Saturday, September 24, 2016
SEPT. 23, 2016 - FRIDAY JAM UPDATE
Unrelenting traffic gridlock at Sales Bridge took a toll on some key personalities of the Friday jam last night when they found themselves stuck for hours on the way to the music room. Some had even decided to turn back and forego the trip completely and head back home..i can't blame them though. Notwithstanding, come hell or high water, the much anticipated weekend gathering was not to be denied. The show must go on!
Bassist Rick Trinidad, was next to show up. Currently based at his mom's home in Merville Park Subdivision, he got a better deal with the traffic having to come from a village just close by.
Keyboardist Atty.Pecky Casuela was in the house as well. When he arrived, we finally had a decent band line-up. No time wasted, we were all set to jam. We played some classic jazzy tunes and a few other catchy instrumentals with Rick on bass, Vincent on percussions and myself on drums. I particularly enjoyed jamming the familiar Deodato tunes that Pecky had suggested. Sadly, we weren't able to take videos of that.
Not too long after, more musicians arrived to join in. It was great to see Nitoy Adriano and Joaco Marco back in the music room. In as much as they wanted to be more consistent, both had been very busy with their individual commitments barring them from joining the Friday jams for some time now. We definitely missed these guys around.
Among the other musicians and friends who came were keyboardist Kiko Montecillo, guitarist Lord Brian, vocalist Marc de Asis, Monchie Henares, Michael Puyat and his charming wife Amar, Nick Mangubat who just hanged out but did not perform, Luisa Distor and Nikki Segundo.
Perhaps due to traffic hangover or whatever crazy reason, everyone looked so low-keyed and subdued last night that the jam encountered a lot of lulls and dead moments in between songs, uncharacteristic of our usual demeanor despite a good number of participants around. It was just one of those nights. In fact, the jam concluded at 4:30am an hour short of our usual. Nevertheless, it was all good!
By the way, next Friday, September the 30th, is keyboardist Kiko Montecillo's birthday! We excitedly look forward to another night of great music! Hope to see you all then!
And so that's how the cookie crumbled at the jam last night! Praise and thank God for the opportunity!
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVERYONE! GOD BLESS US ALL!
Saturday, September 17, 2016
SEPT. 16, 2016 - FRIDAY JAM UPDATE
Last night turned out to be a special one. It was to be Gabby Villanueva's actual birthday. It wasn't last week, as i had mistakenly declared but yesterday, September 16th. The celebrant surprised me when he walked in the music room early, beaming and with him a big box containing food preparations, drinks and party utensils. It was then when he finally announced that it was in fact his birthday. Hmmm..No wonder he was placid and unresponsive when everyone was greeting him last week. And to think that he had been misjudged that he was stingy about celebrating with us. Shame on us! Happy birthday Gab!
While the food and drinks were being set, the guys slowly trickled in. Luisa Distor, Marc de Asis, Tinnie Esguerra and Rick Trinidad were the early birds. Pretty soon we had enough musicians to start the jam. And so we did. First batch on stage were house band honchos Tinnie Esguerra on the keyboards and acoustic guitar, Rick Trinidad on bass, Vincent Garrucho on percussions and myself on drums. When guitarist Anton Atengco arrived, the jam warmed up quickly starting with some catchy jazzy tunes with Anton familiarly showcasing his musical wizardry with his insane adlibs and licks on his electric guitar. As expected, the acoustic guitarist complemented the string ensemble to a "T"(innie)..hehe! The bassist did his job while the drummer and percussionist grooved along.
Balik-music room Meg Serranilla shows up and gamely stepped up on stage to join the band, entertaining the crowd with her nifty vocal performance and at times even playing along on the acoustic guitar, something we had not seen her do on her last stint at the music room. Great job Meg!
Soon more musicians arrived. It is always a delight to see Tetel Serra around. With her musical talent and charm, she lights up the stage with her cool vocal renditions of popular tunes while playing the ukulele. A consistent crowd pleaser and an accomplished singer herself, she can be diverse with the songs she can actually sing. A perfect ingredient to the house band indeed.
Next on the list was keyboardist Kiko Montecillo. When Kiko is in the house, you are in for some awesome musical experience. With so many tunes he can play, everything and anything goes. He even put aside the keyboards for awhile and played the guitar on some of the songs requested. And guess what? He proved that he is a great guitar player as well. Definitely a multifaceted guy.
