on friday, january 30, the mall of asia will burst with a cacophony of filipino musical talent when gary v joins sarah g, bamboo, rico blanco, the dawn, parokya ni edgar and many, many more in what has been billed as fusion - the first philippine music festival. my mind was transported to august 2001 when i led british council philippines in defining fusion in a cross-continental context, by bringing together two of the uks foremost instrumentalists with the philippines best. it was a pitch toward an innovative view of music on a global scale, with the classics straddling jazz, pop, and latin nuances, with ethnic strains from the celts and zydeco-cajun thrown in between. cellist Matthew Barley (looking very much like a cross between antonio banderas and little lord fauntleroy) and juilliard-trained violinist coke bolipata turned technique upside down, traded phrases on melody lines and pizzicato, savoring a newfound interactive freedom alongside afro-cuban pumping on the 88s by Alex Wilson, then the rising star of the british jazz awards. apart from coke, the philippine contingent was straight out of a pipe dream -- tots tolentino on sax, Bo Razon on percussion, meong pacana on bass, Mar Dizon on drums, boogie abarico on trumpet, Mon David on vocals, and the dynamic duo of toti fuentes and Bobby-Noemie Gomez on keys. pang-monterey! barley vaulted spectacularly from a classical cello tribute to j.s.bach, whom he claimed was an early proponent of fusion, with an outpouring of lyrical melody and profound meditative calm, manifesting passion in experimentation with his 200-year-old partner before bursting with energy as he took off with the pinoy all-stars on a unique musical journey. the ensemble dazzled with their virtuosic capabilities and radiantly sparkled with excitement and enjoyment as their musical minds explored and conquered old worlds while expanding into new ones. wilson drove audiences straight up with his relentlessly frenetic energy, and allowed everyone else to define themselves on their own terms. but what gave the two their ultimate high was collaborating with vocalist mon david, who shunned stellar status even while proving his mettle as a jazz meister to the core. so much more was said and written about under my nom-de-plume carissa nespral, but ill leave that to the philippine daily inquirers archives on google under the full-page article called spontaneous combustion. looking forward to a similarly highly-charged experience this friday with carats powerhouse cast..
Posted on: Tue, 27 Jan 2015 05:59:52 +0000
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