Jazz Carson City – A Mile High Jazz Band Production

Festival

Media Release – August 5, 2020

Jazz & Beyond Music and Art Festival Releases Revised Plan

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 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.

OLD Media Release – July 17, 2020

Jazz & Beyond 2020 Music and Art Festival Updated

The Jazz & Beyond festival committee is rescheduling many of the events originally planned for August 2020 because of the recent rise in coronavirus cases. However, the committee plans to go ahead with the second annual Open Studios Tour from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, August 22, and Sunday, August 23. Admission is free.

More than two-dozen artists will be featured at ten studios throughout Carson City. Favorite solo musicians will perform live at most studios. Promotional items for the 2020 festival, including posters, T-shirts, artwork, and Jazz & Beyond facemasks, will be available onsite for a donation. COVID-19 guidelines will be followed and the number of concurrent visitors at each site will be controlled.

Brochures listing studios, artists, and musicians, including a map, will be available at the Carson City Culture and Tourism Authority (visitors bureau), Brewery Arts Center Artisan Store, NAA Gallery, Stewart Indian School Cultural Center & Museum, and Nevada State Museum.

David Bugli, co-chair of the festival, said, “We are looking to provide elements of Jazz & Beyond as a series of events and virtual presentations later in the year and into next year, as conditions permit. We will present events safely, some in new formats, for performers and audience.”

For its 17th year, Jazz & Beyond plans to reschedule favorite and new big bands, combos, and special events. These include the Rocky Tatarelli Quartet, the Josh D. Reed Quartet, a Roaring ‘20s themed program with bassist Scot Marshall’s Brass Knuckles band, an annual Day at the Silver Saddle Ranch with performances by Sagebrush Rebels and Sierra Sweethearts, Rosebud’s Dance Band, the Reno Jazz Orchestra, and much more. A jazz-related movie, drive-in style, is also in the works.

COVID-19 UPDATE: Because of the COVID-19 epidemic, we are monitoring the feasibility of presenting events this August and later. Please be patient as we evaluate the situation and determine the safest way to present our great entertainment in an artistically rewarding manner. This is “new territory” for all of us. Thank you! – David Bugli, Pres., Mile High Jazz Band Assoc. 7/17/2020

Open Studios Tour

The 2020 Jazz & Beyond Music and Art Festival this August will include the second annual Carson City Open Studios Tour on Saturday, August 22, and Sunday, August 23, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at multiple studios throughout Carson City.

This admission-free, contemporary cultural event will showcase about two dozen 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 about a dozen individual and shared studio spaces.

Local and Regional artists have teamed up to bring this artistically eclectic event to Carson City. Many local artists are sharing their home studio spaces with artists from throughout the region in order to create an amazing collection of art in our fair hamlet. Artists will not only be sharing their works, but sharing their process as well. There will be hands-on art demonstrations at some locations and, where practical, the artists will share their process with visitors.

Support

Mile High Jazz Band Association’s Jazz & Beyond Festival is funded by grants from the Carson City Cultural Commission, the Nevada Arts Council and National Endowment for the Arts, and by private donations.

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Official 2020 Poster

Artist Karen Kreyeski with the official artwork for the 2020 festival.

Many Musicians

In 2020 we hope to present about many musicians in several events, some virtual and some live.

In 2019, we presented or featured more than 100 musicians in 50 or more events. Because of the coronavirus, we are restructuring the program.

See the interview, Jazz and Beyond 2020: Pandemic Style, with Cortney Bloomer on It’s Your City. Cortney zooms with David Bugli of Mile High Jazz Band to discuss the changes made to this year’s festival and where you can find dates and locations of musicians playing live or streaming. Interview was recorded Aug. 4, 2020.

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.

An outdoor 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.

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.

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