Salt Lake City Jazz Festival gig July 10th

3 pm Saturday: I just got home about 30 minutes ago, from the most fun I've had in a long time. Everything about this jaunt was just great. The cats are a joy to travel with, all of the people we met in SLC were so nice, friendly, and accommodating. The Festival promoters made sure we had everything we needed. The front of house, backline, and lighting people were wonderful -- all of the tech stuff went off without a hitch. The band put on a show that was pure exuberantly thundering magic. The crowd largely really had no idea what they were about to witness, LOL.

Yeah, folks, I got tasered once by these cats myself a few years back, my first night hearing this band. I feel ya.

I have a lot of shots to review (and re-size for the blog; I shot in full-bore 14.2 megapixel mode this time, anticipating shots that we may want to use for print media). Below, as the announcer introduces Santa Fe...

Much more to come (I have a couple of video snips, too, from the afternoon soundcheck. I also took my other camera, my old Fuji, which does video. I gotta dump those and convert 'em as well). Stay tuned.

Much more to come...
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OK, back again...A couple of random video minutes of soundcheck outa my old Fuji. Had to be careful, trying to watch the shot framing while moving around amid all that setup activity and stuff everywhere. Just wanted to give y'all a sense of the pre-show beehive.



Before we came up we were apprised that we might get to do a quick "line check," period, given that the gates were opening around 4:30 for the fans. But, they gave us a full-on set-up and sound check after all. A ton of extra work for all of them, because, after setting it all up and permitting our cats to do full run-throughs of several tunes while Sonny got a firm grip on the mix, the crew had to strike and stow the entire setup and the set the stage for the opening artists.

I cannot say enough good regarding all these peeps.

A cool, funny thing happened: after the guys finished the sound check, we heard this applause and hollering of "thank you" coming from several floors up in the adjacent City Hall building, where some of the employees had opened windows to give us a shout. How nice is that?

More shots...

Tyriq has entirely too much fun.
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OK, below, Fat City Horns trumpeter Danny Falcone is the son of legendary pianist/arranger/conductor Vince Falcone (long associated with Frank Sinatra most notably). So, it was a really nice Father and Son night. Vince conducted the excellent Salt Lake City Jazz Orchestra (featuring the wonderful Tierney Sutton on vocals) to open the Ellington Stage Friday night show.

I got there in time to get some shots of their great set.

OK, TIME FOR SANTA FE...

More to come. Stay tuned. Next up, my night shots from the show. The guys crushed it, man. They were so ready. And, we gotta again thank all of the crew for making the performance environment so perfectly right.
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The cats opened with the customary "Horn Thang" (Sonny's mix could not have been better) into the Fred H. flourish (that usually sets up the Earth, Wind & Fire medley), and then hammered straight into Jerry's stomp-ass new tune "Pack It Up" to establish the evening's cutting edge funk threshold.

Thank you, Salt Lake City!

We'd have given you more, but our understanding is that the city noise ordinance forbids outdoor music after 11 pm. The preceding group "Fat Soul" over on the Yardbird stage ran long, so we had to cut the last two songs off our show list. It was fine though, peeps were diggin' them as well. Hey, who would wanna quit playing at a gig like this?

So, we'll fill you in next time.

Below, a local Fox affiliate reporter gave us a couple of great plugs live from the Festival. At one point he called us "an All-Star band from Las Vegas," LOL. Uhhh.h... do we have to pay a royalty for that characterization?

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Props to Marty Collins. He's the Festival photographer. I hooked up with him, and we chatted up some shop talk. I'll be posting some of his shots on the blog once he's done processing them later in the upcoming week. Really nice cat. Great photographer. Me, I just stay at Holiday Inn Express episodically.

I also have a list of "props" links to post for everyone else I can, all the fine folks who are integral to this fine event, as soon as I can get 'em all together. More to come.
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SUNDAY UPDATES

OK, from what I can glean off email addresses contained in the Festival Phone Directory tabular sheet that was in our swag bags, here are some of the SLC Jazz Festival event vendors and affiliates:

• www.martycollins.net
• www.prattsound.com
• www.midiassist.com
• www.kbraevents.com
• www.davidhallmusic.com
• www.tescowilliamsen.com
• www.xmission.com
• www.marriott.com

Thanks to all of you! We hope to see you again soon.
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UPCOMING FYI

I got this email when I got home from SLC yesterday:

Good afternoon Bobby,

I hope you and the guys had a great time in Utah, I would have loved to see (and hear) that show!

My name is Alex, I'm a big fan of Santa Fe and the Fat City Horns and a regular at the Monday night hang at The Palms. I'm also a regular on your blog, checking out the music scene and what's going on around town. I am writing to you because I run a 10 piece soul / funk band here in Las Vegas and I was hoping that you would be able to give us a mention on your blog. The band is called "Backbeat Village" - www.backbeatvillageus.com, we are a 10 piece band (4 horns, 4 rhythm & 2 singers) and we have our first Casino show coming up next weekend. We will be subbing for Michael Grimm in The Ovation Room at Green Valley Ranch next Saturday, July 18th 7:00pm - 10:00pm. It would really help us out if you were able to mention this show on your blog as we are trying to get the word out as much as possible to drum up some support! You can hear some tracks on our website for and idea of what we do.

