Tom Stryker’s Impromptu performs in the BAC Performance Hall – 8/27
NOTE (8/25): This concert, which was originally scheduled for the Comma Courtyard, has been moved to the Brewery Arts Center Performance Hall (511 W. King St.) due to smoky conditions.
Jazz Harmonica player Tom Stryker’s Impromptu performs in the Brewery Arts Center Performance Hall on Friday, Aug. 27, 2021, from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m.
The group is Tom Stryker, chromatic harmonica; Jimmy Vermilion, keys & vocals; Marcy Benner, vocals; Rick Metz, saxophone; and Neil Strocchio, drums. Also appearing is guest vocalist, June Joplin.
Greatly influenced by the likes of Toots Thielemans, Charlie Parker, Bill Evans and Dan Lancaster, Tom Stryker has performed both as a soloist and with various symphonies (including the Carson City Symphony), harmonica trios, and jazz bands and has appeared on television and radio shows. He has performed all over the world, from China to Hawaii to Frankfurt and from Miami to London. Also, in jazz clubs in Reno, Nevada, where he now resides. His performances on Holland America Cruise Lines, as the lead player for the Harmonica Aces, were a tremendous success. Additionally, Tom is the former two-term President of SPAH, the Society for the Preservation and Advancement of the Harmonica.
Tom began his musical journey in San Francisco in 1954 under the guidance of former Borah Minevitch Rascal, Ray Tankersley. He later began playing professionally with world-famous Harmonica Rascal Johnny Puleo. He went on to appear at the World Harmonica Championships in the 1980s as the lead player with Harmonica Express, a quartet of players. Yet he was still searching for “something,” until he met a local jazz musician who introduced him to a jazz combo playing in the local nightclubs in San Jose, California. He was bitten by the “bug,” and a new musical journey began.
In Tom’s view, “the mastery of jazz on the chromatic harmonica is a labor of love as it is with any instrument. Jazz is the ultimate expression of musical freedom and individuality. And on what better instrument than the harmonica, everyone’s friend?”
The Reno Jazz Orchestra reprises its traditional role of being the closing act of the Jazz & Beyond Festival. We invite you to hear the group along with the multi-talented Tristan Selzler performing on guitar and vocal on Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021, at the Capital Amphitheater starting at 5:30 p.m. Band members are: Saxes: Karl Busch, Dallas Smith, Jim Garaventa, Doug Coomler, and Mauro Di Gioia; Trumpets: John Beckman, Josh Dunlap, Julien Knowles, and Andrew Woodward; Trombones: Dean Carter, Rich Lewis, John Bennum, Cody Forcier, and Chuck Reider (Music Director); Guitar: Joey Berger; Piano: Bill Hecht; Bass: Hans Halt; and Drums: Andy Heglund.
On Thursday, Aug. 26, 2021, pianist, entertainer, and Virginia City legend Squeek Steele will present a Nevada State Museum’s Frances Humphrey Lecture in the Brewery Arts Center Ballroom starting at 6:30 p.m. The title of the lecture is “Music of the 1920s.” She will use the piano to present music of the twenties. According to Ms. Steele, “While the program will focus on the upbeat music of the 1920s (Dixieland, Classic Jazz) we will examine the earlier types of music which led to the Jazz explosion of the Flapper Era: ragtime, blues, spirituals, and early jazz (originally spelled jass).”
The RYJO Alumni Band, under the direction of jazz violinist Graham Marshall, performs at Comma Courtyard on Thursday, Aug. 19, 2021, from noon to 2:00 p.m. The performers are alumni of the Reno Youth Jazz Orchestra.
Zack Teran Band, lead by highly talented bassist and composer Zack Teran, will be performing on Wed., Aug. 18, 2021, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. on the 
Due to unhealthy air conditions on Aug. 18, this event is being held in the Brewery Arts Center Performance Hall, adjacent to the Changes Companies Stage. Please wear a mask. Also note that Dave Strawn (guitarist) will be subbing for Peter Epstein.
We invite you to enjoy the sophisticated jazz styling of vocalist CeCe Gable in a Dinner Show at Mallard’s Restaurant at Empire Ranch Golf Course. Her great back-up group includes Joe Cadena on trombone, Bill Hecht on keyboard, Kyle Rothschild on bass, and Tyler Cravines on drums.