Saturday's kick-off is from none other than the Phil Woods Quintet at high-noon, followed by the Alex Watkins Quartet, Dave Liebman's Group, and the Eric Doney Trio. Gary Rissmiller's Quartet features June Thomas, and JARO (the Jazz Artists Repertory Orchestra) performs with special guest soloist, Bob Grauso, on drums.
In addition, the Steve Gilmore Quintet performs as well as Bob Dorough's Band. As night falls, Jesse Heckman's Quartet performs and Active Ingredients top off the evening with Marko Marcinko swinging the beat.
On Sunday, the DWG COTA Jazz Mass is worshiped under the clearest and warmest of skies. The entire weekend saw not a cloudy sky nor drop of rain.
Festival Twenty-One resumes at noon with Urbie & Kathy Green, along with the Jesse Green Trio, followed by the Donna Antonow Trio.
At 2:15, the 1998 Cota Cats, Volume XVIII swings with guest soloist Phil Woods. Performed are Allen's Town, as composed by Eric Doney and arranged by COTA Cat Allen Carrescia, Easy Money (Benny Carter), Twisted Blues (Wes Montgomery), and Sunhawk, a composition by Phil Markowitz and arranged by Markowitz for the 1998 COTA Cats. Benny Carter's Souvenir is performed as well as The Rev & I, a composition by Phil Woods in dedication to John "The Rev" Flick.
At 3:30, the David Leonhard Jazz Group performs with Nancy Reed on vocals, followed by Craig Kastelnik & Friends (who are the Friends anyway? - Brian Lynch, Robert Routch, Rob Middleton, Tom Kozic, Gary Rissmiller, and Pat Flaherty).
Come 5:15, the Delaware Water Gap Celebration Of The Arts Festival Orchestra swings hard and loud with all eighteen members tight as ever. The Absolute Trio performs afterwards, followed by Swing 'N Dixie, which brings Festival Twenty-One to a triumphant close.
Each year's COTA Festival has something unique to remember, or several things for that matter. This year, Bob Dorough enjoys the response to his 1997 Blue Note release, Right On My Way Home, featuring Bill Takas, Grady Tate, Christian McBride, Billy Hart and Joe Lovano. Half of the CD was recorded at Red Rock Recording Studios in Saylorsburg, PA; keeping engineer Kent Heckman busy, in that the Grammy nominated Concord release Celebration! was recorded there as well.
Also, this year, Phil Woods heads up with co-veteran-of-the-Monk-day's Johnny Griffin, for a Blue Note release entitled The Rev & I. Also recorded by Kent Heckman at Red Rock, this 1998 release features not only Griffin, but Cedar Walton, Peter Washington, Ben Riley, and none-other than Bill Goodwin as well.
On the title track, written by Phil Woods for his comrade of friendship-computer-golf,-et all, John "The Rev" Flick, Phil plays... the electric piano.
Not all memories are so pleasant however, in that the world lost Kenton Michael Lerch on February 1, 1998. Kenton was a COTA Cat saxophonist in both 1991 and 1992, and had studied saxophone privately with Nelson Hill.
Kenton is fondly remembered in the 1998 Festival Program by Patrick Dorian, where Prof. Dorian completes the tribute with...
...I shall see beauty but none to match your living grace.
I shall hear music...
...I shall fill days but I shall not, cannot, forget.
Sleep soft, dear friend.
- Author unknown.
Kenton Michael Lerch
February 9, 1975 - February 1, 1998
Born March 5, 1932 in Toledo, Bill relocated from Indiana to New York, and had made his first recording with friend, compatriate, and lifelong colleague, Bob Dorough, on Bethlehem Records.
The two, (the "Dynamic Duo," as Bob Dorough describes themselves) drifted apart for some years, but had united once again in 1975, and performed as a duo, virtually exclusively since then, up to Takas' unfortunate passing.
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