Mile High Jazz Band Presents Live-stream
Event from A to Zen Studios
February 8, 2022

The Mile High Jazz Band will present a live-stream event at A to Zen Studio on Tuesday, February 8, 2022, from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Enjoy music composed and arranged for 17-piece big bands by some of the great jazz musicians. You will be able to view this event for free on the Mile High Jazz Band Facebook site. For information on the link to the event go to www.facebook.com/milehighjazz/live_videos and click on EVENTS.

Pianist and band leader David Bugli said, "This free concert is open to all, no reservations needed. Watch it live from wherever you are. You'll enjoy a mix of familiar and new tunes, including traditional songs such as Les Brown's theme 'Leap Frog' and Ray Anthony's 'Mr. Anthony's Boogie'; 'Embraceable You' and 'Love is Here to Stay' from the Gershwin Songbook'; and Wayne Shorter's 'Footprints'."

In keeping with current COVID guidelines, in-person attendance will be limited to a few invited guests. You may call 775-883-4154 for information.

Mile High Jazz Band is supported in part by a grant from the Nevada Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts, and by private donations. For information about the band and activities, see milehighjazz.com.

Photo: Mile High Jazz Band at November 9, 2021, live-streamed event at A to Zen Studio.

Mile High Jazz Band Presents
"Jazz Extravaganza XVII" with
Carson High School Jazz Band,
Carson Middle School Jazz Band,
and Reno Youth Jazz Orchestra
February 22, 2022

The Mile High Jazz Band will be joined by the Carson High School Jazz Band, the Carson Middle School Jazz Band, and the Reno Youth Jazz Orchestra for "Jazz Extravaganza XVIII" at the Carson City Community Center on Tuesday, February 22, 2022, at 7:00 p.m.

"We are happy to perform with these three youthful jazz bands," said David Bugli, Mile High Jazz Band leader and pianist. "These award-winning student ensembles are impressive and deserves community support."

Admission is $10 general and free for age 18 and under. To purchase your ticket(s) online, click on the link to Square. Please note that YOUR RECEIPT IS YOUR TICKET. (Note: Event is completed, so link is inactive.)

Photo: Combined bands at 2019 Jazz Extravaganza concert.

Mile High Jazz Band Presents a
"Jazz & Poetry" Performance
Tuesday, March 15, 2022

The Mile High Jazz Band, with vocalist Jakki Ford, presents "Think Green," a "Jazz & Poetry" event on Tuesday, March 15, 2022, from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. in the A to Zen Studio, 1803 N. Carson St., Carson City. The audience may attend the event in person or view it on Facebook.

The event is made up of a series of poems selected for the occasion, and each poem is followed by a tune performed by the band. Poet Wrangler Rita Geil and band leader David Bugli will be joined by poets Terri Breeden, Ursula Carlson, Tim Rhodes, and Wayne Carlson, who will be reading the poems along with Rita Geil.

Admission is $12 online at milehighjazz.com or at the door for the in-studio performance. Vaccinations required. Masks are optional. It may also be viewed live-streamed on Facebook for free (see https://www.facebook.com/milehighjazz/live_videos) at the time of the performance.

Pianist and bandleader David Bugli said, "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 or watch the live-stream to experience it."

The link for the online ticket sales is posted below. For further information, call 775-883-4154.

Mile High Jazz Band is supported in part by a grant from the Nevada Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts and by private donations. For information about the band, its activities, and event tickets, see milehighjazz.com.

The Mile High Jazz Band Association formed in 2001 as a nonprofit corporation to support the MHJB and its subgroups to 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!

Jazz & Beyond Committee Announces 2022 Art Contest

Media Release: March 3, 2022: Mile High Band Association's 2022 Jazz & Beyond Festival Committee is sponsoring an art contest for northern Nevada artists, including teachers and students. Selected entries in the competition may be used to promote the festival, and the winning entry will be featured on the festival's advertising poster and program cover. Festival T-shirts this year may also feature the winning design. The entry deadline is May 17, 2022. Participation is free.

The artwork will be judged by the Jazz & Beyond committee. The winner of the competition will receive a certificate of appreciation from the Jazz & Beyond - Carson City Music and Art Festival and a cash award of $100. Alexander Cassimus, art project chair, said, "The artist's work will be front and center, viewed by thousands of festival patrons."

Entry forms are available for download from artcontest2022.pdf.

Artists may submit more than one entry. Artwork must be 11"x14" and may be in any two-dimensional medium (photography, digital collage and photography, watercolor, acrylic, oil, etc.). Artwork must be matted, backed, and submitted in a protective sleeve. The design must be related to music. Each submission must include a separate entry form.

