Jam at Pete's Place - April 28, 2017 - Love Will Keep Us Alive

APRIL 28, 2017 - FRIDAY JAM UPDATE & PHOTOS

It was a hot and humid Friday night starting off a 4-day long weekend due to the ASEAN Summit conference hosted in Manila and then Labor Day on Monday. Some of the music room regulars took advantage of the long break and left for the province but some just opted to stay put in Manila. Because of this, i was actually uncertain on how the turnout of musicians would be and who will eventually show up. But one thing for sure, whatever the outcome, the much anticipated Friday jam will definitely go on unscathed.

I had decided to prepare a bit earlier than usual and was all set and ready for action minutes before 8pm. It was indeed timely as childhood friends from Nichols Air Base unexpectedly arrived. It was great to see Red and Portia Aquino and their daughter Caroline back in the music room. The Macao based couple are in town and just flew in from Boracay where they took a well deserved respite since Sunday. Minutes later, Julius and Sharon de Leon made an appearance as well. As always a thrill and exciting to see good old friends back in room.

We did have a respectable number of musicians who made it to the jam. Among them were bassist Rick Trinidad, guitarists Nitoy Adriano, Anton Atengco and Joaco Marco, keyboardists Tinnie Esguerra and Kiko Montecillo, percussionists Vincent Garrucho and Dante Bosch and vocalist Michael Puyat. Balik-music room pioneer and vocalist Tony Tirol also joined in and made an accounting of himself, as well, to complete the cast.

With no official drummer around, I had no choice but to take over the chore practically all night. It was only before closing time that i had my chance to play bass. In fact I was too preoccupied that i had no chance to take videos. I had to prod some guests to do so on a few random occasions while i was busy jamming on stage. And even so, the videos shot were already at past 4am. Even the photos i took do not give justice in revealing the crowd who actually made it to the gathering. My apologies please.

For starters, we played a few catchy instrumental tunes as a trio featuring Anton on guitar, Rick on bass and myself on drums. It is always a thrill and a pleasure to jam with the great Anton. But then, just as the other musicians joined in, the jam dragged and became a bit gawky as we lost our momentum altogether while spending more time learning and going through songs over and over. It was no fun at all. In my peripheral vision, i even saw Nitoy almost falling asleep while waiting to play. Already impatient, he just laid aside his guitar and walked lazily off stage. Honestly, I was also about to myself…hahaha! To make a long story short, we eventually fell short of entertaining. It was just one of those days. Surely we can do better next time...C'est la vie.

Thank God for the Catman. Better late than never, it was keyboard lord Kiko, who finally saved the day for us. At this time some of the jammers had already left. As usual, Kiko’s wide array of tunes livened up the crowd and subsequently the jam in general, as well. At this point Rick has had his fill and switched places with me so that I could play bass while he in turn played drums. However, after a few tunes he vacated his post. Good thing, Vincent and Dante were still on board on percussions while Michael “Mr. Showman” Puyat took over the vocal chores. This went on for a few more productive hours.

Finally, at exactly 5am it was time to pack up. The room was finally empty and the gates locked at exactly 5:20am. All’s well that ends well! Praise be to God!

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVERYONE! GOD BLESS US ALL!

Jam at Pete's Place - April 1, 2017 (All Blues)

APRIL 21, 2017 - FRIDAY JAM UPDATE & PHOTOS

Despite the crippling road conditions lurking all around the metropolis, no impediment or stumbling block in existence could possibly spoil the fun and novelty of our regular Friday jam. A week’s layoff seemed too long to bear for most of us. We were bound to bounce back and make up for it.

In fact, days before the jam, the house band was already in touch, communicating and planning on what to accomplish. A list of new songs to learn was the main agenda. It was definitely a welcome development not only for myself but for everyone. Having not done this for months, it was about time we did.

Having some invited guests over to accommodate, we knew that if we could squeeze in some serious time to study even just a song or two, it would already suffice. And so we did. Kudos to all the musicians who made it possible.

It was good to see the band complete with most of the key personalities, and then some, on board to perform. Guitarists Tinnie Esguerra, Joaco Marco, teen prodigy Joko Reantaso, Chef Phillippe Agnese and balik music room Dolf Cruz, bassists Dennis Espiritu and Rick Trinidad, keyboardists Pecky Casuela, Kiko Montecillo, and (Tinnie Esguerra too), drummer Bubui Colico, percussionists Vincent Garrucho and balik-music room Dante Bosch of “Pinikpikan” and vocalists Monchie Henares, Michael Puyat and Maxine Garrucho were all in the house to share their talents. Great line-up indeed.

With last night’s awesome turnout, i actually had no qualms at all if I find myself having limited or no stage time as long as i see the band intact. Apart from being a host, my main role is really to be a stand in. That is, to fill in the void whenever it is necessary. A reliever of sorts. After all, seeing the line-up complete and then watching them carry out a good performance already gives me so much gratification, to say the least. I can then concentrate on taking photos and videos to share to all of you.

Special thanks to all the other guests who showed up: Arabelle Jimenez, Luisa Distor, Jay Reantaso, Gabby Villanueva, Lynette Antonio, Tristan Bael, Nikki Segundo, Ed Diano and to all the others who were present that I had failed to mention. Thank you all.

Next week, we look forward to more surprise musicians dropping by to jam. Also, i hope that the new keyboardist that was recently endorsed to me will finally show up so that we can meet and try him out. Who knows, he might also end up as a regular. The more the merrier. I will reveal the name as soon as this person makes an appearance, if at all he does. We’ll keep you guys posted on that one.

And so that’s how it went at the jam last night. I thank and praise God for another wonderful evening. See you all next week!

