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The 5th Manila Jazz Festival: High Five!


"To all the people who says that there's no jazz audience here in the Philippines, they should be burned in front of the Luneta!", Radioactive Sago Project frontman and the host of the 5th Manila Jazz Festival, Lourd De Veyra, exclaimed after an explosive performance by the Jewelmer Jazz Band.

Now on its 5th year, the Manila Jazz Festival is one of the main events of the annual French Spring Manila celebration in commemoration of the resilient camaraderie of France and the Philippines. The theme for this year's Manila Jazz Festival pays homage to our five senses, hence, Take Five.

Patikim ng Jazz

My friends and I arrived just in time to catch the set of the first featured band, Radioactive Sago Project. The crowd was still relatively small during this time, giving me the chance to get a good position right up the center-front to take good photos. Sago's performance definitely prepped up the early audience thanks to Lourd de Vera's almost deadpan spoken-word style of performing coupled with his wild stage antics. What's more interesting about Sago's performance is their deliberate juxtaposition of their live music with a montage of various 80's pinoy films projected on a large screen on stage. I can't help but feel amused with their performance as Lourd repeatedly uttered the words "gin pomelo" while random action scenes of Paquito Diaz, Jestoni Alarcon, etc. were flashed on screen.


The Jazz Volunteers took center stage after Sago had awed the audience with their razor sharp precision. Saxophoro complimented the Jazz Volunteer's precision performance with their offering of trippy saxophone solos. At this point, I looked back from where I was positioned and was surprised to see how thick the crowd has become in just a span of an hour.

When I looked back on the stage, The Bat Project was already prepared to start their set. The band featured premiere saxophone player, Tots Tolentino, who burned the stage with his incendiary sax solo which was equally met by the insane keyboard work by piano legend, Romy Posadas. The Jewelmer Jazz Band performed soon after, dishing out a vicious assault of good old New Orleans Jazz which made the crowd bow down to their seasoned skills in jazz music.


Hooting and various remarks soon filled Sofitel's Grand Sunset Pavilion as Kat Agarrado, lead vocals of Sino Si Kat?, walks towards the microphone. The audience was seduced as the band played their soulful and lyrically playful song,"Akin Ka" which earned numerous "SA 'YO NA KO!!" replies from the male audience.


Halimaw Kang Bata Ka!

From The Jewelmer Jazz Band, whom the most of the Filipino audience fondly called "Lolos", a very young and fresh band from France dubbed as Thomas Encho and the Jazz Angels entered the stage. Thomas Encho, the leader of the band, was introduced as a musical genius having composed his first jazz piece at a tender age six years old.

Upon hearing this, I said to myself: "SIX FUCKING YEARS OLD?!" Are you kidding?! I was still developing my musical appreciation during this age, and there he was writing his first jazz masterpiece like some kid doodling on an etch-a-sketch pad!



Despite my obvious doubt, Thomas Encho and the Jazz Angels certainly lived up to their grand introduction by giving one hell of a performance. They began their set with Encho's composition and added improvisation that made every jaw in the crowd reach the swanky carpeted Sofitel floor. The band finished their set with a homage to Encho's piano teacher and played "Juggling in the Park," which is a rather trippy kind of jazz that had the audience clapping their hands off after the band's performance.

Vernie Varga: The Queen of Jazz Music and the Jungle

I don't know if it is my lack of knowledge on the local Jazz scene but since when did Vernie Varga became the queen of Jazz? Well, you really had to hand it down to her, for she do sings jazz quite effortlessly on her take 5 performance with Tots Tolentino on sax.

But what freaked me out was here singing improvisations that almost seemed like an effort to mimic every animal sound that can be heard in the jungle. Nevertheless, Vernie still gave an awesome performance.

The Impossibilities

So far, every performer rendered quite an amazing performance, but for me, everything almost went downhill during Michael Young's sax solo. Young was introduced as an avid disciple of Jazz music having an M.A. in Music in the States. But somehow, all those musical theories seemed to have stiffened up his playing for his sax solos that lasted for more or less ten minutes made the audience fail to grasp his academically earned genius in musicality.

It was a good thing that Young featured Cynthia Alexander in his performance that undoubtedly peaked the audience interests once again.

Jazz Overload


It was already 1130 pm, but still, jazz bands were performing their hearts out as the audience feed on this energy to make it through the rest of the night. At the end of the day, the event had surely lived up to its theme: Take Five! as it dishes out various assaults to the senses through its wonderful jazz music, stunning venue, and overflowing exquisite wine -- all for free! So the next time this event comes to town, I'll definitely make sure that I will be in the crowd.

nirvanana

Ay, fafable itong Thomas Encho! Mahilig din magblow.... ng trumpet! I like!

[B]Ang gusto ko sa saging saba sa taba, latundan sa haba.[/B] :whistle:

V

maraming tao?

RenegadeRequiestas

Oi Radioactive and Sino Sikat! Wish I was there.

[FONT="Arial Black"][COLOR="SeaGreen"]This is madness. :whoo: [/COLOR][/FONT]

Skankfunk

Ang galing ng event na to! sabi nga ng ka-tropa ko, jazz overload! hehe.