I'll try to catch you on Monday at The Palms, we are rehearsing on Monday evening but should be done in time to make the show!

Thanks a lot Bobby,

Alex Jackson

Done, bro'...

Check out this cut from their website:

I know where I'll be Saturday night. Y'all come and hang. We gotta support all our friends.

- BobbyG
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WHILE WE WERE GONE

They had to call Security in the Lounge at The Palms. This ever-earlier vying for choice seats for our Monday night hang is getting way out of hand.

The 2009 Salt Lake City Jazz Festival, July 10th-12th

They tell me to expect a crowd of between 3,500 and 5,000 people Friday night. Join us if you can (click the pic above to go to their website). It should be spectacular. Projected to be fair and about 80 degrees by our showtime (9:30 pm).

BTW, I just came from the studio, listening to the Lopez brothers work on vocal tracks for the new CD. Amazing. Lenny was working on his lead vocal on Nathan's "Into The Light." Jerry at the console. It is absolutely Al Jarreau quality.
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WE'RE FLYING DELTA TO SLC ON FRIDAY

This news item caught my attention:

Flier's revenge: United customer gets even with hit music video
Posted by: Sean O'Neill, Thursday, Jul 9, 2009, 10:42 AM

Wow. Only three days ago, songwriter Dave Carroll posted a video to YouTube recounting how some United ground crew workers seriously damaged his guitar. Since then, it's gotten more than 450,000 views, and United called to make amends.

Here's the lowdown. Carroll had to pay $1,200 to fix his Taylor guitar on a spring 2008 set of flights from Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Omaha, Neb. The guitar case had survived 50 flights in recent years with no problem, thanks to its foamy nylon exterior. But something went wrong on this particular United flight. And representatives for the company refused to own up to having caused any damage.

Carroll got a bunch of friends together to record the video for free. In the key of D, he sings about what happened.

And it became an overnight sensation. United contacted Carroll to apologize, according to the LA Times.

LOL! Ouch. I have to check a heavy suitcase full of CDs and DVDs. I hope they don't break or steal anything.
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UPDATES

FROM TIM SCOTT:

Newsflash - Thursday, July 9th, 2009!!!
Today is Brad (The Voice of Las Vegas) Cordle's birthday & tonight, we will honor him as we entertain you at Johnny Fontanes' Beach House on Sahara, just a couple of blocks west of Decatur (next to the Las Vegas Athletic Club). We're not going to say how old he is today but when he was born, The Dead Sea was just sick. Come say happy birthday to Brad & listen to some great music from The Cordle-Scott Band...

Celebrate Brad's birthday tonight at:
Johnny Fontane's Beach House
5310 W. Sahara Ave.
Las Vegas, NV. 89146
(702) 367-6867
Thursday, July 9th, 2009: 8PM - 12AM Midnight
Now every OTHER Thursday
No Cover!

And while we have your attention, don't forget tomorrow night:

Music on Main Street
The District Mall - Green Valley Ranch
2240 Village Walk Dr.
Henderson, NV 89052
(702) 564-8595
Friday, July 10th, 2009: 6PM - 10PM
Open to the public & FREE!

The Cordle-Scott Band is:
Brad Cordle - vocals
Tim Scott - vocals, bass
Dean Reichert - vocals, guitar
Ric Ulsky - Hammond B3 organ & piano
Jess Gopen - drums

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FROM MICHITO:

REMINDER, THE MICHITO SANCHEZ SALSA ORCHESTRA TONIGHT! AT LAS PALMAS MEXICAN RESTAURANT. FREE SALSA DANCE LESSONS START AT 8PM. MICHITO AND THE BAND TAKE THE STAGE AT 10:30 THEY WILL PLAY 2 FULL SETS! GREAT FOOD, GREAT DANCE FLOOR, FULL BAR AND NO COVER CHARGE!

myspace.com/michitosanchezsalsaorchestra

LAS PALMAS MEXICAN RESTAURANT
953 E. SAHARA DR.
LAS VEGAS, NV

July 6th gig at The Palms

Great show last night. Sorry for the blogging delay. Sometimes it just gotta be that way. Stay tuned, incremental blogging now underway.

The band had amazing, thundering energy and in-the-pocket snappiness all night. And, Phil Wigfall in particular was a Man On Fire. Simply glorious to witness those many screaming rides. I leaned over to Cheryl at one point (yeah, she's home for a few days), and said, "well, you sure picked a good night to come to the hang."

Yes, indeed...

Major props to Abe LaMarca for comin' in to sing for Tyriq. Tyriq's "Legends" show runs way long sometimes. He finally made it to the gig, and the upside for us was that we got to see and hear two awesome front lines throwin' down. They also featured Abe on "Higher Ground," on which Jamie normally sings the lead. Abe totally fried it. What a singer!

Welcome back, Jamie!

