If It's Too Good, Then It Must Be

The 3rd Bacolod Jazz Festival, L'Fisher Chalet Roofdeck, February 18, 2012

It's called the saturation point - that certain point when an input no longer has an obvious effect on the subject. For instance, one can only dilute so much sugar to reach a certain sweetness, after which it can no longer increase the level of sweetness. Say, sweeter than sweet is a misnomer, much like bluer than blue.

How much can an average pair of ears really take in before everything dissolves into a mishmash and is dismissed as meaningless bleeps and blurts of noise?

At first glance, the line up on paper was too good to be true: West Negros University Jazz Band, Akasha, Johnny Alegre and Absolute Zero, Kiss the Bride, Abe Lagrimas Jr., Johaness Radianto, Hard Hat Area, and performances from solo artists such as Mar Dizon, and Henry Katindig in one evening. February 18th, 2012 - the 3rd Bacolod Jazz Festival, turns to be the evening where every serious fan from various points of origin discovers how big an event can be. 

It sounds too good to be true.

West Negros University Jazz Band under the leadership of Michael John Tambasen opened the festival at sundown, without any jitters and in full bravura. The members are all under band scholarship and ironically, none of them are music majors.  Technically, the WNUJB is a civic military parade band, and its recent evolution into jazz has got to be one of the best things to witness. Tambasen Is a veteran of the cruise ship circuit, and has more than served as inspiration for the college students.  Three guitar players and three vocalists all take turns in a set that surprised and impressed the crowd, covering the fusion of Luc Ponty and Metheny to the juggernaut big band sound of Henry Mancini. These are kids, all below 25, playing music written before they were even born. While others are busy perfecting guitar spins and piercing their bodies, these students are immersing themselves on Zawinul and Pastorius. (click here for a separate article of WNUJB)

Johnny Alegre's Absolute Zero featuring Mia Tengco on vocals followed, with a set list that highlighted the rock side of the blues. Playing fluid and confident, Alegre led the musical trek wielding his lone axe of choice, a Stratocaster.  A meaty cover of Joni Mitchell's Help Me with an introspective take on The Nearness of You on the same set surely gave a preview of how wide the palette would be at that evening. Anchored by bass  wunderkind Yuna Reguera and drummer Paolo Manuel, Alegre plays over with harmonies and solos on a tastefully overdriven tone with just a tad of delay for space.

Abe Lagrimas, Jr. and Johannes Radianto were up next, with Mar Dizon (drums), Henry Katindig (keyboards), and Dave Harder (bass).  It was one of those great dream teams in jazz, boasting of internationally acclaimed artists. Lagrimas on ukelele and drums is a Filipino multi-instrumentalist based in the US, while guitarist Radianto hails from Indonesia. The interplay was a crash course on taste and technique: Lagrimas' ukele at  times sounding like a gut string, even approaching proximity with Earl Klugh's touch and tone while Radianto on solid body jazz guitar boasts of precision and Berklee approved complexity. The dizzying bebop lines were complemented by the band's dynamics. Think of it like being run down by a bull and you stand up smiling asking "That was great. What was that?". And speaking of dynamics, Lagrimas'  tribute to the late king of Pop, a solo take on Michael Jackson's Human Nature moved with so much groove that it was impossible not to be moved. 

The third band is no stranger to the City of Smiles, as they have promoted their album, Stories (click here for the album review) the previous year (which I sorely missed). Kiss the Bride is another team worthy to be jazz' dream team as it is a roster of Philippine Jazz' best.  Mike Guevara filled in for saxophonist Vince Lahorra, and as KTB played their originals, it was obviously a notch above the studio takes. With keyboardist Tony Razon's written material, solos were long enough to cover the essentials but short enough to highlight the interesting parts. Bacolod's own Kingsley De Los Santos (bass), Uly Avante (percussions), Cecile Santiago Rodgers (keyboards) and Otep Concepcion (drums) provide the backdrop, while Joey Puyat (guitars), Razon and Guevara converse.

Minutes away from midnight and it is clear - this is too good, but again, it is happening. It is another jazz experience that defies, and much more is expected with one more band to go.

