Tickets on Sale Now!  December 21st & 22nd

Don't wait to buy your tickets for this fabulous event!

As the crispness of winter descends upon us here in Santa Fe, the storefronts and happenings of the season turn our minds to the holidays.  Farolitos, carols, biscochitos, sugarplums... and Duke Ellington.

Yes, that’s right, Duke Ellington – and his arranger and co-writer, Billy Strayhorn, of course, of “Take the A Train” and “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore” fame. These figureheads of the Big Band era brought the jazz movement into mainstream American culture.  And they were, of course, two of the most swingin’ cats to have graced our green earth.

You don’t associate Ellington and Strayhorn with the holidays?  Well, it’s about time that changed.  Concordia Santa Fe is bringing a new holiday classic to Santa Fe: the Duke Ellington/Billy Strayhorn arrangement of Tchaikowsky’s Nutcracker Suite, featuring the legendary Bobby Shew and the Tribute Trio.  Performed in tandem with Charles Blanchard’s chamber arrangements of the original Tchaikowsky movements, it’s sure to take the Santa Fe holiday season to a much hipper, cooler place.

Concordia Santa Fe's production of The Nutcracker (Swing!) includes the performance of Duke Ellington/Billy Strayhorn's Nutcracker Suite, for Jazz Band, an arrangement of P.I. Tchaikowsky's The Nutcracker. 

The Nutcracker (Swing!) also includes chamber music performances of the Tchaikowsky movements as arranged by Santa Fe composer Charles Blanchard.

Featured artists are Bobby Shew and the Tribute Trio (John Rangel, Cal Haines, and Michael Glynn).

These are special fund raising concerts for the benefit of Concordia Santa Fe.

Featuring Legendary Trumpeter Bobby Shew

Born In Albuquerque, New Mexico, Bobby Shew began playing the guitar at the age of eight and switched to the trumpet at ten. By the time he was thirteen he was playing at local dances with a number of bands and by fifteen had put together his own group to play at dances, occasional concerts and in jazz coffee houses. He spent most of his high school days playing as many as six nights a week in a dinner club, giving him an early start to his professional career.

He then spent three years as the jazz trumpet soloist in the famed NORAD multi-service band. Shortly after leaving he joined the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra under the direction of Sam Donahue, which, among other things, gave him the chance to perform quite a bit with trumpet legend Charlie Shavers. After his stint with Tommy Dorsey, Bobby was asked to play with Woody Herman's band upon Bill Chase's recommendation. He then spent some time playing for Della Reese and Buddy Rich, who's big band had just been formed.

Many other similar situations followed and Bobby played lead trumpet for a number of pop stars. This brought Bobby to live in Las Vegas where he became prominent in various hotels and casinos. By this time Bobby was widely known for his strong lead playing rather than as a jazz soloist. So late in 1972 he decided to make a move to the Los Angeles area in order to get reinvolved in developing as a jazz player.

Once in Los Angeles, Bobby quickly found what he was looking for, and in the years to come he spent time with the groups of Art Pepper, Bud Shank, Horace Silver Quintet, and Frank Strazzeri-Sam Most, as well as numerous big bands such as Bill Holman, Louie Bellson, Toshiko Akiyoshi-Lew Tabackin, Oliver Nelson, Bill Berry, Nat Pierce-Frank Capp Juggernaut, Ed Shaughnessy, Terry Gibbs, Benny Goodman, Maynard Ferguson, Neal Hefti, Don Menza, and Bob Florence.

In addition to being a sideman, Bobby also became a leader around this time, recording many of his own albums. Several of these received very high accolades from critics and high placement on the airplay charts. One of his albums, 'Outstanding In His Field' was nominated for a Grammy in 1980, while, 'Heavy Company' was awarded the Jazz Album Of The Year in 1983.

