BREWMASTERS WEEKEND

Yard Owl Craft Brewery
Gardiner, NY

James and Michelle Walsh combined their excitement for the restaurant business and opened Mudd Puddle Café in New Paltz, NY. Fresh roasted coffee, hand crafted food, and a warm community space has been the focus since day one. In 2012, they expanded their passion for fine crafted beverages and food by opening Yard Owl Brewery in Gardiner, NY. Here, the team comes together to brew and serve expressive Belgian inspired ales paired with house-made pickled vegetables and eggs, and beer mustards that are served with cheese, charcuterie, and pretzels. This venue has enabled them to create a second community space and expand their creativity into another area of the food and craft beverage world.

Gabrielle Stravelli

Gabrielle Stravelli’s pairing of a jazz artist’s musicianship with an ability to interpret lyrics and connect with an audience has led to a richly varied career. She has headlined international and domestic jazz festivals and regularly leads her quartet in performances at the country’s finest jazz clubs and performing arts centers. As a U.S. State Department “Jazz Ambassador” she has performed and taught throughout Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and South America. “Dream Ago,” her 2017 release which consists primarily of original material, received a 5-star review from Downbeat Magazine and her 2019 release “Pick Up My Pieces: Gabrielle Stravelli Sings Willie Nelson” was featured by noted music critic Will Friedwald in the WSJ and awarded the 2020 Bistro Award for Outstanding Recording.

Bill & Livia Vanaver

Bill and Livia Vanaver are the co-artistic directors of The Vanaver Caravan, a Hudson Valley-based nonprofit organization that performs original, world-infused choreography and music, both locally and internationally. Since 1972, they have toured the U.S. and abroad with dancers and musicians collecting, performing, and teaching. Drawing from their ever-expanding repertoire of dance and music traditions, The Vanaver Caravan also provides cross-culture dance education through in-school arts residences and after-school classes. Wherever The Vanaver Caravan goes dance and music follows, inspiring people in every walk of life to join together in song, dance, and celebration.

MAMA JUKE

MAMA JUKE is a gumbo of New Orleans influenced blues, blue-eyed soul, funk, and folk. Actor/singer Elijah Bridges brings elements of bluegrass and rag with his soulful harmonica, acoustic guitar, and voice. Amos Rose is a world traveling multi-instrumentalist who also sings and plays lead Telecaster guitar, and was recently featured by Jazz at Lincoln Center. Brendan O’Grady is an in-demand session musician, and fixture on the greater New York scene since his roots growing up in Yonkers. Drummer Jon Wert is a sought-after musician in NYC, collaborating with a wide variety of artists in the jazz, rock, pop production shows, and songwriter worlds. The result is a four-part-harmony freight train just a-hummin’ down the rails. The band has original music as well as a crowd-pleasing repertoire of cover songs.