and Southside Johnny.

Jason and Amy Didner are the couple that created the Jungle Gym Jam out of the inspiration they got from parenting their now-6-year-old daughter. They co-write all their lyrics, often as a way of recapturing special family memories and making them universal. They perform with a full rock band in situations of larger audience and wider age ranges like at the Stone Pony, Bronx Zoo or Jones Beach Band Shell. They play as an acoustic duo in more intimate settings and a younger audience, at libraries, museums, pre-schools and birthday parties.

The band is made up of longtime friends and newly found kindred spirits. Drummer ‘Rockin’ Ross’ Kantor and Jason have enjoyed a friendship of over 30 years, dating back to elementary school. They both performed at each other’s Bar Mitzvahs! An online search led to the addition of ‘Cowgirl Casey’ McCleary to the lineup where she adds her golden doo-wop/folk inspired vocal harmonies and multi-instrumental skills. ‘Charming Chip’ Moore holds it all together with his extraordinary genre-spanning musicianship on the bass – that is, when he’s not traveling the world in his many other musical roles. When Chip’s out on the road, ‘Astounding Amelia’ Chan and Amazing Alyssa Menes answer the call to play those low notes.

The Jungle Gym Jam had begun early in 2013 as a songwriting project that suddenly landed a large outdoor gig that would require a band. Not long after forming, the band entered the studio and by early 2014 released their first album “Everyone’s Invited,” which won the Parents’ Choice Approved Seal and became a CD Baby Editor’s Pick as it peaked at #2 on the online record store’s Children’s Music chart. They’re currently recording a follow-up album that celebrates the wonderful moments of a family trip to the beach, presently titled “Lollipop Motel,” with a plan to release this new album in May 2016 and some singles from the record along the way.

Amy and Jason have really dedicated themselves to the larger children’s entertainment community over the past two years, having created and hosted an award-winning local access TV show called “The Cool Rockin’ Daddy Video Show,” which featured music videos by fellow kindie artists. In 2015, they ran a 15-concert series for kids (each with a different artist performing) at the legendary Maxwell’s Tavern in Hoboken. Jason also hosts a podcast called “Make Kindie Happen,” which offers interviews with children’s entertainers and industry professionals with the goal of helping children’s musicians raise their game creatively and professionally. The duo currently offers an early childhood music and movement class for kids and their grown-ups called “Jungle Gym Jam Time,” which focuses on children ages 6 months to 3 years.

For more information, visit www.junglegymjam.com or call Jason at 201-838-1205.

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