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Albuquerque, NM, June 19, 2009

Bands to celebrate beloved musician
Memorial show in Las Cruces a tribute to late David Diaz
By Dan Mayfield
Albuquerque Journal Staff Writer

The life of local musician David Diaz will be remembered at a memorial show at the Rio Grande Theater on Las Cruces’ downtown mall tonight. The show will benefit the new David Diaz Music from the Heart Endowment and feature many local bands.

Diaz, a longtime local musician who performed with the bands Nosotros, Felonious Groove Foundation and Fantastic Planet, died in April. But his friends and family will come together at the show to establish an endowment that will keep his passion of teaching music alive.

“He was in every band. He would get out his instrument and play all the time,” said Diaz’s sister, Cecilia Diaz.

A graduate of Mayfield High School in Las Cruces, Diaz started as a saxophone player and branched out with flute, guitar, bass, percussion and more with the band Quantum Jazz. As Quantum grew, the band started playing with Nosotros in the early 2000s and eventually the two bands merged.

Diaz “lived and breathed music,” his sister said, and the performance tonight will feature several of his bandmates and a youth band he was teaching in Las Cruces.

“He was a really talented guy,” said bandmate Cali Soberanes, “probably one of the most talented people I’ve ever met.”

He was featured as a horn player on Soberanes’ band Felonious Groove Foundation’s award-winning record “Paper Tiger” and joined the band full time in 2008.

“It was his life’s work. He was a professional. He was a music teacher,” Soberanes said.

He was also a lover of fine cuisine.

“He got me back into menudo. The food, not the band. He was my menudo brother. He made me a fan of it, and I’m going to miss going for menudo with him,” Soberanes said.




Las Cruces, NM, June 17, 2009



Dave Diaz was honored with a the cover story in today's Las Cruces Sun-News Pulse magazine. Click here to read the story.

Santa Fe, NM, May 27, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE/ALBUM RELEASE



F.G.F. Releases Fourth Album Under Pseudonym
“Fantastic Planet” Explores Roots, Electronics and Loss

Release Party June 12 at Launchpad, 618 Central Ave, Albuquerque, features F.G.F./Fantastic Planet and Alex Maryol Band

Santa Fe, NM, May 27, 2009 – Over the years, Felonious Groove Foundation has garnered a loyal following for its bombastic, freewheeling funk-Latin albums and dance-oriented, alcohol-fueled live performances. But on June 12 at the Launchpad, the collective reveals a darker and more introspective face with “Fantastic Planet,” the group’s fourth outing since forming in 2000 and most recent effort since 2005's “Paper Tiger.” “Fantastic Planet” trades in the resounding horns, Latin rhythms and rambling compositions of past FGF albums for a more calculated approach, one focused on songwriting, stringed instruments, vocal harmonies and tight-knit song structure.

“We spent years thinking that making a club go crazy was the ultimate goal. So in many ways, ‘Fantastic Planet’ is our anti-funk album because now we're really taking a look at our songs in new light and thinking, 'how does this song function as its own piece of work?'” said Todd Eric Lovato, who with Cali Soberanes, formed FGF in 2000. “But I think, somewhat ironically, that ‘Fantastic Planet’ is also the most accessible album we’ve ever made. It won’t be a curveball to anyone who knows our music but I also think people will be pleasantly surprised.”

Originating as a side-project of F.G.F., Fantastic Planet formed in January 2008 as a warm-up act for the funk band, an excuse for Lovato and Soberanes to hash out new songs in front of live audiences before dipping into their F.G.F. material. Steadily however, the warm-up material started to seep into the headliner spot, until eventually, the line between F.G.F. and Felonious became entirely ambiguous at a live performance. Furthermore, both bands are composed of the same members, Lovato (vocals, bass, guitars, keys, banjo), Soberanes (vocals, guitar), Paul Cornett (bass), and Ragon Espinoza (drums). The band also performs with local groove maven Noah Walter on keyboards.

The sound of Fantastic Planet is best explained through its instrumentation, which is made up of a classic rock ‘n’ roll rhythm section (drums, bass, a pair of guitars), and some added twists. Intrigued by the pathos of alt.country and folk, the throwback charm of arpeggiated synthesizers and vintage keyboards and the irresistible four-on-the-floor thump of dance rock, Fantastic Planet draws inspiration from a variety of instruments including banjo, lap steel, subsonic bass, synths and melodica.

Despite the kaleidoscope of sound on “Fantastic Planet,” one musical voice is painfully missing from the new recording. On April 9, just two days before recording sessions for the new album were scheduled, saxophonist David Diaz passed away at age 35. Diaz was a current member of FGF/Fantastic Planet and a former member of Latin band Nosotros.

“With Dave gone so suddenly, we thought we might scrap the project, or at least put it off for a while,” said Lovato. “But Dave’s whole life was music and he would’ve insisted that we continue moving forward. The whole recording process turned into a way of creatively channeling that mourning we were all going through – it was therapeutic.” “Fantastic Planet” is dedicated to Diaz. A celebration for Diaz takes place in Las Cruces, on June 19. Click here for more info.

