‘From ABBA to Zappa’

BACK in the 1980s there was a music store in Quezon City called A2Z Records. True to its name, the store offered a very eclectic catalogue of vinyl albums—the owners’ playful take on A2Z, “from ABBA to Zappa,” best described the variety of the store offerings.

To a certain extent, the nature of the gigs and events we went to these past few days bounced off “from ABBA to Zappa” and spun our head with the striking disparities.

May 25, Hard Rock Cafe, Makati

Onstage was the ’70s Superband, a retro-OPM group led by former Wadab front man Nonoy Tan. As its name suggests, the band pays tribute to what Tan calls “the golden era of Original Pilipino Music.”

Watching the band for the third time could get boring, but there was a big surprise that night. The repertoire, consisting of ’70s Pinoy pop, folk, rock and disco, sounded refreshing because of a painstaking effort in arrangement.

The medley of Hotdog hits became more interesting with the vocalists’ (Tan, VST’s Monet Gaskell and Cinderella’s Snafu Rigor) three-part harmonies. Similarly, the folk medley began with an intricately arranged vocal intro of “Tayo’y Mga Pinoy” that segued into “Anak.”

Never mind if the guessing game part, in which the band tested the audience’s memory of songs popularized by Eddie Peregrina, Tirso Cruz III, Edgar Mortiz, Vilma Santos, among others, bordered on mimicry that was hard-pressed to elicit laughs.

There were instances when the backup vocals floundered like senior-moment attacks. Tan and company should just keep doing their homework of rearranging the songs.

June 1, Resorts World Manila, Pasay

There was a press conference for the show “Ryan Cayabyab and Friends,” scheduled on June 28 at Resorts World’s Newport Performing Arts Theater.

Cayabyab gave a sample performance on keyboards with his Ryan Cayabyab Singers on vocals. The music, a medley of Burt Bacharach-Hal David classics, was lilting, and sprang to life with dramatic flair.

At Cayabyab’s side sat his three main singers for the coming show—Bituin Escalante, Jett Pangan and Dulce. It didn’t take long for them to sing, impromptu, a few verses from jazz and pop selections. Their voices echoed with power.

“The repertoire started from scratch,” said Cayabyab. “We’re slowly building it up … I’m bringing out my old music scores, rarely played, like Gershwin and Bacharach—my early influences.”

Cayabyab said it’s his first time to work with Escalante, Pangan and Dulce, and that he personally picked them.

The show will apparently be tailor-made for Resort World’s tourist clientele.

June 2, Fashion Walk, Greenbelt 5, Makati

The al fresco setting complemented the liberating music of Italian composer Eugenio Bennato, who founded Taranta Power—a collective term for the group that has been promoting cultural and historic awareness of the “Taranta” or “Tarantella” rhythm and dance.

(According to Italian legend, a person who gets bitten by the tarantula must dance in a frenzied manner to shake off the sting; the dance became known as Tarantella.)

At a press con the day before the concert, Bennato said Taranta Power had been turning on a lot of young people in the south and north of Italy. They reportedly get so enraptured by the music that they go on dancing till the break of dawn.

But this is not like club dancing at Republiq. The Taranta dance, demonstrated by sensuous female vocalist Sonia Totaro while Bennato and the band played, is a bit similar to Spain’s flamenco —marked by foot stomping and body spins, and highlighted by a graceful swaying that invites communal participation.

Bennato’s music is folk, driven by his own acoustic guitars (chitarra battente and mandola), Ezio Lambiase’s hollow-body electric, and Valter Vivarelli’s extra-large tambourine.

We hardly understood the lyrics, which were all in Italian, but the songs were not unlike Joey Ayala’s —reflective of social conditions, conscious of the power of language to change lives.

So what makes it attractive to young people? The male backup vocalist, Mohammed El Alaoui Ezzaime, rapped some of the lyrics like a hip hop artist. His energy was enough to goad arthritic legs to move.

June 2, Where Jazz Lives, Mandaluyong

Boy Katindig has opened a new club called Where Jazz Lives. Onstage, two bands played the blues all night.

A visiting American musician, Brad Absher, jammed with a Pinoy band, Blues Train, composed of Nitoy Adriano on guitar, Rey “Eggpie” de Casto on bass, Rickie Cui on keyboards and his son Andre on drums. They covered The Fabulous Thunderbirds (“Full-Time Lover,” “Walkin’ To My Baby”) and a Jerry Lee Lewis hit (“Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On”) with old-school attitude, much like veteran bluesmen having fun.

But the big revelation was Bleu Rascals —a young Pinoy trio from Laguna composed of guitarist Paul Marney Leobrera, bassist Spencer Reymonte and drummer Darwin John Quinto. The band interpreted Ray Charles, John Mayer and Stevie Ray Vaughan pieces, playing like magicians who held the room under a spell.

Leobrera was a wizard, unleashing a flurry of wailing notes with ease and confidence —and he’s only 17.