New Front of House gear now. Nice board.

Below, always count on Rochon to blow the walls out.

Glenn Colby again filling in for Gil Kaupp. This pic below is from his killer muted trumpet solo during Jerry's "Ev'rybody Wants to Love You."

We're in the middle of "subs season" these days, and are so blessed to have so much A-List talent on whom to call.

More scenes from a hang...

One more awesome show.

Don't forget, this Friday we headline at the Salt Lake City Jazz Festival. Come on up if you can make it.

Midnight July 4th gig at Palace Station

Well, it was the "33.3% solution." Five subs outa fifteen cats on stage: Garrett Hypes on bari, Tom Delibero on trumpet, Dave Phillipus on trombone, Derek Jones on bass, and Bill Zappia on keys. That's not counting Mike Gonzales (keys) and Abe LaMarca, both of whom, while "subs" relative to the regular lineup, are regulars for the Saturday night gigs.

It went down fine, though the crowd was a bit light. Derek took a bass ride at the end during "System of Survival" that left everyone shaking their heads. He and Pepe fed off each other for a total Slamma-Jamma. It was too cool.

Gettin' a late start today. Busy, after a late night. A few pics...

This was the last Saturday night Palace Station gig for us for now. They're cut the budget. We hear they're even gonna cut back on some of the comedy shows. Sign of the times.

See y'all at The Palms tomorrow night.

DIANE ELLIS TONIGHT AT THE BOOTLEGGER

Great singer and great person, she is. Drop by if you can. No cover, no minimum.

Perpetuum Jazzile

From Slovenia:


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Pretty cool, 'eh?

BTW, this is funny (below). New summer blockbuster movie, "Drill, Baby, Drill":



LOL!
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June 29th Gig at The Palms

Enrique Corro in the house!!

My friend -- and Santa Fe alum -- Enrique Corro (most recently with The Scintas and subsequently Terry Fator) opened for Jerry tonight. Jerry had gotten to The Palms by the time the band went on (we have to wait for Pepe and Dave to get in from Lion King, and we're not ever certain when Jerry will get to The Palms from his Wayne Brady gig), but Jerry had Enrique stay up on guitar for quite some time, and The Corro burned it totally up, with repeated, eminently deserved wild shouting applause after his rides.

This cat is one classy guitarist. Take a listen.

Back a couple of years ago, after I bought my first 12-string, I did a singer-songwriter open-mic night at the E-String on Sunset, first time I'd been back on stage since I quit playing decades ago (I've started writing again, so inspired by my crushingly fine Vegas friends). Enrique, Ron Crews, Joe Bergeron, and our dear sorely missed departed brother Adrian Garcia came over to my house and 'shedded some of my originals with me and did the gig with me. I will never forget it. Enrique tore ass that night too. They all did.

I'd first bumped into Enrique at a Sunday brunch smooth jazz gig Cheryl and I went to at Gordon Biersch. Cat blew me out. We talked, and have since become friends. I did not know he was comin' in tonight. What a glorious surprise.

Yeah, man. What excellence.

Great show tonight. The energy was so ramped up and taut. Props to Mike Gonzales (now our Saturday night Palace Station regular) for driving straight in to The Palms from a Huntington Beach CA corporate gig to sub for Jamie.

Scenes from a hang...

Above, LOL, Jerry was sitting on his stool singing "Come Back Home." I shot this one below his seat through his legs.

I had so much fun tonight. I hope it shows. People, we are so blessed.

UPDATE: THE ELKHART PROJECT

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Very nice.
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Midnight Palace Station post-gig report June 28th

Band was really thumpin' tonight. Rochon was off the hook. Lenny's "Brother to Brother" was simply explosive, and Abe and Tony shared the lead in killer fashion on the equally thundering Tower of Power "Get Your Feet Back on the Ground." Great show once again. Thank you all for comin' to hang.

So, Jerry starts into the opening guitar groove of the ever-so-nasty "Wishing Well" and I slink down to the front of the stage, 'cause this tune usually accords me some good shot opportunities of The Lopez.

So- I'm mindin' my own bleepin' business takin' shots. He takes his axe off, points down to me, and says, "Bobby, c'mon up and play, man..."

What's the succinct immediate reactive word? Starts with "s-h". No, not that.

Shock. LOL. The very last thing on my mind (he tells me later, over pasta and gab at the Bootlegger, "yeah, that's why I did it").

What you gonna do, say "no"?

At one point, during this little unsolicited and wholly unexpected episode of yo'-ancient-Irish-ass-now-be-on-the-spot terrified euphoria, I turn and see him and Mader (IIRC) tryin' to figure out how to use my camera. At least they got my good side.

OK, for a musician, that's the most fun you can have with your clothes on. Like bein' strapped into an F-18 for a pitching deck carrier launch, this band. After Jerry Merra's bari ride, I told the crowd "OK, I'm gonna play both of my licks and then get the hell outa here."

They made me sing, too.

Dudes...what an honor.

Thanks.
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Back to my shooting.

Below, happy birthday, Gabriel!

