Friday, Jan. 16, 2004 | 8:25 a.m.
Don Menza has retired.
The 68-year-old genius of jazz, who splits his time between homes in Las Vegas and Los Angeles, says he is finished.
He put away his famed saxophone following his last gig -- the annual Desert Big Band and Jazz Party last month in Palm Springs, Calif.
"I got into music because it was fun. I enjoyed the challenge of being able to go out and create all this music," Menza said. "But the whole jazz culture suddenly is part of the pop culture. The record business is more concerned about how we look than how we sound.
"Music has become part of the visual arts. They ask you, 'What kind of act do you do? What kind of show do you do?' "
His has always been a class act, and his shows have been as diverse as the production revue "Splash" and "Jazz on the Strip," a Monday-night jazz showcase in the former Le Bistro Lounge at the Riviera.
Menza says his decision to walk away from something that has been a part of his life for so long was not easy.
"It was brought about by a series of events," he said. "I've been doing this for 53 years, but that's not the problem. My health is good -- I'm concerned about where music has gone. I'm not at all impressed by the pop/rock culture."
He still loves music, but that isn't enough to keep him onstage.
"Before I learn to hate music, I would like to go back and listen to it the rest of my life," Menza said. "If I feel the urge, I might play again."
But he says that isn't likely.
"At this point, I don't even want to play for pleasure," Menza said.
And playing professionally part time is out of the question. He says if you're going to perform at all, you have to practice several hours every day "if you want to stay on top of it. You can't just play on a Saturday or a Tuesday."
Menza, a native of Buffalo, N.Y., has been a serious musician since the age of 12, studying saxophone in high school and at the State University of Fredonia.
While in the service and stationed in Germany, he played with the 7th Army Jazz Orchestra, a band that included such musical heavyweights as Don Ellis, Leo Wright, Eddie Harris, Cedar Walton and Lanny Morgan.
In 1958 he returned to the United States, was discharged and -- for the first time -- quit playing.
"In the two or three short years I was gone from this country, I was amazed at how the jazz scene had diminished," Menza said.
But then he heard saxophonist Sonny Rollins play.
"And I remembered why I wanted to play the saxophone," Menza said.
He joined the Al Belletto sextet and then, in 1960, toured with Maynard Ferguson. He performed briefly with Stan Kenton, led a quintet in Buffalo for a couple of years and then, in 1963, moved back to Germany.
A lifelong fondness for Europe had developed during his tour of duty with the military. Now that he's retired, he may spend even more time overseas.
"It was the first time I was treated like an artist, with respect," Menza said. "It's a whole other lifestyle. The rest of the world looks at jazz as a true art form, but not in this country.
"When I came back from a five-year stint in Europe in '68, I couldn't buy car insurance in this country because I was a jazz musician and jazz musicians were in a high-risk pool. It was insanity."
After his return, he toured briefly with the Buddy Rich band and then settled in L.A. and became a musician with the three major television networks and several recording companies.
He performed with productions in Las Vegas until he began to burn out on commercial gigs in the late '80s.
A yearlong position as artist in residence at UNLV may have hastened the burn.
It was in 1990.
"It was a stretch for those people -- they don't want someone like me, someone who has been on the buses on the road, showing kids how it really was," Menza said. "I don't teach out of the book.
"I told them how it is and how it was, but those people don't want to hear about that. I feel bad for kids going to school. They all come out sounding the same, like coming out of a Chevy plant -- the more I talk about it, the more I'm convinced I don't want to play anymore."
It was about that time, more than 10 years ago, that he was with the orchestra in "Splash."
"That was my last commercial gig," he said. "After that, I said no more. When that gig ended, I promised that would be the end of it -- from then on I would only do jazz gigs."
For the most part, he has been true to his word.
"I've survived 53 years in the business, most of the time calling my own shots," Menza said. "I wasn't an innovator or a trailblazer or world beater -- I was a traditional, mainstream player, sometimes high energy, sometimes not.
"There are so many things I haven't done, like writing for an orchestra, but I'm tired and I don't want to do it now. I ran out of energy -- I wasted so much energy on bad gigs. We all did. If you are going to be conscientious about playing, you're going to spend a lot of time doing it -- it's hazardous to jazz playing."
He says he isn't bitter about anything.
"I just don't want to have to deal with it anymore," Menza said. "I have no regrets. It was wonderful. I gave a lot. I gave it willingly -- all the playing, all the writing, the teaching."
Last week he came to Las Vegas for a few days from his home in Los Angeles.
"For the first time, I didn't have my saxophone with me," Menza said. "It was like I had left a friend behind -- a good friend. But I didn't miss him."
Lounging around
The newly organized Southern Nevada Blues Association (snvblues.org) will host its first fund-raising event from 2 to 9 p.m. Jan. 25 at the Sand Dollar lounge, 3355 Spring Mountain Road. Lots of blues music, Cajun food, raffles and door prizes. Donation is $5. For more information, call 871-6651.
Lambus Dean (Sammy Davis Jr. with the Rat Pack tribute show "Our Way") joins Loni Clark and Ink Spots Ed Stancil and Lou Ragland in a new dinner theater production at the Westward Ho Wednesday. The group will pay tribute to artists who hail from points along Route 66, such as Sam Cooke, the Righteous Brothers and Brook Benton. The "Musical Journey on Route 66" is part of the casino's "Putting on the Ritz" show.
Plush, in the Resort at Summerlin, joins a growing list of trendy ultra lounges spreading throughout the city. Tabu at the MGM Grand ignited the craze, which includes Prana inside the Crustacean restaurant at the Aladdin; Curve in the Aladdin's London Club; Risque at Paris; Carmel and Light at Bellagio and the Venus Lounge at The Venetian.
The Arabesque Lounge, in the Hyatt Regency at Lake Las Vegas Resort, will feature some hot Latin entertainment during the cold winter months. Ricardo Andres Greigo, known for his enthusiasm, passion and versatility on his electric and classical guitars, is the featured entertainer January through March, performing from 5:30 to 9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.
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