Headlined by world-renowned jazz legends Phil Woods, David Liebman, Bob Dorough, and Urbie Green, the 31st Annual Delaware Water Gap Celebration of the Arts (COTA) packs 18 sets of ensemble jazz performances, plus theater and arts, into a three-day festival in the scenic Borough of Delaware Water Gap, from Friday, September 5, through Sunday, September 7.
The festival opens Friday evening with a reception for COTA's Music Motif Show, a juried mixed-media art show, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Antoine Dutot Museum & Gallery on Main Street (Route 611) (no admission charge). In keeping with its tradition of supporting all the performing arts, COTA then presents an evening of edgy political theater, classical music, and jazz from 7:00 to 9:30 p.m. at the Presbyterian Church of the Mountain, across the street from the museum. Admission for this event is $8.00 per person, at the door.
On Saturday and Sunday, the music moves outdoors--to a superbly sound-engineered Main Stage on Delaware Avenue (in front of the historic Castle Inn)--as COTA presents two jam-packed days of jazz, a splendid array of Bebop, Swing, Blues, Jazz Fusion, and Latin, with three outstanding Big Bands whose repertoires incorporate newly transcribed charts and new arrangements. (What you hear at COTA, you may never hear again.)
In addition to Woods, Liebman, Dorough, and the Greens (Urbie, Kathy, and Jesse), the 31st COTA program welcomes back a host of enduring crowd favorites, many showcasing their new collaborations--veteran Nelson Hill on saxophone with the Eric Mintel Trio; guitarist Vic Juris with both the Dave Liebman Quartet and Michael Stephans' Trio Frio; vocalist Michele Bautier leading a new sextet featuring Sol Yaged; drummer Tom Whaley leading his own band for the first time at COTA, Tom Whaley Whaley and the Marlers; Lew Del Gatto (of Saturday Night Live! fame), returning to COTA to play live (with his friend of 50 years, Bob Keller) their recently recorded tribute (with Whaley, Jesse Green, and Tony Marino) to Al Cohn and Zoot Sims; and Liebman's drummer Marco Marcinko now also leading his own Latin Jazz Quartet.
COTA's also sizzling with a new line-up of sensational break-out talents who've recently joined the COTA “family": returning COTAlum Nellie McKay and her Obligatory Villagers (Saturday night's closer); Broadway musical star Simone, in a tribute to her pioneering mother, Nina Simone (Sunday night's closer); and 16-year-old local pianist and composer Dave Lantz IV, already nationally acclaimed.
A perennial Sunday highlight is once again the COTA Cats, a Big Band founded by NEA Jazz Master (and COTA co-founder) Phil Woods in 1981; ever since, the Cats band has been formed anew each year by bringing together the region's most talented high-school music students, who are then coached by COTA professional musicians for their one-time gig on COTA's Main Stage. This year's Cats' performance (2:30 p.m. Sunday) features “greatest hits" from the COTA Cats Library (a collection of pieces specially commissioned and/or arranged for the Cats); a commissioned arrangement from pianist/composer Bill Mays of his own “Rollin' Down The Water Gap"; a new composition by COTAlum composer Dave Springfield entitled “9-1/2 Months"; and a tribute composition, “Waltz for Mike", by Jay Rattman, commissioned by Pocono Chefs.
COTA's Main Stage Jazz performances run continuously from noon to 9:00 p.m. on Saturday and from 12:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Sunday (following a free 10:00 a.m. Jazz Mass, with a full orchestra, solo vocalists, and 40-voice choir). One-day tickets for adults (Saturday or Sunday) are $25/person; two-day adult tickets may be purchased for $40 at the gate on Saturday, or in advance through www.cotajazz.org. Tickets for seniors (over 65) and students with ID are $15 each day; tickets for children ages 5-12 are $10 each day; children under age 5 are admitted free.
Open all day Saturday and Sunday are COTA's tented Children's Area (supervised, with storytellers, live music, and craft projects); a multi-vendor Food Court with table seating; an Artisans' Row of fine artists, jewelers, and crafters; and a COTA Booth where fans may purchase records, books, CDs, and DVDs by COTA performers, as well as COTA posters and memorabilia.
No pets or recording devices are allowed at the site. All seating is hillside; blankets or low lawn chairs are advised. In the event of rain, weekend performances will be held beneath a tent, which can accommodate approximately 1,000 fans.