“Fantastic Planet” is the band’s second album recorded with award-winning Andrew Click of Stepbridge Studios behind the soundboard. The album was produced by Todd “Skinnyfat” Lovato. Original artwork for the album was produced by illustrator and graphic artist Jon Sanchez, a recent finalist in the Flight of the Conchords Poster Search and a tour poster artist for musical acts like Neko Case, Calexico, Cursive and Iron and Wine.

A Santa Fe album release party follows in Santa Fe, July 3, at Corazon, 401 S. Guadalupe St.

Santa Fe, NM, May 19, 2009
"Felonious Groove Foundation presents...Fantastic Planet" is officially recorded, mixed and mastered. Shout out to Stepbridge Studios and Andrew Click, who won the New Mexico Music Industry's "Best Engineer" award on May 17, for taking care of the band over the past few weeks. Now comes the artwork, courtesy of artist Jon Sanchez, and the production of the discs. The official CD release party takes place at the Launchpad, 618 Central Ave, Albuquerque, on June 12. "Fantastic Planet" is, unequivocally, the best album yet. Stay tuned. Until then, here's a rough draft of the album art.

Santa Fe, NM, May 8, 2009
Alex Maryol and his band are confirmed to share the bill for the June 12 "Felonious Groove Foundation Presents...Fantastic Planet" CD release show at the Launchpad, Albuquerque, NM. Oh yeah. The night includes a free album at the door, with cover.

Santa Fe, NM, April 22, 2009
From now until June 12, Penguino Records is offering free mp3 downloads of Felonious Groove Foundation, Skinnyfat and unreleased instrumentals. Penguino is offering the music free while Fantastic Planet records "Felonious Groove Foundation Presents...Fantastic Planet." To get your free downloads, click here, then click on the little down-facing arrows next to each song you want.

Albuquerque, NM, April 22, 2009
Todd Eric Lovato of FGF, FP, SF and Penguino Records fame is a finalist for a 2009 New Mexico Music Award in the category of electronica. The song nominated is titled "BlueByrd" and was produced by TuMan Productions (Matthew Lowe and Mike Jaramillo). TuMan was also nominated for their work with Zack Freeman and Colin Troy of the 2bers. The awards banquet takes place Sunday, May 17.

Hear "BlueByrd" on Skinnyfat's MySpace page.


Albuquerque, NM, April 17, 2009

The cycle of life continues. Say hello to Brynn Louise Cornett, the newest member of the Penguino Records family. A future pianist (long fingers), Brynn is the firstborn daughter of Paul and Rachel Cornett, who married in 2007. Paul is a longtime bassist of Fantastic Planet and Skinnyfat, and also plays bass and percussion in Felonious Groove Foundation.

Upon arrival, Brynn weighed 6 pounds, 1 ounce and was 20 inches tall. She was born in Albuquerque Downtown Presbyterian Hospital on April 14 at 6:55 p.m.






Albuquerque, NM, 2009:

David Diaz, 1973-2009

On April 9, at around noon, our beloved friend and band mate David Diaz passed away from causes related to ongoing health problems. A brilliant multi-instrumentalist, skilled singer, compassionate teacher, gifted composer and musical mentor, Dave was a former member of Nosotros and current member of Felonious Groove Foundation and Fantastic Planet.





More than a colleague, Dave was a dear friend. His levity and gregariousness, however brief, cast light onto our lives. His charisma was extraordinary. His musical prowess awesome. Not a night went by when Dave did not touch listeners with his Charlie Bird-like dexterity on the alto saxophone, his East L.A. chicano-inspired flute and his Afro-Cuban-rooted polyrhythms on percussion. Dave's pulse beat to the rhythm of a 2-3 clave, although he was a sucker for a II-V-I rhumba flameco tune.



Music coursed through Dave's veins like oxygen. Music, sweet music, possessed Dave's personality like a man touched by God. To wit: a virtuoso, a saint, a comedian, a Holy Fool in the name of his supreme belief -- music.



The loss of Dave will never be fully realized. His body was finite but his potential was an endless stream, his creativity a bottomless wellspring.





Please pray for Dave's family and loved ones. He was a buddy, a mentor, and with a saxophone or microphone in his hands, Dave was a mellifluous, transcendent (if not mischievous) cherub -- quick to jest, quicker to love.





With his presence on this Earth, Dave brought people together. But it won't stop here. If we know Dave (and we do: he wore his heart on his sleeve), he's now writing horn charts in a celestial latin-jazz-funk fusion band -- an all-star group that includes late members of Buena Vista Social Club, Charlie Parker's Big Band and Tower of Power. Dave, Tell James Brown, John Coltrane and Tito Puente we said "Hi." Watch out Stevie Wonder, Dave's got his eye on you (and he'll make you listen to "I Wish" on the way up to Taos ad nauseum).



Dave. Dave. Dave. We love you. You left us too soon, bro.

You were a gift to our lives. Your memory exists in the sorrow we now feel in our hearts. Your memory resonates in the joy and laughter we feel when we think of your smile and your booming laugh and your Chesire Cat grin -- a smile of ages.

Yeah it's cliche, but fuck it, bro. You would've wanted it this way. From this day forward: Dave, you live on inside each note, melody and rhythm we play. You now own a place in our smiles, our tears and our heartbeats.

Thank you. And one last time, Orale!

c


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