Jerry Lopez- "We're Santa Fe and the Fat City Horns. Welcome to our show. We've got no lights tonight, but we've got sound, and that's all we need..."
[Bleep!] The light grid was again not working at showtime. They finally collared some cat from Engineering to come in and fix it, after the band had already started (pic above from early in the first set). Sorta fixed it. After a long delay, he got the front plain white cans running, and that was it for the night. So, again, it was difficult to get good pics, and I simply refuse to bail out to flash, 'cuz they look like amateur / tourist shots.
Whatever.
The guys roared right off into the Earth, Wind, & Fire medley, and just put up with the staging hassle. Great night tonight, the energy was way ramped up, crowd was sure diggin' it. Again, the two new originals, Dave's "Salvation" and Nathan's "Come With Me" are just off-the-scale fine. Jerry tells me that they're gonna be rehearsing more new originals later this week, too. Bring it on!
I've had guests this weekend, cousin Jojo from California (below, left) and our former drummer Steve (below, right) from our Seattle wild hippie band days back around 1970. Steve and his wife Lynn came to the gig tonight and were totally blown away. After Rochon's bass ride in "We Are Nothing," I looked back at Steve and he said in astonishment "I didn't know that was possible!"
I hear ya. It never gets old, hearing this band, always somethin' to leave you shaking your head in disbelief.
I guess I'd not seen Steve and Lynn in about 36 years (they've now been married 38 years! Awesome!). He was a fine drummer back when we gigged together in our little psychedelic "power trio" that did, among other things, a lot of Sons of Champlin tunes. We had a great time this weekend catching up and reminiscing. Jojo and Steve both brought a bunch of old pics and we scanned a bunch of 'em. Man! That hair! Where'd it all go?Here are a few pics from the evening, after they got a bit of light working.
Nice to finally get a shot of Jerry Merra soloing on bari! He needs to do more of that, maybe sometime give us a flute ride as well. Below, Jojo got the only good shots of our own stunning homeboy Drew Zingg sitting in on "System of Survival."
Coda: a pic I shot a year ago of the guys at Boulder Station (below).
UPDATE: message from Joe Bergeron FYI
Rick Arroyo, Charlie Carrillo and I have been started to put together a Carlos Santana tribute show. We are looking for a bass player who digs Santana, and is willing to rehearse up a 90 minute show. Looking for a team player, vocals obviously a plus.
Joe BergeronH: (702) 566-5134C: (702) 683-0664joeybhs@cox.netwww.finalmixpercussion.comwww.myspace.com/finalmixpercussion_____
TONIGHT AT THE E-STRING (Tuesday, Feb 27th, 9 p.m.)
Jerry Lopez, Tommy Alvarado, Chris Gordon, Joel Richman, and Bill Zappia will be again seriously throwin' it down at the E-String on East Sunset in Henderson. No cover, no minimum, the food is good, and the music will be fine. Come on out.
'NUTHER UPDATE: JENO KURUCZ
Jeno (friend of Eugene Balog and Zoltan) was at the gig last night and gave me a copy of his CD. Really fine jazz guitar work, kinda in that wonderful Robert Conti mode. Thanks, bro'.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Mary Kaye, a Hawaiian guitarist and singer who headed the Mary Kaye Trio and kicked off Las Vegas' 24-hour lounge scene, died February 17th of respiratory and heart failure, her nephew said. She was 83.
Kaye, born Mary Kaaihue, was the daughter of Johnny " 'Ukulele" Kaaihue, and an accomplished guitarist.
"She was the first person to ever have a guitar named after her, which is a Fender Mary Kaye Stratocaster," said her nephew, John Kaye, the administrator of Mary Kaye Trio Enterprises.
Kaye and her trio, comprised of older brother Norman Kaye and Frank Ross, began playing deep into the night at Las Vegas' Frontier casino-hotel in the 1950s before such performances were hip, John Kaye said.
"They started the 24-hour gaming and entertainment venues," he said. "Within a matter of 72 hours, everywhere in town built a lounge. It became a mainstay of the Las Vegas night scene."
Norman Kaye, 84, is the only surviving member of the trio, said John Kaye, his son. Ross died in California in 1995.
