AJ Arts & Entertainment

July 23, 2008

Festival to jazz up city

Don McGlynn dmcglynn@theabingtonjournal.com

SCRANTON - It’s here again, Friday, August 1 to 3. The Pa Jazz Alliance will present its annual Scranton Jazz Festival. For the past four years, the Jazz Alliance event has been bringing jazz acts, national and local, to the area for one weekend of music.

“The festival is the highlight event of the year for the Jazz Alliance,” said the festival’s artistic director Marco Marcinko.

“We utilize a lot of our local jazz musicians and we also have a lot of big name acts who are coming from all over the world, who people probably wouldn’t get a chance to see if it wasn’t for this show.”

This year, some of the national acts include Spyro Gyra, New York Voices and Phil Woods.

“Phil Woods is a legend. He’s won more Grammys than any other jazz musician. New York Voices travels all over the world. We have Hendrick Meurkens coming in; he’s a great harmonica player from Germany. So, we have musicians coming from all over the world, and a real wealth of jazz,” said Marcinko.

Those are just a few of the big names that will be taking the main stage at the Trax Bar and Grille in the Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel, the home of the event for the last two years.

“When we started, we used to have it at Nay Aug Park, but then two years ago there was a huge storm and it destroyed the tent we use to have it under, making it impossible for us to have it there,” said Marcinko.

“At the same time, the Radisson came to us and said they wanted to get involved with the festival, and they’ve been great. It’s a great place to have a show because it’s sort of an indoor/outdoor venue.”

At the close of the main stage shows on August 1 and 2, audience members will then have the choice between eight different, local venues- the Bog, Northern Light Espresso Bar, Michael’s Eye Wear, PJ’s Pub, Mert’s, Vida Tapas Bar and The Southern Union Building Lobby, who will be a part of the festival’s jazz walk.

“The jazz walk will have live music playing Friday and Saturday night, at all the venues,” said Marcinko. “It’s really a great thing for the downtown area, and it gives all the local businesses a chance to show off their stuff.”

And they can show their stuff to a whole new group of people, as the jazz festival brings in a lot of out-of-town business.

“We have people who come in from all over, and for a lot of them it’s the only time they come into the Scranton area. Each year it gets a little bit bigger and we get a little more notice. This year, “All About Jazz,” in New York did a write-up about us, and we’ve gotten a lot more hits on the web. It’s great for the area, it’s putting us on the map,” said Marcinko.

The festival officially begins with the Jazz Institute being held at Keystone College, July 28 to August 1. The Institute will offer local musicians an opportunity to study and perform with several of northeastern PA’s finest touring recording jazz artists. For more information on the Jazz Institute, contact Crystal Seigle at 945-8580.

Tickets for the festival are available at all Gallery of Sound locations and at the Box Office at the Radisson Hotel the day of the show, and are $20 for a one-day-pass, $45 for a three-day, $15 for the jazz walk $10 with a student ID. For more information visit the web site at www.pajazzalliance.com.

Want to go?

What: Scranton Jazz Festival

When: August 1 to 3

Where: Downtown Scranton businesses including the Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel, The Bog, Northern Light Espresso Bar and more.

Info: tickets are $20 for one day pass, $45 for three day pass, $15 for Jazz Walk, $10 with a student ID. For more information visit www.pajazzalliance.com.

The Main Stage located at the Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel.

Friday Aug. 1, 7:30 p.m. The Marko Marcinko Latin Jazz Quintet with special guest Jay Ashby and Lincoln Goines 8:30p.m. Spyro Gyra .

Saturday, Aug. 2, 4p.m. Doug Smith and the Dixieland All Stars, 5 p.m. Sherrie Maricle and 5 play, 6 p.m. Bluesman Michael Powers, 7 p.m. The Chris Parker band featuring tenor sax great Donny McCaslin, 8 p.m. The New York Voice.

Sunday Aug. 3, 12:30 p.m. The Jazz Mass with Rev Bill Carter, 4 p.m. The Keystone Jazz Institute and Scranton Jazz Festival Student Jazz Combos, 5 p.m. The Four Bros. Tribute with Lew Delgato, Bob Keller, Tom Hamilton and Jim Buckley, 6 p.m. Hendrik Meurkins and The NY Samba Group, 7 p.m. JD Walter Group featuring jazz pianist Orrin Evans, 8 p.m. The Festival Big Band with jazz legend Phil Woods

9:30 p.m. to12:30 a.m. The Festival’s Jazz Jam at Trax Bar inside the Radisson Hotel

Jazz walk schedule, 9:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. each day

August 1: The Bog, Adams Ave, Indigo Moon Brass Band; Northern Light Espresso Bar, Spruce Street, The Chris Parker Trio; Michaels Eyewear, Spruce Street, The Gary Rissmiller Trio; Trax Bar at the Radisson Hotel, Lackawanna Avenue, The Steve Rudolph Trio with Ilona Knofler and Nate Birkey; PJ’s Pub at the Hilton, Adams Avenue, Jim Buckley and Friends; Mert’s, Penn Avenue and Linden Street, Music for Models with special guest saxophonist Chris Karlic; Vida Tapas Bar, N. Washington Avenue, Donna Antanow Jazz Duo; The Southern Union Building Lobby, Lackawanna Avenue, The Doug Smith Avant Jazz Group.

August 2: The Bog, The Jazz Assassins; Northern Light Espresso, Aurelian Budynek; Michael’s Eyewear, The Dave Lantz Jazz Duo; Trax Bar at The Radisson Hotel, The Steve Rudolph Trio; PJ’s Pub at the Hilton, The Tony Costa Trio; Mert’s, The Marko Marcinko Latin Jazz Quintet; Vida Tapas Bar, The Doug Hawk Jazz Duo; The Southern Union Building Lobby, The Joe Michaels Trio.

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