The Holiday Season is upon us with a shelter-at-home Thanksgiving just ahead. We here at Outpost are giving thanks and feeling very hopeful that we will be able to stay strong and re-open in the “less distant than before” future! Thanks to all of you out there who have donated so generously to our Covid-19 Relief Fund over these past many months, as well as those of you who have renewed your memberships. Your generosity has been overwhelming and the possibility of a vaccine in the near future gives us great hope! There truly is a light at the end of the tunnel!
Meanwhile, as you know, Thanksgiving ushers in the official season of giving, and this year continues that tradition with #GivingTuesday on December 1 as well as Outpost’s End of Year Season’s Pleadings Fundraising Appeal. Again, all of you have been so generous so far (more than $60,000 raised since March!), but if you would like to help us kick off the official giving season with a donation on #GivingTuesday, that would be terrific. We’ll be sending out an email to remind everyone come December 1. We will also be sending our 2020 Covid Relief Season’s Pleadings letter out in December, so keep a lookout and make a tax-deductible donation before December 31. Bottom line: ANY time you are able and choose to give is great! It’s what will get us through. Go to our Donations Page online or send a check to: Outpost Productions, PO Box 4543, Albuquerque, NM 87196.
We continue to make plans for some exciting virtual concerts and events for you, as well as new educational opportunities, and more, so stay tuned! Let’s keep the music alive!
Thanks again to everyone out there for your love and support. We can’t wait until we can gather again with you at the Space and beyond!
Our dear friend and much loved New Mexico jazz luminary, woodwind maestro Arlen Asher passed away this past Friday, October 2, 2020. The consummate gentleman, teacher , musical treasure and all around gem of a human being, Arlen will be greatly missed by all of us at Outpost and the entire community. For a wonderful tribute and history about Arlen, visit Mark Weber’s Jazz For Mostly story as well as Mel Minter’s Musically Speaking.
And enjoy the greatness and sweetness that was Arlen in the tribute video below.
RIP Arlen. We all love you and will miss you greatly.
We’ve had quite an adventure (a good one!) with Outpost’s Online Classes this summer! It’s a new experience for sure, but we are happy to be able to continue our educational efforts and to stay connected with you! Meanwhile, this coming Saturday, August 15, join us for the final of 6 Masterclasses hosted by Doug Lawrence!These really have been great and we’d love to see you at the final session which will feature one of New Mexico’s most in demand bassists,Milo Jaramillo. Please be our guest for the final masterclass by simply clicking on this link: Join Zoom Masterclass: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89252444071 ! We look forward to seeing you there. Stay tuned for more fall 2020 online activities!
It is with great sadness that, due to the coronavirus pandemic, and for the sake of everybody’s health and safety, we are announcing the cancellation of Outpost’s 2020 summer season which includes the 15th Annual New Mexico Jazz Festival (scheduled for July 7-27 (as well as our 25th Annual Summer Thursday Jazz Nights series, scheduled for June 18-August 20), our in-person educational programs, and so on. We remained hopeful that we might be able to present some of our summer season, but, as with other arts organizations and festivals worldwide, it just could not be. First and foremost here at Outpost, our concern is to do what we can to keep you— our patrons, artists, staff, volunteers and so on— SAFE! We aim to do that by following social distancing guidelines, which, although they may be relaxed somewhat in the coming weeks and months, will not allow for any large gatherings nor international travel, which are both integral to a successful festival and our programming in general.
We were truly excited to be celebrating what would have been our 15th Annual NM Jazz Festivalthis year with an incredible line-up of artists – from The Count Basie Orchestra featuring Lizz Wright to Chick Corea & The Spanish Heart Band with special guest Rubén Blades (who I have wanted to present for years!), to the great Bobby McFerrin, Tower of Power, Terri Lyne Carrington’s Social Science, Charlie Musselwhite Band, Pedrito Martinez and so much more! We are hoping to be able reschedule many of these artists when we are able to open again. We don’t know when that will be and of course will have to wait until we all have more clarity about how we can move forward, but what is most important to us now and in to the future is everyone’s health and safety.
Here’s the good news though! The fact that we have reached such milestones as the 15th Annual NM Jazz Festival and 25 years of our Summer Thursday Jazz Nights, is pretty awesome, right?! It is testament to how strong and committed the Outpost community is, to your continued enthusiasm and excitement for what we present, and to your generous and steadfast support! We are as strong as our community, and we think the Outpost community is among the strongest there is! We will miss you tremendously this summer, but will continue to look forward to when we can meet again and share great music together.
Yes, we are all very disappointed! We have looked forward the amazing talent and energy that we have been able to present at the New Mexico Jazz Festival for the past 14 years now, along with all the great performances by some of New Mexico’s finest jazz musicians at our Summer Thursday Jazz Nights, our summer Jazz & Latin Music classes, etc.! We can’t wait until we can hit the downbeat again, but rest assured that we will stay connected and that we are working on bringing you some virtual programming this summer so we can all continue to enjoy great music. We will keep you posted! Meanwhile, please stay safe, stay healthy and stay connected!
An Update To All Of Our Outpost Friends: Due to the extended Shelter at Home directive from the Governor and in the interests of everybody’s health and well-being, we don’t feel that there is any other choice but to cancel the remainder of the Spring 2020 season, including all classes, art exhibits, etc. We do hope to reschedule many of the artists who would have performed at Outpost this season for the 2020-2021 season and truly hope we can all gather again soon to share all the great music. We are also hoping we can present our 25th Annual Summer Thursday Night Jazz series featuring NM based artists and, of course, the 15th Annual NM Jazz Festival in July, but we will keep you posted. Refunds for spring season concerts have been processed and if you purchased online, you will receive a confirmation email from Hold My Tickets.
Many of you have asked if you can donate your tickets back to Outpost. Although we truly appreciate that offer, online ticket sales are automatically refunded when a concert/event is cancelled. However, if you would like to make a donation at this time, we would of course very much appreciate your support! As you probably know, Outpost recently created a Musician’s Relief Fund to which many of you have already sent a donation- Thank You!!! Now that we are having to cancel the entire remainder of the spring season, these funds/your support will become even more critical. Ticket refunds for concerts cancelled this spring will total close to $15,000 which, as I am sure you understand create difficulties for Outpost as well. So if you want to make a donation to Outpost to help keep us strong, you can do that as well.
Meanwhile, we miss you all very much and truly hope you are staying healthy and safe! Wishing everyone the very best and looking forward to returning to some sort of normal sooner than later so we can share great music, art, learning, community and inspiration!