During this time Bobby also found a great deal of studio work, including TV shows like 'Hawaii 5-O', 'Streets Of San Francisco', 'Bob Newhart', 'Mary Tyler Moore', 'Midnight Specials', 'Don Kirschner Rock Concert', 'Happy Days', 'Laverne And Shirley', and 'Eight Is Enough.' His work on soundtracks includes 'Grease I and II', 'Rocky I and II', 'Six-Pack', 'The Muppet Movie', 'The Drivers', and 'Taxi'.

Today, in addition to a busy performing and private teaching schedule, Bobby spends a considerable amount of time actively involved in the educational system, conducting clinics and master classes at high schools and college campuses all over the world. Bobby has also been active on the Board of Directors of the International Trumpet Guild, and has acted as National Trumpet Chairman for the International Association of Jazz Educator's for 16 years. He authors numerous articles of educational interest in various trade magazines, all translated into several languages for worldwide distribution. During a period of traveling to New Zealand, Bobby acted as host for a weekly TV show entitled 'Just Jazz' and has been in numerous artist-in-residence situations virtually all over the world. He has even had a few minor acting roles in movies and TV shows.

He continues to tour internationally and to produce and record excellent music. He has released several recent albums for the MAMA Foundation including Playing With Fire (w/Tom Harrell), Heavyweights (w/Carl Fontana), and Salsa Caliente. In addition, for other labels, Bobby has released the the highly regarded CD recorded with The Metropole Orchestra, and a double-CD set for Seabreeze Records of The Music of John Harmon, plus other which can be seen on the Discography page.

Bobby has endorsed Yamaha equipment for years and the fact that they have recently been using him for advertisements is a further indication of his popularity.

Bobby Shew never stops using his remarkable insight, sensitivity and creativity to inspire the next generation of jazz players and teachers.

The Tribute Trio

In 2010, the Tribute Trio formed to honor the powerful influence of jazz pianists/composers whose works compel listeners and musicians alike and helped shape the evolution of jazz.  Pianist John Rangel, bassist Michael Glynn and drummer Cal Haines reached deep into the essence of this music, focusing on these legends' original compositions.  Well-versed in the vocabulary and history of jazz, the trio brought tremendous insight into their ambitious monthly performances in a year-long concert series. 

Pianist Composer John Rangel has been a professional musician for more than twenty years. He grew up in New York City listening to live Jazz and Classical artists. John studied with many prominent musicians including Stanley Cowell , Richie Beirach, Joanne Brackeen and Phil Markowitz. Some of John's performance highlights include: Inntone Jazz Festival in Austria, The Outpost Performance Space, Carnegie Hall in NYC, Royce Hall in LA, Gene Harris Jazz Festival in Idaho, the Playboy Jazz Festival, LA County Museum of Art, MOCA, Central Avenue Jazz Festival, Ronnie Scott's in London, Jazz Café in London, North Sea Jazz Festival in the Netherlands, and various venues in Osaka and Tokyo.

Bassist Michael Glynn began performing jazz professionally in his native Seattle at the age of sixteen. Since moving to Albuquerque in 2006, he has quickly established himself as an integral part of the New Mexico music scene. In addition to playing his upright with countless local musicians throughout the Pacific Northwest and New Mexico, Glynn has performed with jazz legends including Bud Shank, Jon Hendricks, Bobby Shew, Don Lanphere, Bob Florence and the Cab Calloway Orchestra. On top of his jazz work, Michael also finds time to perform in a variety of genres ranging from classical to calypso. He has been recognized as a finalist for his composition "Middle Side, Topwise" by the 2009 New Mexico Music Awards. 

A drummer since an early age, Cal Haines has performed with show notables Diahann Carroll, Bob Hope, Al Greene, Yul Brenner, and jazz luminaries Emily Remler, Clark Terry, Teddy Edwards, Max Bennett and Bobby Shew. In 2009, Haines released “The Bright Side” CD, featuring his first New Mexico Jazz trio, with Grammy-winning L.A. vocalist John Proulx. The CD was a finalist in 4 categories of the 2009 New Mexico Music Awards, and won Best Vocal Performance for What Is This Thing Called Love? in a duet with John Proulx.