The Eric Larson Endowment at UNM has named cellist Samuel Martinez as its 2024 scholarship recipient. The Eric Larson Endowment was established in 2005 to assist students attending the University of New Mexico and studying in Music or the Recording Arts.

Samuel is a native New Mexican who grew up in a musical family. He is in his final semester of his degree in Cello Performance and is also a private music instructor hoping to inspire his students. The scholarship allows him to leave UNM with no debt as he enters the professional world.

Congratulations to Samuel and our thanks to the staff and faculty of the UNM Music Department and the staff and management of the UNM Foundation. A special thanks goes out to you, our New Mexico music community who have made this scholarship possible on an annual basis with your contributions. You keep the memory of NMMA co-founder, Eric Larson alive.

Richard Cagle has produced and recorded folks like Carolyn Wonderland, Uncle John Turner, Johnny Winter, and Joe King Carrasco as well as others from his studio in the cool mountains of Ruidoso, New Mexico where he owns Montrose Records. Richard has wone a couple of New Mexico Music Awards over the years, but many folks don’t know that he is a blues artist in his own right.

He recently released “Richard Cagle and the VooDoo Choir-Zia Blues”, his first album since 2016. Most of the songs are written by Richard Cagle.

“Zia Blues” opens with “Dance, Dance, Dance” featuring Eric Demmer, saxophone (who played with Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown); Arnold Cardon, guitar; Paul Goad, bass and piano; Danny Cresap, drums; and backing vocalists Wayne and Lou Ann Ellison. “Knockin Me Down” includes Tim Martin, guitar; and Dave Shanks, Hammond Organ. Cagle provides the vocals. Other guests include El Paso’s Sam Barlow on harmonica, Rich Chorne, guitar; Grant Gerondale, bass and Ron Ramelli, who toured with Lavelle White, on harmonica, Mark Kashmar on guitar, Kelley Wright, percussion and pianist Shawn Allen.

The late Sher Katz wrote the closer, “Whadda Think O’ That” which features Cagle singing with lots of emotion and playing harmonica and Sam Shackelford, drums. All in all, a terrific effort from a brilliant producer, engineer and artist.

Available on all platforms.

Bette Korber is a video artist and has been a finalist in the Best Video category for a number of years, but did you know that she is also an award winning scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory? She is a computational biologist focusing on the molecular biology and population genetics of the HIV virus that causes infection and eventually AIDS and contributed heavily to efforts to obtain an effective HIV vaccine. She also helped fund an AIDS orphanage in South Africa, working through Nurturing Orphans of AIDS for Humanity (NOAH).

Somehow, she finds time to produce videos that highlight some of the environmental and health issues we are facing in the 21st century. Her latest is Rivers Run, a cover of the composition by songwriter Karine Polwart, a beautiful song about rivers and climate change that is infused with a touch of hope. The song was recorded at Moonflower Sound recording in Taos with Korber providing the vocals, guitar and Irish whistle, Peter Oviatt engineering, producing and adding harmonies, banjo and bass and arranger Brent Berry on percussion and the natural sounds of a Taos thunderstorm thrown in for good measure. View the video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mn25isz3YIY

The band Left Unsaid was huge in the Duke City in the 90s, rising above the fray to gain national attention before disintegrating. A new documentary about the late 90s/early 2000s Albuquerque punk/rock scene and the band’s rise and fall, Never Ending, It’s Better This Way, is now available to rent or purchase on Amazon Prime.

Directed by Mario J Rivera and produced by the band (Rivera, Hunter Ashton and Eric Garay) it is a look at the band’s reason for being and for ending….sort of.

The band has also released a new song, their first in 20 years.

To view the trailer for the film, go to https://youtu.be/tWvSxvQwElo

Vault Studios Abq is now open in downtown Albuquerque.

The brainchild of producer Kat Bloom and engineer David Bloom, the studio is the first Dolby Atmos Institute in NM with instructors certified by Ableton and Dolby. The studio is a cross-discipline studio that connects video post-production, visual effects, audio and music production, and interactive gaming to unlock high-quality, inspiring work including a full green screen bay for music videos. Education programs for the next generation of creative talent give young people hands-on experience with creative careers and skills.