Vocalists Tetel, Monchie Henares, Michael Puyat, Marc de Asis, Mark Longos, Meg Serranilla and even Ferlin Hicarte had a field day singing song requests all night. With drummer Bubui Colico catching up later on in the evening, he was able to jam even for a short while with the gang. It was so much fun that despite the late hours, we were still at it. We actually had to stop ourselves from playing because it was already past 5am.
Finally at exactly 5:40am (already daylight), we all packed up and called it a night. I actually had to leave Tetel and Ferlin (who had to stay around and kill more time before they travel northbound back home ) behind while i closed up the place. I hope they got home safe and sound. We hope to see the couple again very soon.
Special thanks to Arabelle Jimenez, Nikki Segundo, Selo Cruz, Nitoy Adriano, Ed Evangelista and Bubui's older brother (sorry..don't know the name) for their presence as well.
And so another recharging and fun filled Friday Jam Night is over and done with..thank and praise God! Looking forward to the next time. Hope to see you all again!
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVERYONE! GOD BLESS US ALL!
While the food and drinks were being set, the guys slowly trickled in. Luisa Distor, Marc de Asis, Tinnie Esguerra and Rick Trinidad were the early birds. Pretty soon we had enough musicians to start the jam. And so we did. First batch on stage were house band honchos Tinnie Esguerra on the keyboards and acoustic guitar, Rick Trinidad on bass, Vincent Garrucho on percussions and myself on drums. When guitarist Anton Atengco arrived, the jam warmed up quickly starting with some catchy jazzy tunes with Anton familiarly showcasing his musical wizardry with his insane adlibs and licks on his electric guitar. As expected, the acoustic guitarist complemented the string ensemble to a "T"(innie)..hehe! The bassist did his job while the drummer and percussionist grooved along.
Balik-music room Meg Serranilla shows up and gamely stepped up on stage to join the band, entertaining the crowd with her nifty vocal performance and at times even playing along on the acoustic guitar, something we had not seen her do on her last stint at the music room. Great job Meg!
Soon more musicians arrived. It is always a delight to see Tetel Serra around. With her musical talent and charm, she lights up the stage with her cool vocal renditions of popular tunes while playing the ukulele. A consistent crowd pleaser and an accomplished singer herself, she can be diverse with the songs she can actually sing. A perfect ingredient to the house band indeed.
Next on the list was keyboardist Kiko Montecillo. When Kiko is in the house, you are in for some awesome musical experience. With so many tunes he can play, everything and anything goes. He even put aside the keyboards for awhile and played the guitar on some of the songs requested. And guess what? He proved that he is a great guitar player as well. Definitely a multifaceted guy. Vocalists Tetel, Monchie Henares, Michael Puyat, Marc de Asis, Mark Longos, Meg Serranilla and even Ferlin Hicarte had a field day singing song requests all night. With drummer Bubui Colico catching up later on in the evening, he was able to jam even for a short while with the gang. It was so much fun that despite the late hours, we were still at it. We actually had to stop ourselves from playing because it was already past 5am.
Finally at exactly 5:40am (already daylight), we all packed up and called it a night. I actually had to leave Tetel and Ferlin (who had to stay around and kill more time before they travel northbound back home ) behind while i closed up the place. I hope they got home safe and sound. We hope to see the couple again very soon.Special thanks to Arabelle Jimenez, Nikki Segundo, Selo Cruz, Nitoy Adriano, Ed Evangelista and Bubui's older brother (sorry..don't know the name) for their presence as well.
And so another recharging and fun filled Friday Jam Night is over and done with..thank and praise God! Looking forward to the next time. Hope to see you all again!
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVERYONE! GOD BLESS US ALL!
SEPT. 16, 2016 - FRIDAY JAM UPDATE
Last night turned out to be a special one. It was to be Gabby Villanueva's actual birthday. It wasn't last week, as i had mistakenly declared but yesterday, September 16th. The celebrant surprised me when he walked in the music room early, beaming and with him a big box containing food preparations, drinks and party utensils. It was then when he finally announced that it was in fact his birthday. Hmmm..No wonder he was placid and unresponsive when everyone was greeting him last week. And to think that he had been misjudged that he was stingy about celebrating with us. Shame on us! Happy birthday Gab!
While the food and drinks were being set, the guys slowly trickled in. Luisa Distor, Marc de Asis, Tinnie Esguerra and Rick Trinidad were the early birds. Pretty soon we had enough musicians to start the jam. And so we did. First batch on stage were house band honchos Tinnie Esguerra on the keyboards and acoustic guitar, Rick Trinidad on bass, Vincent Garrucho on percussions and myself on drums. When guitarist Anton Atengco arrived, the jam warmed up quickly starting with some catchy jazzy tunes with Anton familiarly showcasing his musical wizardry with his insane adlibs and licks on his electric guitar. As expected, the acoustic guitarist complemented the string ensemble to a "T"(innie)..hehe! The bassist did his job while the drummer and percussionist grooved along.
