By Elinor Bugli — The Mile High Jazz Band, singer Jakki Ford, and nine award-winning poets and readers present “On the Verge,” an evening of big-band jazz and poetry, on Tuesday, June 10, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Gina’s Good Life Music & Lounge, 507 N. Carson Street, inside the Carson Nugget in Carson City.
The music is free, requested donation $10. Gina’s is a smoke-free, climate-controlled venue, and has a well-stocked bar and interesting specialty drinks.
“On the Verge” features the 17-member band playing swinging songs on the theme of the evening in all its variations. Poets and readers are Rita Geil, Terri Breeden, Ursula Carlson, Wayne Carlson, Krista Lukas, Melanie Perish, Susan Sara Priest, Timothy Rhodes, and Reno Poet Laureate Jesse James Ziegler.
Each poem expresses an aspect of the theme and is followed by a tune that relates to the poem. Several tunes feature Jakki Ford singing with the band. Pianist and bandleader David Bugli said, “We’d like to tell you the tunes we will be playing, but that would spoil the fun. The audience can make connections between the poems and the tunes that follow them. You need to be there to experience it.”
Mile High Jazz Band performances and educational activities are supported in part by private donations and memberships, and by grants from Carson City and from the Nevada Arts Council and National Endowment for the Arts. For information about the band and its activities, see milehighjazz.com.
