Santa Fe Music Scene

UPDATE!

2011-04-20T07:37:00.001-07:00

Please check out my new book, Second Cousins on Amazon.com. Yes, motorcycles are involved. No music, though.

You can read about it here.

From the "dust jacket" of the book:

24,000 years ago during the last ice age, what is now White Sands National Monument in southern New Mexico was then a 1,600 square mile lake which geologists have named Lake Otero. Gradually the weather became drier and warmer as the ice age retreated, and the gypsum that had been dissolved in the lake deposited out as the lake dried up, leaving the modern-day pure white dunes of gypsum sand.

At the southern end of this range of dunes on what is now part of the White Sands Missile Range, the sands have drifted, exposing something that should not have been there.
___________

Cheers,

--Doug

The Pink, Closed??

2010-11-12T12:04:00.000-08:00

So, I showed up at the Pink Adobe Dragon Room at around 5:30 last night (Thursday) to play some Latin jazz with Edwardo & crew.

And found it -- the bar and the Restaurant -- all locked up and dark with this sign on the door that said, "Closed until further notice, sorry for the inconvenience."

Tragic! The Pink has been a Santa Fe landmark since Rosalea Murphy opened it in 1944.

Backup plan: go over to Second Street and listen to Felix y Los Gatos.

Take a listen to one of their opening numbers.

Second Street was full of people enjoying the music.

Felix invited me up for a few. Here's a fun original of theirs called Los Lunas.

Another one from the second set, Tonight I'm Going To Jail.

FYLG always put on a good show, thanks guys!

Saturday Evening Latin Jazz at the Pink Adobe Dragon Room

2010-10-10T10:03:00.000-07:00

We've been going to the Dragon Room since shortly after it opened in the early 80's. It has undergone a few changes since Rosalee, the original owner passed away a few years ago. In '84 we would come over to the Pink after work on Friday and find Rosalea in her corner with Rhett Butler, her big black dog sitting next to her.

(Click any picture to enlarge, click music links to listen.)

Last night we spoke with the new manager at the Dragon Room, Natasha. We were pleased that she was sensitive to the history of the Pink and the Dragon Room and wanted to preserve the character of the place which has made it such a popular watering hole for so many Santa Feans over the years.

And yes! She's getting a replacement popcorn machine! Also, if you go during the week you should try out the $5 BBQ beef sliders, or any of the other bar food -- it all looked good.

We went there last Saturday evening because I had bumped into Eduardo, a musician friend of my earlier in the week, and he invited me to come over and sit in with his Latin jazz group. Edwardo is an absolutely amazing flute player -- pan flute, wooden, silver. I jumped at the opportunity to play music with him again -- I hadn't seen him in about three years.

So, last night there was Eduardo,

James:

Diego:

and Stan:

Here's a bit of James singing Ain't No Sunshine, with Mud Pony Stan on harp.

It was nice to see my favorite old bar in Santa Fe begin to fill up with people. The place was packed by the end of the evening.

It was even nicer that they were enjoying the band. Check out this bit -- wait for Eduardo's flute about 2 minutes into it.

It was good to be at the Dragon Room again.

Sunday Gospel Brunch At the Cowgirl

2010-09-27T15:22:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a perfect day to enjoy the last Cowgirl Sunday Gospel Brunch of the season! We showed up at noon and the patio at the Cowgirl was already packed, but Bill and Bonnie Hearne were gracious enough to share their table with us.

Click a picture to enlarge, click a music link to play.

The "Joe's Not Here Band" was in fine form.

Margaret kicked things off with John The Revelator. This young guy liked it so much he almost forgot about his bacon.

We had a special treat: Guitar Shorty showed up and played a few. Guitar Shorty! Check him out on this number.

It was time to dance.

But wait! There's more...

Terry Diers and Don Rubenstein dropped in as well.

I even got a chance to do a Lucinda Williams number with the band. Thanks guys, it was a perfect Sunday!

--Doug

Saturday Night with Felix y Los Gatos at the Cowgirl, 8-21-2010

2010-08-22T11:06:00.000-07:00

There was some serious fun going on last Saturday night at the Cowgirl.

(Click pictures to enlarge)

The Cowgirl Hall of Fame is always fun when the Gatos play there, and last Saturday was no exception. As usual, Felix welcomed a number of musician friends who dropped by to sit in with the band. Saturday's guests included Joe Daddy and Jeff Sipe, Terry on bass, birthday boy Freddy Lopez, and me. Here's one of the Gatos' opening numbers.

