John Tesh will be back in town on Monday night, so Christmas must not be far off.
Tesh is taking a few weeks off from his co-hosting duties on television's "Entertainment Tonight" for a brief concert tour. And for the second time in just under a year, he's bringing his act to Salt Lake City - to Abravanel Hall, to be exact.If you're only familiar with Tesh because of his nightly appearances on the highly rated syndicated entertainment news program, then you're only familiar with half of his career.
He may be the only guy who's ever won Emmy Awards both as an investigative journalist and for his music. The former came while he was an anchorman/reporter at WCBS-TV in New York City, the latter came for the theme music he composed for television coverage of the Pan American Games, the Tour de France and the 1992 Summer Olympics.
He's been playing the piano since the age of 6, and has had no small amount of success with his new age/jazz music - Tesh has released nine albums, selling millions of copies, and formed his own record label.
If you've watched TV, you've probably heard Tesh's work without even knowing it. In addition to numerous themes for sporting events, he's also written the themes to Fox's animated series "Bobby's World," the cable series "Comics Only" as well as arranging the current version of the "Entertainment Tonight" theme.
His career as a performing artist took off with his 1992 album "A Romantic Christmas," which went gold and formed the basis of his holiday concert tours.
Not that Monday's concert will be entirely Christmas-oriented. There will be plenty of music from his other albums as well, including his latest CD, "Sax by the Fire," which he executive-produced with his wife, actress Connie Sellecca.
Tickets to Tesh's concert Monday night in Abravanel Hall are for $22, $18 and $16 and are available at all Art Tix outlets or by calling 355 ARTS.