Podcasts about berks jazz festival

John Ernesto, General Manager of the Boscov's Berks Jazz Festival, speaking about the 30th anniversary of the event taking place August 13 through August 22, 2021, in Reading, PA at the DoubleTree by Hilton. For the complete schedule and more information: www.berksjazzfest.com/ Covid-19 protocols will be observed.

During Blue Note at Sea 2019, Wynton Marsalis came aboard with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra for two special sets. Before the performances he sat down with Blue Note at Sea host Marcus Miller for a conversation about his early years in New Orleans and the long-lasting influence of both of his parents, who were very serious about education. This episode is sponsored by Berks Jazz Festival. The Jazz Cruise Conversations podcast is produced by Entertainment Cruise Productions, the worldwide leader in music-themed cruises.

Drummer and bandleader Matt Wilson sits in with JT publisher Lee Mergner to spin cuts from his new album looking back on his life with his wife Felicia who died of cancer two years ago.  The album, Beginning of a Memory, features a band he calls Big Happy Family, comprised by the musicians from all his groups over the last 20 years.  Matt talked about the importance of family and how jazz musicians have become his extended family throughout his struggle to deal with his wife’s death.  This episode sponsored by Berks Jazz Festival.

Jazz writer Bob Blumenthal sits in to spin cuts from two recent very special archival releases from Resonance Records - The Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra's All My Yesterdays and Stan Getz's Moments in Time.  Bob and Lee then riff on what it means to release an album today and how technology has change not only how we listen, but also how the music is presented.  This episode is sponsored by Berks Jazz Festival.

Let’s begin at the beginning with John Ernesto, the General Manager of the Boscov’s Berks Jazz Fest. He has been involved since the beginning 26 years ago when The Arts Council and The Visitor’s Bureau and area hotels wanted to put together a Jazz Festival. It was meant to be a cultural art experience to draw people to Berks County during a slower time of year. 4 years later John Ernesto took over and learned along the way. It started as a weekend event, it expanded to a 10 day event to celebrate the 10th Anniversary and that format has continued to this day. The economic impact on Berks County is between 8 and 10 million dollars. Now the challenge is to keep people and artists coming back every year. The enthusiasm doesn’t wane. It has become a real destination for music fans. We try to keep the Boscov’s Berks Jazz Festival fresh so artists are brought back in different contexts. The fans come back every year because they trust us. It’s kind of like a jazz cruise on land. The artists mingle with the fans whether at a restaurant or a hotel lobby. Another staple of the Boscov’s Berks Jazz Fest is the midnight music jams. Musicians love to join the jam even after already performing multiple shows throughout the day and fans stay up through the wee hours of the morning to enjoy the music. The Jams will be held at Bldg 24 this year. John Ernest attributes the lasting success to this, “A simple philosophy is take care of the artists, take care of the fans, and everything else will take care of itself”. And so John and his team will do that again this year. John adds the biggest challenge is coordinating the artist availability and schedules. Manhattan Transfer, Take 6, Mavis Staples, an All-star cast performing the music of James Brown, Bela Fleck and Chick Corea, and child prodigy pianist Joey Alexander are just some of this year’s highlights.

Lee spins two recent holiday music albums - Tim Warfield's Jazzy Christmas and Nnenna Freelon's Christmas.  Lee explains his annual ritual of compiling a holiday music sampler for friends and family in lieu of a humbly boasting holiday letter.  Lee and Rene talk about their favorite holiday songs and they discuss the virtues of caroling.  During the Riff, Rene turns the tables and grills Lee on the upcoming Jazz Connect Conference at APAP|NYC in January.  And Lee in turn interviews Rene about her one woman play - Slut Energy Theory - which premiered earlier this year in NYC.  This episode sponsored by Berks Jazz Festival.