Enter Hard Hat Area. Much anticipated (for reasons musical and otherwise), the group never disappoints. The Guevara- led horn section lays down sick spurts in bursts of staccato, while Bea Lao (drums) and again, Reguera (bass) provide a rock solid backbone - literally. Nikki Cabardo supplies the vintage grease oozing with Rhodes and B3 patches. Their arrangements sound like a renegade runaway brass band, at times touching the beautifully absurd and twisted world of RASP (Radioactive Sago Project).  One moment, it is a (mis)match of Coldplay and Tower of Power, and at a wink morphs into a grandiose orchestra.  Human Nature gets its second reading for the night, this time, the Hard Hat Way.

It is early morning and The 3rd Bacolod Jazz Festival again filled aural cravings, and undoubtedly, converted even the agnostics to the gospel according to jazz and its power that were.

For one, it was a rare ladies' night. Not the Kool and the Gang classic, but literally, the ladies of jazz have arrived. Where the past two festivals were graced by the beauties and voices of Kat Agarrado and Mishka Adams, that night the ladies took the stage, donning instruments. Lucy Santibañez of the WNJB on violin, Yuna Reguerra on bass with Absolute Zero and Hard Hat Area, Bea Lao on drums with the Hard Hat Area, Cecille Santiago Rodgers on keyboards with Kiss the Bride, and even a surprise appearance from Bacolod-based Louise Joachimowski on keyboards and vocals, all swinging a full turn from the singing duties. The ladies added their unique voices to the rich sonic tapestries of their respective bands.

Saxophonist Raul Banzon hosted the evening, as he had since the festival's inception.   Donning his horn, he calls for the jam. From the crowd rose Louise Joachimowski , who joined Banzon  on solo keyboards and vocals, a perfect cooling down as she channels singer/songwriters in the vein of Tori Amos . Banzon obliges with an elegant outro solo on soprano sax. WNUJB returns on stage, with a reprise of Luc Ponty's Rhythms of Hope and Metheny's Have You Heard. While young guitarist Gelo De Oro wallows in the zone, seeing the masters simply enjoying downstage was priceless. Some were closing their eyes, intently appreciating and giving respect to what the kids had to offer. Sans egos, age, bands, bull, and as they would say - It's all about the music, mon.  Now, this, is really good. 

 

Tiano BM 2012

Blogger's Note: Much thanks to the Bob Coscolluela and the Jazz Society of Negros, PIJazz for the event. Photos by Bob Coscolluela and Jojo Montinola.

STRAIGHT, NO CHASER

A review of Kiss the Bride’s STORIES

STORIES, the latest release from Kiss The Bride, is jazz at its smoothest - like your summer's tall glass of smoothie in the midday sun. You take a defiant stance against the bright, scorching yellow sphere and with vengeance and gusto - drink down your glass of coolness as an act of victory.

No, STORIES do not sound anything like the title above, which clearly alludes to the classic Monk album. This is a cruise through twelve cuts of hip songwriting courtesy of songwriter/ keyboardist , Tony Razon. Smooth and cruising aren't exactly exclusive to sleek cars and urban nights, and sooner - would surely raise eyebrows from purist jazz camps. Kiss the Bride's album is clearly at home with the Spyro Gyra/ Larry Carlton/David Benoit territory. Lest these statements lead you to a stereotypical conclusion: STORIES brim with mature songwriting and playing.

Masters are separated from the novice by one word: restraint. Though Kiss The Bride features excellent musicians (Keyboardist/ songwriter Tony Razon, percussionist Uly Avante, keyboardist Cecile Santiago Rodgers, bassist Kingsley de los Santos, drummer Otep Concepcion, Saxophonist Vince Lahorra and guitarist Joey Puyat), their playing is marked with so much discipline and restraint .

Every solo and melody are curtly placed and tastefully played. No meandering solos, no "hey-dig-my-chops-and-reharmonized-approach" moments here, folks. As Rodgers, Concepcion, Avante and de Los Santos set the panoramic backdrop in grooves and rhythms, Razon, Puyat and Lahorra provide the characters' dialogues in this virtual storybook. Puyat is the perfect foil for the sharp and accurate lines of Lahorra and Razon. While Razon's piano is elegant and Lahorra's lines are confident and fluid, Puyat provides the earthy "rawk" moments when called for. Whether treading the latin vistas (Gypsy on My Mind, High on You, Secret of San Simon), the smooth jazz highway (Steppin' Out with my Baby, Serenade for Eden, Murphy's Day Off), wide soundscapes (Grey Sweater Days), late night swing (Theme for My Bride) or potential themes (the deliciously tempo twisting Moments), Kiss The Bride's mature playing offer a seamless travel through their stories.

