Press Release

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At The Colony Cafe... Friday, July 16th - Sunday, July 18th
Cool Folk Friday, July 16th (All Folk)
"Songwriters in the Round"
Doors open at 7pm (Get Tickets)
THE FRIDAY LINE UP

• BAR SCOTT
  Bar Scott left the Philadelphia area in 1988 to pursue a music career
  in New York City. Since then she has released 4 recordings of original
  works and 3 collections of cover material, as well as a music video,
  a children‚s book with music, and a number of compilations. more...
  
• JOHN HERALD
  John Herald was the founder of the Greendriar
  Boys, the first bluegrass group in the Northeast.
  Herald has recorded with Doc Watson, Joan Baez, David
  Bromberg, and Linda Ronstadt. more...
  
• JULIE LAST
  Julie Last as been active in the music and recording
  business for over 25 years. As a singer/ songwriter, she has
  released her own CD and has had her music included in
  several independent films. She was also specially
  commissioned to write and record a song for the best
  selling album, Celtic Twilight Lullabies and has sung
  background vocals on recordings by Talking Heads, Joni
  Mitchell and Michael Veitch. Since moving from Los
  Angeles to Woodstock five years ago, Ms Last has
  developed a strong and heartfelt connection to this
  unique community of artists.
  
• MICHAEL VEITCH
  A Vermont native, now living in Woodstock NY, his
  songs run from soft and heartfelt ballads to rocking
  political commentaries. Veitch has strong melodies, a
  soaring voice, and wears his progressive politics on
  his sleeve. more...
  

Hot Jazz Saturday, July 17th
"Laurel Masse"
Doors open at 7pm (Get Tickets)
THE SATURDAY LINE UP

• ABBEY HOLLANDER
  Abby is a junior Theatre Arts major at SUNY New Paltz.
  Most recently she was seen in Spring 2004's production of
  Eugene O'Neill's "The Hairy Ape." She also performs in
  area restaurants and music clubs with her band
  the Abby Hollander Trio (sometimes performing as a quartet).
  She has performed in various clubs as a special guest with
  both the Saturday Night Bluegrass Band and Big Deep.
  She expects to be back at the Colony later this summer
  with her quartet.
  
• KAREN WHITMAN AND RICK PANTELL
  Take a classical and East European folk music
  influenced singer/songwriter with a flair for puns and
  limericks, and pair her with an American folk and rock
  influenced singer/songwriter who was educated by Mad
  magazine, and you have the duo of Whitman and Pantell.
  Karen Whitman and Rick Pantell work with acoustic and
  electric instruments to support Karen's warm, honest
  and natural vocals on mostly original songs reflecting
  the ups and downs of our times. more...
  
• LAUREL MASSE
  Laurel Masse, founding member of Grammy award-winning
  vocal group Manhattan Transfer, toured internationally
  for seven years with the group and recorded five
  albums. In 1979, a serious automobile accident forced
  her departure. After two years of convalescence, she
  began touring again both in the States and in Europe.
  She has released four solo CDs. The first two, Alone
  Together and Easy Living, both hit the Billboard Jazz
  charts; the third, "Again", was a People magazine
  pick. Feather and Bone, her 2000 release, was picked
  by audiophile magazine The Absolute Sound as "a
  recording of extraordinary musical and sonic value". more...
  
• SIMONE HOUSEN
  Simone Hausen, only sixteen years old has starred in
  Kingston's High School's "Les Miserables". Hausen has
  also performed an outstanding performance in
  Woodstock's very own Youth Center performance of the
  hit musical "Hair".
  Hausen became interested in jazz at an early age.
  She writes her own music and sings classic jazz tunes.
  
• TONY DESARE - SINATRA TRIBUTE
  Born in Glens Falls, New York, Tony was raised in a
  musical family and started singing and playing
  professionally at 17. DeSare moved to New York City
  in 1999 and soon started an engagement at the Marriott
  Marquis Hotel in Times Square. In 2000, he was cast in
  the Off-Broadway hit, "Our Sinatra," where DeSare had
  numerous stints as the lead.

  Tony DeSare has also been a featured performer at
  Jilly's, the legendary Rat Pack era celebrity hangout
  owned by Sinatra's best friend. Currently, Tony has
  become a main attraction at New Jersey's premier jazz
  club, "Shanghai Jazz", where he plays monthly to
  sold-out crowds.

