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UGNAYAN
The album "Ugnayan” refers to the connection between American and Filipino jazz, which we commonly refer to as Pinoy Jazz. "Ugnayan,” when translated to English means connection.
The pieces in this album offer a wide range of expressions that evoke the Filipino soul. One example is "Bagbagtulambing,” an indigenous tune from the Mountain Province. The three-note melody is dressed up with a variety of colors, textures and timbres derived from classical music. The quasi–bebop section of this piece is subtly but unmistakably a variant of the three-note melody.
I would characterize the type of jazz on this album as classical jazz because of its form and harmonic structure. The pieces on this album were performed before various audiences by the University of the Philippines Jazz Ensemble under the direction of Professor Rayben Ruiz Maigue, and by the University of Santo Tomas Jazz Band under the direction of Professors Roger Llado and Tots Tolentino.
On this album, they are brought to life by the Global Studio Orchestra, under the direction of pianist-arranger-conductor, Gerard Salonga, a summa cum laude graduate of Boston's Berklee College of Music, with the assistance of Richie Quirino, another cum laude graduate of the same jazz college.
Angel Matias Peña
July 2006
PEACE BEYOND Listen to Music
This is a jazz ballad for Alto Saxophone - the instrument Lito played throughout his professional life. I arranged it for string quartet to evoke Lito’s sentiment that I found in his jazz improvisations through the melodic lines and harmonizations. The title, "Peace Beyond" depicts Lito's peaceful passing.
ROMANCE Listen to Music
The Tenor Saxophonist who manifests the most romantic style is Narding Aristorenas. I wrote this melody to depict his style of playing a jazz ballad, wherein the melody revolves around the high register of the instrument. Such is a very difficult range that he mastered.
The title symbolizes his romantic love for his beautiful wife, Priscilla. This piece was written for string quartet.
FROLIC
This is a samba-jazz piece that features the piano - the instrument Piding Alava played. The character of the composition is a reflection of our carefree times especially when we used to joy-ride on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle that I would borrow from our colleague, Johnny Gosalvez. This piece was written for jazz quartet combined with string quartet.
TONY SPEAKS
Composed in 1951, this piece features drum beats that were inspired by Tony Velarde - the man who also composed the drum part. He is a quiet type of person, hence the title "Tony Speaks" - his drums do, that is.
TROMBONOLOGY Listen to Music
One of the best jazz musicians and trombone players that I had ever known is Neo Ragas who hails from Oas, Albay. I found it fitting to dedicate a piece to such a brilliant instrumentalist. I have chosen to compose something that will put the instrument he masterfully played in the limelight. I utilized the slide in order to preserve the trombone characteristic of the Dixie and early swing period.
BASS-IC-ALLY YOURS
A bass player dedicated this piece to his contemporary. The writer dedicated his piece to Roger Herrera, a one of a kind, fabulous and timeless jazz musician.
This is a 12-bar blues in a rather brisk tempo that features the double bass, played with the bow as well as by plucking. I composed this for a jazz trio of piano, bass and drums backed up by a big jazz band.
ROTO
As the title suggests, it is expressly composed for two friends who are jazz professors. The piece is dedicated to Roger Llado and Tots Tolentino who teach at the University of Santo Tomas Conservatory of Music.
The piece is akin to an old classical form called prelude and allegro. Here, the prelude is a ballad for the big band featuring a dialogue between the alto saxophone and the trumpet written in impressionistic style. The allegro belongs to the bebop school that opens itself up for hot improvisations by the two instruments with the backing of the big band.
IGOROT JAZZ FANTASY - BAGBAGTULAMBING Listen to Music
This is an Igorot folk song that I had originally molded into the classical jazz idiom during the 1956 Upsilon Sigma Phi Jazz Concert at the University of the Philippines. Since that original composition had come out of my memory, I had to compose a different one. The time signature in this piece is basically in 5/4. Unlike the original, this piece features the indigenous instruments of the Bontoc Mountain Province - the Ganza and Sulilbaw.
The Ganza is like an iron skillet, while the Sulilbaw is a skin drum - both are played in the manner of a jazz improvisation. Feedback from the listening audience and the musicians themselves somehow indicate this piece is particularly delightful.
BASILAN
The piece is essential in four-parts played continuously - the natural beauty of the island, the chaos brought on by terrorism, the victory of the people over the chaos, and finally, the return to peace and tranquility.
