The sounds of jazz have filled Kennedy Plaza throughout the summer, continuing an Atlantic City tradition rooted in music, community and the preservation of Black history.
The Chicken Bone Beach Historical Foundation’s 26th annual Jazz on the Beach Concert Series concludes Thursday, Sept. 3, with an evening of free entertainment on the Atlantic City Boardwalk. The Cason Jazz Express will perform from 7 to 8 p.m., followed by headliner Bob Baldwin from 8:30 to 10 p.m.
The concert will be held at Kennedy Plaza, between Mississippi and Georgia avenues, outside Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall. In the event of rain, performances will move indoors to the Celebrity Theatre at the Claridge Hotel.
The finale completes a five-week series that opened Aug. 6 with Warren Wolf & The Wolfpack and Keith Hollis & Friends. Other featured performers included Marcus Gilmore, the Tony Day Quartet, the Amina Figarova Sextet, Carrie Jackson, Jean Carn and Gina Roché.
Each concert paired a local jazz artist with a nationally or internationally recognized headliner, giving audiences an opportunity to hear established performers and regional musicians in one of the city’s most recognizable outdoor settings.
The weekly concerts are about more than summer entertainment. They are part of the Chicken Bone Beach Historical Foundation’s broader effort to preserve the story of Atlantic City’s segregated Missouri Avenue beach while using jazz to promote inclusion and community.
During segregation, Black residents and visitors were restricted to a section of beach near Missouri Avenue. Families gathered there for recreation, picnics and entertainment at a time when they were excluded from other parts of Atlantic City’s shoreline.
The nickname “Chicken Bone Beach” came from the remains of fried chicken dinners brought to the beach in picnic baskets. Although the name began as a derogatory reference, members of Atlantic City’s Black community later reclaimed it as a symbol of resilience, fellowship and cultural pride.
The beach developed into a gathering place for residents, vacationers, entertainers and prominent visitors. By the 1940s, Black business owners and performers were providing summer entertainment in the area. Musicians, dancers and other artists associated with Atlantic City’s thriving Black entertainment district helped make the Missouri Avenue beach an important social and cultural destination.
Founder Henrietta Shelton established the Chicken Bone Beach Historical Foundation to ensure that history would not be forgotten. The nonprofit organization has used performances, educational programs, historical exhibits and community events to transform the memory of segregation into an opportunity for learning and connection.
Jazz became central to that mission because of its deep roots in the Black American experience and its ability to bring together musicians and audiences from different backgrounds.
That history received statewide recognition June 25, when a New Jersey Black Heritage Trail marker was unveiled at Missouri Avenue and the Boardwalk.
The marker was the first from the state program to be installed in Atlantic City and the 16th physical marker placed along the statewide trail. At the time of the ceremony, 77 locations across 16 counties had been approved for inclusion in the New Jersey Black Heritage Trail.
Administered by the New Jersey Historical Commission, a division of the Department of State, the program identifies people, places and events that played significant roles in New Jersey’s Black history. The Chicken Bone Beach marker formally recognizes a site that grew from an imposed boundary into a center of recreation, music and community life.
Atlantic City expanded that recognition the same day by launching its Black Cultural Heritage Tour. The online experience highlights people, institutions and locations that helped shape the city’s Black history.
Chicken Bone Beach is among the featured destinations, along with Pop Lloyd Stadium, Fire Station No. 2, Sonny’s Barbershop and St. James AME Church. Users can explore the locations virtually, view historical photographs and watch video testimonials from members of the Atlantic City community.
While the marker and digital tour preserve the past, the foundation’s youth programs are intended to carry its musical legacy forward.Young musicians are at the center of the organization’s work throughout the year. Through grants, donations, fundraising events and support from public and private benefactors, the foundation provides tuition-free summer jazz camps and other educational opportunities for Atlantic City students.
Participants study jazz under experienced instructors, develop their performance skills and learn how to work together as an ensemble. The programs culminate in group performances that allow students to demonstrate what they have learned before live audiences.
Some students who began their training through the foundation have continued developing as musicians, educators and performers. Their progress reflects the organization’s goal of keeping jazz accessible to young people while building the next generation of artists. The Jazz on the Beach series brings those parts of the foundation’s mission together. It provides free cultural programming, creates performance opportunities for local artists and connects present-day audiences with a history that unfolded only blocks away.
Admission to the Sept. 3 finale is free. Guests are encouraged to bring chairs.
For information about the concert series, youth programs or ways to support the foundation, visit ChickenBoneBeach.org.
