Facing the Day with Alex Maryol

Alex Maryol's bio is crazy impressive. This young blues artist has been on the circuit for years, opening for Etta James, Bo Diddley, Ani DiFranco, Michael Franti, Leon Russell, and G. Love and Special Sauce, to name a few. He has shared the stage with artists, oh, like James Brown, Johny Lang, John Mayer, Otis Taylor and Buddy Miles.

Alex is on the bill with Todd Tijerina as well as Combo Special TONIGHT at 7pm, at the final Jazz & Blues Under the Stars at the Albuquerque Museum Amphitheater in Old Town. We thought we'd pin Alex down for a short interview:




NMJW:
Why the Blues? What made you gravitate towards this genre of music?

AM:
Blues is a very emotional sounding music... I felt the blues from a very young age... from the first moment I heard it when I was around 4 or 5. Blues is a music -like all music- that is not in the "notes" but rather that is in the person.

NMJW:
You credit musicians like Chuck Berry, Fats Domino and Elvis Presley as people who've influenced you. When did you first become aware of these artists and how?

AM:
I first heard these artists on my dad's radio in his truck as he drove me to kindergarten when I was four. He would then play more of these artists for me on his record player in our living room.

NMJW:
You mention being the son of Greek-American restaurateurs in your biographical information. Were you expected to enter the family business? When did it become clear that you were charting your own course through music?

AM:
I was never expected to be or do anything in particular. I always had the freedom to choose what I wanted to do... however, growing up in the restaurant is a very important detail in my life. I always wanted to be involved with music. My mom tells me that I would pick my head up in the crib when I was a baby to "see what was going on" when there was music being played in the room.




NMJW:
Tell us about Face the Day. How have you approached the material on this record, in contrast to your earlier releases?

AM:
Face the Day is an album that deals with my experience of life through my mid 20's.


NMJW:
What's your favorite guilty pleasure in terms of music?

AM:
Kelly Clarkson, Shania Twain, and Cindi Lauper.


NMJW:
Who would you most like to share the stage with?

AM:
Leslie Feist

NMJW:
If you were not a musician, where else might you focus your creative attention?

AM:
Running, Bicycling and Swimming.

The New Mexico Jazz Workshop Summer Concert Series BEGINS!

Hello Jazz Friends!

It's that time again, folks! Time to stretch our legs, get outside, and get sweaty! No, we're not talking about mowing the lawn. It's time for the NMJW Summer Concert Series UNDER THE STARS! Starting THIS FRIDAY, June 4th we're kicking off a summer of great concerts, all summer long and the Albuquerque Museum Amphitheater!

On FRIDAY, JUNE 4th-- Felipe Ruibal y Quemozo breaks the seal on the salsa, it's ripe, delicious and ready to go! On SATURDAY, JUNE 5th, we welcome the Albuquerque Jazz Orchestra, under the direction of Bobby Shew and none other than our NMJW Youth Honor Bands, led by Christian Pincock (High School) and Sam Nesbitt (Middle School).

Where ya goin'? You know there's MORE in store. Week two of the Salsa Under the Stars we welcome Charanga del Valle, June 11th. You'll soon be over your Los Van Van heart break, just get on that dance floor. On June 12th come out for the Saxophone Summit featuring Glenn Kostur, Lee Taylor and Kanoa Kaluhiwa, and Aaron Lovato. Just buy a Summer Pass, please! You're not going to want to miss a single weekend. Because week three we have the lovely Ivon Ulibarri y Cafe Mocha! And, the first night of Women's Voices!

On Saturday, June 19^th NMJW presents the first night of Women’s Voices with Ladies Sing the Blues, hosted by KUNM radio personality, Mary Oishi. Join some of Albuquerque’s finest blues singers and musicians for a night of blistering blues born from the African-American A.M.E. Churches, to the field hollers and streets of Memphis, Chicago, New Orleans; to the dusty, back roads, train tracks, cross roads, and juke joints of the American landscape—making “a way out of no way.“ Are you ready for some hollerin’, honkin’, shoutin’, and getting’ down?” Joan Cere says (formally Joan Griffin). Cere, lead singer of Combo Special, is a performer and the curator of Ladies Sing the Blues. Cere pledges a diva-packed evening of blues featuring Hillary Smith, Wendy Beach, and Cathryn McGill. “So many soulful, talented people coming together to make the music that makes us who we are,” Cere says. Cere cites singers such as Big Momma Thornton, Bessie Smith, Janice Joplin and Ma Rainey as inspiration for Ladies Sing the Blues. Cere calls Ladies Sing the Blues, “a rootsy, rocking, feelin’ kind of music-- the kind that makes your skin tingle and brings a tear to your eye-- makes you wanna shake your stuff and join the party.”

