Albuquerque singer/songwriters continue to release original work that deserves wider attention. Here are two completely different takes on reality: the sublimely ridiculous Get It Up from Sage and Jared’s Happy Gland Band, and the earnestly searching Stubborn Heart from Kevin Herig.
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Singer/songwriter Isaac Aragon has two pieces of good news for music listeners: First, he is releasing his new single, “Love Bless America,” on February 19 via the familiar online outlets. Second, he has recently made the decision to flip his work schedule, going from full- to part-time at his physical therapy gig (he’s got a doctorate in that discipline) and from part- to full-time in his music career. That means you’ll be seeing the Peñasco native/Los Lunas resident playing out a much more often than in the past, and you’ll be hearing a lot of new music from him this year. If the rest is anything like “Love Bless America”—oh, baby.
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You can’t swing a comatose cat here in the Albuquerque–Santa Fe corridor without hitting a fine musician. They’re everywhere, as I’ve discovered in my coverage of the local music scene over the last 15 years or so for Albuquerque The Magazine and other publications. Three of these fine musical artists, known collectively as the Bobcats Trio, have released their debut album, Music for the Sole, and it’s a welcome addition.
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A 2008 residency at the MacDowell Colony, an artist retreat, in New Hampshire put pianist/composer Diane Moser in touch with avian composers with whom she engaged in a musical give-and-take, responding on the piano to their birdsongs in back-and-forth improvisations that she recorded. In the evening, she’d transcribe these sessions, and over the years, she has performed these tunes in a wide variety of styles, from acoustic to electronic, solo piano to big band. Since 2013, she has been playing them in a trio setting with Anton Denner (flute, piccolo) and Ken Filiano (bass). Birdsongs, her latest release, features performances from this remarkably synched trio and on solo piano that carry the invigorating scent of the New England woodlands.
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The photos above of pianist/composer Brittany Anjou and trumpeter/composer Ralph Alessi may be still black-and-white shots, but the music on their new releases is in Technicolor and Panavision—and moving.
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