Soon more musicians arrived. It is always a delight to see Tetel Serra around. With her musical talent and charm, she lights up the stage with her cool vocal renditions of popular tunes while playing the ukulele. A consistent crowd pleaser and an accomplished singer herself, she can be diverse with the songs she can actually sing. A perfect ingredient to the house band indeed.
Next on the list was keyboardist Kiko Montecillo. When Kiko is in the house, you are in for some awesome musical experience. With so many tunes he can play, everything and anything goes. He even put aside the keyboards for awhile and played the guitar on some of the songs requested. And guess what? He proved that he is a great guitar player as well. Definitely a multifaceted guy.
Vocalists Tetel, Monchie Henares, Michael Puyat, Marc de Asis, Mark Longos, Meg Serranilla and even Ferlin Hicarte had a field day singing song requests all night. With drummer Bubui Colico catching up later on in the evening, he was able to jam even for a short while with the gang. It was so much fun that despite the late hours, we were still at it. We actually had to stop ourselves from playing because it was already past 5am.
Finally at exactly 5:40am (already daylight), we all packed up and called it a night. I actually had to leave Tetel and Ferlin (who had to stay around and kill more time before they travel northbound back home ) behind while i closed up the place. I hope they got home safe and sound. We hope to see the couple again very soon.
Special thanks to Arabelle Jimenez, Nikki Segundo, Selo Cruz, Nitoy Adriano, Ed Evangelista and Bubui's older brother (sorry..don't know the name) for their presence as well.
And so another recharging and fun filled Friday Jam Night is over and done with..thank and praise God! Looking forward to the next time. Hope to see you all again!
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVERYONE! GOD BLESS US ALL!
While the food and drinks were being set, the guys slowly trickled in. Luisa Distor, Marc de Asis, Tinnie Esguerra and Rick Trinidad were the early birds. Pretty soon we had enough musicians to start the jam. And so we did. First batch on stage were house band honchos Tinnie Esguerra on the keyboards and acoustic guitar, Rick Trinidad on bass, Vincent Garrucho on percussions and myself on drums. When guitarist Anton Atengco arrived, the jam warmed up quickly starting with some catchy jazzy tunes with Anton familiarly showcasing his musical wizardry with his insane adlibs and licks on his electric guitar. As expected, the acoustic guitarist complemented the string ensemble to a "T"(innie)..hehe! The bassist did his job while the drummer and percussionist grooved along.
Soon more musicians arrived. It is always a delight to see Tetel Serra around. With her musical talent and charm, she lights up the stage with her cool vocal renditions of popular tunes while playing the ukulele. A consistent crowd pleaser and an accomplished singer herself, she can be diverse with the songs she can actually sing. A perfect ingredient to the house band indeed.
Next on the list was keyboardist Kiko Montecillo. When Kiko is in the house, you are in for some awesome musical experience. With so many tunes he can play, everything and anything goes. He even put aside the keyboards for awhile and played the guitar on some of the songs requested. And guess what? He proved that he is a great guitar player as well. Definitely a multifaceted guy. Vocalists Tetel, Monchie Henares, Michael Puyat, Marc de Asis, Mark Longos, Meg Serranilla and even Ferlin Hicarte had a field day singing song requests all night. With drummer Bubui Colico catching up later on in the evening, he was able to jam even for a short while with the gang. It was so much fun that despite the late hours, we were still at it. We actually had to stop ourselves from playing because it was already past 5am.
Finally at exactly 5:40am (already daylight), we all packed up and called it a night. I actually had to leave Tetel and Ferlin (who had to stay around and kill more time before they travel northbound back home ) behind while i closed up the place. I hope they got home safe and sound. We hope to see the couple again very soon.Special thanks to Arabelle Jimenez, Nikki Segundo, Selo Cruz, Nitoy Adriano, Ed Evangelista and Bubui's older brother (sorry..don't know the name) for their presence as well.
And so another recharging and fun filled Friday Jam Night is over and done with..thank and praise God! Looking forward to the next time. Hope to see you all again!
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVERYONE! GOD BLESS US ALL!
