“On consecutive weekends, I found the movie, “Rikki and the Flash” to be good and the 11th annual Scranton Jazz Festival to be great. I’m sure the Peach Music Festival was also very good, but as I said, the jazz festival was great.

Master of ceremonies Larry Pugliese frequently touted “local musicians who have gained national prominence” and have come home not only out of loyalty, but because they recognize an audience that is both knowledgeable and appreciative. On Aug. 15, when the internationally renowned band Spyro Gyra played, it seemed that the roof might come off the Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel. The band and the crowd were really on and then the dancing began.

Kudos to executive director Bob Schlesinger and artist-artistic director Marko Marcinko, both impresarios. They well know that jazz is America’s gift to the world of music.”

-RICHARD J. YOST
SOUTH ABINGTON TWP.