Gourmet Blend Sunday, July 18th
"A Taste of Woodstock"
Doors open at 2pm(Get Tickets)
THE SUNDAY LINE UP

• STUDIO STU "Host"
  Studio Stu started his music studies when his third grade teacher told his
  parents he had 'special talents'. In a rush to get him into the biz, they
  enrolled him in the Sandy Lane Music School in Brooklyn. And seein' as how this was
  the fifties, the instrument de jour was the accordion.

  After being thrown out of the Sandy Lane Accordion School for, "playing notes
  during orchestra rehearsal that didn't exist," (true quote, I swear) he tried
  several music schools and instruments before settling on the washtub bass. "I
  saw this cat in a cartoon playing a washtub bass, and the notes he was
  playing were the notes in my head," says Studio Stu, "they were jazz riffs, some out
  jazz, and he was singing some mammy/pappy thing, smokin' a cigar, it was
  crazy. And right then and there, I knew that's what I wanted to do."
  

  Ever diligent to get the best sound possible from an eighteen dollar tub, he
  worked for years, investing his allowance on the best materials three dollars
  and fifty cents a week could buy, and finally, after years of experimentation,
  and with the help of master guitar maker, Lou Mancuso of the Bronx, he
  developed the Studivarious, a single string, virtuosic, solid maple, washtub bass.

  Studio Stu took to performing on the subway platforms in New York, doing only
  one tune, 'Take The A Train'. As the real A train pulled into the 34th Street
  station, chuckling tourists would inundate him with tips, and he became a New
  York icon. Then a guy asked him to perform in his club in Brooklyn, and
  before you know it, he has an agent and they're flying him in everywhere...coffee
  houses, jazz clubs, colleges, private house concerts; he's emceeing at jazz
  festivals, doing radio, performing solo, with his duo, and trio.

  Now, performing his 'Jazz Unstandards', he's back booking himself. His solo
  act is pure entertainment in his original jazz style and unique Brooklyn humor,
  fearless in delivery and willing to navigate uncharted paths through the
  improvisational wilderness; he is 'el ultimo hombre del lounge'. He can also be
  booked as an emcee/performer, keeping a multi-act event running smoothly; with
  jazz guitarist Mark Dziuba as Duo Loco; and, add percussionist, Dean Sharp for
  Trio Loco.

• ANNA CHEEK
  Anna, with her unusual, distinctive voice and her
  intimate songwriting style, has been attracting
  attention and gathering fans. A classically trained
  pianist, her songs and her personal approach to
  expressing her lyrics provide a very "real" listening
  opportunity, both in live and recorded performances. more...
  
• CAROLYN BAXTER
  Carolyn Baxter is an acclaimed actor/writer/solo
  performer. Her Show at the Public Theater "Prison,
  Solitary/ an Other Free Government Services" was
  reviewed in the Village Voice and Home Planet News.
  Baxter's published works include Poetry Anthology,
  "Prison Writing in 20th Century America" (Penguin
  Press 1999) and "Wall Tappings" (The Feminist Press
  2003). Her book "Prison, Solitary/an Other Free
  Government Services" received a National Endowment of
  the Arts Grant as well as a C.A.P.S. Award. more...
  
• DEB SILVER
  Deb Silver was born in Manchester U.K., where she was
  raised in a musical family environment-- her father
  was a vibraphonist/pianist and her mother was a torch
  singer. Her great grandfather was an opera singer,
  and all of her siblings sing and play instruments.

  Jazz called her name and the East Coast of America is
  where she came 'to play with the best'. Silver has
  had a regular show for three years at the famous
  downtown Jazz Club, Zinc Bar, with the great guitarist
  Ron Affif.

  Deb Silver's CD, Far From the Edge of the World is a
  combination of her original material and has received
  glowing reviews. Featuring many New York Jazz
  dignitaries such as; Lew Soloff (trumet), Ron Affif
  (guitar), Sarah Jane Cion (piano), Henrik Merkins
  (harmonica), Mike Lee (saxophone), Rodney Holmes
  (drums), and Daryl Hall (bass).

• DAVE MASON
  David Ross Mason began singing and playing guitar and
  violin before the age of 10. He has been composing
  and performing since the middle 1960's. He studied
  viola at the University of Michigan as he began
  working with Dave Brubeckís son Chris. This gave him
  the opportunity to work with such luminaries as Pat
  Metheny, Randy Brecker, Dave Brubeck, Gerry Mulligan,
  and Bob James. This period produced recordings for
  RCA, Atlantic and Columbia Records, along with
  national tours. In 1980 he toured with Was, Not Was
  playing 5-string viola.

