An old saxophone rests in its balding velvet-lined case. The worn keys seems fragile, the screws maybe loose, the metal tarnished. It’s on loan from local jazz musician Tom Hall, in an exhibit case at the Nevada State Museum.
“It’s been played everywhere,” says Hall, who settled in Las Vegas in 1965 and played in house bands on the Strip for 45 years.
“I played every hotel on the Strip that no longer exists. They’ve all been imploded—the Dunes, the Desert Inn, the Sands, the Tropicana, the Riviera,” he says.
In the ’50s and ‘60s, Hall toured with big bands and played with some of the biggest stars, including Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. He wanted to lend some of that energy to the exhibit, which is part of the Las Vegas Jazz Society’s 50th anniversary celebration.
In addition to the exhibit, opening April 25, the nonprofit is having a festival at Winchester Dondero Cultural Center April 26-27 with performances and workshops. The weekend-long affair is meant to honor musicians like Hall, a board member of the Jazz Society with a legacy of volunteering and mentorship, and to bring the community together over a common love of music.
Founded in 1975 by famous jazz bassist Monk Montgomery, the Las Vegas Jazz Society aims to promote jazz performances, support young musicians and provide opportunities for people to bond over the constantly evolving art form. One of the ways it does this is through the Jazz Arts Community Ensemble, an all-ages band which rehearses every Wednesday and performs quarterly concerts at Winchester Dondero.
“It used to be that kids could sit in with the pros and get the school of hard knocks. There’s not so many opportunities to do that anymore,” says Judy Tarte, president of the Jazz Society. “It gives people a [chance] to come and get their chops up.”
The Jazz Arts Community Ensemble gave professional saxophonist Carlos Mata a strong interest in music as a career path when he was young. The 31-year-old says the opportunity to play with “amazing” older pros like Hall helped him see that being a musician could be a viable long-term plan.
“Tom Hall took me under his wing about 15 years ago. To hear all his stories of the Strip and who he played with ... it was inspiring to me,” Mata says. “It was the beginning of my career, learning a lot of musical concepts, how to gig, what people expect from you.”
The 31-year-old now plays regularly on the Strip, and heads a six-piece band called Arcade Bops, which plays video game music in jazz, classical and pop styles. Arcade Bops will play at the Jazz Society’s festival along with the Community Ensemble, pianist and UNLV professor Uli Geissendoerfer, drummer Jose “Pepe” Jimenez, the trombone-heavy Las Vegas Boneheads, jazz singer Michelle Johnson and more.
Tarte and Hall emphasize that the Jazz Society is run by all volunteers for “the love of jazz” and the desire to see it live on, even if its glory days are long past.
“I would love to see jazz continued, and what better way to do it than to try and mentor people in something you’ve spent your entire life in?” Hall says. “And it’s working. We have some great young talent coming along who are going to be some of the best, if they continue. And if you give them the incentive and let them know they can do it, show them how and why, it feels good to see somebody blossom out of my efforts.”
LAS VEGAS JAZZ SOCIETY 50TH ANNIVERSARY FESTIVAL April 26-27, 3 p.m., free with reservations required at [email protected]. Winchester Dondero Cultural Center, lvjs.org.
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