A President’s Weekend Salute to Big Band Jazz

JARO

The imaginative and crowd-pleasing big band JARO (Jazz Artists Repertory Orchestra) will perform on Sunday afternoon February 20, 2011 at the Cecilia S. Cohen Recital Hall as the next presentation in the 2010-11 ESU Jazz Synergy Series.

The concert, which is being billed as “A President’s Weekend Salute to Big Band Jazz,” will present multi-talented musicians from the Pocono region putting their own unique stamp on vintage compositions for jazz orchestra. In keeping with the theme of this big band event, the concert will feature tunes made popular by some of America’s most famous jazz orchestras, leaders, composers, arrangers and singers. And, as JARO’s legion of fans has come to expect, some neglected and obscure ones will be showcased as well. Among the big bands to be included in this year’s program are those of Duke Ellington, Elliot Lawrence, Horace Henderson, Jerry Wald, Woody Herman, Marty Paich, Maynard Ferguson, Ray McKinley, Boyd Raeburn, Oliver Nelson and Noble Sissle, featuring such acclaimed composers and arrangers as Al Cohn, Gerry Mulligan, Dizzy Gillespie, Shorty Rogers, Fred Sturm and Clare Fischer. 

JARO is dedicated to preserving and promoting the rich heritage of big band jazz. Its musicians reflect the many respected artists who live in the Pocono region, including such favorites as trombonist Rick Chamberlain, saxophonists Nelson Hill and Richard Barz, trumpeter Danny Cahn, vocalist Judy Lincoln, and pianist and musical director Wolfgang Knittel. Three of its acclaimed members are employed at East Stroudsburg University: trumpeter Patrick Dorian and trombonist Jim Daniels are music professors, and drummer Bob D’Aversa is ESU’s chief information officer. JARO has been a fixture at the annual Delaware Water Gap Celebration of the Arts jazz festival, and its members have appeared individually and collectively at many other major jazz festivals and venues both regionally and around the world.
 
The concert will be presented in the Cecilia S. Cohen Recital Hall at the Fine and Performing Arts Center, Normal and Marguerite Streets, on the East Stroudsburg University campus. General admission suggested donation to the concert is $5; all students with a current ID will be admitted free. Doors will open at 2:45 p.m.

The 2010-11 ESU Jazz Synergy Series is presented by the ESU Music Department, in conjunction with the ESU Regional Jazz Coalition and the Al Cohn Memorial Jazz Collection at ESU’s Kemp Library. For more information, call Bob Bush at (570) 422-3828 or send email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . To check on other upcoming arts events at ESU, call the ESU Cultural Events Hotline at (570) 422-3483.