Women's Voices 2010 continues with a tribute to the mothers of jazz: Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, and Sarah Vaughan. Women’s Voices: Tribute to Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan Saturday, July 10^th.

They sang to express the secrets of their hearts, for sheer joy, to pay the rent, to stay afloat, to keep going. Women's Voices 2010 pays tribute to the mothers of jazz: Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, and Sarah Vaughan. This trinity of vocalists left mighty big shoes to fill. On Saturday, July 10^th, Patty Stephens, Patti Littlefield, Chava, Kathy Gutierrez, and Ashley (aka SayWut!?) Moyer pay a soulful, moving homage to the music, the women, and the lives and times that made Sarah, Billie and Ella trine stars that never lose their luster, and never fade from our collective memory.

“This tribute isn’t to the jazz song, it is to the lives of three women who sang those jazz songs,” says Patty Stephens, performer and curator of the tribute. “This tribute is from the New Mexican women of song to our ancestors, our elders.” Stephens, a favorite on the local jazz scene, says this concert is a deep exploration of the work and the world of Dames Fitzgerald, Vaughan and Holiday, not an evening of greatest hits. “I’m not talking about a contemporary singer sticking a big flower behind her ear, and bending notes,” Stephens says. “I’m talking about the women who stay up late, drag home in the middle of the night and work on new tunes and go sing at church on Sunday.”

This year’s Women’s Voices features a new, exciting element to the performance. Ashley (aka SayWut?!) Moyer, a local hip-hop beat boxer of note will, take the stage. (Beatboxing is a rediscovered art of producing drum beats, rhythm, and musical sounds using one's mouth, lips, tongue and voice. The art form dates back to the ancient tradition of bhol, found in the music of India.) Stephens, who will be performing a few duets with Moyer, says that beat boxing expresses the “jazz element of scat—the percussive use of the voice, and the power of improvisation.” According to Stephens, there are all components that relate back to Fitzgerald, Holiday and Vaughan. “Ashley brings to the evening a true, raw element of vocal expression inherent in jazz, and the music of the divas we honor.”

Women’s Voices 2010 Saturday, June 19^th and Saturday, July 10^th are sure to be two evenings of Jazz & Blues Under the Stars audiences won’t soon forget.

MUCH MORE to come as the summer rolls on!

We'll see you, Under the Stars . . .

Ryan McGarvey Interview

Enough about blues artist Ryan McGarvey being a wee lad. And please, don't call him boy. He's old enough to produce a respectable beard, and he's damn sure grown enough to play some gritty, deep and dirty blues like a juke-joint-rockin' old man.

Ryan McGarvey IS young, he's a wee lad of 22. But when McGarvey and his band (K.C. White on drums, on bass, Kevin Kraybill) take the stage on Saturday evening at NMJW's Jazz and Blues Under the Stars, we guarantee you won't be thinking about McGarvey's age-- you'll be thinking about the power of the blues getting thrown on ya like a relentless Mississippi storm with a mind of its own if you can think at all. We recently caught up with McGarvey in the throes of a tour that has him criss-crossing the West and believe us, we had to catch him!

Name the first song you learned on guitar? You know, that song that you struggled to teach yourself, while listening to a recording, or hearing it on the radio? Tell us a little about that. . .

Well, the first thing that I EVER figured out on the guitar was the opening riff to the classic rock song "Barracuda" by the group HEART. But, the first song that I learned all the way through from start to end was Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Child." But, of course I learned it more along the lines the way Stevie Ray Vaughan had covered it.

When/how did you find your voice? How/When/Why did the Blues find you?