Thanks to Tom Delibero and Glenn Colby for again seamlessly subbing in the Fat City Horns. You cats are all so amazing.

Hope to see everyone Monday night at The Palms.

OFF TOPIC BREAKING NEWS

Check this out. Billy Mays just died (50 yrs old). Cable channels everywhere are now 50dB quieter.

I blame Michael Jackson's father.

;)

Seriously, wow, what is up with all these peeps checkin' out early lately? At my age (63), that gets spooky.
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Tonight! Santa Fe and The Fat City Horns, live at Palace Station

Sahara & I-15, Bonkers Comedy Club, midnight. Free show as always. Join us for a slammin' hang.

Oh, yeah, FYI, I just posted this last night over at Open Salon: "My friend Rick, the double murderer."
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Jacko, R.I.P.

Michael Jackson has died

at UCLA Medical Center.

Wow, 50 years old. Cardiac arrest. Our condolences to the family.



Below: I just got this in an email from our brothers Yellow Brick Road.

Michael, Farrah, Big Ed....
Thanks for the memories...We won't forget you.

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OTHER NEWS

Joerg from "Ka" handed out these cards Monday night at our Palms gig:

They got a nice write-up in the Sun:

Strip performers star in Cirque dancer’s show

By Melissa Arseniuk
Thu, Jun 25, 2009

The oldest profession is once again being redefined, thanks to “Zumanity” co-star Wassa Coulibaly’s sexy-yet-playful play-in-progress, “The Art of Prostitution.”

The hour-long production has been tweaked and retweaked several times now but Coulibaly and her cast of Strip show entertainers, including performers from “Ka,” “O,” “Zumanity,” “Believe,” and “Le Rêve,” are back once again to allure and arouse late-night audiences

The scantily clad cast will take to the Onyx Theater’s stage at 1 a.m. early June 30th to tempt, tease and perhaps teach ticketholders a thing or two about buying, selling and sharing love.

Through its numerous incarnations, “The Art of Prostitution” has consistently sold out and tickets for the upcoming single-night showing of the latest version are limited (the venue seats just 96 people, after all). Still, advance passes are available online and at the Rack for $20...

JAY LENO ROLLING STONE INTERVIEW EXCERPT

Pretty cool guy, simply a real cat:

RS: In addition to doing the show every week night, you also perform stand-up about 160 days a year?

JAY: To me, it's like going to a gym. If you're going to walk around with two hours worth of material you can't keep it in your head. Musicians can go into their studio and play for their own amusement. But you can't stand in front of the mirror and tell jokes. You have no audience, you're not getting any feedback, and so much of comedy happens when you're out there ad-libbing based on the energy you get from the crowd...
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ON "SHOW BUSINESS" GENERALLY

... Showbiz is not that hard. People make it difficult. The problem starts when you have all the money. I don't need all the money. It's just my wife and me. I've said this 1 million times and it's clichéd, but I've never touched a dime of TV money. I put it in the bank and live off the money I make as a stand-up comedian. That keeps me honest. There are other people in late-night that make way more than I do, and that's fine with me. If you're in it for the money, you'll always get screwed.

ON NEGOTIATING THE NEW NBC SHOW AFTER THE END OF HIS TONIGHT SHOW RUN

RS: If you had an agent, he would've told you, "let's try to get a counteroffer and start a bidding war."

JAY: Yeah, it's stupid. My thing is I always make a couple of bucks less than whomever the highest-paid guy is. You can't eat the whole pie. If you eat all the pie, you'll get fat, choke and die. If you give someone else some pie -- then you have all these friends who were thrilled because you gave them a little piece of pie. It's not that hard.

RS: Did you always feel this way, or did your philosophy develop over time?

JAY: I always enjoyed every aspect of the business. When I was 19, I was working in strip clubs and I thought, "I'm 19, there are naked girls at my job, and I'm making $15-$25 a night." My friends were at Wendy's or something, and they were covered in peanut oil. At whatever level you're at, that's what it is. You can't look at it like, "oh, Jerry Seinfeld has gotten that or Robin Williams has got this."

RS: Is there anything you're wistful about? Like, "this is the last time I'll be on the stage," or...

JAY: No, I mean, I enjoy it, and I love the people, and it's fine. But what happens the day we leave? A truck comes through here and knocks all this down, and it ceases to exist on any level, anywhere. It's gone. So, you can't grow attached to it.

The first thing about show business is, you don't fall in love with a hooker. I have the same wife. I have my same high school buddies and friends. I enjoy this immensely. It's a wonderful experience, and I like being here. But most people in the industry aren't friends. They're acquaintances. None of them give you a ride to the airport. That's really the test: the ride to the airport.

Yeah, man...
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BTW...

So, I know a lot of our peeps are doin' Facebook. So I reactivated my account with them (I'd canceled it in the wake of a "privacy"dust-up they had):

www.facebook.com/bobby.gladd

While I'm dubious about its utiity, I'm there now, mostly to help in our hustle for the band. Also, in this regard, I'm doin' the Twitter thing as well. Even more dubious about that. But, whatever...

twitter.com/BobbyGvegas

No, I will not be "tweeting" from my cell phone.

