News

Kats Report in the Las Vegas Sun

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 14:59:05 -0800

From the Neon section in the Review Journal

Sat, 6 Jun 2009 18:51:25 -0700

Santa Fe and the Fat City Horns 'pretty unique'

It's understandable if newcomers feel as if they've been sucked into a time warp the first time they catch Santa Fe and the Fat City Horns.
A 15-piece ensemble? Playing live music? In a Las Vegas Lounge?
"I see people who come by the lounge or who come to see us, and they're kind of stupefied, (saying), 'You know, we've heard of this kind of thing, but we've never seen it,'" says guitarist/singer/founder Jerry Lopez.
Actually, Lopez says, "we've had some version of Santa fe for over 30 years here in town. We worked lounges up and down the Strip, every one of them, up until the mid-'90s. Then most of us went off on our own and did work with a lot of different artists."
Fast forward to 2000, when, Lopez says, "We came back together and kind of regrouped."
Clint Holmes had hired most of the group's members for his show. And that opened the door for the newly reconstituted Santa fe and the Fat City Horns to augment their full-time gig with Holmes by playing a few lounge dates, too.
Today, members play in such Strip shows as "Jersey Boys," "The Lion King," "Phantom - The Las Vegas Spectacular" and Wayne Brady's show. And because they're not totally reliant financially on their Strip jobs, members are able to more enthusiastically pursue their artistic muse with Santa Fe and the Fat City Horns.
Or, as Lopez puts it: "This band is about all of us returning to how we felt when we were 16 years old."
And that's fine with audiences who, Lopez says, makes up "a large demographic that's unserved musically nowadays. And what we do is pretty unique."
Lopez describes the Santa Fe and the Fat City Horns' as a mixture of Earth, Wind and Fire, Tito Puente and Tower of Power. About half of the group's playlist is made up of originals, and the rest are "covers that are done in a very different way," Lopez says.
Santa Fe and the Fat City Horns play at midnight at Palace Station, and at 10:30p.m. Mondays at the Palms.

- by JOHN PRZYBYS

Childrens Heart Association Fundraiser

Fri, 15 May 2009 16:05:26 -0700

Good News in a Tough Economy

Wed, 7 May 2008 23:21:59 -0700

When the times are tough, it’s really hard to ask people for money. When we showed up to play the benefit for the Children’s Heart Association, we were surprised at the size of the room. It was pretty small compared to many of the things we do, but it turned out to be a very intimate setting. And the best part is that they made a little money for the cause. We heard that over $10,000 was raised. That’s great. We had the opportunity to perform with some of the musicians who played with Bobby Darin and a good time was had by all. We hope to do it again next year.

Get Outta Bed Granny

Fri, 2 May 2008 00:15:48 -0700

We have a lifetime of recording experience within this section. Some of our guys have been fortunate enough to lay down some heavy tracks including quite a few notable recordings such as soundtracks to Raiders of the Lost Ark and others. When we do a casual count of the recordings we have made, we count close to 500 CDs, films, jingles and shows between us. But, there is something special about the recording session. This is the very first recording session that we have done that our kids will dig.
Finally! A recording that our kids will can be proud of!
We just laid down tracks to our first kids album. The barn burner is a tune called “Granny, Get Outta Bed!” And trust us, she will get up and start dancing her ass off.
This also gave us the opportunity to work with the smoking vocal group, “Fifth Avenue”. Check them out, they are awesome. We hope to do more with them in the future.
As soon as this CD is available, we will let you know.