BYU NewsNet - BYU Jazz Vocal Teacher's Farewell Concert

BYU jazz vocal teacher Kelly Eisenhour is joining together with Jazz pianist Steve Keen for a concert that will be one of Eisenhour's last performances before she moves out of the state.

The concert, called "The Art of the Duo," is the first in a series called "Jazz Piano Conversations" put on by Jazz Piano Artists of Utah. The concert starts at 7:30 p.m. in the Tahitian Noni Visitor's Center, 333 West River Park Drive in Provo. Tickets are $6 for students and $10 for adults.

Eisenhour and Keen will perform their music and share insights on the music and on how the jazz music creative process works.

"In other types of music, you have a performer and an accompanist," Eisenhour said. "In jazz music, it is more of a symbiotic relationship. There is a little more going on as far as listening to each other and making music together."

Eisenhour is moving to Auburn, Wash., to take a full-time position at Green River Community College after being a voice teacher at BYU since 2000. She taught Jazz Voices, the elite jazz choir on campus, and Women's Jazz Choir. She also performed frequently in the faculty jazz group "Q'd Up." Eisenhour worked on the Grammy award-winning album "Gladys Knight: One Voice" as a songwriter, soloist, co-arranger and assistant choir director.

Eisenhour explained one of her favorite memories from BYU is directing Jazz Voices when it performed in New York in 2006. The choir performed the hymnbook arrangement of "Come, Come, Ye Saints" and then an a cappella, mellow jazz arrangement of the same hymn.

"We got to explain to the audience about the struggles of the pioneers and how death was all around them," Eisenhour said. "We talked about how music was a way to keep them [pioneers] uplifted and have the strength to continue on. After the performance, there was not a dry eye in the audience."

Eisenhour's album came out July 2007 and is titled "Seek and Find." It reached No. 14 on Jazzweek National Radio airplay charts.

"Kelly Eisenhour is a wonderful vocalist who can really spin a tale," said Bob Mintzer, award-winning saxophonist who is featured in Eisenhour's album. "I was inspired and challenged by the music on the album."

Steve Keen is the pianist and creative arranger for many of the songs on Eisenhour's album. Keen plays the accordion with several ethnic groups such as KlezBros, Idlewild and Salzburger Echo. He also teaches jazz piano at the University of Utah.