The rest of the cast includes audio engineers Luke Estrada and Darius Martinez, colorist and editor Nick Bell and compositor, supervisor and artist Lycee Anaya.

VFX services include:

CGI (Computer-Generated Imagery): Creating computer-generated elements such as characters, creatures, environments, and objects that are integrated into live-action footage.

Compositing: Combining multiple elements, such as live-action footage, CGI, and special effects, to create final, seamless shots.

3D Modeling and Animation: Creating 3D models of characters, props, and environments and animating them to achieve realistic or stylized movement.

Matte Painting or DMP: Digital painting or image manipulation used to create realistic or imaginary backgrounds for scenes.

Rotoscoping or Roto: The process of manually or semi-automatically tracing over live-action footage frame by frame to create mattes or isolate certain elements for compositing.

Green Screen: Film on a chroma green wall and composite any background you want.

Simulation and Dynamics: Creating realistic simulations of natural phenomena like fire, water, smoke, cloth, and other physical effects.

Pre-visualization (Previs): Creating rough, animated storyboards to help plan complex visual effects sequences before production begins.

Post-visualization (Postvis): Creating temporary visual effects to help with editing and storytelling decisions during the post-production process.

Clean-up and Wire Removal: Removing unwanted elements from live-action footage, such as wires used during stunts or rigging to support actors.

Reach out to them at hello@vaultstudiosabq.com or 505-503-0794 and visit their website at https://www.vaultstudiosabq.com/

1912 Second Street
Suite B We
Albuquerque, NM 87102

KRQE NEWS 13 reports that Visit Albuquerque has created a Spotify playlist highlighting Albuquerque musicians. A new Spotify playlist is helping get local artist’s music out. Visit Albuquerque has put together the Music From Albuquerque playlist that has the potential to feature every band and artist that have origins in the Duke City. Right now, the playlist consists of 64 songs from artists, some New Mexico Music Award winners, like The Shins, Slums of Harvard, Red Light Cameras, Nepthisis The Noms, Celloquatious, Dust City Opera, The Porter Draw, and Micah Thunder.

Visit Albuquerque is also taking song and artist suggestions to add to the playlist on their Facebook page.

To hear the music on your smart device, click this link and login or register.

Joseph General and High Vibration have released their 2nd album in as many months with Praises High. This extremely talented group anchored by drummer Joseph General have won numerous New Mexico Music awards over the past decade. The album was officially released on all digital platforms on March 16th in a high energy party with the Latin Band Baracutanga, Super Versa and DJ Henry at Sister Bar in Albuquerque.

The new album contains 10 cuts all written by Joseph General and all of them are executed flawlessly. The opener is a simple greeting welcoming the listener to the music to follow. The cuts are consistent with the rhythm changing here and there and the vocals and harmonies well thought out. Stand out cuts include Psychological Warfare, One Love, Constant Change and the title cut.

Praises High was recorded at the Recording Center of New Mexico by Jimmy Medina with Joseph General doing all of the preproduction midi keys at home then taking the stem files to the studio and adding the his drums and keyboards. Personnel include guitarist Jonathan Zamora, bassist Alyson Steinman and Kevin Pollock guesting on keyboards. Horns on Praises High were provided by Micah Hood on trombone, Ziggy Garcia on trumpet, and Chadd James on saxophones. Dre Z Melodi guests on one song as well.

Earleir in the year, Joseph General released Own Reality, recorded at his home studio in 2023 by Jose Martinez. General played drums, keys, percussion, sequencing/arranging and all vocals except for music by his featured artists on the album including Bles Infinite, Dre Z Melodi, Jam One, and the late great Akae Beka(from St Croix). Delmone Taylor played saxophones on the album. Old band mates Nathan Kappel on bass and Matthew Korse on guitars. You can hear the difference in the two albums. Own Reality leans a little more toward hard reggae with a touch of Hip Hop. Stand out cuts include the title track featureing Bles Infanite, At Stake featuring Akae Beca and Jah Rain featuring Dre Z Melodi.

