Mayor Bob Crowell Has Died
Saturday, Sept. 12, 2020

Carson City Mayor Bob Crowell and his wife were great supporters of the arts in Carson City. In particular they supported the Jazz & Beyond Music & Art Festival for many years. Bob died this morning. We will miss his warmth, dedication, and smile. Click HERE for a beautiful photo montage prepared by photographer Cathleen Allison. I feel it captures so much that we loved about Mayor Bob.
- David Bugli

Revised Jazz & Beyond Schedule
Updated Thursday, August 27, 2020

The Jazz & Beyond Music and Art Festival is posting a revised schedule of events. This schedule has been adjusted from the original schedule in response to the coronavirus situation. We are attempting to maintain the festival site at https://jazzcarsoncity.com, but we have experienced a few technical glitches. We hope this additional listing will be of benefit.

EVENTS

• Wed., Aug. 19 – "High Society" drive-in movie at Brewery Arts Center parking lot. Parking starts at 7:30. Movie starts around 8:30. FREE.
• Thur., Aug. 20 – "High Society" drive-in movie at Brewery Arts Center parking lot. Parking starts at 7:30. Movie starts around 8:30. FREE.
• Sat. Aug. 22 and Sun. Aug. 23 – Open Studios Tour - 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days. For essential information, see https://jazzcarsoncity.com/openstudio or call 775-883-4154. FREE.
• First live-streamed event – Sunday, Aug. 30, 2020 – 3:00 p.m. PST (This was originally scheduled for Aug. 29) – The Jazzettes – Their Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/TheJazzettes. Link to the live-streamed event will be live on Aug. 30 (just prior to the event) at https://www.facebook.com/jazzcarsoncity/. FREE.
• Second live-streamed event – Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2020 – 7:00 p.m. PST – Josh D. Reed Quartet. Link to the live-streamed event will be live on Sept. 1 (just prior to the event) at https://www.facebook.com/jazzcarsoncity/. FREE.
• Bill Rose & Laurie Blue – Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2020 – 7:00 p.m. PST – Streamed event, pre-recorded at Melodee Music in Virginia. Link to the streamed event will opened on Sept. 8 (just prior to the event) at https://www.facebook.com/jazzcarsoncity/. FREE.
• Tues. Sept 15 – Live-streamed event with Tom Stryker & Impromptu at 7:00 p.m. FREE. Link to the live-streamed event will opened on Sept. 15 (just prior to the event) at https://www.facebook.com/jazzcarsoncity/.
• Sun. Sept. 13 – Jazz Brunch at Empire Ranch Golf, with Niall McGuinness & New World Jazz Project, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. – Reservations required. Link to the live-streamed event will opened on Sept. 13 (just prior to the event) at https://www.facebook.com/jazzcarsoncity/.
• Sun. Sept. 20 – "A Day at the (little) Ranch" – An event with Sagebrush Rebels, 4:00 p.m. (new time). Reservations required for the live event. FREE. will opened on Sept. 20 (just prior to the event) at https://www.facebook.com/jazzcarsoncity/. (Originally this was going to be "A Day at the Silver Saddle Ranch," but plans had to be changed due to the coronavirus situation.)
• Sun. Sept. 27 – Second Jazz Brunch at Empire Ranch Golf, with Cherie & Take This! 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. – Reservations required. Link to the live-streamed event will opened on Sept. 27 (just prior to the event) at https://www.facebook.com/jazzcarsoncity/.

For further information, check JazzCarsonCity.com or call 775-883-4154.

Jazz & Beyond Music and Art Festival Releases Revised Plan
Media Release - Aug. 5, 2020

The Jazz & Beyond Music and Art Festival is taking a new direction in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The festival was founded in 2004. This is the first year in which gathering of large crowds at musical events has been restricted due to health concerns. The festival, originally planned to start on August 7, now has events starting on August 19 and continuing into September. It will include drive-in movies, small in-person concerts, live streamed concerts, and pre-recorded events made available to the public through the festival's website at JazzCarsonCity.com.

"Back in the middle of March, we had a fairly complete schedule with a few dozen performances planned for the festival in August, but all that changed as the pandemic spread," said David Bugli, President of the Mile High Jazz Band Assoc., sponsor of the festival. "With this new approach, we hope to share with the people in our community some of the great talent from our area, and perhaps reach a wider audience outside Carson City through our live-streamed and pre-recorded events. With few exceptions, admission to events will be free through the generosity of our grantors, advertisers, sponsors donors and Association members."

The first event will be a free, jazz related drive-in movie, "High Society," on Wednesday, August 19, and Thursday, August 20, in the parking lot at the Brewery Arts Center. The movie is presented in cooperation with the Carson City Classic Cinema Club. The 1956 movie, based on the earlier "Philadelphia Story" movie, is moved to a high-class setting near the Newport Jazz Festival. It features Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, and Grace Kelly in her last movie role before becoming Princess Grace of Monaco. Robin Holabird, film critic and former Nevada Film Commissioner, will introduce the movie and provide commentary. The event is supported in part by a generous grant from the Great Basin Consulting Group (Mike Drews). Reservations are required for each vehicle, and information will be posted on the festival website JazzCarsonCity.com.

