SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA CO. (WOLF) — All across Scranton, toes were tapping and heads were nodding as the Scranton Jazz Festival strummed its way into its 21st year.
“We transform the city into like a mini New Orleans,” said Scranton Jazz Festival artistic director Marko Marcinko.
From movie theaters to showrooms, rooftops to restaurants, musicians young and old blew, sang, drummed and played different types of jazz in over 20 different venues.
“You got blues.” continued Marcinko. “We have some Americana. We have Latin Jazz. We have vocal jazz. We have big band jazz. We have some funk. We have a little mix of everything. Jazz incorporates itself into a lot of different genres.”
Restaurants were filled with people grabbing a bite and listening to a tune as the city saw an influx of people hear to face the music.
“That brings a lot of people from outside of Scranton to downtown, which is nice,” said Krity Picciocchi, owner of Picciocchi’s. “It’s nice that they organized these festas and last week we had La Festa Italiana, I mean they have a lot of things going on so it’s always nice to bring people downtown.”
It’s an over two-decade long tradition that celebrates Scranton’s art scene and brings the community together through song and whether you stop to listen for two minutes or two hours, organizers made sure everyone would have a good time.
“If you know about jazz or not know about jazz, you’re going to come to a social gathering of people that the energy is just fantastic, and you’re going to have a great time,” said Marcinko. “It’s a really great weekend for getting together and meeting new people, having some great foods, great spirits, some great drinks, and hearing a lot of live music.”
In case you missed it or want to come back, the Scranton Jazz Festival is going on all week.