SEPT. 9, 2016 - FRIDAY JAM UPDATE
Last night turned out to be a roller coaster of a ride when a few things had not transpired exactly as planned. A backup Visual Sound Tech CRX-808 powered mixer that was set up to replace our old trusty Peavy XR-1200 mixer (still functional but needing some repair) did not meet expectations after we had tested it. With the sound quality and overall performance short of our liking, we decided to recommision and revert back to our old system instead. We had to stop the jam briefly in between just to hook up the Peavy back in its proper place. Finally functioning as it should, we were back in business...so we thought.
At about midnight, the live music finally resumes with Joko on guitar and Ivo alternating with Rick on bass along with Tinnie on the keyboards and Jj on drums. Soon vocalists Monchie Henares, Marc de Asis and percussionist Vincent Garrucho joined in. When Joko and company left at around 2am and Rick not too long after, we ended up a bit undermanned, but as creative and resourceful as we usually are, still managed and continued to jam.
Believe it or not, after the musicians were already done playing and the night still relatively young at around 3am, (with the prodding of Luisa Distor, Arabelle Jimenez and her friend Lotte who were still around) the room suddenly breathed new life and transformed into a karaoke bar. It was spellbounding, to say the least. Monchie, Vincent and myself gamely ended up taking turns singing our songs of choice of classic OPMs and pop tunes. Uncharacteristically, birthday boy Gab Villanueva, won't be denied and did his share of songs on stage as well. We had never seen Gabby join us on stage much more to sing solo. Such a revelation!
Perhaps, due to so much unforeseen eventualities happening in one night and for whatever other reasons, the group that had stayed till the late hours eventually became so famished that we all so craved for food. We were dying to eat! Finally deciding on some home delivery, the two boxes of sumptuous pizza that was ordered was sufficient and definitely a welcome treat! It was absolutely heaven! With everyone's tank full and satisfied, it was time to call it a night...so be it! It was exactly 5:20am when the gates were finally closed and locked.
And so, that's the Friday night in a nut shell folks! All's well that ends well! Thank and praise God!
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVERYONE! GOD BLESS US ALL!
Saturday, September 3, 2016
SEPT. 2, 2016 - FRIDAY JAM UPDATE
It was great to be back in the music room after a week in absencia having missed last week's jam due to the flu. Feeling almost a 100% except for some minor chest congestion, i was back in the room and in the groove, literally and figuratively. Favorably, the weather last night was good and road conditions and traffic was no issue. It was destined to be another fun night.
Brat Pack vocalist Xtine Mercado, house band honchos Tinnie Esguerra and Rick Trinidad were the first batch to arrive. When they did, the bunch stayed and chilled out a bit in the smoking lounge while i opted to wait inside where it was smoke free. I've never been really too comfortable inhaling second hand smoke much more when i am still nursing a slight cough.
Moments later, a throng of my son Kevin's friends arrived unannounced for a surprise visit after not seeing him since his accident. It was a heartwarming reunion for Kevin as most of his loyal friends just flew in from Cebu specifically to see him. They came excited and well prepared with food and drinks to share just to party with their beloved comrade. Timely my wife Vicky, daughter Nisee, niece Fini, sister-in-laws Tintin and Ana shows up to join them as well.
It was great to see the youngsters enjoying their time and the live entertainment while the house band took full control on center stage. Everything turned out to be perfect and very much worth their while. Among the musicians who joined me were Tinnie Esguerra, Xtine Mercado, Kiko Montecillo, Monchie Henares, Rick Trinidad, Dennis Espiritu, Vincent Garrucho, Michael Puyat, Mar de Asis and Mark Longos. Professional vocalist/guitarist Nick Mangubat was in the house as well. He might not be as regular as he would want to but he surely makes up for it whenever he is around. As always a total performer, Nick wowed the audience with his familiar brand of music, performing a nifty set of tunes along with the band. A few times he would encourage guests to join him on stage. Kevin and some of his friends, in fact, even jammed a few songs with him as well. Good job Nick!
For the finale, it was Kiko's time to shine. As always well equipped with a vast array of tunes in his repertoire, he single handedly provided and delivered most of (if not all) the song requests on the keys thrown at him. Totally a blessing to the house band, Kiko is such an amazingly talented and humble guy. With an equally talented bassist along to back up, Xtine Mercado was the icing on the cake, so to speak. What else can you ask for. Truly a class act!
Special mention to Amar Puyat, Luisa Distor, Selo Cruz, Nikki Segundo and to the rest of Kevin's friends for their presence. You guys definitely complete the cast. More power to you. Hope to see you all again next time.
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVERYONE! GOD BLESS US ALL!
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