Columnist Spencer Patterson: City of Lights Jazz Festival illuminates LV

Spencer Patterson

Friday, April 25, 2003 | 9:04 a.m.

Spencer Patterson covers music for the Sun. His music notes column appears Fridays. Reach him at spencer@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-2309.

So you think Las Vegas isn't a jazz town? Don't try telling that to Michael Schivo.

Over the past decade Schivo's City of Lights Jazz Festival has become one of Southern Nevada's most anticipated musical events.

In fact, the festival has become so popular that its appeal now extends beyond the state's borders.

Schivo said he expects more than 2,000 out-of-towners to be in the crowd when the 10th edition kicks off Saturday at noon at Desert Breeze Park, 8425 Spring Mountain Road.

"It has grown from a completely local event to a tourist-driven festival," the longtime concert promoter said. "This year, we expect around 60 percent of our audience to be from out of town.

"People come in for the weekend, and it's not like they don't have jazz festivals in their own back yards to go to. But those festivals are lacking one thing that the City of Lights Jazz Festival has: the city of Las Vegas."

Saturday's 10-hour show will feature 11 scheduled performers: saxophonists Steve Cole, Richard Elliot, Kim Waters and Marion Meadows; guitarists Peter White, Jeff Golub and Chuck Loeb; vocalists Brenda Russell; and Phil Perry and keyboardists Freddie Ravel and Bob Baldwin.

"It'd say it's hands down the strongest lineup we've had," Schivo said, adding that he is especially excited about the chance to hear Russell's "magnificent voice."

All of the artists fit into the "smooth jazz" category, but Schivo said it might not be long before he begins bringing in "traditional jazz" musicians as well, as he did during the festival's early years.

Saturday will mark the first time the festival has taken place anywhere but Summerlin's Hills Park, the venue it ultimately outgrew. Schivo expects a crowd of more than 4,000 this weekend. He said Hills Park comfortably seated around 2,500.

"Hills Park is a wonderful place, with a nice amphitheater and a stage built into it, but about three years ago we noticed we were running out of room there," Schivo said. "So we began looking for other places."

Schivo was quick to stress that Desert Breeze Park will host the event on a trial basis only, with a move to another location a possibility for the 2004 festival.

Because Desert Breeze does not have its own stage, event organizers will bring in a 40-foot tractor-trailer known as a hydraulic portable stage.

"We'll back it up to the park, lose the cab and push a hydraulic switch. The sides drop, the roof opens and you've got a stage," Schivo said. "It's unique, and expensive. We have spared no expense in making our 10th jazz festival here something of a landmark for us."

Tickets are $62 for adults, $15 for kids age 12 to 18 and free for children under 12. Gates open at 11 a.m.

Concertgoers are permitted to carry food and beverages into the park. Glass containers will not be allowed.

Music notes

Dry beach: Summer is fast approaching, and that usually means the Beach at Mandalay Bay is gearing up for its upcoming concert schedule. But so far in 2003 the venue has been unusually quiet, announcing nary a show to this point.

Never fear, beach lovers. According to a Mandalay Bay spokesperson, the outdoor theater is undergoing some unannounced construction. The seating area will be expanded, and a center bar will be added to the configuration.

Expect shows to return in July, about six weeks after the Beach's concert season usually begins.

Stars line up: Shania Twain and Alan Jackson have been added to the list of performers for next month's "Academy of Country Music Awards" show at Mandalay Bay Events Center.

Jackson captured the 2003 Grammy for Best Country Song with his Sept. 11 tribute, "Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)." Twain's latest release, "Up," is expected to become her third consecutive album to sell more than 10 million copies.

Also scheduled to perform at the May 21 event: Willie Nelson, Toby Keith, Alabama, Brooks & Dunn, Kenny Chesney, George Strait and Martina McBride.

Bow wow: Rapper Snoop Dogg headlines Saturday's "Spring Bling" concert at the Aladdin Theatre for Performing Arts.

The event, which gets under way at 8 p.m., will also feature hip-hop artists Mystikal and Killer Mike, along with Latin pop singer Amanda Perez.

Tickets are still available in the venue's $25, $35 and $45 sections, and can be purchased at the Aladdin box office, at TicketMaster outlets, by phone at 785-5000 or 474-4000 or online at ticketmaster.com.

Choral concerto: UNLV's choral ensembles close out their spring concert season with a performance Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at Artemus Ham Hall.

The show, titled, "Give Me the Splendid Silent Sun," will feature the University Concert Singers, the Varsity Men's Glee Club, the Women's Chorus and the Nightingales. Also scheduled to perform is the University's Children's Chorale, a group consisting of 75 young singers from Southern Nevada.

Tickets are $5 and are available at the UNLV Performing Arts Center box office.

On sale

Talk about an unusual pairing. Cyndi Lauper and Meat Loaf will co-headline a July 26 concert at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. Tickets are $35 to $55 and go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m. at the Mandalay Bay box office, by phone at 632-7580 and through TicketMaster.

Tickets for two upcoming shows at the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay are on sale now: Rob Halford with Testament, Immortal, Amon Amarth, Carnal Forge and Pain Museum on June 7 ($30-$40) and Musiq with Jaguar Wright on May 31 ($20-$40).

Tickets for another House of Blues show -- Reggie & the Full Effect with Midtown, A Static Lullaby and Motion Picture Soundtrack on July 20 -- go on sale Thursday at 10 a.m. Tickets are $13.50 and will be available at the House of Blues box office, by phone at 632-7600, online at hob.com and through TicketMaster.com