For more information, call (570) 424-2210, or visit our website. The Celebration of the Arts (COTA), an all-volunteer-staffed, non-profit, community-supported festival, is presented in cooperation with the Borough of Delaware Water Gap, the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission, and Castle Hill Development.
The festival opens Friday evening with a reception for COTA's Music Motif Show, a juried mixed-media art show, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Antoine Dutot Museum & Gallery on Main Street (Route 611) (no admission charge). In keeping with its tradition of supporting all the performing arts, COTA then presents an evening of edgy political theater, classical music, and jazz from 7:00 to 9:30 p.m. at the Presbyterian Church of the Mountain, across the street from the museum. Admission for this event is $8.00 per person, at the door.
On Saturday and Sunday, the music moves outdoors--to a superbly sound-engineered Main Stage on Delaware Avenue (in front of the historic Castle Inn)--as COTA presents two jam-packed days of jazz, a splendid array of Bebop, Swing, Blues, Jazz Fusion, and Latin, with three outstanding Big Bands whose repertoires incorporate newly transcribed charts and new arrangements. (What you hear at COTA, you may never hear again.)
In addition to Woods, Liebman, Dorough, and the Greens (Urbie, Kathy, and Jesse), the 31st COTA program welcomes back a host of enduring crowd favorites, many showcasing their new collaborations--veteran Nelson Hill on saxophone with the Eric Mintel Trio; guitarist Vic Juris with both the Dave Liebman Quartet and Michael Stephans' Trio Frio; vocalist Michele Bautier leading a new sextet featuring Sol Yaged; drummer Tom Whaley leading his own band for the first time at COTA, Tom Whaley Whaley and the Marlers; Lew Del Gatto (of Saturday Night Live! fame), returning to COTA to play live (with his friend of 50 years, Bob Keller) their recently recorded tribute (with Whaley, Jesse Green, and Tony Marino) to Al Cohn and Zoot Sims; and Liebman's drummer Marco Marcinko now also leading his own Latin Jazz Quartet.
COTA's also sizzling with a new line-up of sensational break-out talents who've recently joined the COTA “family": returning COTAlum Nellie McKay and her Obligatory Villagers (Saturday night's closer); Broadway musical star Simone, in a tribute to her pioneering mother, Nina Simone (Sunday night's closer); and 16-year-old local pianist and composer Dave Lantz IV, already nationally acclaimed.
A perennial Sunday highlight is once again the COTA Cats, a Big Band founded by NEA Jazz Master (and COTA co-founder) Phil Woods in 1981; ever since, the Cats band has been formed anew each year by bringing together the region's most talented high-school music students, who are then coached by COTA professional musicians for their one-time gig on COTA's Main Stage. This year's Cats' performance (2:30 p.m. Sunday) features “greatest hits" from the COTA Cats Library (a collection of pieces specially commissioned and/or arranged for the Cats); a commissioned arrangement from pianist/composer Bill Mays of his own “Rollin' Down The Water Gap"; a new composition by COTAlum composer Dave Springfield entitled “9-1/2 Months"; and a tribute composition, “Waltz for Mike", by Jay Rattman, commissioned by Pocono Chefs.
COTA's Main Stage Jazz performances run continuously from noon to 9:00 p.m. on Saturday and from 12:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Sunday (following a free 10:00 a.m. Jazz Mass, with a full orchestra, solo vocalists, and 40-voice choir). One-day tickets for adults (Saturday or Sunday) are $25/person; two-day adult tickets may be purchased for $40 at the gate on Saturday, or in advance through www.cotajazz.org. Tickets for seniors (over 65) and students with ID are $15 each day; tickets for children ages 5-12 are $10 each day; children under age 5 are admitted free.
Open all day Saturday and Sunday are COTA's tented Children's Area (supervised, with storytellers, live music, and craft projects); a multi-vendor Food Court with table seating; an Artisans' Row of fine artists, jewelers, and crafters; and a COTA Booth where fans may purchase records, books, CDs, and DVDs by COTA performers, as well as COTA posters and memorabilia.
No pets or recording devices are allowed at the site. All seating is hillside; blankets or low lawn chairs are advised. In the event of rain, weekend performances will be held beneath a tent, which can accommodate approximately 1,000 fans.
For more information, call (570) 424-2210, or visit our website. The Celebration of the Arts (COTA), an all-volunteer-staffed, non-profit, community-supported festival, is presented in cooperation with the Borough of Delaware Water Gap, the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission, and Castle Hill Development.
For more information contact All About Jazz.
