The Luminous Animal

The Luminous Animal is a jazz ensemble integrating rhythm and language in performance.

Rabbit and Annie formed The Luminous Animal in 1983 to raise funds for the 2nd Taos Poetry Circus, and are the core of the poetry section which often involves additional voices. That first gig at Roy Johnson’s Deviant Gallery off the northwest corner of Taos Plaza, featured Taoseño poets Bill Gersh and Melinda Woodell and Coloradoan Tony Moffeit along with Rabbit and Annie. Poets who have participated over the decades include well-known New Mexicans Renee Gregorio, Miriam Sagan and Amalio Madueño as well as Chicago poet Terry Jacobus. TLA’s musical director is master drummer Pete Amahl who brings in a rhythm section and an occasional saxophone player.

Peter Rabbit's work has appeared in City Lights Journal, Olympia Reader, and Thus Spake the Corpse among others. He studied poetry with Charles Olson at Black Mountain College and performed at the legendary Five Spot in New York. He continues a poetry/jazz tradition that began and flourished during the Beat era.

Anne MacNaughton’s poems have been anthologized in In Company: New Mexico Poets after 1960, The Rag and Bone Shop of the Heart, The Best Poetry of 1989, and Thus Spake the Corpse. As project director for the annual Taos Poetry Circus, she founded the Poetry Education Project teaching creative writing and performance in area schools and universities.

Pete Amahl heads the rhythm section of TLA. A veteran percussionist, he specializes in jazz, funk and rhythm and blues. A native of the Boston area, and an integral part of the Santa Fe / Albuquerque music scene for over 30 years, he is highly regarded from coast to coast. Amahl has played with some of America's finest talents such as Eddie Harris, Natalie Cole, Frank Morgan, Mose Allison, Herb Ellis, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Doug Lawrence, Greg Abate, Richie Cole and Junior Brown.

Sample List of Appearances in New Mexico: