Scranton Jazz Festival 20th Anniversary Show Tickets Now Available for Sale

Celebrating the 20^th anniversary of the Scranton Jazz Festival, Tower of Power performs on the Main Stage this summer! Tickets on sale now for this special concert!

Now in its 20^th year, the Scranton Jazz Festival will celebrate a milestone in its history with three days of live jazz, blues and world beat music, August 1 to 3 in Downtown Scranton. Pennsylvania’s world class jazz festival will feature the iconic funk and soul band Tower of Power on the Main Stage at the Scranton Cultural Center at the Masonic Temple (SCC). Tickets for the performance are on sale now at www.scrantonjazzfestival.org.

Tower of Power is an American R&B-based horn section and band, originating in Oakland, California. “East Bay Grease,”their debut album released in 1970,defined their sound and landed them with Warner Brothers. In 1972, their “Bump City” albumwas a hit on the Billboard 200 and the R&B Albums chart yielding some of their most famous hits, including “You’re Still A Young Man” and “Down to The Nightclub.” The band’s popularity continued to soar with the release of “Tower of Power” in 1973 featuring hits “So Very Hard to Go” and “What Is Hip?”

Tower of Power will perform at the Scranton Jazz Festival as the Main Stage Act at the Scranton Cultural Center at the Masonic Temple, 420 N. Washington Avenue, Scranton, on Saturday, August 2. Doors open at 7 p.m. with an 8 p.m. show time. Tickets start at $45.65. A limited VIP Sound Check Experience package is available for $178.80. The package includes access to Tower of Power’s sound check, a photo with the band, and a concert ticket. For tickets, visit www.scrantonjazzfestival.org.

In addition to Tower of Power, the festival lineup includes the Emmy-nominated Scranton Jazz Festival Big Band in concert and performances by more than 80 national, regional and local swing, jazz, blues and world beat musicians. Reminiscent of a New Orleans style festival, the event takes place in more than 20 venues throughout Downtown Scranton, featuring a Jazz Walk on Friday and Saturday nights and Jazz Brunches on Sunday. More details will be released soon!

The Scranton Jazz Festival is made possible through partnerships with Blu Elefante Events, PA Jazz Alliance Inc., Lackawanna County Visitors Bureau, First Friday Scranton, Lackawanna County, and Scranton Tomorrow, and with the generous support of sponsors and media partners.

For tickets and more information, visit www.scrantonjazzfestival.org and follow Scranton Jazz Festival on Facebook and Instagram.

History of the Scranton Jazz Festival

The inaugural Scranton Jazz Festival (SJF) was held in 2005 at Hanlon’s Grove Amphitheatre in Nay Aug Park, Scranton, Pennsylvania. After a major snowstorm damaged the facility in 2007, organizers moved the event to the historic Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel in Downtown Scranton. The festival later expanded to include live music at the Radisson and in dozens of venues throughout the downtown.

Presented in August, the 3-day festival features the finest international, national and regional jazz, blues and world beat artists. The event draws audiences from the entire Mid-Atlantic region, resulting in tremendous notoriety and exposure to the international jazz world. The SJF contributes to the region as a cultural epicenter, spreading the arts throughout the northeast much like festivals in other parts of the country do, such as Newport, Rhode Island; Saratoga Springs, Florida; and Monterey, California.

SJF is an annual tribute to Scranton’s rich history in jazz, which dates back to the 1930s. Jazz legends Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey performed regularly with the famous Scranton Sirens Jazz Band. The greater Scranton area is also credited with hosting the first known recorded jazz festival, “The Cavalcade of Dixieland Jazz,” in 1951.

Festival organizers aspire to carry on this rich tradition while the event becomes a recognized contributor to the world of jazz, blues and world beat music in its own right. Celebrating its 20^th anniversary in 2025, SJF is made possible with support from sponsors and partners, and an outstanding staff of artisans, technicians, administrators and volunteers. As a result of their dedication, the festival has remained a high-quality musical event that entertains and inspires festival goers while supporting the region’s economy with a boost in tourism to the city. It is the hope and desire of everyone involved with the festival that it will continue for decades to come. To learn more, visit www.scrantonjazzfestival.org.

Tower of Power

For 57 years, Tower of Power has delivered the best in funk and soul music. “We were a Soul band called The Motowns,” recalls Emilio Castillo. “Rocco was the bass player, I was there, and my brother was the drummer. I met “Doc” Kupka back in 1968 and gave him an audition. He came in the band, and we eventually changed our name to the Tower of Power.” The reason for the band name change was that they had a specific goal in mind. 

East Bay Grease defined their sound and landed them with Warner Brothers. Bump City, their 1972 debut for the label, was a hit on both the Billboard 200 and the R&B Albums chart and netted them the hits “You’re Still A Young Man” and “Down to The Nightclub.” The 70s were a boom period with radio classics like “So Very Hard to Go” and “What Is Hip?,” and the band continued to tour and record over the years. Castillo says their love of the stage is the same today as it was back in 1968.

Fifty years later, in 2018, they returned to Oakland to celebrate their landmark 50^th anniversary. Tower’s window-rattling grooves and raucous party spirit has been a balm for the soul throughout their half-century existence, but the release of 50 Years of Funk & Soul: Live at the Fox Theater couldn’t have arrived at a better time.

The band has long since surpassed Castillo’s modest aspirations, traveling the world, enjoying hit singles on their own and backing legendary artists including Otis Redding, Elton John, Santana, the Grateful Dead, John Lee Hooker, Aerosmith, Bonnie Raitt, and countless others. In the process they’ve defined an “Oakland soul” sound as instantly recognizable as those from Castillo’s hometown, Detroit, as well as inspirations like Memphis and Philadelphia. 

The future of Tower of Power is set out to be vigorous and dynamic and will prove to be just that for fans around the world starved for the band’s groove just the way Tower of Power likes it! To learn  more, visit towerofpower.com.