The first time I ever really sang was when I was about 15 years old. It was kinda just because it was a necessity. The little high school band I had together was only playing long instrumental tunes. So I began singing the Jimi Hendrix blues song, "Red House." I sang it maybe once at a practice, then the next time was at an audition for a city wide talent search which we won, (then I'm sure there had to be 1 or 2 more times after that) but our prize for winning was a slot at Sandia Casino's Outdoor Amphitheater opening for the Latin group SPARX. Well little did we know, it was already sold out- so my first time really singing to an audience was in front of a crowd of near 5,000-- which was basically a wall of people. As for the blues, it was just what reeled me in. All the early classic hard rock stuff I grew up listening to and loving, was all very blues based, and I kinda just traced back everything from each artist I was loving. Like Led Zeppelin for example, my first favorite song from them was "Gallows Pole" which was actually a really old Leadbelly blues tune. And it was the same case for everyone I loved, so I ended up loving all these "new" blues guys, because they were basically what my favorite rockers were playing.

How does the South West feed your Blues style? How has the landscape, the people, the food, influenced your art?

I think it's a great location. Of course the natural beauty found in all those things is influential, however I think it's the other places, the places I visit playing and whatnot-- they are the ones that really get to me and probably feed my style of music the most. I think it's because I don't live there, it makes the visit more special- so it seems like a bigger thing to me. The experiences, and the people you meet along the ride and all. But I can't ever forget home.

The typical question-- who are some of your influences, living or otherwise?

I listen and like to think I am influenced by literally everything. I think the biggest influences are everything from traditional early delta blues like Robert Johnson, classic hard rock like Jimi Hendrix & Led Zeppelin. I really like some really great singers/songwriters like Dan Dyer, Jeff buckley, and Malford Milligan. But, I actually think some of the later more contemporary blues/rock artists are what really captivated me. In that category I would easily say my biggest influences were Stevie Ray Vaughan, Ian Moore, Chris Duarte, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, and Joe Bonamassa. I would have to say everything influences me to a degree, but definitely those were the hugely influential artists.

What's the one constant you can depend on while traveling on the road? The one inevitable thing that occurs at nearly every gig?

Just seeing the first timers and the loyal followers inter-twine. It's great seeing someone that has never heard/seen us perform before, and their response. But, it's also so great to see some of our most loyal followers that will even hit the road with us just to see us in different venues. I'm really lucky to have some of the fans that I have.

On some of your tracks, we can hear the highway, the train on the rails-- what sort of things/ideas inspire your song-building?

I like to think any, and everything inspires me. I like to take an idea, or even just a thought or phrase and work around that. A lot of songs are from personal experience, which I think is better because it helps you connect to the song in a much deeper way. And, if you have been through something, chances are others have too, and therefore they will connect better in the same way.

What's your guilty music pleasure? Is there a genre of music (or even a song) that you can't get enough of, but might be wildly off the music path?

It's really hard to say. I listen to just about anything. Of course there are some exceptions to that. But, I really don't know what would even be considered off the musical path for me. It ranges from all sorts, but I enjoy most anything if it has creative artistic depth to it.Which can even include a good marketing visual. Or, if I can just see that they are really masters of what they are doing. Some country, some pop, bluegrass, punk, etc.. Everything kinda just blends together in my musical pallet.

What other art forms inspire you?

I really love music photography actually. I have really been digging it as of lately. Particularly the work of a good friend of mine Robert M. Knight. He's incredible, and very legendary. Just check out his websites, or his newest movie "Rock Prophecies" and you'll see what I mean. Chances are good you know his work. Karen Kuehn is another photographer I'm lucky to be friends with that does some amazing work.

There's definitely, "Something Wicked This Way Comes" about the Blues, and its history-- the selling of one's soul, at the crossroads, and such. Have you had brushes with "the unusual"? If so, what happened?

We have had a few incidences where the strange and unusual perhaps had some play with things. But never in such a dark way as a "deal with with devil" would be considered. I'm definitely not a Robert Johnson. If anything it is the other way around. This last year heading to Lubbock,TX from a gig at SXSW in Austin,TX- my dad and I were totalled by a speeding 18 wheeler semi-truck that ran a red light in an extremely small town. It was the general consensus there that there must have been some real guardian angels riding with us right then, because we were literally one half a second away from being wiped off the face of the earth.

In your opinion, what's the future of the blues? How does the blues mingle and mix in a world dominated by electronic music?

