JazzSLC to hold benefit concert

The tag line reads, "Got a Good Thing Goin,"' and after looking at the '07-'08 season lineup for the JazzSLC series, it's easy to see that they really do.

Dianne Reeves, John and Bucky Pizzarelli, Tierney Sutton and Brad Mehldau are all on the schedule — along with six other impressive acts.

In order to keep a good thing going, JazzSLC will hold a benefit concert featuring jazz vocalist Dee Daniels next Saturday.

"We're doing a fund-raiser now, because as we get toward the end of the '07-'08 season, our funds will be really depleted," said Gordon Hanks, managing director of the GAM Foundation, which backs the series. "We need to start raising funds again so we can continue into the '08-'09 series.

"What we've been doing the last 14 years is really, really important. It's important for the community to have the world's greatest jazz musicians on a monthly basis, in a wonderfully intimate jazz setting — every month after month after month."

Hanks said that one thing that's always kept his fire for this series is that it gives young people a chance to see the best musicians in the world in a live, intimate setting for an affordable price. "Concert tickets now are anywhere from $150-$200 a ticket. We're still bringing in the very best at $25 per ticket for general admission, $15 for students — and we're still giving away 150 tickets free for students who are in active jazz-band programs."

"Ticket prices," he added, "don't come close to covering the costs of the concerts," so they need outside support to cover costs.

Hanks said he chose Dee Daniels for the fund-raiser because she's such a "great ambassador for jazz." "She's an incredible musician. She has such tremendous stage presence. And she's such a fabulous performer that can really grasp the audience and really connect with the audience.

"And she's such a terrifically personable, nice lady. She's got all the qualities that you look for in somebody to be a spokesperson for the art form."

By phone from her home in Canada, Daniels said she wanted to do this fund-raiser because she also believes in the cause. "I think what the GAM Foundation is doing is fantastic, to have this series. The level of quality that they have there, the fact that it's an ongoing situation, not just a one-of.

"I think I speak for any musician who's been there, and also those who have heard about it and haven't been there yet, but we really appreciate people that are that passionate about preserving this American art form."