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Reggie Buie Group Wraps Up 2023 High Country Jazz Festival

BOONE, NC – At 5 p.m. on Sunday, June 11, The Reggie Buie Group will perform under the tent at Chetola Resort in Blowing Rock as the final headliner event during the 2023 High Country Jazz Festival.  It is the last of 15 separate events in ten different locations throughout Boone and Blowing Rock that are part of the 2023 festival, which runs from June 9 through 11. The 2023 festival is presented by Mast General Store with additional support from Explore Boone and Hampton Inn & Suites, Boone.

More than half of the 15 events are free of charge to the general public with tickets on sale for headliner performances via the festival website: www.highcountryjazzfestival.org. Tickets for the Buie concert are only $25 due to grants from the Watauga Arts Council and the North Carolina Arts Council. 

A resident of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Buie began his musical journey at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago. From there, he attended Florida A&M and was a member of the famed “Marching 100.” Buie earned both writing and recording credits on the national level while living in Miami. Now, the Reggie Buie Group is a regular on stage in Greensboro, Charlotte, and Raleigh swinging between smooth jazz and standards.  His group’s versatility and ability to move effortlessly between soft background music, performing jazz standards, music for dancing, or delivering passionate jazz performances and improvisation are hallmarks of their concerts.

Festival co-chair Todd Wright said, “The Reggie Buie Group offers something a little different, a smooth jazz sound that showcases these Triad-based artists for High Country Jazz audiences. We’re expecting this to be a memorable event.”

Buie’s concert is the last of four events on Sunday, June 11, the final day of the 2023 High Country Jazz Festival.  The festival heads back to Blowing Rock for a series of events beginning with a High Country Jazz Brunch from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the historic 1891 Green Park Inn featuring the Todd Wright All-Stars.  Wright, director of the Jazz Studies at Appalachian State University, is the “Ambassador for Jazz” in the High Country region and has been in the trenches playing and promoting jazz and music education since 1982. The Grande Dame of fine hotels in the High Country, the Inn is located at 9239 Valley Boulevard on Highway 321 in Blowing Rock. Reservations are highly recommended. 

Chetola hosts the final two events, beginning at 4 p.m. Shane Chalke is performing during cocktail hour on the patio of the resort, located at 185 Chetola Lake Drive in Blowing Rock. Shane is a regular performer during the summer season in the High Country, dishing up a large serving of straight-ahead jazz. It’s a perfect time to enjoy a snack, a cocktail, or an early meal accompanied by the silky sounds of Shane’s ensemble.

At 5 p.m. on Sunday afternoon, June 11, The Reggie Buie Group will perform under the tent at Chetola Resort. The cocktail hour jazz is free of charge and, as noted previously, general admission tickets to the Buie concert are only $25. 

Due to strong advance reservations, a second jazz lunch has been added from noon to 3 p.m. at Lost Province Brewing Company, located at 130 North Depot Street in Boone. It will feature Joseph Hasty and Centerpiece Jazz performing straight ahead classic jazz, swing tunes, show tunes and other standards. Centerpiece Jazz plays all of your favorites from Miles and Monk, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong and Ella, to Antonio Carlos Jobim, Coltrane, and Cole Porter. While there is no cover charge for this event, reservations are encouraged.

The goal of the High Country Jazz Festival is “to host exceptional and engaging jazz experiences for local residents and regional audiences with proceeds to support arts, education, and civic programs that enrich our High Country home.”  The three-day celebration of the art form of jazz is a unique partnership between the Appalachian Theatre of the High Country (ATHC), Boone Sunrise Rotary, and Jazz Studies Program at Appalachian State University. 

Event sponsors include the Town of Blowing Rock, Creekside Electronics, and Footsloggers, with contributions from Blue Ridge Energy, New River Light & Power Company, and The Beacon. An additional two dozen local firms and individuals have also stepped up with generous donations to support the festival. Festival media sponsors are the Curtis Media Group, The Mountain Times, Watauga Democrat, 88.5 WFDD, and Yes! Weekly.  

“Members of the 2023 leadership team for the High Country Jazz Festival have been working since last June to make this years’ even bigger and better than the inaugural event in 2022,” said Festival co-chair Keith Martin. “These dedicated volunteers include John Cooper, Mark Freed, Sali Gill-Johnson, Paige Henderson, Brian Irving, David Jackson, Suzanne Livesay, Keith Martin, Sheri Moretz, Denise Ringler, Kathy Scott, Jim Street, Wright Tilley, and Todd Wright. “None of this would have been possible without their collaborative efforts.”

The festival is offering an “all-event” ticket, which includes admission to all three headliner performances: The Legendary Count Basie Orchestra, Emmet Cohen Trio, and the Reggie Buie Group. There are two options: Premier ($110, including taxes and fees, with prime seating for Appalachian Theatre performances) and Regular ($95, including taxes and fees). To purchase tickets, please visit the festival’s official website at www.highcountryjazzfestival.org

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The 2023 High Country Jazz Festival is a collaborative program of:

About the Appalachian Theatre

The mission of the Appalachian Theatre of the High Country is to revitalize and sustain this historic community touchstone as a quality home for diverse artists and audiences with a special focus on programs that celebrate our distinctive Appalachian heritage and enhance our capacity to serve as an economic catalyst for Boone and the High Country. Once a gorgeous 999-seat Art Deco movie house, the building closed in 2007 and sat empty and gutted for years. On October 14, 2019, the Appalachian Theatre reopened its doors after a $10 million renovation that brought the distinctive Art Deco details back to this historic theatre and created a new 629-seat, state-of-the-art, acoustically pristine venue for live concerts, films, plays, and dance performances. The historic Appalachian Theatre has entertained regional audiences in the heart of downtown Boone, North Carolina since 1938. www.apptheatre.org  

About Boone Sunrise Rotary

Boone Sunrise Rotary brings together business, professional and civic leaders within our community. Rotary promotes integrity, understanding and goodwill locally, nationally, and worldwide. The proceeds from the festival will further Rotary’s commitment to humanitarian and civic service and will go directly to many of the local nonprofit organizations that serve the High Country. www.boonerotary.org

About the Jazz Studies Program

The Jazz Studies Program at Appalachian State University identifies students with a special interest in jazz, promotes high standards of jazz performance, and expands the circle of students who have meaningful experiences with jazz during their college careers.  Program support will help provide student enrichment, off-set performance tour costs, student scholarships, host acclaimed jazz clinicians and the purchase of music and supplies. www.music.appstate.edu  

Courtesy of Appalachian Theatre