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ALL THAT (VIRTUAL) JAZZ

THIS YEAR, SPAC TOOK ITS FREIHOFER’S SARATOGA JAZZ FESTIVAL ONLINE.

One of the earliest casualties of SPAC’s summer season was the Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival, but not even COVID-19 could get SPAC to give up on celebrating jazz. Over Jazz Fest’s originally scheduled weekend, June 26-28, SPAC took the festival virtual with the help of Saratoga’s historic folk venue Caffè Lena.

The virtual Jazz Fest was streamed live (and free) on Caffè Lena’s popular “Stay Home Sessions” YouTube channel, and performances included a mix of local artists performing live in the empty venue and national artists who had produced prerecorded sets. The lineup included local jazz-masters Chuck Lamb & Jorge Gomez; soul man Garland Nelson, doing a special tribute to Motown (this year would’ve marked his Jazz Fest debut); and the Skidmore Jazz Institute Alumni Trio.

Nationally renowned “headliners” included Jon Batiste (The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’s bandleader); 15-time Grammy-winning banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck, along with his wife, singer-songwriter-banjoist Abigail Washburn; and the Grammynominated, four-time Jazz Fest headliner Pedrito Martinez. At the beginning of July, the Capital Region had reached phase four of New York’s reopening plan, and Upstate New Yorkers were champing at the bit to get out and be active. SPAC was ready, teaming up with COESA, the state-of-theart, nonprofit learning and wellness center

Skidmore senior Isa Hage created the official artwork for the 2020 Saratoga Jazz Festival, with proceeds from the sales of T-shirts featuring her design going to the Equal Justice Initiative; (top) Jon Batiste performing for the virtual Jazz Fest.

(Festival) DAVE BIGLER

Mind, Body, SPAC

SPAC TEAMS UP WITH COESA TO HOST TAI CHI AND MEDITATION CLASSES ON ITS GROUNDS.

on the Spa State Park’s grounds, to offer a series of outdoor tai chi and meditation classes. The series was made up of two well-attended courses held throughout the summer: one led by Mark Tolstrup of the Tai Chi Center and one led by Pierre Zimmerman of One Roof Saratoga.

“This summer, I had the opportunity to run my tai chi classes on the beautiful grounds at SPAC,” says Tolstrup. “With plenty of safe, open space and fresh air, it was a perfect setting for our classes. The movements of tai chi and the relaxing beauty of the grounds at SPAC helped provide calm and health in this time when so many aspects of life have been very difficult.”

All proceeds from the classes go directly to the instructors.

Festival Express

SPAC TEAMS UP WITH CAFFÈ LENA AND NEWPORT FOLK FESTIVAL TO SCREEN MAVIS STAPLES CONCERT FILM FOR 50 LUCKY FANS.

On what would’ve been the weekend of the Newport Folk Festival this past July, SPAC partnered with fellow Saratoga nonprofit Caffè Lena—and the festival itself—to host an exclusive screening of Mavis 80: A Newport Folk Revival on the SPAC grounds. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, just 50 ticketholders were able to attend the screening on July 31 on SPAC’s lawn. Needless to say, the event sold out quickly. What did lucky ticketholders get to experience? A concert film recorded at The Theatre At Ace Hotel in Los Angeles on May 22, 2019, celebrating the 80th birthday of Rock and Roll/Blues Hall of Famer Mavis Staples. The guest of honor, whose most recent album, We Get By, was imminent, was joined onstage by a star-studded lineup of musicians, including Ben Harper, who wrote and produced Staples’ album, as well as Jason Isbell, Brandi Carlile, the Talking Heads’ Jerry Harrison and many more.

Proceeds from SPAC’s event went towards the continued work of the Newport Festivals Foundation to support artists and music education programs during the COVID-19 crisis.