Also, I'm on LinkedIn (as is Cheryl):

linkedin.com/in/bgladd

Who has time to keep up with all these platforms?
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FROM THE "YOU COULDN'T MAKE THIS [BLEEP] UP" DEPT

News item:

On Saturday, Pat Buchanan hosted a conference to discuss how Republicans can regain a majority in America. During one discussion, panelists suggested supporting English-only initiatives...The discussion ridiculed Judge Sotomayor for the fact that she studied children’s classics to improve her grammar while attending college. The panelists also suggested that, without English as the official language, President Obama would force Americans to speak Spanish.

One salient feature of the event was the banner hanging over the English-only advocates.

LOL! un hombre bobo e imbécil.

June 22nd gig at The Palms

OK, there really are no words to accurately describe this thundering slam. Great crowd, and the band delivered a great show. They were loose and ready.

SYSTEM CRASH NOTE

My Cox cable modem went out at about 2:55 a.m. just as I was about to upload the foregoing increment (luckily it was saved in draft). I stayed up 'til after 4 a.m. hoping it would come back online. Nope. I went to bed, frustrated. Just got up briefly at about 8:50. It's back up. I will finish the gig report blog post ASAP. Got some pretty nice shots. Stay tuned...
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CONTINUING ON...

Tyriq, flashing Santa Fe gang signs.

Above, I call this one "Dances With Nathan." Or, alternatively, "Dancing With The Trombonist To The Stars." We had a loud contingent of Nathan fans sitting at a booth off to the left on the upper tier. Jerry made him come out and "dance" for them during "System of Survival." That was some white shit, bro', LOL!

Nice set list tonight, which included

• South American Sojourn
• Brother to Brother
• Higher Ground
• Indian Summer Day
• Si Te Vas
• Salvation
• Wishing Well
• Mind Over Matter
• System of Survival

Rochon's bass ride on "Higher Ground" brought the house down, as did Jerry's vocal on "Si Te Vas." The cats were tight in the pocket all night, with piano wire intensity. I would turn around repeatedly, and the crowd looked like a scene from "The Muppets," everyone bouncing around in their seats, with huge smiles.

More shots...

Above: Props to the fiery Jeff Ray for sitting in once again on guitar. Below, vocal jamming at the end of the show. Awesome.

It was crazy good, I tell ya. Wow. Don't forget, we'll see you Saturday at midnight at Palace Station, another increasingly fine hang.

THE SALT LAKE CITY JAZZ FESTIVAL

Santa Fe & The Fat City Horns, the Friday night (July 10th) Headliner.

www.slcjazzfestival.org

NOTE: click on their website link. they've embedded Santa Fe's "Ain't That Peculiar?" on the main page in an audio bar. Nice, very nice.
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Happy Father's Day from Palace Station

The midnight gig was a great hang. Best crowd yet. I will report on it ASAP. Cheryl's been home for one day and has to leave for San Antonio in a couple of hours. Stay tuned...

Somethin'/someone caught their eyes, out beyond the bar...LOL.
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UPDATE

The set list this night included

• Horn Thang intro, into
• Just Kidding
• Earth, Wind, & Fire Medley
• What'cha Gonna Do With That Greazy Thing?
• Salvation
• When The Curtain Goes up
• Into The Light
• Si Te Vas
• Ev'rybody Wants to Love You
• Ain't That Peculiar?
• Soul Trilogy
• Living For The City

Great energy from the stage. There was some episodic horn mix unevenness and vocal harmony stresses (amazing that they can set all that stuff up and get a decent mix all in one hour), but it was overall a fine performance enthusiastically received.

More shots...

Thanks to Glenn Colby for subbing on trumpet for Gil, and Miguel Rodriguez for subbing for Rob Mader on tenor. Ably done, gentlemen, as always. Thanks to all the fans for coming out.

See y'all tomorrow night at The Palms.

MONDAY UPDATE

I just "finished" my health care policy reform blog post over on my other blog. Had to stop. It was approaching Guiness Book for blog post length (dumped it to a PDF file, and it runs 58 pages). LOL! BobbyG, putting the "anal" in "analyst" since 1986.

Oh, and Cheryl, xoxoxo (she's in San Antonio, TX now for the week).

CODA

A week ago Saturday, one of my daughter Danielle's former Knoxville TN high school basketball teammates came to see the band at Palace Station. Her name is Candace Bellamy (that's Candace on the right).

A delightful young woman. She's now a physician in Austin, Texas. Also, check out this pic below:

She also goes by the stage name "C Bella." Click here for her website: www.followtheredlips.com

How cool is that? I had no idea.
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Midweek updates June 18th

First Mundo's Hot Club of Las Vegas again appears at 11:45 tomorrow night at The Bootlegger, with special guests Adrianna Thurber on violin and our own Phil Wigfall on alto. Oughta be a great hang.