Artists are to deliver their entries to the NAA Gallery, 449 W. King Street, Carson City, Tuesday through Saturday, noon to 4:00 p.m.

The entry form and a digital image of the artwork (not to exceed 20 MB) must also be sent as an email attachment to info@jazzcarsoncity.com

For more information about the contest and entry forms, contact Alexander Cassimus at 408-264-4423 or away4@earthlink.net.

Photo: Artist Katelyn Lehmann shows her winning artwork, "Listen to the Music," used for the cover of the 2021 Jazz & Beyond program.

Call for Artists – Two Jazz & Beyond Opportunities
Art Contest for Poster and Program Cover
Open Studios Tour Entries
Media Release: May 9, 2022

The 2022 Jazz & Beyond Music and Art Festival is calling artists for two opportunities. First is an art contest for poster and program design. Second is participation in the fourth annual Carson City Open Studios Tour in August. Entry deadline for both is May 17, 2022.

For the art contest, Nevada artists, including teachers and students, are eligible to submit entries. The winning design will be used to promote the Jazz & Beyond festival, will be featured on the festival poster, program cover, and potentially on a T-shirt, and the winner will receive a cash award of $100. Entry forms are available for download at milehighjazz.com/artcontest2022.pdf. Participation is free and artists may submit up to three entries. For more information, email info@milehighjazz.com.

The Carson City Open Studios Tour will include one-day and two-day options. Visual art from painting, sculpture, and 3D art to jewelry and photography, will be exhibited and demonstrated in about a dozen individual and shared studio spaces. Each artist selected will also have one piece exhibited in the month-long NAA Summer Show.

The one-day tour will be Friday, August 19, 12 to 5 p.m., at the Bliss Mansion and the NAA (Nevada Artists Association) Gallery. The two-day tour will be Saturday and Sunday, August 20 and 21, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at multiple studios throughout Carson City. Artists may participate in either the one-day tour, the two-day tour, or both. Some locations will include live music. Application forms are available at http://milehighjazz.com/arttour2022.htm. For more information, contact ccopenstudio@gmail.com.

Photo: Recent Jazz & Beyond Poster and T-shirt Art contest winners.

Mile High Jazz Band to be Headliner Event
at Gardnerville Jazz Festival
Sunday, May 22, 2022

The Mile High Jazz Band will be the featured entertainment at the Gardnerville Jazz Festival, which will take place at Heritage Park, 1447 Courthouse Alley, Gardnerville, NV, on Sunday, May 22, 2022. Heritage Park is north of Route 395, behind the Overland Restaurant & Pub. Mile High Jazz Band's performance will be at 4:00 p.m. According to event organizer, Adam Cohen, the MHJB's performance will be preceded by performances by the Douglas High School Jazz Band, the Jazzettes, and the Gardnervillains.

Call 775-883-4154 for other details.

Rehearsals to resume
June 7, 2022

The Mile High Jazz Band is taking a little break after its performance on May 22, 2022, as the headliner event for the Gardnerville Jazz Festival. We would like to thank organizer Adam Cohen and the Douglas County Arts Council for giving us the honor to present the band at the event.

The rehearsals for the band will resume on Tuesday, June 7, 2022, at A to Zen Studio in Carson City. For the most part, rehearsals in July and August will be at the Carson City Senior Center.

The band is likely to do a "Jazz & Poetry" event ("One and Only") on July 12. This event was tentatively scheduled for June 14, but had to be moved.

Also, Mile High Jazz Band will be performing a Basie Birthday Concert on Sunday, August 21, 2022, at the Capital Amphitheater as the final event of the Jazz & Beyond Carson City Music & Art Festival. Count Basie was born August 21, 1904, and was the inspiration for the first Carson City festival that gradually came to be known as Jazz & Beyond.

JazzCarsonCity.com Website temporarily down
Posted May 15, 2022

The Jazz & Beyond website (JazzCarsonCity.com), which we have been using for several years to post information about the festival (August 5 to 21, 2022), is temporarily down. We have contacted the hosting site to fix the problem, but they have not been able to resolve the problem. We will make further attempts to rectify this situation. In the meantime, some information about the festival will be posted on this website.

We are sorry for the inconvenience.

Mile High Jazz Band Assoc. Annual Meeting
and Board Meeting
Sunday, June 19, 2022

The Mile High Jazz Band Association's annual membership meeting and end-of-the-fiscal-year party will be on Sunday, June 19, at 6:00 p.m., at the Carson City Historical Society's Carriage House, behind the Foreman-Roberts House Museum, 1207 N. Carson Street, Carson City.