The group recorded 13 albums, 21 singles, made 22 appearances on television and played on four movie soundtracks, John Kaye said. The albums included "Night Life" (1966), "Our Hawaii" (1962), and "A Night in Las Vegas" (1952).
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Funeral will be held at Palm Mortuary Northwest Sat. 24th at 6701 N. Jones past Ann Rd. in Las Vegas, NV at 11am to 1pm viewing. In lieu of flowers, if you could, please help by making donations at any Palm Mortuary Northwest in Las Vegas in Mary Kaye's name to assist in her funeral expenses or call her daughter Donna at 702-561-3550. Your donations will be greatly appreciated.
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ON THE TOPIC OF THE VEGAS LEGACY
As I wrote about in the previous post, Louis Prima Jr. and The Witnesses are carrying on his Dad's Vegas legacy every Wed and Thurs at Prince's 3121 Club at the Rio. Again, Jerry Lopez is on guitar, along with Emerald Yancey (vocals), Cocho (keys), Jeff Zinn (bass), Joel Richman (drums), Mike Gonzales (trumpet), and Steve Meyer (trombone), Tommy Alvarado reeds/Music director.
Jerry and Tommy and the guys (Bill Zappia on Keys, Chris Gordon on bass, Don Meoli subbing on drums) were throwin' down at the E-String last night! This is a great, loose gig where the guys get to stretch and flex the chops.
Tommy Alvarado is one of my favorite, favorite sax players, and sings his ass off. Love the cat.
NEW GIG: LOUIS PRIMA JR.
Starting tonight, 8 p.m. every Wed-Thurs for the next 7 weeks (maybe more). Tommy will be the M.D. for the Louis Prima Jr. and The Witnesses show at the Rio in Prince's 3121 venue.
Jerry will be on guitar, along with Emerald Yancey (vocals) Cocho (keys) Jeff Zinn (bass) Joel Richman (drums) Mike Gonzales (trumpet) and Steve Meyer (trombone). Doors open at 7:30. Oughta be a fun gig. I come from his Dad's musical era, nascent geezer that I am, so I know I will dig it. Check it out.
MICHAEL GRIMM BAND UPDATE
Guitarist Matt Baldoni will be appearing with the Michael Grimm band this week (Thu/Fri/Sat, 4-9 pm) at NY/NY. Really nice cat, Matt routinely tours with Frankie Valli (see below). Check him out on MySpace (click his name) or go here to his hip website. This oughta be way cool. Check it out. I'll be droppin' by.
UPDATE UPDATE
So, I jumped straight from the office late this afternoon over to NY/NY to catch Michael and the guys. And, what do I see on the big background projectors?
Look at that pic montage. Reminiscent of anything? Like this? Shot I took at The Palms the night he sat in with Santa Fe, from my one year anniversary blog post? I am flattered.
I repeat, if you've yet to hear Michael, DO SO. Kid is fabulous. His band is excellent. Check them out. Michael, I wish you and your posse major success, son.
SANTA FE'S JAMIE HOSMER!
February, 17 2007 at Red Rock Hotel Casino, T-Bones Chophouse11011 W. Charleston Blvd, Las Vegas, Nevada 89135Cost: Free
97.1 FM Sunday Jazz Show with Ric and Jackie Gould
(courtesy of our friend Dave Siefkes)
Ric and Jackie Gould will be playing a Santa Fe and the Fat City Horns tune on the radio Sunday Morning during the 9:00 hour.
They will also be playing Phil Wigfall's "Cosmic Soul" during the 10:00 hour.
Spread the word! For the complete playlist, go to...
www.lasvegasatitsbest.com/JAZZSHOW.html
You can also link to the webcast of the show on the same page.
They will be doing a live remote from Promenada at Rainbow. www.promenadaatrainbow.com
- Dave
11 p.m. Pro Tools digital recording studio at UNLV. Our awesome friend, the Grammy-winning music legend Bill Champlin is in town to work on a horn arrangement for a tune that will be on his new CD -- with our own Fat City Horns!
"Stone Cold Hollywood" is one nasty, thundering piece of R&B/funk. Horn chart was arranged by Dave Richardson. What a privilege to witness this little throw-down.
OK, here's some of the badass upshot from the last time Bill and Jerry recorded together, "Party Time in DC" (mp3, from the "MayDay" CD, 1996). Live studio CD, cut in two days. Yikes!
