Too good to be true? Well, this wonderful opportunity already exists, right here in the Poconos, in the forms of COTA CampJazz and the Al Cohn Memorial Jazz Collection (ACMJC).
Entering its fourth season in July of 2010, COTA CampJazz, located in Delaware Water Gap, provides an intensive yet joyful one-week immersion in the art of improvisation for youngsters ages 13 and up. In addition to opportunities to perform in both small ensemble and big band workshops, the camp offers up-close and personal access to faculty, brown-bag concerts with special guests, and fun field trips to such places as Red Rock Recording Studio and the ACMJC.
When the Water Gap Trolley delivers the campers to East Stroudsburg University's Kemp Library for their annual visit to explore the ACMJC, they get to interact with vintage artifacts that preserve and honor America's gift to the world: jazz music. In a half-day session, these fortunate students can conjure up the legacy of jazz greats like Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald and scores of others by hearing their voices in interviews, seeing their images in photographs, reading about their lives in reference books, and enjoying their classic music from recordings and videos.
But, of course, like all good things, these resources need to be regularly cared for and nourished in order to sustain and grow. That's why the Library Alive concert series was launched in 2008 to raise much-needed funds for the Camp and the Collection. And that's where the Pocono community can really help!
The next fundraising concert in the series will be held on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2009 at 7:30 p.m. at the Sherman Theater in Stroudsburg. Headlining will be the Celebration of the Arts (COTA) Festival Orchestra, joined by alto saxophone master Phil Woods, a genuine jazz icon who is acclaimed world-wide for his unique artistry and lasting contributions as a performer, composer, arranger, journalist and educator. Phil and this burning 18-piece big band will perform swinging charts that will surely shake the house with the music that has inspired generations of jazz lovers to groove, move and get up and dance.
The COTA Festival Orchestra has performed at the annual jazz and arts festival in Delaware Water Gap throughout its 32-year run, and has twice toured Europe as the Phil Woods Big Band. Its multi-talented musicians come from the fertile Pocono jazz community and are familiar faces to local jazz fans: Rick Chamberlain, Jim Daniels, Nelson Hill, Jay Rattman, Tom Hamilton, Ken Brader, Danny Cahn, Pat Dorian, Eric Doney, Spencer Reed, Evan Gregor, Bill Goodwin and Marko Marcinko, among others. Many of them are on the faculty of COTA CampJazz.
Eager to bring this outstanding big band music into the heart of the community, the Sherman Theater has partnered with the Library Alive series since its inception. Built in the 1920s, the recently-renovated Sherman Theater is equipped to present many of today's biggest shows. Complete with full bar and restaurant, it offers everything needed for a complete evening of entertainment. Audiences and performers alike have been impressed by the fantastic acoustics, comfort, and historic feel of this rejuvenated downtown performance venue.
General admission to the concert is $15; all students with a current ID will be admitted for $5. Tickets may be purchased at the Sherman Theater box office at 524 Main Street in Stroudsburg, by calling the box office at 570-420-2808, or bought online at www.shermantheater.com. All proceeds benefit the COTA Fund for Young Musicians for COTA CampJazz and the Al Cohn Memorial Jazz Collection at ESU.
Library Alive concerts are part of the ESU Jazz Synergy Series sponsored by the ESU Music Department, the ESU Regional Jazz Coalition, and the Al Cohn Memorial Jazz Collection. For more information, call Bob Bush at (570) 422-3828 or send email to [email protected]. For COTA CampJazz information, visit campjazz.org.
