[Dixielandjazz] First USA Dixieland Jazz Festival - 1951

[Stephen G Barbone]

Viva Pennsylvania. <grin>

Cheers,
Steve Barbone
www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband

Latest Wilkes News Archives

Jazz Festival at Downtown Arts to Commemorate Wyoming Valley's Musical  
Heritage


A plaque on Wilkes-Barre's Public Square reads, On February 23, 1951  
history was made in Wilkes-Barre. Eight jazz bands got together for  
"The Cavalcade of Dixieland Jazz" which became the country's first  
jazz festival. On this occasion April 29, 1994 the City of Wilkes- 
Barre acknowledges and pays tribute to those early jazz musicians and  
promoters who initiated the tradition which continues today, not only  
here in its birthplace, but throughout the country. - Lee A. Namey,  
Mayor of Wilkes-Barre.

On the 60th anniversary of this important event in our region's  
history, the Pa Jazz Alliance, Downtown Arts, the Luzerne County  
Convention & Visitors Bureau, and the Cultural Council of Luzerne  
County have partnered to organize a Gala Jazz Concert at Downtown  
Arts, 47 North Franklin Street, on Friday, February 25th, 2011. At 6  
p.m., an opening reception will feature the Lee Vincent Memorial  
Band.  The concert itself will begin at 7 p.m.  and will feature an  
all-star cast of jazz greats The Bog Swing Band, The Jim Waltich  
Quartet, French jazz vocalist Ilona Knopfler, and trumpeter Nate  
Birkey with the Steve Rudolph Trio.

Tickets, which will be available at Gallery of Sound locations and by  
calling Downtown Arts at 570-905-7308, are $40 for the reception and  
concert and $20 for the concert only.

The organizing group believes that the this event, and others like it,  
is an opportunity to enhance the region's quality of life, attract  
tourism, and honor our past as an important region in American music.

For questions about this event, call Downtown Arts at 570-905-7308.