As I’ve mentioned on more than one occasion, when I moved to Las Vegas, Tower of Power’s leader, Emilio Castillo instructed me that “if Jerry Lopez’s band, Santa Fe was performing, anywhere, I should cancel my plans and go see them.”
Emilio typically throws out praise like tossing manhole covers, so, shall we say, I paid attention. Santa Fe has been a Las Vegas presence, to varying degrees for about three decades. Today, they are THE band to see and hear, Monday nights at the Palms Hotel and Casino.
Last week, Santa Fe and the Fat City Horns was written up as the cover story by the weekly publication, City Life, with the title, Super Group; subtitle: Lounge groups shouldn’t sound this good.
Two weeks ago, the horn section was the subject a full page article in the morning paper. The anchor for that story was that Bette Midler had hired them, en masse, to perform with her for her 2-year run at Caesars Palace.
What Tower Fans Will Like About Santa Fe and the Fat City Horns
For openers, the 6-piece Fat City Horns: two trumpets, trombone, tenor sax, alto sax, and baritone sax. Not just the players, but the horn arrangements, usually done by either Nathan Tanouye (Trombone) or David Richardson (Keyboards). The entire band totals 14 members, including a 6-piece rhythm section: 2 keyboards, drums, percussion, guitar, and bass and two lead vocalists. In addition, Jerry Lopez and Jamie Hosmer, guitar and keyboards, respectively, also sing lead.
Their current CD, Let The Healing Begin, was recorded live at the Palms, last summer. It is a smokin’ set that takes you right to the front row and won’t let you leave.
The material ranges from Soul to Funk to Salsa to Blues, including both original and cover material. As if 14 members were not enough, Jerry invited Michael Grimm go sing lead on Ray Charles’ You Don’t Know Me. Grimm’s gut-wrenching vocals accompanied by a BS&T/Ray Charles - style arrangement are one the CD’s highlights.
I have two other personal favorites: The first is Santa Fe’s rendition of Ain’t That Peculiar. This is their adaptation of Chaka Khan & Rufus take of the Marvin Gaye classic, from her live CD, Stompin’ at the Savoy. The spiced-up horn arrangement and shared lead vocals make this song scream.
The second is Nathan Tanouye’s original composition, Come With Me. It’s a fresh Latin-pop tune that is best played in your convertible as you breeze down the highway, a few miles over the speed limit.
The quality of the recording, and the post-production work don’t get any better than this. You should add this to your collection, today. Let The Healing Begin is available from CD Baby.
Andy Ebon
CEO of Soul
Technorati Tags: Ain't That Peculiar, Andy Ebon, BS & T, Chaka Khan, Emilio Castillo, Marvin Gaye, Michael Grimm, Ray Charles, Rufus, Santa Fe and the Fat City Horns, Tower of Power, You don't know me
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Fans of Tower of Power alumni, Greg Adams and Lenny Williams, are now counting down the days to the first concert of East Bay Soul, April 27th in Las Vegas, NV.
If are you not yet hip to Candy Dulfer, you’ve got a lot of catching up to do. Candy came on the scene with a haunting sax riff on Lily Was Here, a collaboration with Eurhythmic’s Dave Stewart, in 1991.
Sage has been making music in San Francisco’s South Bay for many years. In fact, 
