When I was just a kid growing up in Los Angeles, my mother played a wide array of records for my brother and me, but the musician who brings me back to those glory days is—wait for it—Taj Mahal. My mother played 1976’s Satisfied ’N’ Tickled Too so often that, even after years of not hearing it, songs like “Black Man, Brown Man” and “Satisfied ’N’ Tickled Too” are firmly lodged in my brain with nearly the same sense of necessity as things like breathing.

Having spoken with concert promoter Jamie Lenfestey of Heath Concerts for the Santa Fe Manual, I figured I should speak to his counterpart at T-Cubed Productions, Tim Franke, for the summer arts preview. This dude has been booking great shows for a few years now and, as we head into summer, he’s got more great stuff and some good advice for our community.

Sixty-four-years old isn’t exactly elderly, and I had seen David Lescht around town on many recent occasions, so the news of his death late last week was hard for me to fathom.

As bands like Chango will tell you, choosing the right tune to cover is critical. It’s pretty easy to look like a fool when you choose to cover some crap nobody’s ever heard of or a song that’s beyond your means. On some occasions, however, covers outshine the original material.

About a year ago, I sat down with legendary (yeah, legendary) Santa Fe DJ Maynard Del Mar to discuss changes to radio station KLBU 102.9 FM [A Sharp, May 1, 2011: “Radioactivity”]. Del Mar, along

Back in November, SFR received an email from Santa Fe University of Art and Design about a free public event featuring legendary hip-hop act Public Enemy. The April 28 “hip-hop symposium” is a part of SFUAD’s Artists for Positive Social Change series, a five-year initiative spearheaded by Director of Photography and Artist in Residence David Scheinbaum. According to the press release, “Artists for Positive Social Change is a groundbreaking, university-wide series of events and performances that highlight one high-profile issue or genre.” 

I can sum up my advice for non-drinking over-21ers in Santa Fe in two words: good luck! Short of actively choosing alcoholism, your options are pretty limited—as I recently learned during a multi-night stab at fun with my freakjob brother.

 James T Baker has a problem. The local bluesman has been trying to make a go of it for 30-some years, but after being relegated to out-of-town shows and farmers markets, then recently losing a r

I’m not the type to look a gift disc in the mouth, so when I recently discovered an unsolicited package from Atlantic Records on my desk, I was pretty sure it would be a good day (they’ve got Miss

When it comes to music—the world’s most universal art form—the lady and I often have what you might call misunderstandings.