New Mexico Black Leadership Council

Tag: Albuquerque

  • SOMOS Festival 2025: A Love Letter to Albuquerque

    SOMOS Festival 2025: A Love Letter to Albuquerque

    See the National Hispanic Cultural Center transformed into a place where music, creativity, and culture collide in a kaleidoscope of color, movement, sound and connection. The day will bring large-scale art installations, hands-on activities, performances, and interactive experiences that invite all ages to create, play, and explore. (And eat and shop!) Then as the sun sets, prepare to dance the night away!

    Get your SOMOS tickets (and more details) HERE!

    FESTIVAL
    Doors at 3:30 pm; Live Music & Performance from 4:00pm – 11pm

    $50 advance tickets (March 22 – May 9), $60 Day of Show (May 10), Children 12 years old and younger free with the purchase of an adult ticket, and $130 VIP Pass. 50% discount for students – use your .edu address for purchase, and enter the code SOMOSSTUDENTS at checkout. Make sure to bring your student ID with you to the event, as it will be checked at the entrance!

  • Jazz Jammin’: Rodney Bowe Talks Jazz Origins and Local Jams

    Jazz Jammin’: Rodney Bowe Talks Jazz Origins and Local Jams

    By Kristin Satterlee 

    “Jazz is the Black American experience,” says Rodney Bowe, an Albuquerque upright bassist and jazz musician. “Very simply put, jazz came from us. We played it from the soul.” 

    According to Bowe, Albuquerque is “a great ground to get your feet wet.” Artists and listeners both benefit from jazz jams around town. Bowe, who teaches a class to prepare adult students to play in a jazz jam, says, “A jazz jam is open. It’s open to the public and, at the same time, it’s open to a novice as well as a master.” 

    Some of Bowe’s favorite local, regular jams include: 

        • QBar Lounge at Hotel Albuquerque with saxophonist Alex Murzyn and pianist John Funkhouser, Fridays and Saturdays 6 to 10pm: 800 Rio Grande Blvd NW, in Old Town 

      Outpost Performance Space, located at 210 Yale Blvd SE, is a gem. Outpost hosts a jazz festival each summer, jazz shows throughout the year (like Diane Richardson’s Ella Fitzgerald tribute on April 18), and educational jazz programming. Check out their schedule at outpostspace.org.  

      For jazz in your own home, don’t miss the “All That Jazz” radio show on KUNM 89.9 FM at noon on Mondays. Listen online at kunm.org. 

      “You cannot be safe playing jazz because jazz is experimentation,” Bowe reminds us. “If you’re being safe in playing jazz, you’re not playing jazz.” 

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