Monday night at the Palms, Las Vegas is ‘THE’ Place
When Santa Fe & The Fat City Horns began performing at the Lounge, in the Palms Hotel, about two years ago, leader, Jerry Lopez explained to me that he only would guest musicians sitting in, on a planned basis. Let’s just say things have evolved… and it’s all good.
For openers, Jerry is the Musical Director for the Wayne Brady Show and that creates a time crunch. On some nights, Jerry is unable to arrive until 15 minutes after the scheduled showtime of 10:30pm. He has found a way to turn that into a huge positive by reaching into the deep pool of Las Vegas guitarists, and asking one of them to sit in for three tunes to open the show. The past Monday, the featured guitarist was David Hart. It’s always a surprise, and it’s always good.
Beyond that wrinkle, Jerry has embraced spontaneity by inviting musicians to sit in, creating some great magic moments, on a regular basis.
Jerry has been in attendance at the Herman Matthews & Friends show, Saturday night at the Bootlegger. Some of the band returned the compliment, and came down to see Santa Fe at the Palms. Guitarist, Brian Munroney was the first to sit in. As Jerry noted to the audience, Brian is one of those rare cats who can play rhythm and lead, equally well. We also learned that he had written all the horn charts for Herman’s band.
Next up was Herman Matthews, sitting in on Wishing Well. Then it was Bill Churchville, who brought his trumpet to the stage, and played the entire second half of the set with Santa Fe. Some of the vocalists from Mosaic joined in the fun, and Michito Sanchez found his way up to the congas, alongside Gabriel Falcon. At one point, the on stage presence rivaled a George Clinton P-Funk show with 19 musicians and vocalists.
This was not just a jam session. Churchville didn’t just solo, he played some of Santa Fe’s originals, reading their charts, cold.
When Santa Fe played their penultimate song, Chuckii Booker’s Soul Trilogy, Herman Matthews couldn’t contain himself. He jumped on stage, sharing a mic with Lenny Lopez. Herman was jumpin’ and bumpin’, having the time of his life.
Let’s put it this way, if one lives in Las Vegas, it’s a privilege to able to head down to the Palms on any Monday and see what unfolds. If you’re planning a trip to Las Vegas, you need to stay through Monday night, come on down, and see what all the fuss is about. Reading about it, just does not do it justice.
Brian Munroney: Photo by Bobby Gladd
Herman Matthews: photo by Bobby Gladd
Bill Churchville: photo by Bobby Gladd
Herman Matthews & Lenny Lopez: photo by Bobby Gladd
Andy Ebon
CEO of Soul
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August 24th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
Hey Andy,
Tower was so cool during there No. California turn thru the San Mateo (40th Anniversary) and Monterey Fairs, right in my neck of the woods..Keep on keepin’on, my brother and hope to see you at the Palms soon..Jojo 
Nice write-up as always on Santa Fe and always cool to see you in some of my Cuz’Bobby G’s shots