CODY - While visitors might be surprised today to hear the sounds of live jazz carried aloft on a summer breeze, local music fans know after two decades that it must be time again for the Yellowstone Jazz Festival.

Competing with plenty of other outdoor activities at this time of year isn't easy, but the event often draws solid crowds, said Brad Constantine, a longtime festival backer.

"It's had its ups and downs from year to year in terms of attendance, and this time of year in Cody, something like this can be hard to pull off," said Constantine, owner of the Beartooth Inn and president of the nonprofit group that stages the event.

Constantine has worked previously as a jazz musician, playing trumpet around South Dakota, Wyoming and Washington state, where he lived for a while before moving back to Cody.

"Living in the Powell-Cody area may seem isolated, but it's probably where I've met the most professional musicians. It's a pretty hip area due to the activeness of the Northwest College music department," he said.

It was NWC music teachers Neil Hansen, Ronnie Bedford and others who staged the first Yellowstone Jazz Festival in July 1988.

Both men are still a big part of the event, which also coincides with a summer jazz camp that mentors young musicians.

Hansen said backing from local donors and the Wyoming Arts Council are key to making the festival happen each year.

The event's close proximity to Yellowstone has been helpful in attracting musicians, including players in the 18-piece Yellowstone Big Band who return year after year to play, he said.

"They love doing it, and they sure don't do it for the money. They do it for the experience of coming to Cody," said Hansen, who had just returned from a rehearsal at the Northwest College field camp in the woods near Sunlight Basin.

Hansen said headliner Walt Andrus was "totally taken aback" by the band and the wilderness setting during his practice session.

A big band singer who toured with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, Andrus will perform a tribute to Frank Sinatra today at 2 and 5 p.m. at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center's Robbie Powwow Gardens.

"If people love Sinatra, they will love this guy. It will be like being at the Sands hotel in Vegas in 1967 with the Count Basie Orchestra," Hansen said.