BTW, Hot Club recently got a nice writeup on HuffPo by Award-Winning Journalist Ellen Sterling.
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R.I.P. BOB BOGLE

These were the cats that sealed the deal for me when I was a kid. I grew up diggin' (among many others) Elvis, and the Everly Brothers, and then the Kingston Trio, etc. But, when The Ventures came along, man, I just had to have a Fender guitar, and learn to play that stuff. I still have their LPs.
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BTW, my health care policy reform blog post is just about done. Got a few concluding observations to make, and I can move on.

Oh, and, Cheryl, xoxoxo.
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ROBERT CONTI UPDATE

The Las Vegas Academy of Performing Arts is hosting a Summer Guitar Festival June 24 & 25 from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. each day featuring jazz guitarist Robert Conti and National Finger-Picking Champion and GFA International Classical Guitar Winner, Michael Chapdelaine. Registration will be at 8:00 a.m. in the Performing Arts Center located on the corner of 9th & Clark Sts. Online registration is available at: www.classroomguitar.com. Click Summer Guitar Festival at the bottom of the home page.

Robert Conti will be performing on Wednesday, June 24 at 7:00 Michael Chapdelaine will be performing on Thursday, June 25 at 7:00 p.m.

Tickets are available at the door for $10 for each night The entire festival which includes 8 intense guitar workshops, 2 concerts and lunch is only $95. Click the images below to enlarge.


TONIGHT (June 18th), DIANE ELLIS

Wolfgang Puck's Cafe inside the Springs Preserve ( behind Meadows Mall on the corner of Valley View and Meadows Lane ) 5pm - 9pm. Admission is free for the Cafe.
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FRIDAY RAMBLE...

The May 2009 state-level "official" unemployment data are now out. We're at 11.3%, with the next-door Peoples' Republic at 11.5%. I had to re-scale the Y-axis to accommodate Michigan (now risen to 14.1%). Ugly.

Below, when a picture is worth a thousand Scripture citations...

LOL!

June 15th gig at The Palms

A slammin' hang revisited in pixels...

Major props to Howard Arthur for comin' in to open for Jerry on guitar. One serious player, this cat. Minnesota's loss is our gain.

Props to the ever-fine Glenn Colby for subbing for Gil on trumpet. The Fat City Horns were screamin' tonight!

A great night. The crowd was an enthusiastic crush, and the band blew the walls out.

Above, Lorraine Fidler handling the Fat City Superstore for us. Thank you!

My friend the ace drummer Tony De Augustine (a Lion King sub now, among his many other gigs) came to hang, and was totally blown away, in particular by the new originals he'd not yet heard -- "Love Jungle" and "Indian Summer Day." Tol' ya, man...

Great also to see Bobby Black tonight and Sean Gerrity from MOSAIC (and pop), and our good bro' Ron Camiri from the Lon Bronson Band.
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TUESDAY CRACK OF NOON UPDATE

Got this "chain email" from my high school bud Bill, so I'm "passing it along" so I can quit bein' broke:

Money Goddess
This is a Money Goddess Lakshimi. Pass it to 6 of your good friends, or family and be rich in 4 Days.
Pass it to 12 of your good friends or family and be rich in 2 Days.
I am not joking. You will find an unexpected windfall. If you delete it, you will never know!
SHE WORKS SHE REALLY WORKS

Hey! Wait a minute! Didn't she used to work on Wall Street in Credit Default Swaps at AIG?
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FROM THE FOLKS WHO BROUGHT US CHINCHILLI DAY



LOL!

Midnight slam at Bonkers

Wow. Nice crowd, and the band was all over it. A great show, replete with a lot of laughs (Jerry, uh, calling Tyriq "Tyrone" at one point during a neural spasm). I only have time to upload a few shots right now, getting a late start today, and I gotta run across town to get a haircut, then do the CostCo thing, go see my Ma at the nursing home, and then watch the Lakers put Orlando out of their misery...

Below, vocalist Chris Logan sitting in on "Wishing Well." Fine singer, very nice cat. Welcome to the hang, bro'.

More shots, randomly...

I have more shots still in iPhoto, and more thoughts on the gig. Stay tuned. Great hang. Thanks to all of you for coming. Also, remember, The Healing resumes tomorrow night at The Palms, 10:30 pm, free show as always.
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UPDATE

Check this out. Very cool site. "Uncle Buster's House of Grooves." I spent some time checkin' out the numerous audio samples. Some certifiably Nasty stuff there.

www.houseofgrooves.com

Happy Chinchilli Day! Let's celebrate tonight

LOL! Join us for a Chinchilli Day Celebration tonight at midnight in the Bonkerz room at Palace Station, as Santa Fe and The Fat City Horns will be throwin' down the funk, soul, salsa, and jazz in yet another slammin' free show.
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UPCOMING: HCLV AT THE BOOTLEGGER

From Mundo:

Howzit! What a party we had at the Bootlegger on the 5th. And thanks to you we are back at the Bootlegger Bistro next Friday on June 19th. "Miss Fearless" Adrianna Thurber we be back with us on violin. And we are very excited to have saxophonist Phil Wigfall as our special guest!! As many of you know Phil plays with the Bette Midler band as well as Santa Fe and the Fat City Horns. He's a MONSTER, and you don't want to miss him get his "Bechet" on!!!!

