Nobody has ever denied that a dance with the Ghost of Uncle Joe’s (Oct. 18-19) was an enjoyable spin around the boneyard. Our annual Halloween music festival in the Historic Harsimus Cemetery has become an annual institution, and that’s because it’s a blast: a chance for local musicians and partygoers alike to play pretend under the stars. Arguably, it’s become the city’s best-loved yearly event. It’s hard to imagine the autumn in Jersey City without a visit from the Ghost, and if, for some reason, “Dancing Tony” Susco decided he didn’t want to organize it anymore, somebody else would surely shoulder the responsibility.But it’s worth asking why it delights us as much as it does, and why similar events in other towns haven’t captured the imagination of the public the way this one has. The idea ought to be exportable: talented local musicians playing cover sets in the guise of classic rockers, pop stars, and rappers. Our neighbor cities have plenty of strummers and singers with deep record collections. Yet they don’t have a setting as ideal for the event as the Historic Harsimus Cemetery (remember that this festival is now and has always been a HHC fundraiser), a picturesque urban graveyard on the edge of the Downtown and in the shadow of the Turnpike pylons. They may not have reasonably temperate mid-October weather the way we do. They might not have food trucks and portable sound of the same quality as outs.And it’s likely they never had a place like the long-gone Uncle Joe’s. The Festival’s namesake was an extremely modest proposition. It was a standalone bar in a neighborhood — the old Warehouse District — that has since been completely redeveloped. Uncle Joe’s was a humble place, and it encouraged a humble approach from the bands that played in its backroom. Yet it sounded good, the crowds were lively, and the bookings were inspired. Rooms like that encourage camaraderie and community, and a certain sort of selflessness, too, and those are still characteristics of the independent music scene in Jersey City. Acts that play the Ghost of Uncle Joe’s have to set aside their own pursuit of fame and fortune (at least for a few practices) and dedicate themselves to the music of somebody else. It’s not something that every creative person can do. That we all do it together — every year — speaks well about our sense of fun, and our refusal to take ourselves too seriously.So if you’d like to see INXS, Chic, Kate Bush, R.E.M., and The Go-Go’s, and scores of other world-famous acts (or some reasonable facsimiles thereof), you know what to do.Some other picks for October:Mdou Moctar @ White Eagle Hall (Oct. 3)It wasn’t so long ago that Mdou Moctar barged into the discussion of the greatest guitar players in the world with lightning-quick leads, seismic waves of feedback, and attitude to burn. The Tuareg artist has been called the Jimi Hendrix of Africa, and he’s made good on that moniker with a searing fusion of desert blues, Saharan folk, and ear-splitting classic hard rock. Also like Hendrix, he’s a much better singer than he needs to be to put his ferocious material across. Remarkably, the band he’s gathered around him consists of musicians who are every bit as good as he is. With each release, they’ve gotten a little more political and a little more confrontational: Moctar followed the incendiary Afrique Victime [2021] with this year’s bracingly anticolonial Funeral For Justice [2024]. On his recordings, he never holds anything back. He’s likely to be even fiercer in concert. (Appearing at White Eagle Hall, 337 Newark Ave., 8 p.m.; $25; visit www.whiteeaglehalljc.com.)Narciso “El Pavarotti” @ The Factory (Oct. 6)It might seem a little odd that a practitioner of merengue tipico would want to associate himself with a European pop-opera singer. Then Narciso “El Pavarotti” opens his mouth and roars, and it becomes clear why. No matter how fast his band plays, Narciso approaches his tracks with a sonorous, passionate, charismatic delivery that foregrounds the melodic content of even the most abrasive passages. He can certainly shout over the clatter of the percussion and the blare of the horns; his music is merengue in its purest form. Tracks like “Mambo” and the amazing “El Jefe” are about as raw and brisk as Dominican folk music gets. Guero, accordion, saxophone, congas, vocal harmonies, group shouts and dramatic held notes — he’s been doing it this way forever, and it always works. And that’s another comparison to Luciano Pavarotti: like his Modenese namesake