Jazz Vespers Quartet

In fall of 2009, the Jazz Vespers Quartet (JVQ) formed to become the house band for the Jazz Vespers concert series, a 30-year tradition that took place on the eight Sundays before Christmas each year at the First Unitarian Church in Salt Lake City under the direction of Rev. Tom Goldsmith.  Led by co-musical directors David Halliday and Courtney Smith, the JVQ has performed jazz tributes to more than fifty different artists and composers at Jazz Vespers including: the Beatles, Frank Sinatra, the Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Led Zeppelin, Ella Fitzgerald, Aretha Franklin, Prince, Janis Joplin, Bob Dylan, Sting and The Police, and many more, featuring original arrangements by Halliday and Smith.  The JVQ's energy, musicianship, and passionate, soulful performances ensured packed houses every Sunday night.  In summer of 2014, Gracie's in downtown Salt Lake began featuring the JVQ as the house band for their Monday Jazz Jam, with Halliday as the host.  The JVQ just celebrated their five-year anniversary at Gracie’s at the end of July, 2019, and will have completed 275 jam sessions by the end of 2019.  The JVQ was selected by JEN (Jazz Education Network) to deliver a panel discussion entitled “Building a Successful Weekly Jazz Jam Session” at the 2019 JEN Conference in Reno, NV, in January of 2019. Master jazz drummer Peter Erskine, Director of Drumset Studies at the University of Southern California, was in attendance at the panel, and took one of Halliday’s outlines, which, he told Halliday, he intends to “spread around the USC Community.”  

David Hallidayis a first-call saxophonist in the western U.S.  As a performer he has traveled through 46 of the 50 United States, eight European Countries, Cuba, Guatemala, Mexico, and Puerto Rico.  Halliday has opened for Diana Krall, B.B. King, George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic, Jon Batiste and Stay Human, Mary J. Blige, and and Karl Denson's Tiny Universe.  He has performed with a wide variety of top artists, including: Carl Allen, David Archuleta, Jon Batiste, Sarah Uriatre Berry, Randy Brecker, Kristen Chenoweth, Jeff Coffin, Bill Cunliffe, Eddie Daniels, Linda Eder, Kurt Elling, Ben Folds, Bennie Friedman, The Four Tops, Galactic, Dizzy Gillespie, Larry Goldings, Josh Groban, The Harry James Orchestra, (saxophonist) Grace Kelly, Will Kennedy, Lauren Kinhan of New York Voices, Wynton Marsalis, Wycliffe Gordon, The Glenn Miller Orchestra, Arturo Sandoval, Diane Schuur, The Temptations, Stanley Turrentine, The Utah Symphony, Sal “The Voice” Valentinetti, Victor Wooten, and many more.  He is the Director of Jazz and Popular Music Studies at Westminster College and is an Associate Adjunct Professor of Saxophone at the University of Utah.  His original compositions appear on numerous television shows, films, and commercials in the U.S. and have aired in 24 different countries around the world.  Halliday leads several of his own groups, performs extensively as a sideman, contracts bands for private clients, gives clinics, and teaches privately.  He is a Cannonball Musical Instruments and Key Leaves artist.

www.davidhallidaymusic.com

Courtney Smithwas born in Salt Lake City in 1983 and began playing piano at age three and organ at age six. By age eight he was a staff organist at his church, Calvary Baptist.  In addition to keyboards, he plays organ, drums, and bass.  Smith played in the East High School Orchestra, graduating in 2002.  In fall of that year he attended the University of Utah where he studied composition with Steve Roens, Morris Rozensweig, and Igor Iachimcuic, jazz piano with Steve Keen and Dan Waldis, and orchestration (jazz and classical) with Henry Wolking.  Smith graduated from the U of U in 2010 with a BM in Composition.  He worked extensively with prolific Salt Lake City bandleader and contractor, Joe Muscolino, from 2003 until 2016, performing at private events from Washington, D.C. to the Napa Valley in California.  Three of Courtney’s original gospel compositions are featured on the Salt Lake City Mass Choir record All Praise, the first gospel music album recorded in Salt Lake City featuring only people from the greater Salt Lake Valley.  Smith and David Halliday were classmates at the University of Utah where they performed with David “Fathead” Newman, long time Ray Charles saxophonist.  In 2006-2007 Smith was a composer in-residence for the Salt Lake City Jazz festival.  In fall of 2009, Smith joined with Halliday and founded the JVQ (Jazz Vespers Quartet) with friends Denson Angulo, and Steve Lyman (who was a bandmate of Smith’s at East High School).  Smith and Halliday were co-musical directors for Jazz Vespers at the First Unitarian Church in Salt Lake City for a decade (2009-2018).  Recently, Smith completed his first improvisational score with Lyman for a film by Connor Provenzano about the powers of concentration and the mind.  He currently leads his own project, The Mix, and plays in the JVQ (Jazz Vespers Quartet) and many other bands in the Salt Lake City area.  Smith served on the jazz piano faculty at the University of Utah and Utah State University and is currently an adjunct instructor of jazz piano at Weber State University in Ogden and Westminster College in Salt Lake City, working alongside Halliday, who is the Director of Jazz and Popular Music Studies there.         

Mike Bordelonis originally from Miami, Fl where he earned a BM in Jazz Bass from Florida International University. While a student there he shared the stage with many notable jazz musicians including Arturo Sandoval, John Fedchock, Duffy Jackson, and Wayne Bergeron to name a few. He's performed at Carnegie Hall, the SF JAZZ Center and many international jazz festivals. While living in San Francisco for the last 6 years he was a fixture on the jazz scene and could be heard playing a wide variety of jazz styles. Some highlights include a weekly Big Band gig every Monday with the Fil Lorenz Orchestra and having the chance to back up talented local singers such as Paula West, Lavay Smith and Jonathan Poretz. As a recent transplant to the area, he is excited to be making music with the many talented musicians of Salt Lake City.

Parker Swensonat age 26, has established himself as one of the most outstanding 20-something jazz musicians on the Salt Lake City music scene.  A student of jazz drumming giants Peter Erskine, Carl Allen, and Kenny Washington, Parker’s success is also due in large part to his preparedness and versatility.  In addition to drumming with the JVQ (Jazz Vespers Quartet), Swenson plays in David Halliday’s other projects: The Number Ones (a pop/jazz group specializing in funky arrangements of number one songs) and The New Orleans Project (which specializes in New Orleans funk and brass band music).  He has also performed with Kris Johnson (of the Count Basie Orchestra), The Mix (led by Courtney Smith), the Alan Michael Band, Chromium 3, Matthew Lima, and many others.  Recently he had the opportunity to work with visiting musicians from out of state including North Carolina based vocalist and Lone Peak Sound artist Angela Bingham, and New York trombonist Nick Finzer.  He received a BM in Jazz Performance from the University of Utah in December of 2018.

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