Once again Mahalo for your support. We really appreciate it and we hope to see you at the Bootlegger.
- Mundo

Click the pic to enlarge.

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BTW, I just signed up for "VisitLasVegas.com" (as "BobbyG" of course). Wanna see if it'll be useful in touting Santa Fe and all our other peeps.

Priceless

I guess some people might think I'm some kind of naive chump. I take all these shots all the time (nearing 15,000 thus far), shepherd this blog -- now closing in on 600 posts extending nearly 3 and a half years -- produce the podcasts, posters and other artwork, etc. I don't ask for a dime, and that extends to the extended Santa Fe tribe. Seems like half the cats in town now have my shots on their MySpace and Facebook pages and websites.

Well, here's the deal: [1] since hanging up my axe in 1986, I've done quite well professionally, and, prior to getting laid off, in recent years I've paid more in taxes than a lot of players make, so I am utterly sensitive to the artistic struggle (having been there) and feel compelled to support the peeps I respect and dig. [2] If anybody in our Vegas musical family breaks through and finds some significant commercial success, maybe they'll call me first for some paying photo work (if not, it was still worth every minute spent, and it has never been my primary motive anyway). [3] I've gotten to see Santa Fe and The Fat City Horns for free now for -- what? -- perhaps some 200 performances. Were that even an average of $50 a ticket, I'da been out ten grand.

Finally, [4]:

Then there are days like today (Wed, 6/10). Getting to witness consummate pros in the studio, working on what is gonna be a stunning CD that significantly raises the bar. ("Working"? No, there's a reason they call it "playing music," not "working music." Some cats forget that. Not these dudes.)

This week are rhythm section sessions: Jerry, Rochon, Pepe, Gabriel, Dave, and Jamie. Ya just had to be there. Lucky me; I was. There are no words, really. You sit in the control room listening via the monitors -- like, shit! -- just burn me a copy of that. I could die a happy man.
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THURSDAY UPDATE

My friend Diane Kallay is gigging at King Tut's tomorrow night.

We met while both doing a benefit gig for the Homeless Veterans' organization here (USvets.org). Great person.
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June 8th gig at The Palms

I'm getting a late start tonight, and will try to hang with it. It was a thundering gig, with a house full of Bad Boys in the audience, and I have a lot of shots to sort through. We were blessed with musical eminence throughout the lounge. No one wanted to leave after the show, it was such a great event. Below, the rapt crowd is diggin' every note...

Some of the musical peeps in the house gracing us with their presence:

• A.B.
• Karl Perazzo
• Chalo Eduarado
• Benny Rietveld
• Tony Lindsay
• Taku Hirano
• Tom Barney
• Rocco Prestia
• Derek Jones
• Blaise Sison
• Dennis Chambers
• Howard Arthur
  
• Michito Sanchez
• Brad Cordle
• Tim Scott
• Joey Finger
• Robert Conti
• Lily Arce
  

(BTW, Howard Arthur will open for Jerry next Monday on guitar.)

I'm sure there are are people I've missed (and I'll get to everyone's online links ASAP). No slight intended, just too much goin' on. Wow!

Will post incrementally...

OK, I'm back. Let's see, can I remember the set list (in no particular order)?

• South American Sojourn
• Brother to Brother
• Higher Ground
• Wishing Well
• Rosanna
• You Don't Know Me
• I Feel Good
• Soul Trilogy
• Indian Summer Day
• Ev'rybody Wants to Love you
• Ain't That Peculiar?
• Living For The City

What am I missing? It was slammin', that's all I can say. Given that we had a nuclear critical mass of top-of-the-line bass cats in the house, Rochon was particularly on fire.

More scenes from a hang...

Above, Karl Perazzo of Santana. Great player, really nice cat.

Below, A.B. (from the Havana Nightclub ensemble) and Karl Perazzo lit things up in a huge percussion jam at the end.

Below, Chalo Eduardo and Gabriel gettin' down.

Wow. Ya just had to be there. Thanks to everyone for comin' to hang. Let's do it all again next Monday (as well as this Saturday at midnight at Palace Station).

Thanks to Howard Arthur for introducing me to Mick McCoy, producer of the Fab Four Live show (Variety Theater inside Planet Hollywood).


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UPDATE: SAD NEWS

From the L.A. Times:

Kenny Rankin dies at 69; singer-songwriter's long career almost defied categorization

A well-regarded guitarist, he wrote the hit song 'Peaceful' for Helen Reddy and played in Bob Dylan's backup band on the influential 1965 album 'Bringing It All Back Home.'

By Jon Thurber
June 9, 2009

Kenny Rankin, a singer-songwriter and musician whose song "Peaceful" was a hit for Helen Reddy and who had popular covers himself of a pair of Beatles hits, has died. He was 69.

Rankin died Sunday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. The cause of death, according to his management company, was lung cancer, which was diagnosed three weeks ago.

