Panel discussion:
Music and Myth in Las Vegas

On November 17, the Shaw Center hosts authors featured in the upcoming book titled The Possibility Machine: Music and Myth in Las Vegas (University of Illinois Press). This collection of essays examines how music-making and soundscapes shape our city. Treating topics ranging from Cher to Cirque du Soleil, the contributors delve into how music and musicians factored in the early development of Vegas’s image; the role of local communities of musicians and Strip mainstays in sustaining tensions between belief and disbelief; the ways aging showroom stars provide a sense of timelessness that inoculates visitors against the outside world; the link connecting fantasies of sexual prowess and democracy with the musical values of Liberace and others; and the echoes and energy generated by the idea of Las Vegas as it travels across the country.

November 17, 2023
5:00 p.m.
Harmon Auxiliary Building, UNLV,
Room 110
1325 E. Harmon Avenue
Las Vegas, NV 89119
Free and open to the public.
Parking free in front of H.A.B.

We proudly announce the publication of an archive prepared by Bill Spilka between the 1970s and the 1990s of recorded jazz interviews, masterclasses, and performances. This archive contains one-of-a-kind items related to over ninety jazz artists, including Benny Goodman, Harry Goodman, Stan Kenton, Lester Young and many others. Mr. Spilka was often backstage at venues such as Rockefeller Center or New York’s Roseland Ballroom, catching conversations with musicians when they took breaks during their live sets.

Interviews are streamable from our website, while performances and masterclasses can be listened to by patron request.

Visit the collection at this link.

Snapshots of just a few of the artists in this collection.