All interested individuals - including Association members, band musicians, volunteers, and friends - are invited. The meeting will include a brief review the past year, a preview of the coming season, and election of members to the nine-member Board of Trustees. A brief board meeting will follow.

As a bonus, guests will have a tour of the Foreman-Roberts House Museum and the current exhibit, "If These Gowns Could Talk," featuring Edwardian and Victorian fashions. It also includes a photographic exhibit of Carson City about 1900.

The event includes a pot-luck dinner. Main dish and beverages are provided. Attendees may bring an appetizer, side dish, salad, or dessert to share.

For reservations and information, call 775-883-4154 or email info@jazzcarsoncity.com.

Jazz & Poetry "One and Only" Performance
Tuesday, July 12, 2022

The Mile High Jazz Band will be joined by singer Jakki Ford and six award-winning poets and readers for "One and Only,” an evening of big-band jazz and poetry, on Tuesday, July 12, 2022, from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m., outdoors at A to Zen Studio in the north parking lot (former location of Grocery Outlet), 1803 N. Carson Street in Carson City.

Admission is by donation, suggested $10 per person. Wine, beer, soft drinks, water, and pizza are available for purchase. Audience is asked to bring lawn chairs.

Poets and readers are Rita Geil, Terri Breeden, Wayne Carlson, Krista Lukas, Susan Sara Priest, and Timothy Rhodes. Each poem in the theme of the evening, "One and Only," will be followed by a related tune performed by the band. Several feature vocalist Jakki Ford.

Pianist and bandleader David Bugli said, "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."

Mile High Jazz Band is supported in part by a grant from the Nevada Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts and by private donations. For information about the band, its activities, and event tickets, see milehighjazz.com.

Photo of Jakki Ford and MHJB at June 23, 2019, showcase event at Brewery Arts Center.

Jazz & Beyond Music and Art Festival is Coming
Aug. 5-21, 2022
(Updated: 6/28/2022)

The 19th Annual Jazz & Beyond Music & Art Festival will be August 5 to August 21, 2022. Events will take place around downtown Carson City, including McFadden Plaza and Comma Courtyard. Various performing artists are being lined up, including the Reno Jazz Orchestra, Mile High Jazz Band, The Red Tango, Niall McGuinness and the New World Jazz Project, Take This, and trumpeter Josh Reed, who will be doing a lecture-presentation at the Nevada State Museum on August 18. For general information about Jazz & Beyond, go to http://jazzcarsoncity.com.

As part of Jazz & Beyond, the Carson City Open Studios Tour will include visual art from painting, sculpture, and 3D art to jewelry and photography. These art forms will be exhibited and demonstrated in about a dozen individual and shared studio spaces. Each of the selected artists will also have one piece exhibited in the month-long NAA Summer Show. This year the Open Studios Tour will include one-day and two-day options. The one-day tour will be Friday, August 19, 12 to 5 p.m., at the Bliss Mansion and the NAA (Nevada Artists Association) Gallery. The two-day tour will be Saturday and Sunday, August 20 and 21, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at multiple studios throughout Carson City. Artists may participate in either the one-day tour, the two-day tour, or both. Some locations will include live music. For more information, contact ccopenstudio@gmail.com.

Mile High Jazz Band featured in
Basie Birthday Concert at End of Jazz & Beyond
Sunday, August 21, 2022

The Mile High Jazz Band will be performing a Basie Birthday Concert on Sunday, August 21, 2022, at the Governor's Mansion as the final event of the Jazz & Beyond Carson City Music & Art Festival. Count Basie was born August 21, 1904, and was the inspiration for the first Carson City festival that gradually came to be known as Jazz & Beyond. The time of the event will be determined, but is likely to start at 6:00 p.m. For further information on the Jazz & Beyond Festival, go to http://jazzcarsoncity.com.

Mile High Jazz Band Presents Big Band Jazz
With Guest Singer Cherie Shipley at the Brewery Arts Center
Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2022

Mile High Jazz Band will perform Big Band Jazz with guest singer Cherie Shipley on Tuesday, October 18, 2022, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. in the Performance Hall at the Brewery Arts Center, 449 W. King St., Carson City.

Tickets are $12 and can be purchased online at milehighjazz.com, reserved by calling Mile High Jazz Band at 775-883-4154, and will be sold at the door. Doors open at 6:40 p.m. Beer, wine, and snacks will be available at the event.