His career, which spanned more than five decades, almost defied categorization. A well-regarded guitarist, he played in Bob Dylan's backup band on the influential 1965 album "Bringing It All Back Home." He also spent several years on the road opening for comedian George Carlin.

Rankin appeared on "The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson more than 25 times. Carson was such a fan that he wrote the liner notes for Rankin's 1967 debut LP, "Mind Dusters."

As a singer with a velveteen tenor voice, he had highly successful covers of the Beatles' "Blackbird" and "Penny Lane" in the mid-1970s and in 1976 recorded an LP of standards, "The Kenny Rankin Album," with a large orchestra conducted by Don Costa...

...Paul McCartney was so pleased with Rankin's covers of the Beatles hits, he asked him to sing a medley of them when McCartney was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1987...

That is very sad. Cat was a great artist. My heart goes out to his family and friends.



Kenny was also a major supporter of First Tee of Southern Nevada, of which my daughter is Executive Director. She's now reeling from a double-whammy. First Danny Gans (her major sponsor -- i.e., the Danny Gans Junior Golf Academy), now this.
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MORE NEWS: a much happier note

BREAKING: Local tribute artist Trina Johnson-Finn has just been acquitted in the "Phony Toni" case down in Suriname:

Paramaribo, Suriname (CNS) - "Phony Toni" has been acquitted. A Toni Braxton impersonator was found not guilty of trying to fool the R&B songstress' fans into thinking she was the real deal on Tuesday.

Trina Johnson-Finn was arrested in February after concert-goers in Suriname complained they paid as much as $53 per ticket to see the "Un-Break My Heart" hitmaker only to watch a woman pretending to be her on stage.

The pretender has maintained that the concert promoter informed her that people knew they were paying to watch her mimic the Grammy Award winner. She denied fooling the fans deliberately.

Judge Robby Rodrigues said that the Las Vegas entertainer's involvement with the scam was unclear, and ultimately acquitted her of deception.

Promoter Angel Ventura and girlfriend Signet Sampson were arrested last month and are expected to face trial over the fraud.

Johnson-Finn expressed her relief with the judge's decision after being imprisoned for three months, telling reporters, "It was hard dealing with the situation knowing I was innocent. But now I just want to go back home and hug my family, my husband. I haven't seen them for so long."

Glad that's over with. She's had a crappy three months. Do your thorough due diligence prior to taking a gig outside U.S. borders, 'cause your "rights" end there.

Trina will be back home tomorrow at 6:30 pm. American Airlines flight 1825 from Miami, in case you're interested in joining the group of her supporters planning on greeting her arrival at baggage claim.
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NICE LAS VEGAS SUN WRITE-UP ON PHIL WIGFALL TODAY

PEOPLE IN THE ARTS:
Saxophonist interested in more than music

FROM THE "EXACTLY" DEPARTMENT


FROM THE "WTFC?" DEPARTMENT

Whatever.

June 6th Saturday midnight gig at Palace Station

The crowd was better last night. More people showed up, and they were way into it. Band was smokin'. It was a good hang. Thanks to Donny Osmond's son Jeremy and his peeps (below) for comin'. Very nice to meet you.

Props to our homie Tom Delibero for again subbing on trumpet for Danny Falcone. It's seamless.

I had kind of a mediocre night behind the lens. Whatever, sometimes you're the statue, I guess. Some random shots...

The tune that slammed the best for me was Nathan's "Come With Me." The hump was just right, and the Fat City Horns were screamin'. Also notable was Abe LaMarca's first shot at lead vocal on Dave's "Salvation" (Jamie normally sings it). Difficult tune. "Munequita" (from the band's first CD) was also very nicely done.

Thanks also to a couple of Jerry's life-long friends from New Mexico for comin' to hang.

See y'all tomorrow night at The Palms. 10:30. No cover no minimum.

I got a late start blogging today. Got up feeling lousy, and I also gotta go back and finish weeding through and posting more shots from Michito's Salsero gig on Friday (see prior post). Stay tuned.

UPDATE: MORE SALSERO SHOTS

Above, just before they booted me off the catwalk and upper area. Somebody ratted me to Security, even though Michito told me he'd cleared it. "Our insurance won't cover you being up here." Whatever. I'd gotten killer shots of Bill Champlin and The Sons from up there back in Sept 2007. How 'bout I sign a waiver, to keep the Suits happy?

Below, basically same shot as one posted above, but the light had changed. Nice.

They do a great job. Fine show, and they draw a big house, notwithstanding the $10 cover. BTW, Michito will be featured on the upcoming "Friends of Santa Fe, Volume 6" podcast, on which I'm now working. I think y'all will dig it.
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OK, I'm back off to my Health Care Reform blog post (I'm maybe 2/3 to 3/4 of the way through that long-assed one). Important stuff, but I fear the pols are about to stick it to us yet again, caving to the big money interests. There's now a front-burner rush to get something passed, but coherence and justice are probably gonna suffer for it.

CODA

My sweetie returns to Walnut Creek today (she's been down in Alabama, Georgia, and Florida). Not sure when I'll get to see her again. :(