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| original photo by Joby Tanjuatco, edited by Tiano |
Aftertaste
Yesterday's coffee tastes like yesterday. Much like a lingering dream - it passes through the taste buds , sends recall signals to the brain, and you stare at your cup and see that the coffee is still the same.
Much like the aftertaste you get after a mighty rush that is the 2011 Bacolod Jazz Festival held last February 19, 2011 at the L'Fisher Roofdeck Chalet. As pictures are posted and tagged - then you just know it is far from over. In fact, it may just be a brighter beginning. Then again, the moment is done, and all that remains are attempts to capture history.
Jazz in every aspect is difficult to capture, in spirit, at least. As a high form of communication, artist and instrument become one, all funneled into a viscous flow of notes and rests, of rhythms and silences. It is why looking and reading about jazz isn't exactly the same as experiencing the birthing process, below the bandstand and journeying with the artists as they grope through every microphone feedback, out of tune strings, dry tracheas and all that hoot and holler.
All Blues plays behind as I write. Over a rainy afternoon, over stale black coffee, over surmounting office work - I take recluse for a minute or so - in hope to relish the moment that was.
THE EVENING THAT WAS
The evening was electrifying. The conversation between Egay Avenir and Raul Banzon over Metheny's backing tracks was priceless. As guitar guru Joe Satriani would say, playing with this or that drummer, or the sequenced rhythm tracks isn't much of a big deal: all is unique, and all good. Banzon and Avenir throw the jazz academy from the roofdeck, and just - play - against the gorgeous sunset. Iwi Laurel joins for a chorus, spicing the conversation with a voice only Ms. Laurel can give.
Nancy Brew, Bacolod's defiant own, serves entrée with classics and an original. Guest keyboard player Michael Tambasen adds another dimension to the band that is brew, and like the view from up there, takes a repertoire akin to a bird's eye view of jazz. Early fusion (Weather Report), smooth jazz(Metheny, late era Miles, Benoit), early acid jazz (Diggable Planets), and even funk (EWF) in a single set sounds like a definitive menu for the event. Tots Tolentino joins in for some funk, Raul Banzon jumps in on EWI for more funk. And this - is just the first band.
Mishka Adams - the sultry Mishka Adams - takes second set with a band that reads like a who's who of the Filipino music scene: Tots Tolentino on tenor Sax, Mar Dizon on traps, Simon Tan on bass and Ria Villena- Osorio on keyboards. All senyors and senyoras of the highest caliber - on a set that is much like fine, fine wine. Songs from Ms. Adams' album "Stranger on the Shore" mixed with covers exude with taste and class. Notes are silver - rests are golden. The originals, well written in the vein of standards, hits the final nail on discipline, as far as musicianship goes.
As we move , Coltrane beats the universe out of So What, my most revered track in the album. In these loud and noisy times , his solo runs like a stream, so tranquil yet unbelievably dark and deep .
Leading us to the third group, the first foreign based act in the festival since 2010. Logic, a fusion band from Australia armed with originals from their album "The Hierarchy" takes the night into the next gear. Superb musicianship, mondo chops and unrestrained solos come aplenty. These young musicians maybe from the land down under, but they took off as from the city up there - and higher. Between dig-these-chops and real music, the divide is palpable. Logic may be as tight, accurate and precise as Tony Stark's War Machine, but they surely carry a lot of soul within. Logic is Tim Wilson on saxophone, Glenn Cannon on guitar, Ben Vanderwal on drums and Dane Alderson on bass.
Baring the soul, speaking of which, enters the next band - bare, and oozing with soul. Call her Kat woman, Kat magic, Kat the vamp - and all are apt replies to the question that is SinosiKat? Starting the set from the crowd, Kat Agarrado knows she owns the same. Their brand of soul and acid jazz starts to get heads bobbing, Reli de Vera keeps the groove going as Noel Asistores' bass literally hugs the band. David Starck (on keyboards) and Nick Azarcon (guitars) were not present, but were ably filled in by two of Philippines' finest: Wowee Posadas on funky clav/keyboards and the string prowess of Kakoy Legaspi. In the middle of the set, Kat careens : "It's not as 'jazz' as jazz, its simply sinosiKat". By that time, the adoring crowd couldn't care less - and the genres - down the street they fall.
The headliner of the event is met with much anticipation and gusto. Mr. Boy Katindig, of the Katindig musical clan, leads the crowd into clapping - ushering into the intro of his hit "What I Feel" from the 80s album, After Midnight. People stood and danced to the contemporary jazz track as the line between nostalgia and good taste was blurred. Another band whose niches are deeply etched on the core of Pinoy Jazz: Otep Concepcion on drums, Alvin Cornista on sax, and Phillip Poligartes on bass. Mr. Koolkat (also, the name of his production) undoubtedly has his impression on vintage keys, the sounds we all grew up with and ingrained within: Fender Rhodes and vintage mono synths. Mr. Katindig was on top of his game, as his two fisted comps and fleet fingered soloing shattered expectations of pure nostalgia - flash and finesse have come together.
JAM and BLACK COFFEE
Past midnight - and anticipation for the big jam was brimming. Raul calls in the LOGIC with Tots Tolentino and Alvin Cornista on tenor saxophones, and Boy Katindig on keys. Hancock's uber-funky staple "Cantaloupe Island" is called, and the count-off starts with the piano comp from Mr. Katindig. Three horns was such a sight and a sound to behold: Tolentino building from the ground up, sinking into funk y lines before blurring into bebop nirvana; Cornista opts for a more classic, darker tone and gets wicked on the low register area; Wilson on alto, kicks with a measly two to three notes before leaping into a flurry of lines, both angular and precise. The rhythm section gets nasty, dropping in a hint of island skank one moment, then another. Katindig's piano solo grabs the song into the next level and drops in funky New Orleans grooves , Alderson's seamless bag recalls Bona and Caron on his solos and pumps "Cantaloupe Island" over the edge with an on the fly 16th note figure, while Ben Vanderwal on the drums ties the whole super collision together, silently orchestrating the twists and turns of the now - 'frankensteined' standard.
Another sip, and writing it seems as I write about something as delectable as this, the same permeates my cup.
The next and final jam, was a surprising incarnation of Tots Tolentino's now defunkt Buhay with original members Mar Dizon on drums, Wowee Posadas on keyboards, Tots Tolentino on saxophone and Simon Tan on bass. Thelonius Monk's "Well, You Needn't" provided a breather to the previous jam, with Mar digging deep on the pockets of swing, his crisp rides and melodic fills inimitable. Simon Tan's bass propelled the tune, outlining Wowee Posadas' harmonies like smooth lace. The tune breaks down into a conversation between Dizon and Tolentino, recalling the forays of Ernie Watts and the late Carlos Vega, even Rashied Ali and John Coltrane. If anything, the song closes with an abrupt exclamation point, which also incidentally, closes the whole festival.
Final strains of Flamenco Sketches plays now, a perfect closing soundtrack as memories of the festival start to flee my mind at that point. A seated Simon Tan as I took my instruments from the stage, another conversation with Raul Banzon and Boy Katindig, and, maybe a whole lot more - blur into a motley of a jazz experience, leaving an elated aftertaste - bittersweet, musky, and satisfying.
Oh, was that my coffee or was that jazz?
Tiano BM 2011