Perhaps it is one of those rare jazz treasures that follow a concept album format. STORIES is elegantly packaged. Tinnie Esguera provides the beautiful liners which capture the songs in words. In fact, according to Razon, Esguera drew inspiration from almost two hours worth of interview. Cecile Santiago Rodgers' excellent photos are also featured on the album cover and inner sleeves. STORIES surely is more than the album title, it is a total experience.

Some things just simply stand on its own, and STORIES come across as such - no frills, no drama and is best taken straight, no chaser. 

Tiano, BM 2012

 

Blogger's note:  Stories is available online at CDbaby.com. Click here for a direct link.   

It is also available in select Odyssey and Astrovision/Astroplus outlets in Metro Manila.

In Bacolod City, Stories is available at Miren Desserts Cafe, Art District Lopue's Mandalagan (see promo left). Now, ain't that sweet?

Go Ahead, Indulge 3: Rahsaan Roland Kirk

 

Pushing the envelope is a big understatement.

Put together a pennywhistle, a noseflute, another flute, alto, tenor and  soprano saxophones - everything but the kitchen sink - in two very able hands, powerful lungs, a mouth, a nose and a healthy dose of imagination and a highly passionate brain  - you get moving, in-your-face music - you get Rahsaan Roland Kirk.

And less two eyes. Kirk was blind.


Strong proof that absence of sight does not necessarily imply absence of vision, though. 

He had a strong vision of what the music was, and where its headed. More than simply being a multi-instrumentalist and playing one instrument after the outher, he plays them simultaneously. He was the band leader, with a resume as a sideman for Charles Mingus, Quincy Jones, and Roy Haynes.


Another case of extremely beautiful music from an extremely inspiring soul.

Another-Dislike-Happy-Palmface Tuesday

I don't - must not - should not blog at work.

But i can not, not ,not resist posting this version of Giant Steps from Jeff Lorber, Will Kennedy, Eric Marienthal (whose solo I presume was cut short due to upload limitations), Chuck Loeb, and Konstantin Lonenko. One of the best takes, as far as I know, of the killing Coltrane classic.

And then.

4 dislikes.

Maybe it had something to do with Lorber's shoes, or Loeb's poker face, or the fact that one  had to dislike artists for playing so well, because they invested so much time honing their voices on their instruments - instead of roaming Youtube to click dislike buttons.

Now back to regular paperwork.

COUNTDOWN: The February 2011 Bacolod Jazzfest

Countdown.

 

It’s the other deadly Coltrane track, alongside Giant Steps.

It's where the killing glam guitar solo from John Norum turns around and blasts our minds cosmic.

Simply put, its what we are doing as barely a month's left to the 2nd Bacolod Jazz Festival.

The acts coming over  are heavyweights of the game. Here's a rundown, and a brief description from my own point of veee-eeuuw:

SinosiKAT?

1. SinosiKAT? - A soul/jazz outfit bordering this side of acidfunk which just reeks of grooveness and is drowned with coolness. What does that exactly mean? Simply put, SinosiKAT? is that of highly urban and funky sound, with individual members highly skilled to drop a bebop line in the midst of a groovy track. Kat Agarrado is the female side of Jason Kay of Jamiroquai.  The stage persona takes over, and she careens the crowd into sexy one moment, trippy the other.  Who can be Erykah Badu on one number and suddenly channel the soul powers that be with a Tower of Power cover the next? That's SinosiKAT.  One word: SMOKIN' (Jim Carrey lipwork follows)

MISHKA ADAMS

2. Mishka Adams - If she brings the same rhythm section this February, its surely is going to be another  sultry and sizzling set. Not sizzling as you may think of, but think of it as N'awlins cookin'.  She is the  delicate side of Ella, closing her eyes, singing - no, she tells stories with the flair of someone who has had her heart broken for the umpteenth time, her man stolen by her best friend - In short, her heart beats with the rush of blood from the standards, which is the blues. Two words:  BEAUTIFULLY HAUNTING 

LOGIC

3. LOGIC -  The only glimpse I have had of this Australian fusion quartet is on Youtube, a footage from the Java Jazzfestival. I roughly call this contemporary aggressive fusion (separating it from  old school fusion). This has got to be one of the tightest units I've come across, and all that mondo technique.  Think  of UZEB , or even Yellowjackets type of fusion minus the keyboards.  Dangerous music for dangerous minds.  Three Words: WE ARE MORTALS.