Richie Quirino cleverly composed the four-note theme played by the four suspended agongs. The material I found was substantive in the development of the entire piece. This serves as an apt contrast among the pieces selected for this album.
PAI WE LOVE YOU
As Vestre and I have been playing together in many occasions, especially during the height of our jazz at the Club Golden Gate in Tokyo, his style and feeling have left a lasting imprint in me that I feel I can easily emulate the spirit of his playing, thus I thought it will be fitting to dedicate a composition that will sound as if he wrote it himself. I entitled it "Pai we love you" because he is loved by everybody as a person and musician. "Pai" because it originated from Vestre. Only his jazz peers use that 'sacred' word. Whenever we meet, he greets me with, "Pai I love you," with a hug - a gesture of fraternal friendship and respect from one jazz musician to another.
ANGEL PEÑA'S PROFILE
In 1939, Angel Matias Peña started his long love affair with American Big Band jazz.
At the tender age of 18, he joined the Malabon Recreation Hall Orchestra, and while he was paid one peso a night as a guitarist, he composed and arranged for the band without any compensation. Before long, word got around that Angel, largely self-taught, was a natural at arranging music - a gift he inherited from his mother Rosario. He was sought by the major big band leaders of the day, including Tino Gatchalian, Iggy de Guzman, Pacifico Young, Max Isla, Serafin Payawal, and the suave Tirso Cruz Sr.
As his career progressed, the title of "maestro” was affixed to his name joining the ranks of Federico Elizalde and Nemesio Regalado - two well-known big band leaders at the top of their craft, and for whom Angel had composed and arranged, as well.
The University of the Philippines' Upsilon Sigma Phi fraternity's sponsorship of big band concerts that started in the mid-fifties, and that lasted for three decades, was fertile ground for Angel's creativity. This big band of Manila's creme de la creme would eventually evolve into the Jazz Friends, headed by saxophonist Lito Molina and drummer Tony Velarde.
The year 1956 is considered the official birth of Pinoy jazz, as it marked the premiere performance of Angel's Igorot Jazz Fantasy. Based on and inspired by "Bagbagtulambing,” a lullaby from an Igorot ethnic group situated north of the Philippines. Angel employed European classical techniques in weaving the underlying melody and rhythm of the indigenous lullaby with American swing.
In 1969, Angel left for Hawaii to expand his musical horizons. He spent the next twenty years as staff arranger and bass player for the prestigious Honolulu Symphony Orchestra.
In 1978, the Jazz Friends recorded an album entitled "Tony Speaks," the title-song penned by Angel under the Black Gold label was a significant step towards documenting original Pinoy jazz material.
In 1979, American big band legend, Stan Kenton, recorded Angel's tune, "Gabe," which he dedicated to his friend, Filipino-Japanese alto-saxophonist, Gabe Baltazar.
After his retirement in 1997, he led a quiet life in California before he decided to return to Manila in 2001. Here, he collaborated with me and Professor Rayben Maigue of the UP Jazz Ensemble, embarking on an ambitious project that involved composing and arranging big-band charts for eventual performances by the music students of U.P. Later on, Professor Roger Llado and Mario (better known as 'Tots') Tolentino of the University of Santo Tomas Jazz Band joined us in this project.
Inspired by the tremendous success of bringing to light original big band material through numerous SRO performances held by the two student big bands, Gerard Salonga takes this once in a lifetime opportunity to produce, conduct and record Angel's music with the Global Studio Orchestra
As a tribute to his jazz friends, Angel composed: "Peace Beyond" for Lito Molina; "Romance" for Narding and Priscilla Aristorenas; "Frolic" for Piding Alava; "Tony Speaks" for Tony Velarde; "Trombonology" for Neo Ragas; "Bass-ic-ally Yours" for Roger Herrera; "RoTo" for Roger Llado and Tots Tolentino; and "Pai We Love You" for Vestre Roxas. The global fight against terrorism is depicted in the opus "Basilan," an island in Muslim Mindanao situated in the southern Philippines. And fifty years later, Angel re-creates "Bagbagtulambing" in his landmark piece, "Igorot Jazz Fantasy."
The album entitled "Ugnayan," which means "connection" in English, is a masterpiece waiting to be discovered.
Richie Quirino
July, 2006
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