Simple Truth Duet features Steve and Carla Terwilliger, an Albuquerque-based songwriting team. Steve, guitarist and a Berklee jazz composition and arrangement graduate, brings 40 years of stage experience, while Carla is an accomplished singer-songwriter who has published 4 collections of original music and also brings 40 years of stage experience to the table. Together, they perform eclectic, meaningful music across genres as a vocal-guitar duo or with a full band. Their work blends deep musical expertise with engaging arrangements for every occasion.
Songs:
01 - Mother's Blues - This is an appeal to treat Mother Earth and the creatures and people who live here better because we have no other planet
02 - Pray For Tomorrow - This is a prayer for the future of our country and a hope for the restoration of equal rights for everyone regardless of sex, race, or lifestyle.
03 - Only One Race - We are all humans the same race. Anything that does not acknowledge that fact is an artificial construct that divides us as a people.
04 - Liberty - Sweet liberty; something everyone loves and needs,
06 - Alone Together With You - A sweet love song about the magic of sharing time together and being present in the moment.
07 - Rewind & Be Kind - This is a reminder to myself to be kinder to others and more compassionate and forgiving.
08 - Share The Love - All peope share love in their own ways everywhere. So share the love in your way in your time.
09 - Open Road - An upbeat instrumental representing travelling and encountering adventures of different types. Join the adventure!
10 - Behind The Lies - A protest song about the many lies we hear and our choice to reject them or embrace and hide behind them for individual selfish and destructive reasons. Its not a happy song its one of deep frustration and dissappointment with the cchoices some people make. Highy opinionated and pretty libral like us.
Roger Baker - I graduated from Berklee School of Music (now Berklee College) in Boston, Massachusetts in 1969 with a degree in Arranging and Composition. During my years at Berklee I continued to write and
perform, working with such names as Patti La Belle, Little Joe Cooke, Bobby Rydell, The Tymes, The
Coasters, Little Richard, and The Three Degrees.
After graduation I taught arranging at the JDS School of Music in Boston and lead my own sixteen
piece concert jazz band, the Boston Jazz Co-op. In 1972, with three other partners, I opened Hub
Recording Studios where we recorded many albums, movie soundtracks, and TV shows, among them
the children’s show “Zoom.” In 1976 I opened my own studio, Baker St. Studios, where I was chief
engineer. During those years I recorded over 200 albums and singles including such names as Tracey
Chapman, Grey Sargent (of the Tony Bennett band), Jeff Stout (of the Buddy Rich band), Alan
Dawson, and the great Jean Ritchie (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Ritchie), as well as doing
weekly production work for National Public Radio. I also produced the Cable TV Series, New England
Country Video Showcase. I continued to arrange music for such diverse venues as Las Vegas shows,
movie soundtracks, musical comedy, and recorded albums from Jazz to Folk, and Country to Funk.
During this time I was also a staff writer for Five Star Music and The National Music Exchange (but
what another story!)
We moved to Albuquerque in March of 1990. From 1975 to 2010 I performed live with my wife, pop
singer Rita Newport, under the name SAVOY with a seven piece “mini Big Band.” I arranged and
produced her album with full 17 piece big band and string orchestra.
From 1990-1995 I operated Winfield Sound Studios in Albuquerque and won many NM Music Industry
Coalition Awards. In 1997-98 I conducted several of my original compositions with the Outpost
Repertory Jazz Orchestra. I continue to arrange music for small groups to big bands for both recording
and live performance. From 2001-2007 I was piano player, recording engineer, and arranger for
Entourage Jazz, arranging and recording 4 albums.
In 2012 I was awarded the "Best Recording Engineer" Award by the New Mexico Music Industry for
the album Syeric. In 2016 I was again awarded "Best Recording Engineer" for the Entourage Jazz big
band album Things Are Looking Up. Then again in 2019 for the Entourage Jazz Christmas album.
I continue to work as an engineer at own home Downstairs Studio where I won 3 more NMMC
awards. I now record, produce and arrange for limited clients at my home studio.
John Funhouser- Berklee professor and musician extraordinaire, played organ, synth, piano, melodica and sang back up vocal on this project. Funkhouser is in equal demand as a jazz bassist and pianist, and has participated in an array of musical projects with some of the world’s most accomplished and creative musicians. He has performed and/or recorded with such luminaries as Grammy winners Joe Lovano, Charles Neville, Steve Gadd, Abe Laboriel Sr., Luciana Souza, Mark Walker, and Max Weinberg, Grammy nominees Bobby Watson, Francisco Mela, and Tierney Sutton, Guggenheim fellows Rudresh Mahanthappa and Geri Allen, as well as South Indian percussion master Trichy Sankaran, Art Blakey alumnus Bill Pierce, Bill Evans alumnus Joe Hunt, Ellington alumnus Herb Pomeroy, Natraj, and Mark Harvey's Aardvark Jazz Orchestra. . For a complete bio of John which is too long for this page click the button.