Boy Katindig

4. BOY KATINDIG - Boy Katindig is one of the pillars of Pinoy Jazz as it is now . Elevated into international recognition, Boy has been instrumental in setting the standards for the genre not only in this country, but all over. If Mr. Katindig were to fly here just to play Midnight Lady, I'd still fall in line for that single number. His voice on the Rhodes, ARP and synths remains unique and identifiable, sticking like a sore thumb in the midst of the current rush for everything retro. Seeing the real deal on stage would be worth it. Four Words: WATCH. LEARN. WATCH AGAIN.
   

 

There you go. Four main acts packed with punches heavy enough to get you reeling for a year until the next Jazz Festival.

 And us? I always get this uneasy feeling  writing about us, NANCY BREW, or what we do, really. I may just be fearsome of hard selling the group, while some voice barks behind me and says "The Nerve!", but anyway - being the sole representative of Bacolod is a reason  enough to be humbled. It is also reason enough to pack extra loperamides for that squeaky feeling of opening for the senyors and senyoras of jazz.  Then again, kicking start the festival is an honor. We just hope we do sugar city, our families, our loved ones, the fans, and our Lord proud.  In a nutshell we'll be doing a little bit of everything - sort of a sushi-bar jazz set - just to whet appetites at that. We may do Benson, or Weather Report,an original - whatever we can rock our boats with  - and, whatever our rehearsals allow. 

Career, paternity, relationships, responsibilities and bills have definitely taken its share of the priority pie. Still, for a band working together for more than ten years, playing disco, retro and other stuff ad nauseaum, the view from the roof deck of the L'Fisher Hotel on the 19th of February will surely be a sight to behold - and a grace to be grateful for.

Nancy Brew

As for words, don't ask for any. Still speechless as of posting time.

Hungarian with a little Cosmic French, Please.

Barely having an hour for lunch, I was able to sneak in some time to be alone at the WIFI counter of a mall, after paying my phone bills.

I had a hungarian sausage sandwich, and as I was settling at the nearest high chair, the sudden feeling of being alone surges. I love this. I am not a mall/ crowd guy, and I always feel a wonderful isolated booth around me as I stroll around common public places flooded with citizens (or make that See-Tayh-Zens, for that Angry Beavers' flair). As folks enjoy watching each other and staring at their lunches, I enjoy watching them stare at each other and their lunches. 
     My headphones (the fifth pair I bought) are comfortably stuck in both ears, and a crowd's applause signals the six minutes of pure cosmic bliss - or alienation. NO STRINGS ATTACHED starts. The frenchman, m'sieur Jean Luc Ponty bows some serious stuff here. The track is from the album Jean Luc Ponty: LIVE, released in 1979. I heard this first in third grade or so, and have always found this short piece beautifully haunting. 

     Ponty used delay effects creatively, and swells, and swirls too.  As the cascade of notes decay into nothingness, one gets the drift behind titles like COSMIC MESSENGER, IMAGINARY VOYAGE, AURORA, and all that cosmic seep factor he's spun about. Technically, it is akin to the effect that Brian May (of Queen) constructs his solos with. Notes layer each other into a canon-like frenzy, which is of course totally different but equally mesmerizing effect to the current gallop-delay hype.
     What sets it apart though are Ponty's choice of notes. The minor (Em) key sets the ambient tone, preceding the drones and filtersweeps used in modern ambient and electronica stuff  by years. The notes are simply from the key - no altered scales, intricate intervals, no frills - but move, they do. He utilizes phrasings from quarter note patterns, long tones, and a triplet pattern played atempo that flutters into space -  just like driving the Enterprise or your X-Wing fighter into hyperspace.
     Ponty's tenure with Zappa obviously formed his approach to songwriting and inkling for jazz-rock, a little bit veering towards the jazz side though. It is not a surprise that fellow alumnus Alan Zavod on keyboard has provided the frenchman with chords, pads and solos to die for. 
     The track rolls eerily and steadily along - a perfect bed for a luxurious time with myself and a perfect antidote that pulverizes whatever poses as muzak on the mall loudspeakers.
     Here is a link of Ponty on a similar solo in the vein of No Strings Attached from the Rite of Strings Live DVD. However, he retitled the same into Eulogy for Oscar Romero.


Rite of Strings Ponty solo



     An hour for eternity and eternity for an hour. Not bad, really.