It’s hard to come up with a better combination than great beer and funky music.
The annual Brews, Jazz & Funk Fest combines more than 40 brews and eight impressive bands Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 10-11 in the Village at Squaw Valley. The event raises funds for the Humane Society of Truckee-Tahoe. All proceeds from a $5 entry fee go to the program, and well-behaved dogs are welcome in the village.
Choosing a favorite beer this weekend might be as difficult as it is to pick a No. 1 band. Breweries include Deschutes, Gordon Biersch, Lagunitas, Lost Coast, New Belgium, Sierra Nevada and Tahoe Mountain Brewery. Beers are $4 each, limited to ages 21 and older.
The two bands who play last each day, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue on Saturday and MarchFourth Marching Band Sunday, are the headliners.
An early summer scouting assignment had Tahoe Onstage check out Trombone Shorty at the Playboy Jazz Festival in the Hollywood Bowl. Perhaps the hottest artist from New Orleans today (a bold statement), Trombone Shorty played and danced through the bowl filled with audience members with “NOLA” umbrellas. It was the most danceable moment of the entire weekend. Troy “Trombone Shorty” calls his music “supafunkrock.” His latest album is called “For True.”
The MarchFourth Marching Band brings that same street festival spirit. Stilt-walkers doubtless will be more at ease in the village than in the Crystal Bay Casino Crown Room when they have to duck under ceiling beams. Based in Portland, Ore., it’s more of a troupe than a band, with its crew totaling as many as 20. It has a seven-person horn section and five in the drum corps.
Zigaboo Modeliste & the New Aahkesstra play Sunday before the MarchFourth Marching Band. Modeliste, 64, who played last week at South Shore with the Meter Men, is one of funk’s most influential drummers. An original member of the quartet the Meters, Modeliste’s tracks are covered by many in funk, jazz and hip-hop. He was the music arranger for much of the Meters’ often-covered songs.
Four of the funkiest regional bands will play the festival. Jelly Bread, which is on the cusp of breaking out nationally, is a Reno quartet in which everybody sings. The Mark Sexton Band plays soul and has toured this summer off a new album, “Young and Naïve.” Its CD release party in John Ascuaga Nugget’s Celebrity Showroom was a sellout (See video). Mojo Green also has a new record and is on the rise. Terraplane is based out of North Shore and gets to prove itself this weekend playing among the outstanding bands.
Here’s the schedule:
Saturday, Aug. 10
2 p.m. – Mojo Green
3:50 and 5:50 p.m. – the Mark Sexton Band (second stage)
4 p.m. – Nigel Hall Band
6 p.m. – Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue
Sunday, Aug. 11
2 p.m. – Jelly Bread
3:50 and 5:50 p.m. – Terraplane (second stage)
4 p.m. – Zigaboo Modeliste & the New Aahkasstra
6 p.m. – MarchFourth Marching Band
