By Carrie Mehl

Béla Fleck, who has been nominated in more Grammy categories than any musician in history, is coming to Santa Fe. If you haven’t heard of him, you should listen up. Fleck has played with artists as diverse as Victor Wooten and John Williams and he just added to his repertoire of impressive musicians with his Africa Project.

 

With his newest album and DVD, Throw Down Your Heart, Fleck searches for the roots of the banjo in Africa by playing with African musicians. These musicians range from Anania Ngliga, a blind, singing Tanzanian thumb piano master, to Bassekouye Kouyate, one of the foremost ngoni players in the world.

Photo by Wes Naman

Everyone loves a makeover, right? iQ readers are no different.

 

written by hannah reiter + logan greely

photography by wes naman + joy godfrey

 

When it comes to receiving a makeover (especially one that comes gratis), one would be hard pressed to find a woman ormetropolitan-minded man not jumping at the chance to get primped andpampered for the mere sake of getting primped and pampered. This proved to be the case when Local iQ recently put a call out to its readers forhair and makeup makeover nominees. The response was expectedly overwhelming, making it that much harder to pick just four winners. If you didn’t make the cut, don’t worry, as plans for next year’s Makeover Issue are already being made.

Photo by Wes Naman

By Bill Nevins

“I lived that life close to the bone and in cold blood, like a rattlesnake’s kiss.” —from the song “Highway 52” by Cole Mitchell

The preceding lyric, penned by Albuquerque songwriter Cole Mitchell, was inspired by his years spent living in the southern New Mexican town of Cuchillo, a former stagecoach stop and trading center located about 15 miles northwest of Truth or Consequences. Though the town thrived for many years, it all but shut down when the mining industry eventually went bust.

Artists dismantle past perceptions of Communist Cuba with innovative and inquisitive works

By Sophia Carvlin-Miller
Like any general title, the words “contemporary Cuban art” are limited in conveying the idea they represent. Confluencias, the National Hispanic Cultural Center exhibit these words subtitle, encapsulates far more complexity, talent and insight than can be described in a few words. The show includes works from 40 artists living on the small island that has been such a point of contention in American politics.

Photo by Wes Naman

a half-dozen local health experts offer their advice on getting healthy and staying that way

Indroduction by Cristina Olds

Albuquerque is blessed with a vast array of talented health and wellness professionals and services that are heavy on the alternative healing spectrum. A quick Yellow Pages search in Albuquerque shows 104 massage therapists, seven massage schools, 109 acupuncture businesses and 39 yoga studios.

Healthcare providers are also major employers, such as Lovelace Medical Center, University of New Mexico Medical Center, Presbyterian Health System, St. Joseph’s Healthcare System and the VA Medical Center, who provide jobs for more than 12,000 people in New Mexico, according to D.C.-based policy research organization Health System Change (hschange.com).

 

Given the current state of health care, prevention arguably continues to be the smartest approach to staying healthy. Those who actually have health insurance are fortunate, but you’re even luckier if you don’t need to use it.

Photo by Wes Naman

South American staple, savory burritos, international panini round out homey flavors of Café Choroni

By Neal Anderson  
Tucked into the row of turquoise-roofed shops of Laramie Square on San Mateo, Café Choroni serves up a little slice of comfort with the flavors of South America and Italy — even New Mexico is tossed in there for good and flavorful measure.

Owners Nemo Morantes and Carlos Figueredo have bet that Albuquerqueans will come to embrace their family-run breakfast and lunch spot (a.k.a. - arepera), which naturally sells arepas, the corn-based bread staple of Colombia and Venezuela.

ABQ theater company looks back on a decade of festival history while continuing to surpass even its own expectations

By Brandie Erisman
Putting together a theater festival is an accomplishment. Putting together an international theater festival that extends over several weeks and features plays and performers from across the globe is a feat. And successfully presenting such a festival for 10 years in a row is cause for celebration. As such, Albuquerque’s Tricklock Company is currently in celebration mode.

The company’s 10th Anniversary Revolutions International Theatre Festival begins January 12, with a kickoff party cosponsored by Local iQ at Andaluz Hotel in Downtown ABQ at 8p, with performances beginning the next day.

Photo by Wes Naman

N.M.-bred Latin music phenomenon Nosotros left Las Cruces a decade ago to cast a wider net. Mission accomplished.

 

By Todd Eric Lovato
Earning a living as a musician in New Mexico is a full-time hustle, particularly if your name is Randy Sanchez, the unassuming, bespectacled leader of Latin powerhouse Nosotros. For more than 15 years, Sanchez has worked tirelessly to spread the music of Nosotros, a highly kinetic blend of pan-Latino fare that incorporates Latin jazz, cumbia, merengue, bachata and traditional salsa.

Photo by Wes Naman

UNM area restaurant a haven for lovers of true-to-form Japanese cuisine

By Logan Greely
In both cultural and culinary terms, Albuquerque is no New York City. Neither is it Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, Miami or Los Angeles. But this, dear readers, you already understand. In fact, it is possibly the very reason many of you moved to the this high desert burg in the first place. Albuquerque is (gloriously and precisely) not what all those other cities are, or claim to be. In terms of real estate, this is a good thing. In terms of dining, not so much.