The second annual Carson City Open Studios Tour (OST), part of the festival, will be on Saturday, August 22, and Sunday, August 23, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at ten studios throughout Carson City. This admission-free, contemporary cultural event will showcase more than 25 local artists, presenting a wide variety of exceptional visual art and art demonstrations, from painting, sculpture, and 3D art to jewelry, photography, and pottery in ten individual and shared spaces. The Wa-Pai-Shone Gallery at Stewart Indian School Cultural Center & Museum will display works of several Great Basin Native Artists. Individual musicians will perform at six of the locations. OST brochures, which include a map of the locations and list of artists and musicians, are available at the Carson City Culture and Tourism Authority, the Nevada Artists Association, and Carson City Chamber of Commerce, and may be downloaded from the OST page at JazzCarsonCity.com/openstudio.

The Festival plans to start live streaming music events on August 29 and on subsequent dates in September. Bands will perform with a very limited audience at A to Zen, and will be live streamed over the Internet and recorded for later access via the festival website. These will mostly feature musicians who were previously scheduled to perform live in mid-August.

The Day at the Silver Saddle Ranch will be on Sunday, September 20, with the Sagebrush Rebels and Sierra Sweethearts. Reservations are required.

An outdoor Sunday Jazz Brunch featuring Niall McGuinness and the New World Jazz Project is planned for Sunday, September 13, at Empire Ranch Golf, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Reservations, at $10 per person, include a mimosa or soft drink, and guests can order from the Mallard's menu.

Due to the nature of the pandemic, these plans are subject to change. For up-to-date information, check out the festival website at JazzCarsonCity.com or the Facebook page at facebook.com/jazzcarsoncity, or call 775-883-4154.

Artwork: Karen Kreyeski's After Midnight Jam, this year's winning artwork.

Mile High Jazz Band Presents
"Moten Swing, performed by Mile High Jazz Band"
Available on YouTube, Sunday, August 16, 2020

The Mile High Jazz Band Assoc. presents a video called "Moten Swing, performed by Mile High Jazz Band." It is available as an unlisted video on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhH-uEksGCg.

Mile High Jazz Band (MHJB) presents its first virtual big-band recording, each individual part recorded by band members and guests artists in their homes in July 2020. This endeavor is one way for the MHJB to continue to work together as a group, even though the coronavirus prevents us from rehearsing together and performing for our dearly missed audience.

As the MHJB explores the new technology for combining separate tracks into a whole, we like to pay tribute to some musical pioneers who came before us. Bennie Moten (1894-1935) wrote "Moten Swing" with his brother Buster in 1932 for his Kansas City Orchestra. It gained additional recognition when Benny Goodman (1909-1986) recorded it in 1938. But it is best known for being recorded in 1940 by Count Basie (1904-1984) and his orchestra. Basie had joined the Moten band in 1929 as a pianist, even though the band already had a pianist (Bennie Moten!). Some speculate that Moten aspired to bring his band up to the level of Duke Ellington's, and hiring musicians of Basie's caliber would help. Basie helped Moten develop the Kansas City style, in part by replacing the 2-beat-per-measure emphasis of the tuba with the 4-beat-per-measure feel of the string bass, an innovation that led to swing.

For information on the Mile High Jazz Band, please go to MileHighJazz.com. The Mile High Jazz Band Assoc. has sponsored the yearly Jazz & Beyond Music and Art Festival since the 100th birthday of Count Basie in August 2004 (see JazzCarsonCity.com).

Watch "It's Your City" Episode
"Jazz and Beyond 2020: Pandemic Style"
August 4, 2020

Here is an episode of "It's Your City" called "Jazz and Beyond 2020: Pandemic Style." Cortney Bloomer interviews David Bugli on Aug. 4, 2020. Here is the link: CLICK HERE.

This is David's 7/30/20 "Good Day Carson" interview with Kassandra Butterfield. The festival portion starts around 31:25 on the recording. Here is the link: CLICK HERE.

Mile High Jazz Band Presents
"Virtual Jazz & Poetry - Running Out"
Available on YouTube Sunday, July 19, 2020

The Mile High Jazz Band Assoc. is presenting a video that we are calling "Virtual Jazz & Poetry: Running Out." It is available as an unlisted video on YouTube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqkA5QyRCtI.

On March 10, 2020, the band did a live Jazz & Poetry event at Comma Coffee in Carson City, NV, on the theme, "Fate & Fortune." Little did we know that five days later the band's own fate was to be put in a lockdown for an undetermined period. Faced with this predicament of not being able to perform live, we decided to create a Virtual Jazz & Poetry video in lieu of the Jazz & Poetry event originally scheduled for June 9, 2020. We selected the theme, "Running Out."

Several poets, given the theme, wrote or selected appropriate poems to be read on the video and isolated band members recorded tunes related to the poems. The result of these efforts is this video in six short acts, each consisting of the reading of a poem and the performance of a related piece of music.

During the Coronavirus pandemic, the band is also developing a virtual big band presentation of a golden oldie from the big band era. Be on the lookout for that, too.

Photo: Rita Geil (center) and other poet readers read a poem by Carl Sandburg, captured in a Zoom conference call, part of "Virtual Jazz & Poetry: Running Out."