Pianist and band leader David Bugli said, "The band hopes to dazzle you with some new repertoire, plus a number of old favorites. Tunes include ‘Buckethead Shuffle,’ ‘Cold Duck Time,’ and ‘Fiesta Bahia.’ Trumpter Bob Souter will be featured in ‘Evergreen,’ and Baritone Saxophonist Liz Eubanks will sing ‘Every Day I have the Blues.’” Cherie Shipley will sing ‘Aint Misbehaving, ‘Unforgetable,’ and other tunes.”

This concert is presented by Mile High Jazz Band and Brewery Arts Center, and is supported in part by grants from the Nevada Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts, and by private donations.

Photos: Cherie Shipley will sing with Mile High Jazz Band on October 18. Mile High Jazz Band saxophonists Rich Davis, Randy Seeber, and Liz Eubanks at Brewery Arts Center Performance Hall last year.

Events Planned Through End of the Year
Posted: October 12, 2022

The Mile High Jazz Band is working on plans for the last two months of 2022. So, mark your calendars for these events and check back to

On Sunday, Nov. 13, the band may be performing a matinee event, perhaps involving lunch or brunch and dancing. Details are being confirmed. (Plans for this event have been postponed until 2023.)

The band is working on plans for a live-streamed event on Tuesday, Nov. 15, at 7:30 p.m. from A to Zen Studio in Carson City. This will be a free event. When, and if, this is approved we will provide a link on Facebook for audience members to see and hear us perform. You don't even have to get dressed up. You will be able to watch it in your pajamas.

Jazz & Poetry will resume! Our December Jazz & Poetry event will be presented on Tuesday, December 13, 2022, at 7:00 p.m. in the Brewery Arts Center Performance Hall in cooperation with the Brewery Arts Center. Poet Wrangler Rita Geil is working with her poetry-loving colleagues to come up with some great poems for the night's theme, "Bell Weather." If you're not sure what that means, you may just have to show up to find out. There is sure to be some holiday music worked into the program, but not enough to drive you crazy that far into December.

Mile High Jazz Band to Livestream Big-Band Music
with Vocalist Jakki Ford
Tuesday, November 15, 2022

Mile High Jazz Band will perform "Livestreamed and Kicking!," on Tuesday, November 15, 2022, from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m., broadcast from A to Zen, 1803 N. Carson Street in Carson City on facebook.com/milehighjazz. The program presents big-band jazz with vocalist Jakki Ford.

The concert is free, with limited seating for an in-person audience, or watch it live from wherever you are. Enjoy a mix of familiar and new tunes, including Charles Mingus' "Haitian Fight Song" featuring bassist Frank Iannetta and other band members, and trumpeter Bob Souter in "Evergreen." Jakki Ford will sing "For Once in My Life," "How High the Moon," "Somebody Loves Me," and more. The solo work of trumpeter Bill Melendres and tenor saxophonist Chris Guerra will be prominently featured.

This livestreamed event is funded in part by the Musicians Performance Trust Fund (MPTF). Mile High Jazz Band is also supported in part by a grant from the Nevada Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Special thanks to the Reno Musicians’ Union (Local 368, American Federation of Musicians) for help in setting up this event. For information about the band and activities, see milehighjazz.com or call 775-883-4154.

Photo of Jakki Ford performing with the Mile High Jazz Band inside of A to Zen Studio on Nov. 9, 2021.

Mile High Jazz Band presents "Bell Weather”
Big Band Jazz and Poetry
Tuesday, December 13, 2022

The Mile High Jazz Band will be joined by singer Jakki Ford and five award-winning poets and readers for "Bell Weather," an evening of big-band jazz and poetry, on Tuesday, December 13, 2022, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m., at the Brewery Arts Center Performance Hall, 511 W. King Street in Carson City.

Tickets are $15 and can be purchased online at milehighjazz.com, reserved by calling Mile High Jazz Band at 775-883-4154, or purchased at the door. Doors open at 6:45 p.m. Beer, wine, and snacks will be available at the event.

Poets and readers are Rita Geil, Ursula Carlson, Wayne Carlson, Susan Sara Priest, and Timothy Rhodes. Each poem relates to the theme of the evening, "Bell Weather." The theme is open to several interpretations. Each poem will be followed by a related tune, some in the holiday tradition, several featuring vocalist Jakki Ford.

Pianist and bandleader David Bugli said, "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."

Mile High Jazz Band is supported in part by private donations and by a grant from the Nevada Arts Council and National Endowment for the Arts. For information about the band, its activities, and event tickets, see milehighjazz.com.

Photo: Rita Geil and four other poets/readers will perform with Mile High Jazz Band at the Brewery Arts Center Performance Hall on December 13.