- [Host] Ladies and gentlemen, thanks very much for coming out to the Deer Head Inn.

(jazz music) (audience cheers and whistles) The first time I came here, I was 20 years old.

Cuz I heard about this piano player, Johnny Coates.

He was great and known among jazz players.

They all knew him, and they came to play with him.

And I liked jazz.

You know, some things you just hear and you like.

I realized I didn't have enough money on me to pay for all the beers that I (mumbles) And I've been paying for those beers ever since.

(laughs) (live jazz music playing) - You knew right away when you walked in, you sat down, you start listening to the place, the music and all, it was like, it was a fit.

You know, you just knew right away.

- I'd started tending bar here.

I knew the former owners, Bob and Fay Lehr, and we became very good friends.

Bob and Fay, we were good friends.

- I used to do the door here when they first bought the new piano, cuz it was free before that.

Bob Lehr, the owner, started that thing where you had to pay a dollar to get in.

And that upset a lot of people.

They didn't like to do that.

- I used to come visit Denny and Jen, my brother and sister-in-law.

I was living in California at the time, and I'd come back here and hang out.

- I'd leave the area and come back, just traveling around.

But I always came back here, and here I am.

And I think I'm staying.

(laughs) It's the oldest continuously running jazz club in the country.

- It's been the home-- (audience cheering) Thank you, yeah.

Thanks.

We're proud of that too.

(audience cheering) It's been the home of jazz in the Poconos continuously for over 72 years.

(crowd cheering) Yeah.

And it's a great place to listen to live jazz and we'd like to encourage you-- (Houston Person playing saxophone) There you go.

We'd like to encourage you to do just that.

- People stay here because it's an experience, it's a cultural experience.

- Plus the history, I guess, of the place, since it's been here doing jazz since '51.

And, you know, we really try and treat the musicians well.

- What they share and what they give back to the audience, that's reciprocal.

- Because when you're here, and you're listening, they know that.

They understand what it's like to give up the opportunity to make a lot of bread.

To sacrifice that to make a lot of good music.

And they appreciate the audience here.

I mean, this is a pretty educated audience.

It's a jazz audience.

They come to listen.

- [Host] And the legendary Houston Person!

(audience cheering) - Legendary me is old.

(audience laughing) - [Denny] Some guys were sitting around here one night.

Phil Woods, a great alto saxophonist, who lived right up the street.

Rick Chamberlain.

Rick was a great trombone player.

And Eddie Joubert.

They decided to start a festival: the COTA Festival.

Now it's in its 44th year, I think.

The COTA cats mentors a lot of great young musicians.

We had a COTA Jazz Camp here.

Kids came from actually all over the world.

They just pass it on.

- We are at the famous and long running Jam Session here at The Deer Head Inn.

(live jazz music playing) I found out about The Deer Head from my roommate in college, who was a jazz guitarist like me.

And he had started coming out to these.

- I live right in the area, right across the street.

Basically, I grew up coming over here.

I know the people that come here really well.

It's just been like such a big part of my community.

- You got guys like Bill Goodwin and Bill Washer who are still doing it.

And so getting the chance to play with these older musicians is irreplaceable.

There's really nothing like it.

- It's the way of jazz.

I mean, it's always been that way that the young guys are mentored by the older guys, and it's a close family.

- So I started trying to listen to Joe Pass and Wes Montgomery, and I realized just how little I knew.

(laughs) - They're getting to play with somebody like Bill Goodwin and Bill Washer, and you look at these guys' resumes, and you're like, blows you away.

- Guys that come in, who are pros and they just happen to be off.

So they'll sit in, and you just hang on.

You start the tune and hang on, and have some fun.

People can't believe I'm not in New York, I'm not in Philly, I'm not in Chicago.

Man, this place is amazing.

(laughs) - We're a good spot, right where we're at.

People always come back here.

Once they find the place, they come back.

- And I hear this a lot: "There's nothing like this.

"I've never been to anything like this place."

I say, yeah, I feel the same way.

I said, it's my favorite club in the world.

It's just a drag I gotta work here.

(music ends) (audience clapping)