Max Moran. Photo by Jason Kruppa.
Powered by a new generation of New Orleans players, Neospectric, bassist Max Moran’s first release as a leader, rides a groove from the Crescent City’s funky tradition right into the 21st century. Continue reading
Michael “Uncle Mike” Anthony
Even if you’ve never heard the name Michael Anthony, it’s very likely that you’ve heard him. A first-call fixture in Los Angeles studios for 15 years, the guitarist has played on hundreds of TV and film soundtracks, including seven years on the Carol Burnett Show, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and more than 250 Hanna-Barbera cartoons. On recordings, he’s backed stars ranging from Tony Bennett to the Beach Boys.
Since relocating to Albuquerque in 1980, Anthony has become a respected figure on the jazz scene and a venerated teacher, affectionately known to his students as Uncle Mike. The moniker perfectly captures his avuncular contribution, musical and otherwise, to his students’ lives. Two of those students, John Maestas and Claudio Tolousse, who have built successful careers as professional guitarists on the foundation of Anthony’s lessons, will honor him this Saturday evening when they present Michael Anthony: The Lineage Concert at the Outpost. Continue reading
John Maestas
The New Mexico Jazz Festival and the New Mexico Jazz Workshop’s summer jazz and blues series bring stellar talent to town. This year we’ve got the likes of NEA Jazz Masters Dave Holland, Charles Lloyd, and Dr. Lonnie Smith just for starters at the festival, and Brian Lynch and Matt Savage are among the stars lighting up the NMJW series.
The festival and summer series also offer top-drawer musicians in New Mexico an opportunity to perform in listening rooms and on stages where their music does not have to compete with bar chatter and the clink of silverware on china. This three-part series features ear-worthy local (or formerly local) acts stepping into the spotlight in the coming weeks. First up is guitarist John Maestas (now residing in New Orleans), with his group Juán Tigre, with Stephen Lands (trumpet/vocals), Shea Pierre (keyboards), Max Moran (bass/vocals), and Alfred Jordan (drums). Continue reading
Last summer, when bassist Asher Barreras and guitarist John Maestas booked a set for a nonet in the Outpost’s summer series, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I knew these two native Burqueans as primo players and ambitious composers who have swallowed a variety of genres while swimming in the jazz ocean. I’d heard them shine as sidemen and as coequals in their Humoso quartet. But a nonet with reed and brass sections? What exactly would two young string-plucking whippersnappers know about writing for a mess of wind instruments?
Well, it was a smokin’ set, and it featured some of the Southwest’s best players, several of whom also contributed fine compositions. It was so good, in fact, that the Outpost invited the nonet back for a full evening in the middle of the high-profile spring season.
Expectations have now been raised, but I’ve no doubt that this Thursday, Barreras, Maestas, and company—Kanoa Kaluhiwa and Aaron Lovato (tenor sax), Glenn Kostur (alto sax), Paul Gonzales and JQ Whitcomb (trumpet), Ben Finberg (trombone), and Paul Palmer III (drums), with help from special guest Albuquerque Poet Laureate Hakim Bellamy—will satisfy those
expectations and then some.
The summer 2012 version of the John Maestas–Asher Barreras nonet. Photo by and courtesy of Jim Gale.