could, Narciso can boast about his longevity. He’s been doing this since the ‘70s, and he shows no sign of slowing down. (Appearing at The Factory, 451 Communipaw Ave., brunch Sunday; visit www.instagram.com/timoperinentertainment.)Holy Wire @ Sip Studios (Oct. 10)If you’ve got any taste for romantically depressive modern-day synthpop bands like Nation of Language or Future Islands — not to mention their antecedents New Order and OMD — you owe it to yourself to check out Holy Wire. Austin, TX singer, songwriter, and instrument programmer Alain Paradis has the style down pat: shimmering synthesizer arpeggios, motorik beats and rubbery bass, and doomy, deadpan lead vocals with just enough chilly reverb to make his feelings of alienation manifest. Hey, it’s the style, and on The Ending of an Age [2024], he plays it to the hilt. “This is all I’ve got/what if it’s not good enough!” he intones on the tormented (and insanely catchy) “Lost.” For his Journal Square show, he’ll be sharing the stage with the moody Two Point Oh and Giveth, an talented, pleasantly twisted industrial rock duo from Millbun. Expect plenty of throbs and more than a few anguished sobs. This is another Look at My Records showcase, and another example of their excellent taste. (Appearing at Sip Studios, 140 Sip Ave., 7 p.m.; $12; visit www.lookatmyrecords.com.)Akelyah Simone @ Fox & Crow (Oct. 19)“When in Rome,” the 2023 single by the Hampton Roads, VA pop-R&B singer-songwriter Akelyah Simone, goes down so smoothly that it’s easy to miss how sophisticated it is. The track combines a sung hook and chorus with rapped verses, piano filigree, an overdriven guitar solo, and a rock-solid backbeat. Just when you think you’ve got her pegged, the composition slips away and becomes something else entirely. That elusive quality pervades Simone’s entire discography: this is a woman who has written an entire song about her own uncertainty. There’s nothing tentative about her approach on the microphone, though. She may favor misdirection when she’s writing, and she might enjoy keeping her listeners on their toes, but when she lights into a melody, she makes sure you get every gleaming note. (Appearing Live in the Parlor at Fox & Crow, 594 Palisade Ave., 8 p.m.; $10; visit www.foxandcrowjc.com.)Tonight’s The Night @ Art House Productions (Oct. 24)No ‘70s singer-songwriter is more revered by modern roots rockers than Neil Young. The Hudson County artist who calls himself Philosopher Pirate, for instance, acknowledges that Young is a major influence on his own heartfelt, intelligent songs. Philosopher Pirate has recently been hosting acoustic nights at Art House Productions, opening the Downtown stage to other like-minded singers who probably have copies of Harvest and After the Gold Rush in their record collections. This October, Philosopher Pirate acknowledges his debt by devoting an entire show to a musical hero. First, he’ll do a set of his own songs. Then, the next two sets will be covers of classic tracks by Neil Young, performed by Philosopher Pirate and local artists who share his enthusiasm. Philosopher Pirate has a lot of friends, so you can expect a lot of Neil. (Appearing at Art House Productions, 345 Marin Blvd., 8 p.m.; $20; visit www.arthouseproductions.org.)Malik Work @ Jersey City Theater Center (Oct. 27)With The Real Live Show, emcee, teacher, actor and poet Malik Work matched his candid, bracing rap narratives to a boisterous seven-piece jazz band. His debt to Digable Planets, Dead Prez, and the entire Native Tongues family was always evident, but Work and his partner Stimulus had plenty of their own lyrical and musical ideas — and the rhyme skills to put them across to all kinds of audiences. On his own, he’s no less ambitious. “Verses @ Work,” a one-man hip-hop musical, is a theatrical take on the themes of identity and self-definition that he’s always explored with his band. Work has toured the musical with support from a Shakespearean theater company, which led to an interactive project with the Folger Shakespeare Library, and another play that draws parallels between the Bard’s work and our own representations of the criminal justice system. In short, this is a very interesting character we’re getting, and this staging of “Verses @ Work” ought to reflect the richness of his unique journey. (Appearing at Jersey City Theater Center, 165 Newark Ave., 7 p.m.; $35; visit www.jctcenter.org.)The post Rogue Waves October: The Ghost of Uncle Joe’s and More appeared first on Jersey City Times.