Both of these albums are unique in their own way, but incredible listenable and creative. Available on all platforms. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063472483867

We were unaware of this album until we heard of the passing of bassist and percussionist Sherry Katz of Ruidoso on March 11th. We did not want Chi-town Sher’s release to go without notice.

The album Legacy for Liara-Into the Blue is a love letter to Katz’s grandaughter recorded at Montrose Studios in Ruidoso and produced by Katz and Paul Goad.

The album is a collection of bluesy little numbers and except for the Rickie Lee Jones cover, Danny’s All Star Joint, all are original songs written by Katz or with collaborators that include Goad, and songwriters Lucinda Weirenga and Jefferson B Hawkins. The album has a roadhouse feel to it, loose and breezy. It’s talkin’ blues and sultry songs with the exception of His Name Was Johnny, a hard ballad about a vet wounded in body and soul.

There are fun tunes like Topo Chico and 4 Dollah 74 Cents and several of the tunes have been entered into the 2024 New Mexico Music Awards. All in all, it turns out to be exactly as its title announces-A legacy for Katz’s granddaughter, sweet and memorable. You can hear a sample at https://chi-townsher.hearnow.com/ or find it on all streaming platforms.

Daniel Solis’s newest album is a collection of songs produced between 2010 and 2023 entitled the Singer-Songwriter Collection, a sort of a greatest hits released just this month. The album contains some of his audience favorites including A Good Time, My Kind of Friday Night, Up In New Mexico and Airport Bar. There are 13 cuts on the album all together.

Daniel recently took top honors at the New Mexico Hispanic Entertainers Association awards show, scoring in the Crossover Song of the Year category from his latest album is Lo Que Hago Mejor and also was a Country Album category finalist at the 2023 New Mexico Music Awards. Solis is a fixture in and around New Mexico. Not an event goes by in the state without Solis performing, sometimes as a solo artist, but usually on guitar and vocals with his band, drummer Scott Ross, pedal steel master Tony Chavez and bassist Kevin Martin at the Triple 7 Lounge at Isleta Resort & Casino where they serve as the house band.

Solis is a native of Guadalupita in Northern New Mexico’s Mora County about 60 miles north of Las Vegas. His diverse musical background makes him fluent in everything from New Mexico Spanish, Country Music, Rock, R&B and Americana. In addition to the Singer-Songwriter Collection, Daniel has recorded 3 original Country Albums, and 2 New Mexico Spanish Albums. The Spanish albums are featured on New Mexico Music Radio Stations throughout New Mexico.

After graduating from UNM, Solis moved to Nashville to pursue a career in music, which he says forced him to be a better musician and work harder. Her returned to New Mexico after 5 years and has been playing music here ever since. When he’s not playing music, he runs D’Sol Music Services providing studio and live recording and video production. He will be representing New Mexico at the Tejano Music Awards in mid-March in San Antonio. Download his latest albums at www.thedanielsolisband.com

Dos Suenos Music Production offers tailored soundtracks and audio landscapes for filmmakers and TV producers.

Harry Musselwhite has become a fixture in the New Mexico entertainment industry. As an actor on Better Call Saul, MacGruber, Behind the Yellow House and more New Mexico productions and as a music producer for film. With writing partner Donald J. Davenport of Santa Fe, he produces the popular podcast The Dungball Express, and as a musical artist he has performed at Carnegie Hall and through the musical capitals of Europe and the United States.

Kenyon Carter is a saxophonist, recording artist, and jazz educator for more than twenty-five years. He has worked as a university saxophone and jazz instructor, and guides musicians across the globe through his popular video lessons and private video coaching. Residing in southern California, Carter is an on call saxophone soloist from Los Angeles to San Diego.

Musselwhite and Carter won Best Jazz Recording for their “Circus March, Mvt. 3” from Denny K. Shoopman’s WebSeries “Irish in Albquerque” at the 2022 New Mexico Music Awards. https://dossuenosmusicproduction.com/