The Jazz at the Sheraton (formerly Jazz at the Hilton) series has earned a reputation over the past few years for outstanding jazz concerts. And that reputation is well-deserved, as the series has brought some of the world's finest musicians to Salt Lake City for some sizzling jazz.
While many of the artists have been flown in from around the world to play here, this month's performance doesn't venture any further than the Wasatch Front to find its headliners. Vocalist Kelly Eisenhour, tenor sax player David Halliday and the Jay Lawrence Quartet will combine for a performance/jam on Monday, Jan. 15, at 7:30 at the Salt Lake Sheraton City Centre. Tickets can be purchased by calling 278-0411.
"Three years ago we did a local concert, and it was just fantastic," said Gordon Hanks, co-founder of the GAM Foundation, which sponsors the concerts. "Then last year, we did another one, and it was even better, because we selected fewer artists and gave it more focus. So this year we decided to do it again.
"(The artists) are people who live here on the Wasatch Front, who are all professional musicians and who are terrifically good. These are the premier guys."
Hanks calls Eisenhour a "very, very brilliant vocalist," adding that she moved here a couple years ago from Las Vegas. "She was fortunate enough to sing with the Utah Symphony with Keith Lockhart in a pops concert about three months or so ago. He was so knocked out by her that he asked her to go back and sing on New Year's Eve with the Boston Pops at Boston. This lady is honestly a great jazz and a great R&B singer. We're just ecstatic to have her."
Hanks said that the GAM Foundation has been around since 1994. "The GAM Foundation is just really two individuals — myself and Michael McKay. That's it. One day we said, 'You know, isn't it silly that someone isn't bringing in the world's greatest jazz artists into Salt Lake?' Nobody was. There was a little bit at Snowbird, and once in awhile D.B. Cooper's or the Zephyr would do something, but we realized there really wasn't a place for young people to go and hear the greatest musicians in a concert setting where the full focus is on the music. We've done about 60 concerts now.
"The people we bring in are the premier of the world — (Dave) Brubeck, Herbie Hancock, Clark Terry, Ahmad Jamahl, Chick Corea — the best in the world. Everybody we've brought in is probably either No. 1 or 2 in their specific fields. We've had in Roy Hargrove, and this year we're bringing in Terrence Blanchard. Of course, the No. 1 jazz performer in the world is Diana Krall; we've had her four times."
Most concerts are sellouts — some 1,240 seats. And that includes 300 free tickets that go to 30 high schools and five universities locally.
"Students see these concerts as our guests. If you went to New York or Chicago or L.A., your chance of getting a ticket would be hard. Second of all, if it was in a club, you couldn't get in if you're a young person. And third, if it was not in a club but in Carnegie Hall or the Lincoln Center, the ticket prices are between $80-200.
"There's not a single venue in the United States that, on a regular, monthly basis, does a concert and brings in 300 kids at no charge and says, 'Come sit.' If, at the end of the year, we're short of money, Michael and I put the money in to keep it going."
E-mail: rcline@desnews.com