Let The Healing Continue!!!

As a rock-obsessed music writer, I rarely heap praise on bands that don’t rely on distortion pedals and towering amplifiers. So the fact that I’m rapidly becoming an admirer of an entity called Santa Fe & the Fat City Horns is causing me to challenge my own decades-long taste in music. Indeed, after a well-dressed gentleman raised his arm to part a velvet curtain, I entered the cozy, candlelit Lounge at the Palms, cold beer in hand, and experienced an immersive musical dream.

Led by singer/guitarist Jerry Lopez (who earned the nickname “Santa Fe” since he was born in that capital city of New Mexico), the band is a mix of all kinds of veteran players from every conceivable genre, making the result a true musical melting pot. You can hear the diverse influences in every song these guys dish onstage, from the easy, slippery funk of “Dat Greazy Thing” to the straight-up mid-tempo pop of “Indian Summer Day.” A large, powerhouse team of musicians—five singers, a six-piece rhythm section and six horns—enhances the material with each note.

Sound like an immense group? That’s the aim. The members all have regular gigs with productions on the Strip, from The Lion King to Phantom: The Las Vegas Spectacular to Jersey Boys. But on Mondays they gather at the Palms to blow everyone else away. With a 50/50 set of startlingly good originals and familiar yet fierce covers, they do exactly that.

Incredibly, the band has existed in one incarnation or another in Las Vegas for more than 30 years. But you won’t find many clippings about Santa Fe online and in old newspapers. That’s because Santa Fe & the Fat City Horns is largely a word-of-mouth ensemble intended for people who are really into music and are looking for a band that takes the idea of a Las Vegas lounge ensemble into outlandishly muscular territory.

“We found that there’s a large demographic of people out there who are ‘unserved’ musically,” says Lopez, who moved to Las Vegas in 1975 and more recently performed as Ricky Martin’s lead guitarist on tour. “Today’s music doesn’t appeal to many of us, and a lot of us grew up in an era when bands like Chicago, Earth, Wind & Fire, Average White Band, Ohio Players, Blood, Sweat & Tears and Tower of Power were creating and recording the music that underscored our lives.”

It’s no surprise that not-so-long-ago era of great songs, sharp arrangements, killer vocals and disciplined musicianship is what Santa Fe strives to emulate, if not surpass.

Still, this isn’t a retro act taking a formulaic path or trying to be a tribute band, insists Lopez. He and the band want to make the music that makes them and the audience feel good, and to administer musical medicine to the soul.

“This is the reason we call our Monday nights ‘healing sessions,’” he adds.

Catch Santa Fe and the Fat City Horns at 10:30 Monday nights at the Lounge in the Palms, $7.00. (944-3200)

Here’s a link to the article http://issuu.com/philatknpr/docs/desert_companion_2011feb/44

It appears on page 42 in the magazine. Here’s the actual text:

“There’s no better band in Las Vegas than Santa Fe. Currently performing Mondays at the Palms as Santa Fe and the Fat City Horns, they’ve been playing Vegas for the better part of 25 years – and heck, we’re lucky to have held onto them for that long. Led by lead guitarist and vocalist Jerry Lopez, Sante Fe has probably played more Vegas casinos than any other band around, from blasts-from-the-past such as The Mint, Sands, and Desert Inn to contemporary spots such as the Palms and Caesars Palace. There’s a reason they get around: they mix in originals and popular songs from all over the musical map – pop, R&B, funk, rock & roll and jazz – and infuse them with roaring, ferocious energy while keeping them tight as a dime. Santa Fe more than earns the superlatives that fans – newly minted nightly – heap on them.”

So,  come see what all the fuss is about! Join us tonight at the Palms at 10:30 and experience the weekly healing! Hope to see you all tonight!

You can cast your votes at www.lasvegas.broadwayworld.com

Also, if you’re looking for the perfect gift for the music lovers in your life, or perhaps a last-minute stocking stuffer, look no further than the Santa Fe Super Store! There, you will find all of our CD releases including our newest, “When the Curtain Goes Up”. You’ll also find all of our live recordings, DVDs, hats, and t-shirts. Plus, you can find solo recordings from several members of the band as well as a few of our guest artists. So, please be sure to check out the Santa Fe Super Store on your way in or out from the gig, say hi to Lorraine, and pick up some musical healing to go!

“The BroadwayWorld.com 2010 Las Vegas Awards are intended to reflect all that is entertainment in this most unique city. Whether it is strictly entertainment — concerts and shows — or those facets of Las Vegas that people come to see — the fabulous theme hotels, the trend-setting hotel architecture, the extravagant only-in-Las-Vegas attractions — here it’s all about entertainment. So, in recognizing this City of Entertainment, the BroadwayWorld awards take it all into account. There is nowhere else like Las Vegas and these awards hope to, in some way, celebrate that”.

Please know that we do not do what we do for awards or accolades…it’s all about the music and sharing the love! But if you’d like to share your enthusiasm for our band, what we do, and why, stop by the site and vote. Voting ends on 1/15/2011. As always, we could not do what we do without your love and support. Without you, we are nothing!

Read more:http://lasvegas.broadwayworld.com/vote2010lasvegas.cfm#ixzz18PpL6ARR