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Mile High Jazz Band
External Links
Carson City Symphony
David Bugli website
Carson City Arts &
Culture Coalition (FB page)
Sacramento Traditional
Jazz
Society (STJS)
The Mile High Jazz Band Association formed in 2001 as a nonprofit corporation
to support the MHJB and its subgroup, the Millennium Bugs (jazz combo), promote
live jazz performance in northern Nevada, educate the public about jazz, and
enrich the cultural life of the community.
Member benefits include mailings, discounts on admissions, and
invitations to special events, plus the satisfaction of helping big-band jazz to thrive!
To book the Mile High Jazz Band (big band)
or Millennium Bugs (jazz combo),
call 775-883-4154.
Mile High Jazz Band Association Updated Mission Statement - Adopted March 4, 2012, by the
Board of Trustees:
Our mission is to enrich the cultural life of our community by promoting live
jazz performance in and around Carson City; enhancing arts education in collaboration
with other organizations and school programs; and supporting our resident big band,
the Mile High Jazz Band, and its affiliated combos.
MHJB Assoc. Board and Officers
The MHJBA board, July 2021:
- Trustees class of 2022: David Bugli, Rita Geil, Ted Xie
- Trustees class of 2023: Ellie Bugli, Steve Hayes, Randy Seeber
- Trustees class of 2024: Kelly Dodge, Jennifer Simkins, Doug Conner
(Class of 2024 elected at 7/25/2021 Annual Meeting)
Officers (elected at 8/30/2020 Board Meeting):
- President: David Bugli
- Vice President: Kelly Dodge
- Treasurer: Ellie Bugli
- Secretary: Jennifer Simkins
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Mile High Jazz Band presents "Train of Thought"
at the Brewery Arts Center Performance Hall
Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2021
The Mile High Jazz Band will be performing a Jazz and Poetry Event. The performance is on
Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2021, from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. in the Performance Hall at the Brewery Arts Center,
511 W. King St., Carson City. Joining the band are six local poets who will be reading
poems by themselves and by other notable poets. The readers are Rita Geil, Susan Sara Priest,
Timothy Rhodes, Wayne Carlson, Terri Breeden, and Ursula Carlson. Each poem will be followed
by a performance of a tune by the band, several of which feature vocalist Jakki Ford. Many
of the tunes will include festive holiday favorites.
Tickets are $12 per person, and seating is limited. Tickets may be purchased online at
milehighjazz.com (see below) or may be reserved by calling 775-883-4154. Tickets will also be sold at
the door. Doors open at 7:10 p.m. The audience is required to wear masks, per current city
and state COVID regulations.
Pianist and bandleader David Bugli said, "We are keeping this in the holiday tradition,
but we will feature some non-holiday songs suggested by the poem just read or songs suggested by the
theme, 'Train of Thought.'" Bugli continues, "We'd like to tell you the tunes we will be
playing, but that would spoil the fun of the audience making the connections between the
poems and the tunes that follow them. You need to be there to experience it." Solos will
be performed by trumpeters Bill Melendres and Karl Rinder, trombonist Dominic Van Orman,
saxophonists Rich Davis and Chris Guerra, and others.
Mile High Jazz Band is supported in part by a grant from the Nevada Arts Council and
the National Endowment for the Arts. The Governor’s Office of Economic Development provided
additional support through its Nevada Pandemic Emergency Technical Support (PETS) Grant
for 2021. For information about the band and its activities, see milehighjazz.com.
Photo: poet Rita Geil performing at a previous holiday Jazz & Poetry event.
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Yearly Summary for the 2020-2021 Season Available
Posted: July 26, 2021
Each year, at the time of the Annual Meeting, we prepare a summary of the activity of the
band, the festival, the board, and performers for presentation to the assembled group. The summary
was presented at the July 25, 2021, Annual meeting. You can
see a PDF of this by clicking HERE.
