The origin of the L.V. Jazz Society’s slogan “Think Jazz” was on KLAV

“Think Jazz” became the mantra of Monk Montgomery, and the slogan of the Las Vegas Jazz Society which Monk Founded in 1975.  That slogan came about on the spur of the moment and unexpectedly.  Monk hosted a three hour jazz program on Sunday nights on KLAV from 8-11pm, “The Reality of Jazz” which was also the title of one of his albums. 

I remember the very first show, for which I ran the board and introduced Monk and provided someone for him to talk to and play off of.  The show wasn’t scripted; we just played it by ear and basically winged it.  When it came time to end the show, Monk said his goodbyes and then I closed the show with the sponsored billboard-The Tender Trap jazz club.  I also ran without a script, and right before I gave the legal ID I needed a few seconds to fill before we hit the top of the hour CBS news.  So I simply said, “until next time…think jazz.” 

Not an especially profound statement… but Monk was blown away by it.  “I like it!” he said.  He was pretty excited, and we closed every show thereafter with “think jazz.”  So a simple couple of words I came up with on the spur of the moment would become a mantra for Monk and the slogan for the Jazz Society which he founded.