Music-Ally in Jazz-Phil USA

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Nicole David, Photo taken by Enrique De La Cruz

Carlo David, Mon David and Nicole David doing a trio.  All photos taken by Enrique De La Cruz

“Pure, honest intention can bring out the beauty of any emotion.  And like notes, there is a world of beauty reading each one….Is your intention only to make yourself better? If so, all the forces of your being may come to help you.  But if your pure intention is to make all musicians better, the same way musicians before you have done, the forces of all these beings may come to your aid.  The spirit of MUSIC herself will be on your side.  Now, listen closely.  Strive to make all LIFE better, and you will have all of LIFE’s power backing you. With this power on your side, you will not have a thing to worry about, ever.” (Michael, as written by Victor L. Wooten, 4-time Grammy Award Winner) Did Nicole David read this quote from Victor Wooten? When asked if she worries about her future, her optimism conveyed: “ I never feared the future in pursuing music. The feeling is more of excitement and optimism. I witnessed and am still witnessing my dad’s (Mon David) musical and life journey and I cannot imagine myself not taking on that same journey.  Whenever I’d feel impatient or disheartened, my dad would always tell me that something good is definitely going to happen, as long as we focus our energies on our craft and strive hard to be good people.  My sibling (Carlo) and I are fortunate because we were never forced into anything we weren’t passionate about.  We had to discover and recognize our passions in life by ourselves.  Our parents helped by providing us with opportunities." Mon David shared with me that he and his wife, Ann are the fortunate ones. Somehow there is a “ great, grand design “ for him to be in the US.  As he established his musical career, with full faith in MUSIC and backing from Michael Konik and Charmaine Clamor for his first album, Mon feels blessed. He is thankful for being with his wife Ann, witnessing the unfolding of the careers of their two children, Nicole and Carlo in Manila and US. “Looking at a flashback of my life, like at my young age, and comparing it with Nicole and Carlo, their pace is so fast. They are discovering different genres, aside from jazz, and they are always surrounded by great musicians,"  said Mon. He told me that Carlo felt overwhelmed at the sound check, sharing the stage with incredible musicians at play, with their creative juices freely flowing. “Now, I know how you feel Dad, when you perform. “ Carlo said. Music-ally was on display, where all musicians are allies at sound check and onstage. That is one of the beautiful strengths of Jazz-Phil USA’s Jazz festival. I have watched them grow in musicality and diversity for five years now, missing only one year when I was out of the country. When Angelo Pizarro played at one festival, the shouts of bravo were non-stop, his prowess and high level of intensity showing  through his classical guitar. During the fusion number of Bo Razon, Abe Lagrimas, Jr. and the band, the camaraderie among them was evident, and their synergy was high.  That synergy carried through to the David Family, when Nicole and Mon came onstage to join Carlo David in singing Anthropology by Charlie Parker, with a funky arrangement done by Carlo, who had been exposed to music in the womb, and as early as 3 years old, showed interest in music. He wrote his first composition at age 5, and had formal music lessons at age 7. When he auditioned at the College of Music, took the entrance exam, he qualified for a full scholarship at the UP College of Music. His first song at this festival was Centerpiece by Jon Hendricks, Annie Ross and Lambert, a vibrant rendition, though his second song, the artist’s favorite, Detour Ahead, was not quite ours. These Philippine Jazz artists were featured:  VJ Rosales, Johnny Alegre, Abe Lagrimas, Jr., Bo Razon and Maguindanao’s master artist, Danugan "Danny" Kalanduyan and the crowd’s favorite, Annie Brazil, who at 77 years old, commanded and owned the stage.  When she sang  It Had To Be You, Jeff and Tricia were seated next to me.  Jeff confided that he could have proposed to Tricia then, right after Annie sang, but he recognized they were there as attendees of the jazz festival, and the event was not about them. The next morning, he did, and Tricia accepted. Love was won over one more time when the world Indigenous musical sounds, played by Bo Razon from the kudyapi (a pre-hispanic and a pre-Islamic musical instrument), master artist Danny Kalanduyan on the mini gongs or kulintang.  Bo Razon alternated playing: a kudyapi, a two-stringed instrument, an 8-string guitar, a tambourine, two coconut husks, and a bamboo two piece vibrating instrument, similar to the nose flute. To be able to play one instrument is a challenge, but to play multiple instruments takes the artist to his highest level of mastery, and obviously, overcoming innate challenges of playing each unique instrument that MUSIC becomes them. MUSIC is Abe Lagrimas, Jr. who played the drums, vibraphone, ukelele, during the festival.  He is the musical director of Charmaine Clamor and he led the 8-men performance band, which accompanied Charmaine Clamor in her CD release concert of Something Good, at the second day of the festival. Three of her 14 songs stood out for me: Sweet Shot, Motherless Ili-Ili, and Breakfast with Bubba.  Charmaine had an evolved style on stage that night, it was hers to declare as truly her own. When she finished her repertoire, folks stood up to give her standing ovation. Something Good, her new CD, had climbed from #43 to now #20 on World Music charts according to her website. Interestingly, the Jazzcharts for Dec. 6, 2010, did not track Charmaine’s Something Good in the top 40,. So Asian Journal’s readers, we have lots to do -- get her CDs as Christmas presents and fully support our festival musicians so they can be recognized on mainstream stage. With our support, it is only a matter of time that they become part of a world-class, mainstream stage. It was not a full house at the Catalina, possibly dampened by the recession. The crowds that should have been attracted by full blast outreach in the last two weeks did not come. 2009 was a recessionary period for the economy, yet the festival was unaffected.  2010’s outreach had attracted Friday’s 90 folks, mostly Filipinos and Filipino-Americans, and Saturday’s 75 folks, a multi-cultural crowd. Talent and caliber of the artists were high on both nights of the festival, with Bo Razon as a session musician, a composer and a multi-instrumentalist; a National Endowment of Arts grantee in Danny Kalanduyan; a multi-instrumentalist in Abe Lagrimas, Jr. and Carlo David and of course, Charmaine Clamor on Saturday, those talents should have been enough to draw more folks to the festival.   And the past track record? In 2008, Jazz-Phil USA was packed -- folks lined up to get their artists’ CDs and clamored to buy multiple copies as gifts.  Jackie, Charmaine’s friend, ran back to the parking lot, in the hopes of getting more CDs from her car -- only to disappoint. Her website reported that JazzWeek announced months earlier “ that Charmaine Clamor's groundbreaking new CD, Flippin' Out, was the week's #1 Most Added record to world radio playlists. No other recording in America was added to more stations.  Charmaine's new musical form of "jazzipino" was heard on 155 jazz and world radio stations in the United States and Canada in 2007." That is what we are seeking to recapture. Could it be that the magic of love of good jazz comes only once around? We, as a community,  have a lot to learn from Miles Davis. Wikipedia reports: “On October 7, 2008, his album Kind of Blue, released in 1959, received its fourth platinum certification from the RIAA, signifying sales of 4 million copies.  Miles Davis was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006. Davis was noted as "one of the key figures in the history of jazz." We wish and pray for this kind of sustainable stature for our jazzipino artists, starting with the David family, Annie Brazil, Charmaine Clamor, Abe Lagrimas, Jr., Bo Razon, Master Kalanduyan, Johnny Alegre and even our new artist, VJ Rosales and more!  After all, there are 4 million Filipino-Americans residing in the United States, 90 million in the Philippines and another 10 million around the world.