Vocalist Patti Littlefield has been a popular mainstay on the Albuquerque–Santa Fe scene for many years, but she’s been out of sight for several years thanks to a variety of personal circumstances that sapped her energy. On November 2, at the Outpost, newly energized, she’ll be fronting a band of local all-stars for the first time in almost five years, and you will want to hear what she’s been cooking up.
With New Mexico’s abundance of sun, heat, and wind, and its scarcity of water, agriculture here challenges even the most experienced farmers. They need all the help they can get. With her single “Tlalok San Ysidro” (available here), songwriter Raquel Z Rivera (vocals) offers a musical incantation for rain, with help from Fidel González (stringed concha, percussion, and vocals) and Arnaldo Acosta (percussion). This weekend, the song will be sung at the annual San Ysidro Day celebration, which blesses the acequias and invokes the help of San Ysidro Labrador, the patron saint of farmers, and his wife, Maria de la Cabeza, and the saint’s Mexica/Aztec counterpart, Tlalok, the spiritual energy that brings rain, and his wife, Chalchiuhtlicue.
New Mexico is hip deep in talented singer/songwriters, and the two acts headed to the Outpost this weekend most definitely make the cut. Bébé La La, which comprises Alicia Ultan (vocals, guitar, viola) and Maryse Lapierre (vocals, accordion, harmonium), identifies as Albuquerque’s folk Americana Français duo, and they’ll be adding a rock and roll coefficient this weekend, appearing as the Bébé La La Band, with Arnaldo Acosta on drums and Mike Fox on bass. Multi-instrumentalist Martha Reich (the “ch” is pronounced sh), a New England native who settled in Santa Fe 20 years ago, is riding on the wave of her latest album, Brave Bird. It has collected the Gold Medal for Female Vocalist in the Global Music Awards, LA Critics Award for Best Folk Artist, and a Clouzine International Music Award for Best Indie Album, as well as three New Mexico Music Award nominations. She’ll be appearing with her longtime colleague, cellist Michael Kott.
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Saxophonist Glenn Kostur has had nothing but trouble with the name of the sextet he is
accidentally headlining. When Tom Guralnick, executive director of the Outpost Performance Space, offered him a Thursday night in the fall season, Kostur immediately thought of the nameless sextet that had coalesced last spring for a faculty recital by trombonist Chris Buckholz and a subsequent recording project.
“We enjoyed playing together, and we liked the sextet format,” says Kostur. So the group, which also included Paul Gonzales on trumpet, Stu MacAskie on piano, Colin Deuble on bass, and
Arnaldo Acosta on drums, decided to stay together and develop a repertoire.
With a slot to fill on the Outpost calendar, the band needed a name, and Kostur suggested Deep Six to the band members. What no one expected is that Deep Six, a perfectly benign play on words, somehow got tangled up—and I’m guessing here—with the title of a famous
pornographic movie in some minds. In fact, when Kostur ran the name out for inspection at a party, he induced a bit of blushing among the ladies.
The group settled on Six of One, but deep swing is still on their menu. Continue reading
Arnaldo Acosta.
Just look at the picture. It’s a far cry from the usual jazz artist publicity image depicting the
macho musical philosopher or the steely sage of 64th-note solos or the über-hip conqueror of harmonic heights.
This picture of drummer Arnaldo Acosta is about sheer jubilation, about jumping for joy. Here’s a man who loves his work, and his work is bringing the groove to your ears, heart, and soul.
This Saturday, in the New Mexico Jazz Workshop’s final concert of the summer season, the
Arnaldo Acosta Quintet, featuring Aaron Lovato (sax), Phil Arnold (trombone, harmonica), Stu MacAskie (keys), and Colin Deuble (bass), will explore the happy grooves of soul jazz, with the
intention of spreading a feel-good vibe throughout the amphitheater. (Also appearing on the bill is the Pat Malone Quartet, with the guitarist joined by Kanoa Kaluhiwa on sax, Colin Deuble on bass, and Diego Arencon on drums.) Continue reading