Check out this one led by Joe Daddy a bit later.

There's that patented Jeff Sipe smile.

The Gatos were celebrating several birthdays, including Felix's, Freddy's and mine.

I sat in for a polka -- people were still whooping it up around 1:00am.

Near the end of the evening Felix led off this jazz number featuring a nice drum solo by Mikey Chavez.

Good to see you again, Gatos! Catch you next time.

--Doug

Sunday Brunch w/Felix e Los Gatos at the Cowgirl

2010-04-03T10:36:00.000-07:00

The Cowgirl Hall of Fame in Santa Fe has this nice Sunday brunch thing going on these days. Good food, drinks, and good music. Felix Peralta & Los Gatos played there the last couple of Sundays, and it was a great way to spend a few hours.

Felix had David Barclay on squeeze box:

(Click any image to enlarge, click a music link to play)

Mike Chavez on drums:

Susan Hyde Holmes on bass:

Check out this one. About half-way through Susan and Mike went to town... They let me sit in for a bit, here we are doing a number by request.

The next time Felix e Los Gatos are in your neighborhood drop on by for a listen, you won't be sorry.

--Doug

The Canyon Road Blues Band

2010-03-10T08:10:00.000-08:00

Recorded live at El Farol, Fat Tuesday 2/16/2010.

Santa Fe, New Mexico

Dylan Sunday Brunch at the Cowgirl, Again

2009-12-15T12:23:00.000-08:00

We had so much fun last week at the Cowgirl Dylan brunch last week that we paid another visit last Sunday. The brunch music is put on by Joe West, Josh Martin, Margaret Burke, and Arnie Bey (aka Cozy Ralston).

It was even more fun this week.

Joe & crew sounded great, and they invited several guests up who also sounded great. The relaxed, friendly environment is the ideal way to spend a few Sunday afternoon hours, IMO.

Click any image to enlarge, click a sound link to listen

Check 'em out -- here's Joe leading off Lily, Rosemary, and the Jack of Hearts.

There were a number of guests invited to sit in: singer/songwriter Donald Rubinstein doing Just Like Tom Thumb Blues. Cool harmonica duet about half way through...

A bit later Joe & crew invited the young man above to come up and play. His name is Will Risbourg, and he looks to be about 12 (ok, I'm exagerating), but he's good. Take a listen to him leading She Belongs To Me. Don't worry Will, I edited out the first 2 seconds...

It was a pretty laid-back crowd.

There were even a couple more guests: Here's Jimmy Russel!

We'll close out this post with Josh doing Stuck Inside of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again.

See you next Sunday.

--Doug

Cowgirl Dylan Sunday Brunch

2009-12-06T17:09:00.000-08:00

Hey, folks:

It was great fun yesterday at the Cowgirl Hall of Fame. A Sunday Dylan brunch fest was put on by Joe West, Josh Martin, Margaret Burk, and Arnie Bey. They'll be playing every Sunday this December.

Click on a picture to enlarge, click on a music link to listen.

Check out Josh doing one of my favorite Dylan tunes, Tangled Up In Blue.

How about little Romance in Durango?

There were lots of familiar faces.

Happy birthday, Suzy!

Joe & crew had a few invited musicians sit in with them.

Bill Hearne.

Mike Handler.

More familiar faces:

The lady on the right knows every word of every Dylan song that was ever written!

Come on out next Sunday!

--Doug

Joe West

2009-05-03T17:58:00.000-07:00

So, I finally got to meet Joe West.

Every year a friend of ours throws a fun Kentucky Derby party. Music, food, Mint Julips, and good friends. This year Joe, Sharon Gilchrist , and Josh Martin were the entertainment for Alan and Lisa's party.

When the band got there, I introduced myself and told Joe that a couple of other musicians would love to sit in, if the band was amenable . The band was cool with that, so as a result, I managed to grab a couple of recordings of Joe, Sharon, Josh, me, and Jaime Michaels (Santa Fe singer-songwriter) having a fun Derby party jam. The recordings are live, meaning lots of party sounds are in the background.

Joe & his band:

Click a picture to enlarge, click a music link to listen.

Here Joe's band after they let the riff-raff in: Shake'n Some Booty/ Good Hearted Woman. And here's Jamie cooking off a number.

BTW, Josh does a scary good Dylan. You should definitely catch him at the next opportunity.

Thanks, Allen and Lisa for hosting a wonderful party, and thanks Joe, Sharon, and Josh for letting us sit in with your band!

--Doug