E X P L O R E
Our Heritage
January, 1976: A 10-member Board of Directors consisting of Monk Montgomery (founder), Jay Cameron, Frank Gagliardi, Ken Joy, John Lindner, Sari Phillips, Tom Severns, Dan Skea, Judy Tarte and John Unrue is formed.
The “Jazz Ambassadors at Large” is assembled to spread the word, the music and the dream. Members are Joe Williams, Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis, Marlena Shaw, James Moody, B.B. King and Carl Fontana.
“A Place in the Sun” by Monk Montgomery
Las Vegas Jazz Society:
The Early Times
Compiled and contributed by Judy Tarte
Jazz bassist Monk Montgomery introduced the Fender Precision Bass to the genre in 1951 and was the elder brother of jazz guitarist, Wes, and vibraphonist/pianist Buddy). Upon his arrival to Las Vegas in 1966 he found the jazz scene sadly lacking, even though the town was full of fine musicians who were looking to play this kind of music. His dream was to provide more outlets for them to be able to play their music and to also draw nationally renowned jazz musicians to major venues on and off the “Strip.”
ADVISORY BOARD
PETE BARBUTTI CARL SAUNDERS GUS MANCUSO DAVE LOEB LORRAINE HUNT BONO TOM HALL
SHAWN WHITMER, PRESIDENT
CONTACT: info@lvjs.org
LVJS Bootlegger Sunday Jazz Series
February 24, 2019 – Laura Taylor
Details soon
We encourage everyone to use the LVJS emails to correspond with us:
membership@lvjs.org – for membership questions or renewals
events@lvjs.org – news about what’s happening on the live jazz scene. This is also the address Artists use for submitting their gigs.
jazznotes@lvjs.org – Artists, submit your gigs for inclusion in this bimonthly publication
treas@lvjs.org – Treasurer
info@lvjs.org – If none of the above apply to a question, concern or comment you may have, try this address
admin@lvjs.org – Used to correspond with the administrator of this website (things you would like to see here, questions about how to purchase tickets?)
Check out this great documentary about the Jazz Club at the Dispensary Lounge by filmmaker R. Alex Martinez “Dispensing Rawness” featuring Uli Geissendoerfer
2019 Board of Directors
Shawn Whitmer, President
Ryan Baker
Evelyn Chavers
Betty Cleveland
Molly Redfield
Michael Spicer
NEW YEAR, NEW FOCUS
The new board of the Las Vegas Jazz Society is a great combination of artists with new ideas and enthusiasm and long-time members adding their expertise to the mix. The LVJS is taking a giant leap into the present – relying on this website for many functions:
Calendar of events (sent weekly to your inbox on SUNDAY).
Maintaining our member database
Posting and selling tickets for LVJS-sponsored events
Emailing renewal notices on a monthly basis. No longer will your membership expire on the last day of the year. Rather, it will expire one year from when you joined or last renewed.
In addition, the bimonthly magazine “JazzNotes” will now be emailed to members in pdf form. It will also be available, as before, on this website using the link below.
Our goal in the coming year is to increase our presence in the community by sponsoring, co-sponsoring and promoting jazz events. We also want to increase participation of our Artist Members by supporting them with our attendance.
FEATURED ARTISTS
VOLUNTEER
How can you help?
SEE
Images from the latest events
LISTEN: "Waltz for Debby"
OUR MISSION
SPONSOR
and co-sponsor live jazz performances
PROMOTE
Support the up-and-coming young musicians in our community and schools
PROVIDE
Opportunities for those who appreciate jazz to share their common interests in this uniquely American, constantly evolving art form
WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU
If you have suggestions or comments that would help make the LVJS bigger and better, send those to info@lvjs.org.
What performers would you like to hear and where? Is there information that could be added to the website?
Anything you can think of, we want to hear about it.
Attention High School Jazz Band Artists
Receive the latest information on all things jazz in Las Vegas
The Las Vegas Jazz Society is a 501(c)(3) Nonprofit Corporation EIN 88-0281671
KEEP THIS UNIQUE AMERICAN ART FORM ALIVE
DONATE TODAY
