During the thirteen year life of the concert series, the GAM Foundation, Inc., has produced over 150 concerts featuring over 450 of the world's finest jazz artists, contributed over $1,000,000.00 directly to the music departments of the Middle Schools, High Schools, and Universities participating in GAM's jazz education out-reach program, sponsored a benefit concert raising funds for scholarships for the University of Utah Music Department's Jazz Studies Program, sponsored monthly jazz concerts at the Salt Lake Valley Youth Detention Center, produced concerts featuring some of Salt Lake City's own fine jazz artists, presented Governor's "Awards of Appreciation" to Dave & Iola Brubeck and to George Shearing and produced a "Tribute to Ray Brown" created by John Clayton. In recognition to their contribution to Jazz and the community the Gam Foundation Inc. has received: University of Utah's "Excellence in Music" award KUER's "Voice of Jazz" award Valley High School's "Continuing Support of the Arts" award Utah Music Educator's Association "Outstanding Service to Music Education" award Governor's "Special Award" in the arts Listed as one of the top ten attractions in the Salt Lake Tribune's annual "What's Great About Salt Lake." In 2002-2003, Salt Lake Magazine listed us as the best jazz series in Utah. In 2004, City Weekly awared us with their Slammy Award for the Best Continuing Jazz Series. Jazz at the Sheraton is a non-profit, concert series funded and produced by the GAM Foundation, an organization established in 1994 to increase the awareness, appreciation and popularity of jazz in our community. Said foundation co-founder Mike MacKay, “We view this as a community-enhancement project and all of the decisions we’ve made have been made in that context.” “We wanted to bring in great jazz; we wanted to be able to have young people come to this concert and have a really intimate experience with the artist,” explains Gordon Hanks, co-founder and lifetime jazz fan. To this end, the GAM Foundation donates 350 tickets to each concert to over 45 local schools and universities which have active jazz programs for their students. What began as a "let's try producing one concert and see what happens," has developed into a unique, nationally recognized not-for-profit jazz concert series. In the eight years since the series’ inception, Jazz at the Sheraton has both featured the top performers in jazz and proven the popularity of jazz in Salt Lake City. Thanks to the gracious support of concertgoers, the GAM Foundation will continue to bring great live jazz to the Salt Lake area and further its endeavors in enriching the artistic tapestry of the community. Founders Gordon Hanks, Michael MacKay Producer Gordon Hanks Executive Director Amanda Lufkin Directors Michael MacKay, Ben Goodwin, Ryan Lufkin, Dennis Merrill, Terri McGhee, Jeff Whiteley Advisory Board Caleb Chapman, Ben Goodwin, Gordon Hanks, Marjorie Jensen, Amanda Lufkin, Mike MacKay, Ed Pratt, Steve Shoell, Hadley Soffe Artistic Board Regina Carter, Michel Camillo, John Clayton, Eliane Elias, Jeff Hamilton, Jay Lawrence Web Designer / Developer Hadley Soffe Contact Us info@jazzslc.com