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Second Virtual Jazz & Poetry, "Play's the Thing"
Planned (in post-production)
Revised post: 9/10/2021
The Mile High Jazz Band is preparing to do a second Virtual Jazz & Poetry video based
on the theme "Play's the Thing." Band Director
David Bugli and MHJB Poet Wrangler Rita Geil are working with five poets to select poetry
to be read. Musicians from the MHJB will record, on their own, an appropriate tune to match the
mood or theme of the poem. The videos of the poets reading and of the musicians performing
will then be compiled and posted on YouTube on the Mile High Jazz Band's new YouTube channel
at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxNbOrzkkqfwwjhvoyPgWTQ.
The first Virtual Jazz and Poetry video, based on the theme "Running Out," was released in
September 2020. It is available for viewing at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqkA5QyRCtI.
Band members only! - Follow this link to the Second Virtual Jazz & Poetry "resource page" at
http://milehighjazz.com/virtualjnp2.htm.
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Normally, many MHJB and MHJB combo gigs
are on the second Tuesday of each month from 7:30 to 9:00 or 9:30 p.m.
Most of these are at
Living
the Good Life, 1480 N. Carson Street, Carson City. These events are subject to change,
subject to pandemic conditions.
General Information
The Mile High Jazz Band, an 18-member "big band" composed of 17 instrumentalists
and a vocalist, began performing in 1997. The group features music in the Count
Basie-Duke Ellington-Woody Herman tradition, as well as more contemporary styles,
selected from a repertoire of over 200 tunes. They play ballads, high-powered
jazz tunes, and dance music arranged by Nestico, Niehaus, Taylor, and other great arrangers.
Mile High Jazz Band performs for community events, fundraisers, dances, receptions,
private parties, and in concert. They have played benefits for New York Firefighters,
Red Cross Disaster Relief, Carson-Tahoe Hospital Foundation, Douglas County Library
Foundation, and the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life. They have been featured
in concerts at the Brewery Arts Center and on the Carson City Symphony's "Holiday Treat"
and "Pops Party" concerts. They play monthly at Comma Coffee and collaborate with local
poets in quarterly "Jazz and Poetry" events, alternating poetry readings with related
musical selections. Mile High Jazz Band has performed in Carson City, Reno, Minden,
Fallon, Yerington, Stateline, Incline Village, Virginia City, and Crystal Bay.
In 2002, Mile High Jazz Band won "Best Band" award in Carson City's "Taste of
Downtown." In 2003, American Composers Forum selected Mile High Jazz Band and
Bella Voce women's choir for a national Continental Harmony project. In 2007,
leader David Bugli received the Nevada Governor's Arts Award for Distinguished
Service to the Arts, and the band played for the awards ceremony. Mile High Jazz
Band plays annual benefits with the Carson High Jazz Band to help the high school
band attend the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival. Also, the Mile High Jazz Band Association
founded and produces or co-produces the annual, multi-day Jazz & Beyond Music Festival in Carson City each August since 2004.
The band performs around the Carson City area. You can
catch us on most second Tuesdays of each month at
Living
the Good Life, 1480 N. Carson Street, Carson City, or at
Comma Coffee.
Millennium Bugs
The Millennium Bugs, a jazz combo associated with the Mile High Jazz Band,
play a great variety of jazz styles. They performed for the Carson City
Preservation Coalition/Historical Society, Olympic Torch Relay Ceremony in
Carson City, Carson City Music Club, Westview block party, Camel Race Day in
Virginia City, Carson Nugget showroom, Carson-Tahoe Hospital Foundation, Carson
High Prom, BAC Beer Tasting, weddings, receptions, and parties.
Mile High Jazz Band Association board meetings are held quarterly.
Call 775-883-4154 for details.
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Help support the Mile High Jazz Band by placing your music orders through Sheet Music
Plus. Just click on the link below to get connected.
The Mile High Jazz Band Assoc. is a member of the Carson City Downtown Business Assoc.
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