Bébé La La—the multiaward-winning singer/songwriter duo of Alicia Ultan (viola, guitar, vocals) and Maryse Lapierre (accordion, harmonium, vocals), backed by longtime collaborators Micky Patten (bass) and Joe Chellman (drums)—celebrates its 15th (crystal) anniversary with a November 15 concert at the Outpost, presented by AMP Concerts.
Musically Speaking recently crossed paths with Albuquerque native Camilo Quiñones, aka CQ the Drummer, a producer, percussionist, drummer, DJ, and member of the Quiñones family of highly regarded percussionists, including his father, Tony; his uncle, Rafael; and his brother, Marc. He recently worked his studio and percussive magic on a version of the tropical anthem “El Tiki-Ta” from Acapulco’s famed band Fiesta 85. “TikiTa” releases November 11 on the usual streaming services.
Two of the most accomplished and exciting ensembles in contemporary jazz expand the repertoire in two completely different ways.
Most musical compositions can be classified by the instrumentation and the musical structure. Cartography is not usually part of the notational features. But in the case of Pulitzer Prize–winning composer and Albuquerque denizen Raven Chacon’s Tiguex, the city known today as Albuquerque is both the subject and the stage, and the composition itself is notated as a hand-drawn map that captures the city cartographically, historically, and culturally. On September 27, the composition’s 20 overlapping movements will be performed by more than 200 musicians from dawn to dusk in places across the city. Conducted by Chacon’s childhood piano teacher, the full composition will be broadcast on KUNM (89.9 FM in Albuquerque and online) and live streamed on the One Albuquerque Media (GOV-TV) YouTube channel. A week before the event, Musically Speaking had the opportunity to speak with Chacon about this extraordinary project. Our conversation is reproduced below, edited for length and clarity. For full details about the project—including the score, movements, locations, and timing—please visit tiguex.com.
One of the most engaging and creative projects to have found its way to my ears, Measured Not Found, from the visual/musical collective Biota, invites listeners to travel across time and space on a trip of their imagination’s making.
