The Craig Martin Experience are featured in the latest LAAC  virtual Brown Bag Show. Courtesy/LAAC

LAAC News:

Los Alamos Arts Council (LAAC) presents its second Brown Bag Performance of the 2020-2021 season featuring The Craig Martin Experience (CME), at noon Wednesday.

Due to social/physical distancing, the group cannot perform in person. Instead, they provided a pre-recorded performance. It can be seen at: https://youtu.be/Pk337g3ozXw. LAAC will host a watch party at noon Wednesday on Facebook.

CME came together in late 2010 as a loose assemblage of local musicians interested in sharing ideas on jazz performance. Since then (until social distancing), the group has gathered once a week to hone their jazz chops and to enjoy each other’s talents.

The band members are Craig Martin on tenor saxophone, Quinn Marksteiner on alto sax, Carl Hagelberg on trumpet, Mike Rogers on guitar, Aaron Anderson on keyboard, Rob Heineman on bass and John Frary on drums.

CME’s repertoire is an eclectic mix of about 60 tunes from the 1930s to present. It’s a collection of old-fashioned swing from the 1930s and 1940s, classic hard bop from the 1950s and 1960s, funky jazz from the seventies and eighties, and a smattering of salsa-influenced Latin tunes from the present.

“We like to play a mix of songs that the audience is familiar with, and tunes that are so swinging that they are accessible to everyone,” Martin said.

The Brown Bag Concert Series is a free series provided to the community. Patrons wishing to make a donation to the Arts Council, or to the Brown Bag series can visit https://losalamosartscouncil.org/members-page/ to make a donation, or to become a member.