  Dave then began working with Chris' brother, Dan, the
  drummer in the Brubeck family. They performed and
  recorded this, and many more of Mason's compositions.
  This led to tours with members of "The Band" and
  "Orleans".

  In the mid 80's he recorded and toured in Europe with
  Karl Bergerís jazz ensemble. Since then Dave has been
  performing solo with computer-based accompaniment and
  with The Bills Toupee Band in Hudson Valley clubs,
  resorts, catering halls and other venues.

  
  
• RAS T ASHEBER
  ASHEBER POSSE was brought together by Ras T Asheber
  over a decade ago, and marked the makings of a new
  sound in Reggae music. The music, composed primarily
  by Jamaican born group leader, Ras T, has its roots in
  traditional, cultural Rastafarian rhythms and hardcore
  rockers and includes crossover sounds from R & B,
  Funk, Rock, and Hip Hop.

  Accompanying Ras T (vocals and ceremonial) Craig
  Santiago (drums), Alana Orr (bass) Brendan Mcdough
  (guitar) Delroy Thomas (percussion). more...

• ROSEMARY CAMERA
  "Somehow I went from being a dancer and choreographer
  to being a songwriter. I was living in New York and
  was involved in the downtown dance and music scene,
  teaching and choreographing rock videos, when the
  abstraction of dance began falling short of an
  emerging impulse to voice my realist views.
  Simultaneously an affection for the kinesthetic
  evolved into a love of the finer, more subtle
  vibrations of sound. more...
  
• TOM DESISTO--Anima Mundi
  Disisto's side project, Anima Mundi, is a featured Jam
  band that leaves an after taste incorporating jazz
  reggae and rock flavor with a metal feel. Three
  players are local and the fourth is from Brooklyn.
  Led by Tom Disito and music written by him. Disisto
  and his crew recently performed at the "Weststrand
  Grill" in Kingston this past November. The group has
  been together since last August.
  
• VALEN SWENSON
  "I was a rock-n-roll baby. I grew up among musicians.
  I can't remember a time in my life when I didn't sing.
  There are certain natural abilities that we are born
  with. I was born singing. Through the years music
  has been an outlet where I could focus my energy and
  regain mental and emotional strength. My childhood
  was spent in various theater and dance groups. I
  wanted to do everything. My endeavors brought me to
  dance on the lawns of the White House and Disney World
  as well as sing at Woodstock 94 and perform the
  national anthem at a NASA space launch. It wasn't
  until I was 15 that I took up the guitar. I realized
  that performing was not enough for me; I wanted to
  create my own message to send out to the world. more...
  
• CARL MATTEO
  On Carl Mateoís CD, Big White House, off beat icons of
  the urban landscape in songs such as "Cyclone Day" and
  "Kool Man" (Kool Man Ice Cream trucks in Brooklyn) are
  intertwined with images from nature as in "Birdís Eye"
  and the title cut, "Big White House", to create the
  foundation for an atmospheric and personal recording.

  "The shortest cut on Mateoís album, "Bird's Eye,"
  manages to paint a mood that haunts you long after its
  two minutes have flown by, underlining the simple
  truth of such lyrics as "the sky is forever/it will
  pass by my bones."

  Singing clearly, deliberately, in the lower register,
  Mateo croons, "I have taken the birdís eye/I have
  taken no lie," and then abruptly repeats the rhyme in
  a high, ringing, expressive tenor, freeing the pent up
  emotion of the song." (Woodstock Times)
  Carlís debut solo recording has the vibe and intimate
  feel of an ensemble performance with "Fuzzy guitars,
  swirling Hammond B-3, George RushÇs bass
  contributions, and Brian Mellick's intriguing
  percussion painting a fine landscape on tunes such as
  "Kool Man", "Open Sky", "Sabotage", and "One Day".
  (Chronogram)

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General Admission
Tickets are available for purchase for each show or for a Festival Pass for all sessions.

Sponsorships
Sponsorship packages are available for the Festival.
Donation of $500 includes:
6 VIP tickets (2 per show)
2 tickets to Wrap Party, which concludes festival(Sunday 18th)
Name on festival website
Mention in program
2 vol. CD –set:  A Taste of Woodstock

Donation of $250 includes:
4 VIP tickets
Name on festival website
Mention in Program
2 vol. CD –set:  A Taste of Woodstock

For more information to help sponsor this event please contact Marissa at (845-679-3448), or marissa_levinson@yahoo.com
download an application in Adobe Acrobat format.