The Celebration of the Arts was founded in 1978 by Phil Woods, Rick Chamberlain and the late Ed Joubert, as a way to spotlight the wealth of world-class jazz talent who resides in and around the Poconos town of Delaware Water Gap. After modest beginnings, the festival has grown to be the largest jazz festival in the state outside of major cities. The two-and-a-half day festival remains non-profit, all volunteer-run, and community-based. In addition to two full days of jazz from the main outdoor stage in downtown Delaware Water Gap, there are also events such as an art exhibition, a multi-genre indoor performance including dance, drama and classical music, plus activities for children, and many artisans displaying their work. Since the festival's beginnings, the Poconos has continued to be a magnet for world-class jazz artists who enjoy the beautiful surroundings, while still being a being within commuting distance to New York. The Celebration of the Arts (COTA) is unique in its focus on area artists, and its ability to muster such top jazz players from within the "neighborhood." This year's 30th annual festival placed its emphasis on some of the artists whose connections to the festival go back decades, while still featuring some musicians who had not been born when COTA started.
WVIA-FM began its annual comprehensive coverage in 1997, and George Graham and the WVIA crew have been at the festival each year, presenting most of the music that takes place on the main stage. This year, WVIA-TV also videotaped the festival and will be showing a series of specials from the festival early next year. Live streaming webcasts of the radio coverage will be available worldwide at http://www.wvia.org
Click Here to learn more about All That Jazz or use this link to see the broadcast schedule.
Festival website:
http://www.cotajazz.org
Some artist sites:
http://www.philwoods.com
http://www.bobdorough.com/
http://www.billmays.net/
http://www.pacificstrecords.com/ (Eric Doney)
http://www.roamingabriels.com/
http://www.daveliebman.com/
|
