Feelin’ jazzy
On Friday, organizers of the Scranton Jazz Festival, Laurie Cadden, Marko Marcinko and Bob Schlesinger hosted a press conference at the Radisson at Lackawanna Station Hotel to announce this year’s event and give us glimpse into what they have planned in August. Lackawanna County Commissioners Jim Wansacz and Patrick O’Malley also attended as the county is a major sponsor of the event, as did the Radisson’s Sarah Eynon, who is also helping with publicity for the event. After listening to their presentation, we would be remiss if we didn’t thank them and others like them who continue to promote the arts even in tough economic times when it’s difficult to find funding and secure volunteer support.
Now in its eighth year, the Scranton Jazz Festival continues to grow. This year’s event will once again be held at the historic Radisson at Lackawanna Station. Mark your calendars: the dates are Aug. 3 to 5.
Friday kicks off with La Cucina and headliners The Average White Band (the Scottish Funk and R&B legends best known for “Pick Up the Pieces), as well as the Jazz Walk, which runs throughout the duration of the festival. Saturday’s lineup includes The Bill Goodwin 70th Birthday Quintet, Roseanna Vitro, The Hot Club of Detroit. On Sunday, you’ll enjoy The Keystone Jazz Institute Student Combos, Presbybop featuring Warren Cooper, The Baritones, Giacomo Gates and Friends, The Big Band Tribute to “Jaco Pastorious” with Lew Soloff, Matt Bonelli, Gary Keller and more, and the SJF Jazz Jam.
Tickets for the festival (which includes the Jazz Walk) are $25 for Friday; $20 for Saturday; $20 for Sunday; and $10 for students.
These are just a few highlights of the event, and we’ll include more information on the festival in upcoming issues of electric and diamond city. In the meantime, check out scrantonjazzfestival.org for more information.
This is so cool
Forget water slides and air conditioning — if you want to beat the heat and enjoy an artistic endeavor of an icy nature, visit Sculpted Ice Works (you’ve seen their work at the Clarks Summit Festival of Ice and numerous other ice festivals in the region) in Lakeville, which now offers factory tours and a Natural Ice Harvest Museum. According to their website, visitors “learn about ice harvesting tools, uses of ice before refrigeration, and how ice was delivered back in the days when harvesting lake ice was big business in the region.” Their museum just recently opened at the modern ice plant, which manufactures more than 12,000 crystal clear ice carving blocks annually.
Sculpted Ice Works is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Guests may take a self-guided tour for $5 per person (children under age 3 are admitted free) or for a guided tour, the cost is $10 per person. For more information, visit http://sculptediceworks.com/tour.htm.
Truly Poetry in Motion
As indicated by the heading above, word has traveled to our offices that our friends at Poetry In Transit are looking for new poems. For those of you who may not be familiar with this program, Poetry in Transit displays poetry in advertising space inside Luzerne County Transportation Authority (LCTA) buses. The poems stay up for one year, with a monthly rotation so riders can see all poems over time. Created in 2007 by the program’s coordinator Mischelle Anthony, Wilkes University associate professor of English, Poetry in Transit is inspired by the recently rejuvenated Poetry In Motion on New York’s Transit System and on London’s Poems on the Underground program. It all started with 12 placards featuring the work of poets such as Wordsworth, Dickinson and Frost. The work of local poets was introduced to the project in 2008.
If you’re a writer interested in making a submission, the deadline for this year’s edition is July 20. The theme is “conflict.”
For complete guidelines and more information, visit http://www.wilkes.edu and search Poetry in Transit.
That’s the scoop! Thanks for reading, and I’ll meet you here again next week.
Send email to jimel@timesshamrock.com
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