Pete Amahl Trio Plays Downtown Friday

Greg Abate jazz saxophonist, flutist, composer. Courtesy

By Russ Gordon

Things are happening this summer in Los Alamos. You haven’t noticed? Well, just follow me a minute.

The Friday night concerts have been having great crowds. Our first show was May 18 at the Kite Fest and we had about 600 folks out there.

The Red Elvises concert on May 25 drew around 2,500 people and last week’s Laurie Lewis bluegrass/folk concert drew about 1,500 folks. OK? We got more.

Last Friday was the start of what is called on Facebook as “Los Alamos Friday Night.” Check out the site.

Some businesses are staying open late and trying things to bring more activity to town. Pet Pangea is staying open and sponsoring a “dog walk.” Bradbury Museum is open till 9 p.m. and have different reasons for us to visit.

The Coffee Booth and Blue Window are having concerts. Soon we’ll have two new bar/restaurants. Dixie Girl is having an open house, of sorts, this Friday and Saturday.

Good luck to Denise Lane on her new Dixie Girl.

The Historical Museum and the Art Center are both open on Friday nights.

To read about these events and many others, I recommend you check out these Facebook sites: Fans of Russ Gordon Summer Concerts (I didn’t name it!), LA Monitor, Los Alamos Daily Post, Ashley Pond, Friends of Ashley Pond, LA Vision 2020 (very informative), Pajarito Mountain, Los Alamos, NM, and many more.

This Friday night is the start of the 2012 ChamberFest. The Los Alamos County Summer Concert Series will present Bebop sax player Greg Abate with the Pete Amahl Trio.

Greg is from Rhode Island and graduated from Berklee School of Music in Boston. He toured the world and the U.S. with the Ray Charles Orchestra for two years.

After playing with Ray, Greg formed his own bands and played New England for a couple of years and then joined the Arte Shaw Orchestra for two years.

After that Greg went back to having his own band. He’s played all over the world including New York’s Birdland, LA’s Shelly’s Mannhole, LA’s Ashley Pond, and the best jazz clubs in the U.S., UK, Germany, Moscow and just about everywhere else.

Abate plays more than 150 shows a year as well as being the Adjunct professor of Jazz Studies at Rhode Island College.

Playing with Greg will be the Santa Fe keyboardist, John Rangel. John has played with Nat Adderly, Bobby Shew, Ravi Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, Billy Higgins and many others.

The bassist is Chuck Metcalf. Chuck’s played with Mose Allison, Larry Coryell, Art Pepper, Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson and lots more.

Pete Amahl is a legendary Santa Fe percussionist. Pete’s played with Mose, Natalie Cole, Herb Ellis, Junior Brown, Roy Hargrove, Barney Kessel, the Drifters, the Coasters, Martha & the Vandellas and many more very big jazz and pop music stars.

If you’re a fan of Charlie (Bird) Parker or John Coltrane, you must come out Friday. If you’d like to know what jazz is all about, check this show out.

You’ll be surprised how much rocking out will be going on Central.

Saturday morning beginning at 10 a.m. will be ChamberFest Part 2.

There will be tents and booths with Los Alamos businesses displaying their products and services.

There also will be giveaways, sandpiles, jump-up toys and lots of other things for you, your family and your friends.

They even have two car shows!! It’s fun. At 11 a.m., another of Los Alamos’ favorite bands, Eddy & the Nomads will play.

The Nomads play 50’s and 60’s rock such as the music of Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis, Ray Perkins and others. It’s always a great show and you know almost all the songs.

On Friday June 15, we’ll be back at Ashley Pond with the Police Experience.

These guys play great covers of the British ska-rock band. They’ve even played with members of the Police and have their blessings.

Sting and Copeland love these guys. The show will be “Relay for Life Night.” It’s a fundraiser.

All our shows are free of charge. Bring your own chairs or blankets and have a great time ‘cause Los Alamos rocks.

See y’all and please shop locally when possible. Russ Gordon www.Gordonssummerconcerts.com

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