Alex Murzyn versatility and musicianship has made him the most in demand saxophonist in New Mexico. Relocating from the San Francisco area, where he played with numerous bands, including Huey Lewis and the News, Ray Obiedo, Pete Escovedo and the Stan Kenton Legacy Orchestra, with a career spanning three decades. he has three CDs under his name, and is working to complete the fourth soon to be released.
He has been nominated for the New Mexico Music Awards for Best Instrumental Performance, Best Jazz, Best Cover Song, and Best Arrangement of an Original Composition. In 2025, he won the Norman Petty Producer award along with Saya Sommers for her recording Unfettered. On this project he played all saxes and flutes and sang back up vocals. For more about Alex click the button.
Paul Gonzales began his professional career in 1984 as the Jazz trumpet soloist with the Army Band of New England. For the last 30 years he has led his own jazz groups and has performed with Doug Lawrence, George Cables, Louis Hayes, Greg Abate, the Buddy Rich Alumni Band led by Bobby Shew, and the Cab Calloway Orchestra. Paul is a member of the Albuquerque based bands Son Como Son, Calle 66, Baracutanga, and Entourage Jazz.
He has also been busy on the Salsa scene working with Pete Escovedo, Carlos “Patato” Valdes, Jesus Diaz, Frankie Vazquez, Marc Quinones, Marlow Rosado, and Calixto Oviedo, and Frankie Morales. In the Pop world he has backed up The Platters, The Four Tops, The O’Jays, and Bobby Vinton. Paul appears on Ottmar Liebert’s platinum selling album Little Wing. He is the arranger for the New Mexico Jazz Latino Orchestra. For more about Paul, click the button.
Cellist Amy Huzjak lives in Albuquerque, NM and serves as Principal Cellist of the New Mexico Philharmonic. She also freelances throughout New Mexico and West Texas, and collaborates with other area organizations including Chatter ABQ, Santa Fe ProMusica,Opera Southwest, Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, and the Santa Fe Symphony and Chorus. She is a founding member of Chaski Quartet, recently on tour in Colorado August 2025 and June 2026. Amy played Cello on several songs in this project adding amazing depth and emotion to the pieces. For more about Amy, click the button.
Terry Burns -I have been a bassist since I was first presented with a bass on Christmas morning at age 13. After that, there was no turning back... After leaving my hometown of Clovis, New Mexico, I moved to the Midwest (Omaha) and began my professional career as a bassist. After receiving a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts, I moved to New York to study with the great Rufus Reid. Upon completion of my studies, I relocated to Los Angeles and continued my career, playing gigs and performing for commercials, television, and motion pictures. After leaving L.A., I relocated (again) to Minneapolis where I stayed for the next 20 years and began my collegiate career, earning a B.A. an M.A., and also began my teaching career in higher education, becoming a Department Head, Dean of Academic Affairs, and Director of Institutional Research. In 2014, I returned to New Mexico and currently live In Rio Rancho, New Mexico. For more information about the amazing Terry Burns, click the button.
Mark Clark - Living in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Mark is the drummer with R&B sensation HILLARY SMITH, the Latin rock group MANZANARES, JIMMY STADLER, and continues to record and tour with JONO MANSON. Mark is the Jazz drum set instructor at the University of New Mexico, a private instructor at the New Mexico School of Music, Percussion Ensemble Director at United World College and he is a private music instructor at the Candyman Music store in Santa Fe. Mark also is a GUEST CLINICIAN/ENDORSER for THE ZILDJIAN CYMBAL CO./VIC FIRTH DRUMSTICKS/AQUARIAN DRUM HEADS, and THE LP MUSIC GROUP (LATIN PERCUSSION).
On this project he played Trap set, and a variety of hand percussion instruments. He also sang back up vocals. For more about Mark, click the button.
Micah Hood is a freelance trombonist, pianist, improviser, and a resident composer/arranger of Albuquerque, New Mexico. He received his Masters of Music degree from the University of New Mexico in Music Performance and Theory/Composition and a Bachelor of Music degree from Texas Tech University in Music Performance. His performance credits include the New Mexico Philharmonic, the Santa Fe Symphony, the Midland-Odessa Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Opera Southwest, The Figueroa Project, Festival Ballet of Albuquerque Orchestra, Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Chatter Cabaret, Carmina Escobar, The Temptations, Darren Cordova y Calor, Christiane Noll, Hugh Panaro, Dwight Loop, among many others. Commercially, Micah’s talents have been recorded in the music of Baracutanga, Dynette Marie, Darren Cordova, Lovers & Madmen, The Noms, and many others. For more abour Micah click the button.
Rita Newport is an American pop and jazz singer. She is known for her work and recordings with her husband, arranger, and conductor Roger Baker. Together, the duo performed live under the name Savoy and recorded timeless standards and holiday music. She sang back up vocals for this project.