Concert promoter carries on in friend’s tradition

Friday, April 26, 2002 | 9:33 a.m.

What: "City of Lights Jazz Festival."

When: noon to 10 p.m. Saturday.

Where: Hills Park Amphitheater, 9099 Hillpointe Drive.

Tickets: $60 for adults; $10 children (ages 11-18); children 10 and under free.

Information: 228-3780.

Shortly before Monk Montgomery, founder of the Las Vegas Jazz Society, died in 1982, he passed a baton to concert promoter Michael Schivo.

"Monk said he was not going to be here long, and to just keep the jazz going," Schivo said from his offices in Seattle. "That's what I've been doing."

Montgomery, famed for his electric bass guitar work, was the brother of the legendary jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery (who died in 1968) and vibe player Buddy Montgomery (who resides in Los Angeles).

Monk Montgomery moved to Las Vegas in the early 1970s, and in 1975 became the driving force behind the creation of the Jazz Society.

Schivo was a Las Vegas resident at the time; he moved his operations to Seattle in 1998.

As far as promoting concerts went, "I had Nevada pretty much to myself," Schivo said. "I was known as the guy in Nevada who could fill a 7,000-seat auditorium."

Starting in 1966 Michael Schivo Presents brought to the Las Vegas Convention Center some of the first rock concerts ever to play Las Vegas, featuring such musical groups as Three Dog Night, Steppenwolf and Jethro Tull, filling most of the largest venues in town with fans.

But he took Montgomery's plea to heart in early 1980 and has focused much of his career on promoting jazz concerts (though he promotes other music genres).

Schivo is behind the "City of Lights Jazz Festival," which will be held Saturday at Hills Park Amphitheater in Summerlin.

This is the ninth-annual festival, a tribute to Schivo's commitment to the promise he made to Montgomery.

The headliner for this year's festival is trumpet player Rick Braun, who recently won five Smooth Jazz Awards, including Best Brass Performer, Best Male Artist, Collaboration of the Year ("Shake It Up" with Boney James), Best Album and Best Song ("Kisses in the Rain").

In 1993 Braun released his first solo album, "Intimate Secrets." His 1995 album, "Beat Street," topped the contemporary jazz charts for 13 weeks, eventually becoming the No. 1 smooth jazz record of the year.

Braun has toured with such diverse musicians as Rickie Lee Jones, Sade, Rod Stewart, Tina Turner, Glenn Frey, Natalie Cole, Tom Petty, Crowded House, Phoebe Snow and War.

Other performers on the roster for this year's festival include jazz vocalist Randy Crawford, keyboardist Brian Culbertson, guitarist Joyce Cooling, pianist/vocalist Joe McBride and saxophonist Michael Lington.

Schivo has worked with some of the greatest jazz and blues artists in the world during his 38 years in the promotions business, including Diana Krall, Spyro Gyra, Grover Washington Jr., Fourplay, David Sanborn, Larry Carlton, The Rippingtons, Richard Elliot, Hugh Masakela and Tom Scott.

Schivo began promoting jazz in Las Vegas in 1980 at the Troubadour nightclub (now Cheetahs, a topless bar).

"I branched out to (UNLV's) Artemus Ham (Concert Hall) and many nighteries -- little hole-in-the-walls, much like Monk Montgomery was doing," Schivo said.

In addition to rock concerts, Schivo has promoted jazz concerts around the country, and in 1993 produced the first jazz festival in China.

He said that about nine years ago he noticed Las Vegas, where he grew up, didn't have a jazz festival.

"I said I was going to do one," Schivo said, "but everybody said it was too expensive."

He convinced the city of Las Vegas' Department of Leisure Services to co-sponsor the event.

"It was a success from Year One," Schivo said. "It didn't sell out the first year, but it was a success. It didn't start to sell out 'til a couple of years ago."

The capacity of the Summerlin facility is 2,500 people.

Schivo says the festival has outgrown Summerlin, and in the near future he expects it to move to another venue in the valley.

"It's my quest to look for a new park beginning this year," he said.

Schivo said the "City of Lights Jazz Festival" has the potential of become one of the biggest drawing cards for tourists in Las Vegas.

"The festival has a reputation of being one of the best West Coast parties going," he said.

Schivo wants to make the festival a city-wide event, with concerts at several venues -- possibly five locations where admission is free, and five where there is a paid admission fee.

"All it takes is mutual agreement (among casinos)," he said.