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While world music shows in Santa Fe and surrounding areas aren't common, they definitely happen. I saw Tinariwen at the Santa Fe Skylight a couple years ago and it was a great show - an intimate, mellow venue for checking out a terrific band that at the time was headlining world music festivals worldwide as well as showing up places like Coachella. The fact that Santa Fe is a little under the radar and off the beaten path is what lets this happen: bands that sell out amphitheaters elsewhere come to NM and do club shows.
Previous posters have likewise failed to mention Albuquerque's great annual world music festival, Globalquerque, which pulls tons of impressive global music to the National Hispanic Cultural Center for a weekend in September. Globalquerque's main organizer is Neal Copperman, whose AMP Concerts brings world, folk, blues, indie and a lot else to venues in Albuquerque and Santa Fe all year long as well. If any of the acts AMP is booking appeal to you, check out the venues where they're playing; these are likely to put on a lot of other shows you like over the course of the year.
Hmm, what else? Northern New Mexico's other big annual festival has been the Taos Solar Music Festival, but it looks like maybe that's on hold for the time being. A pity if so. But there's also the New Mexico Jazz Festival, which is underway right now in SF and ABQ, and the annual blues festival in the fall in the funky former mining town of Madrid between Albuquerque and Santa Fe. Folks have already mentioned the Lensic and Santa Fe Brewing Company, which just remodeled and seems to be getting serious about music again. It might be more avant-garde than your tastes run, but Meow Wolf, the experiential, immersive art experience/fun house that opened this year in southern Santa Fe, includes a built-in venue that is now hosting a lineup of ultra-hip bands and DJs. Decent stuff does occasionally come to the casinos, and in recent years the huge Gathering of Nations pow-wow in Albuquerque has been accompanied by numerous unofficial concerts and side events focused on Native American musicians. During the summers Santa Fe has numerous free concerts in the plaza, with music ranging from salsa to blues to country to hipster bluegrass to traditional northern New Mexican ranchera music. I'm sure there's a lot I'm missing, too.
It's definitely not San Francisco or LA or Chicago: you likely won't get jaded (like I did when I lived in the Bay Area) with the constant stream of great bands coming through day in and day out. But there's a lot out there if you're willing to search for it.
This pretty much covers it (I thought I'd mentioned the blues and jazz festivals, but I guess not....), and it shows how rare jazz and world music are in northern NM; you can count the events on the fingers of one or two hands. It's not like the Bay Area, where there's something going on nearly every week. Even in Santa Cruz, CA, there's a good jazz or world music or African music concert about once/month. If the OP is looking for a location where stepping out to a good concert on a regular basis is easily doable, Santa Fe isn't it. I think blues makes a better showing in the area, though, so if he likes blues, it could work.
I considered mentioning the Native American music scene, but a lot of that is rock and other genres that don't fit the OP's profile. There are a couple of local Native actors: Wes Studi and Gary Farmer, who each have, or had, their own bands that were pretty good, but they're not "world" or jazz, or even blues.
I've only been vacationing in Santa Fe for a week, but I'm encountering live music everywhere I go. It looks to me like there are lots of opportunities here. No telling how well it pays, I see tip jars in front of every band.
I am a musician and I have to tell you, for me, alot of the music here is sleepy...tons of americana, country stuff like that, jazz etc...i play rock, classic rock, blues, funk etc...i don't find alot of musicians here i like...certainly there are some really cool bands here and alot of talent but i am not impressed and i sometimes go to albuquerque to see some better rock bands...the hotels also offer some classical music as well during the happy hours.
a couple really good bands in the area:
Blues Review
The Gruve
John Kerzweg (my favorite)
The Sticky Funk Collective
CS Rock Show
Leroy and the pack of lies (house band at el farol..awesome)
Cool responses, thank you for the feedback. We love NM and the SF area especially. Looks like some fun music ops. They may or may not pay $, but the creativity is there.
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