In addition to his killer vocal, instrumental, and songwriting chops, Bill is an absolute studio wizard who knows exactly what he wants and needs. The guys were all business, workin' hard under his direction when I left. Wish I coulda stayed longer. Cannot wait to hear this new CD. That's faculty member and UNLV studio manager and engineer Chuck Foley at the board with Bill.
Above, a pic I shot one night of my bro' Ronnie Foster (right) at his former gig at the Artisan, with Santa Fe's Phil Wigfall, and the legendary David Sanborn.
This just cracks me up: so- I'm chillin' at home this afternoon, and my cell phone rings, with the characteristic tango ringtone than can only mean it's Ronnie, and he's all breathless and sounding jammed up. He's callin' to say "Stevie called me at about 3 in the mornin' the other night and said 'Ronnie, I need you down here now!'..." He's now in L.A., and, after squeezing in marathon last-minute rehearsals and jumpin' through a bunch of visa hoops, they're fixin' to leave for Japan for a concert tour ("Stevie" can only mean Stevie Wonder).
In the midst of all that hubbub, he's callin' ME to apologize for not be able to play basketball with me for a while till he gets back (we usually hook up on the weekends).
How nice is that? My cup of friendship runneth over, LOL!
Way aggressive tonight. Pedal to the metal from the first note (the thermonuclear arrangement of "Living for the City"). Wow. Everyone in the band was ready to light it up. That was personally cool for me, 'cuz this morning my man Kurt Kolstad emailed to tell me that a couple of his cats from his old band "Type A" up in Seattle were in town. Well, I finally got hold of Andy Bryant, the bandleader, on his cell. He and trumpet player John Sakura were already at McCarran fixin' to leave. They thought Santa Fe wasn't playing tonight. Well, they checked their bags, and grabbed a cab and came to the Palms to at least catch a few tunes before having to split back to the airport to catch their flight.
Couple of new rabid fans now, I would say. Very cool. They missed the two new originals. Too bad, 'cuz those tunes are off the friggin' scale excellent!
Light grid was out again tonight, all we had were four front plain white cans. So, I don't have many good pics.
Brother Tyriq was wearin' his championship belt, LOL!
Finishing out the night was the incredible Nate Wingfield of The Family Stone Experience sittin' in on guitar for "System of Survival."
More later it's 3 a.m., I gotta crash.
WEEKEND UPDATE, FEB 10th
From brother Mundo...
Howzit Everybody.We are back in full "Survival Mode" force this Sunday at reJAVAnate. And yes we will have Carol Linnea Johnson singing with us!
www.hotclublasvegas.com
and visit us at MySpace.
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FROM MY FRIEND DAVE SIEFKES...
Ric and Jackie Gould will be playing a Santa Fe and the Fat City Horns tune on the radio Sunday Morning.
"Turn Your Love Around" will be played during the 11:00 hour.
Spread the word!
For the complete playlist, go to...
lasvegasatitsbest.com/JAZZSHOW.html
You can also link to the webcast of the show on the same page.
Dave
Jerry Lopez- "We're Santa Fe and the Fat City Horns. Welcome to our show. We've got no lights tonight, but we've got sound, and that's all we need..."
[Bleep!] The light grid was again not working at showtime. They finally collared some cat from Engineering to come in and fix it, after the band had already started (pic above from early in the first set). Sorta fixed it. After a long delay, he got the front plain white cans running, and that was it for the night. So, again, it was difficult to get good pics, and I simply refuse to bail out to flash, 'cuz they look like amateur / tourist shots.
I guess I'd not seen Steve and Lynn in about 36 years (they've now been married 38 years! Awesome!). He was a fine drummer back when we gigged together in our little psychedelic "power trio" that did, among other things, a lot of Sons of Champlin tunes. We had a great time this weekend catching up and reminiscing. Jojo and Steve both brought a bunch of old pics and we scanned a bunch of 'em. Man! That hair! Where'd it all go?
Nice to finally get a shot of Jerry Merra soloing on bari! He needs to do more of that, maybe sometime give us a flute ride as well. Below, Jojo got the only good shots of our own stunning homeboy Drew Zingg sitting in on "System of Survival."
Coda: a pic I shot a year ago of the guys at Boulder Station (below).
UPDATE: message from Joe Bergeron FYI
