Tag Archives: mel minter

Local Don’t Mean Yokel (Part 2): Right about Now

IMG_0511cThe 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. Second up is the Right about Now trio, with Lewis Winn (guitar),  Jon McMillan (bass), and John Bartlit (drums). Continue reading →

Local Don’t Mean Yokel (Part I): Guitarist John Maestas

John Maestas

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 →

Scott and Johanna Hongell-Darsee and Kevin Herig: Songs Old and New

Johanna and Scott Hongell-Darsee
Kevin Herig. Photo by Andrew Raymond.

As much and as long as I’ve been praising the accomplishments of New Mexico’s musical community, I am still sometimes caught off-guard by the quality of the work. Here are two releases that did just that. On The Mountain King, Scott and Johanna Hongell-Darsee carry songs that are centuries old, laden with the mythic and supernatural, into the modern world, while on All You Can’t Control, Kevin Herig writes brand-new songs that get between the lines of everyday life, love, and loss. Continue reading →

Pianists Perdomo, Wilner, and Pintchik: Different Strokes

Luis Perdomo. Photo by Nick Carter.
Spike Wilner. Photo by Michelle Watt.
Leslie Pintchik

Luis Perdomo, Spike Wilner, and Leslie Pintchik, decidedly different pianists, have at least one thing in common: each has recently released an engaging new album and finds an approach to their instrument to match their artistic vision. Continue reading →

The Interlace Concerts, Part 3: Bill Payne and Carol Liebowitz’s ‘Movie Music’

Carol Liebowitz and Bill Payne.

Carol Liebowitz and Bill Payne. Photo by Cheryl Richards. Courtesy of Carol Liebowitz.

Clarinetist Bill Payne and pianist Carol Liebowitz found their way to pianist Connie Crothers along completely different but equally serendipitous paths, which crossed, metaphorically at least, in Crothers’ studio. Their album Payne Lindal Liebowitz (New Artists Records, 2015), on which they are joined by violinist Eva Lindal, testifies to their preternaturally acute ears and their remarkable ability to collaborate on spontaneous compositions whose expressiveness and coherence equal that of any written work. Continue reading →