The blues is constantly growing, and expanding in the hands of the right people. There are purists that don't like to see this happening, and don't want it to grown or change. But that's what it does-- [blues] evolves. Muddy Waters took the blues and electrified it. Jimi Hendrix distorted the blues and made it psychedelic. Guys like Kenny Wayne Shepherd infused with more contemporary rock and made blues somewhat a bit more mainstream. The future of the blues is in good hands with MANY artists out there today. As long as the youth of today are introduced into blues in a right way, and not constricted to keep it TOO traditional, the blues will ALWAYS be around, and forever growing. It can't help it, because you can find blues in ANY music there is out there today."

[marya errin jones]

Capable of being dug

Hello friends,

New Mexico Jazz Workshop is recovering from a great weekend-- on Friday, Son Como Son brought down the house, and a few rain clouds, but we made it through! Saturday evening the South West Jazz Orchestra with Elevation made us feel warm and fuzzy with nostalgia. We're taking a weekend off to recoup, regroup, and celebrate the July 4th weekend. But before we do, we want to let you know what's up next at the Jazz Workshop:

New Mexico Jazz Workshop's Summer Concert Series

JULY 10-11

Who: Charanga del Valle-- Salsa Under the Stars

When: July 10th 7pm -- 10pm

Where:@ Albuquerque Museum Amphitheater 2000 Mountain Rd. NW

Cost: $13 General $11 Students/Seniors NMJW/Museum Members $10.

Tickets Available through Brown Paper Tickets https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/71458

The Alpha Cats

Who: The Alpha Cats/Patti Littlefield & Woof! Blues, Bossa, Ballads and Western Swing

Jazz & Blues Under the Stars

When: July 11th 7pm --10pm

Where:@ Albuquerque Museum Amphitheater 2000 Mountain Rd. NW

Cost: $13 General $11 Students/Seniors NMJW/Museum Members $10.

Tickets Available through Brown Paper Tickets-- http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/71477

SOUL KITCHEN-- June 19th @ the NMJW Father's Day Weekend Blues Fest!

FATHER'S DAY WEEKEND BLUES FEST
JUNE 19-20 Check out:

SOUL KITCHEN!
For more info visit
http://www.nmjazz.org/Blues_Fest.aspx

On Friday, June 19th, NMJW welcomes the funkified Blues of Soul Kitchen-- a relatively new band made up New Mexico music veterans Chris Dracup, Tommy Elskes and Hillary Smith, winner of the 2009 Mic Award in five categories. Smith has great things to say about her new band.

"We started things up last Fall and have been blessed with enthusiastic audiences and a steady stream of work," Smith says. Smith explains that it took a bit of persuasion to get Elskes and Dracup to form Soul Kitchen but they finally came around. " I heard Tommy and Chris play for the first time last summer, and I fell in love with those beautiful brothers," Smith adds. "I pretty much just asked if I could be in the "boy's club" and kept asking till they said yes!" Soul Kitchen continues to thrill New Mexico audiences-- don't miss this concert in a setting befitting the stature of these artists.

SOUL KITCHEN w/ special guests!
Friday, June 19 @ part of the Father's Day Weekend Blues Fest
7pm tickets $15 general $13 Students (w/ I.D.) $12 ABQ Museum Members/NMJW members.

Week Two of Salsa/Blues!

The first weekend of Salsa/Blues Under the Stars was in one word . . . ELECTRIC. We're still flabbergasted by the opening night turn-out which was stellar. Not one to rest on our laurels, we're moving full steam ahead into week two of the festival.  Here's what we have in store for you! 

FRIDAY, JUNE 5th

Ivon Ulibarri y Cafe Mocha

Cafe Mocha, featuring Ivon Ulibarri is one of Albuquerque's hottest salsa bands, brewing an exciting blend of Son, Cha-Cha, and other Latin styles from the Caribbean and beyond. A veteran of the Salsa scene, Ivon brings authenticity and charisma to the stage in a celebration of rich musical traditions and lively dance music.

SATURDAY, JUNE 6th

Rodney Bowe and Sina Soul: 

The African Roots of Jazz 

Featuring ODIGBO ADAMA.

Enjoy an evening of Jazz, Soul and Funk music.

See you Under the Stars. . .