Carson City’s 18th annual Jazz & Beyond Music & Art Festival, presented by the Mile High Jazz Band Association, offers 17 days of mostly free entertainment and more than 30 performances. The festival will take place in multiple venues around the city, beginning with a Roaring Twenties party at the Governor’s Mansion, on the corner of W. Robinson and Mountain streets, on Friday, Aug. 13, from 5 to 7 p.m. It features the music of Scot Marshall’s Brass Knuckles Band. Nineteen-twenties-style dress is optional; food and beverages will be available for purchase. This year, A Day in the Country at the historic Silver Saddle Ranch, 2648 Carson River Road, along the Carson River, will be on Sunday, Aug. 15, from 2:30 to 7 p.m. Visitors can wear their boots and hats and enjoy the music of the Sagebrush Rebels, and the Lacy J. Dalton trio. The day includes a talk on the history of the ranch, and cowboy poetry. Mule-drawn wagon rides by Hee Haw Haven Mules provide a tour through ranch land. The event is sponsored in part by Carson City Parks, Recreation & Open Space Department and Friends of Silver Saddle Ranch. The festival’s third annual Open Studios Tour will feature 27 artists at 11 locations on Saturday, Aug. 21, and Sunday, Aug. 22, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Visitors can see the art works, watch art demonstrations, and listen to musicians performing at many of the locations. The tour includes private studios, the Carriage House at the Foreman-Roberts House Museum, the Nevada Artists Association, and the Bliss Mansion. In partnership with the Nevada State Museum, Jazz & Beyond will present Music of the Twenties, a Frances Humphrey Series lecture on the music of the 1920s with live music by Squeek Steele, on Thursday evening, Aug. 26, at the Brewery Arts Center Ballroom, 449 W. Carson St. Other performances include the Urban Renewal Project (original soul and hip-hop big band from Los Angeles), Musicole (rhythm and blues, classic rock, gospel, and jazz band from Las Vegas), and a double big-band concert by the Mile High Jazz Band with singer Jakki Ford and the Carson High School Jazz Band directed by Nick Jacques, a Milken Educator Award winner. Jazz & Beyond Music Festival’s final performances will be on Sunday, Aug. 29, at the Legislative Plaza and Capital Amphitheater. The audience is invited to sit under a canopy of trees and bring a picnic or enjoy on-site food-truck selections. The festival ends in a big way with the traditional Jazz & Beyond closing concert by the 18-piece Reno Jazz Orchestra and guest vocalist. For a complete schedule of events, visit jazzcarsoncity.com. For information, call 775-883-4154 or email info@jazzcarsoncity.com. Mile High Jazz Band Association’s Jazz & Beyond Festival is funded 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.