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVERYONE! GOD BLESS US ALL!

Jam at Pete's Place - April 7, 2017 - Monchie Henares (Misty)

APRIL 7, 2017 – FRIDAY JAM UPDATE & PHOTOS

From dismal to epic was a better description to last night’s story. Totally in contrast to the previous jam, quite obviously. This week was an abundance. Not only expressive of quantity but quality as well. An excellent comeback from the past week's humble show

For starters, the early guests were given an entertaining dose of Michael Puyat’s Friday night hoopla “Anything Goes 101" with his charming and supportive wife Amar along with his guitarist Larby dela Cruz and percussionist Vincent Garrucho but via the music room instead of its regular High Flask Bar, Alabang venue. Apparently, their gig was cancelled to give way to an exclusive event happening that night. But life goes on for these talented, vibrant and energetic bunch. There was always Pete’s Place to run and go home to. The Friday show must definitely happen for them as scheduled. And so it did.

Accomplished and seasoned musician and entrepreneur Wowee Posadas was our special guest for the evening. Praise God, i finally had the opportunity to shake his hand and personally thank him for allowing us exclusive rights to use his famed and illustrious bar, 19th East, on my son’s successful fund raiser event held some months ago. I am eternally grateful to him for his unwavering support. God bless his kind soul. 

Masterful keyboardist Atty. Pecky Casuela was in the house too. His timely invitation was the very reason for Wowee’s welcome appearance. As always fun to jam with, Pecky’s inimitable presence and song line-up is always a joy to play and experience. Welcome back to the music room Pecky. Hope to see you again soon.

Among the other exciting musicians present were drummer Bubui Colico, Bassists Dennis Espiritu and Rick Trinidad, vocalist Monchie Henares, fly boy lead guitarist Loren Orendain and veteran guitarist Joaco Marco.

Much later, house band honcho Tinnie Esguerra finally arrives at around 1:45am while keyboard lord Kiko Montecillo at past 3am. With these two geniuses around, how can you possibly fail.   

The jam was totally awesome and exhilarating to say the least, and never seemed to want to end with the guys still pumped up with adrenaline, reluctant to step down, even if it was already way past 5am. We knew we had to end some time. And so, alas, it finally came to pass at a quarter to six. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

Special thanks to my high school batch mates Jun Bediones and Selo Cruz, to Ed Diano, Nikki Segundo, Tristan Bael and Girrard Jison for their presence. Always good to see these guys around.

ANNOUNCEMENT: In observance of the Lenten season, there will be NO FRIDAY JAM NIGHT next week (April 14, 2017). We will resume the week after on April 21st. I hope to see you all then.

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVERYONE! GOD BLESS US ALL!

Jam at Pete's Place - March 31, 2017 - Nando Alberto (Can't Find My Way Home)

MARCH 31, 2017 – FRIDAY JAM UPDATE & PHOTOS

During our regular Friday jams, you can never really predict at a 100% what is to occur. Despite some perceived ideas on what you had thought will transpire, there will always be twists and turns along the way. Not exactly what you had initially envisioned will surely happen but certainly will be as gratifying and joyful as ever, if not a lot more. 

And as I had earlier suspected, my hunch that Flyboy and guitarist Loren Orendain would eventually show up to jam indeed materialized. But not specifically to try out his newly acquired 10 watt mini Marshall amp, which I earlier assumed to be the very reason. Apparently, it was after discovering an oversight on flight schedules that he had earlier overlooked decided to drop by instead. Little did we know that he was, in fact, destined to be commissioned as the main man for the evening’s jam.

Despite my presumption, strangely enough some key regular musicians did not make it over. Hell or high water, the show must go on. After all, I would’ve preferred a good attendance by the house band as there were expected special guests scheduled to join in…so I thought.

Having limited songs in his arsenal, particularly the ones that the house band occasionally plays, classic rock and blues lead guitarist Loren had entirely taken the cuddles as rhythm section without the other regular guys around. Being undermanned, I had to alternately play the drums and then the bass to cover for drummer Bubui Colico before he arrived and bassist Rick Trinidad when he left. We just had to improvise, that’s all. Life goes on.

Balik-music room Nando Alberto and his sister Mayette Alberto–Clemente did show up, as promised, but arrived without their supposedly invited guests who had backed out at the last minute. As Nando had said in jest when I asked,…“I guess they chickened out”. Nonetheless, it was still great to see Nando and Mayette back in the room. 

Not to be deprived, the siblings got what they specifically came for, that is to have fun full band or not. Not wasting any time, talented singer Mayette got up on stage, joined in and did some nifty vocals. Mayette is a natural and has a good musician’s ear. A role player as she is, she managed to feel in the blanks, so to speak, despite the band’s lackluster line-up. Similarly, Nando himself had his stage time singing some rock classics that Loren had in his familiar repertoire. Good job guys! Power couple Michael and Amar Puyat arrived late along with house band percussionist Vincent Garrucho and their good friend Roger Limjoco. Coming from another gig engagement in Alabang, the stage breathed new life when they showed up. Suddenly the place became a pseudo comedy bar. The impromptu, witty and comedic style of entertainment performed by Michael and house band vocalist Monchie Henares was so totally hilarious that I was practically in tears with laughter while playing bass. What a crazy bunch of guys they are! Loved every minute of it. 

When Loren left, the band was totally crippled having only the bass, drums, percussion and singers on stage. Too early to stop, the jam persisted despite the handicap. Believe it or not, it turned out to be the highlight of the evening. You just have to be creative.What made the festivity even more special was the surprise visit of music room old timers Jeff Tan and Tony Tirol, both I had seen for more than 25 years. Truly a sight for sore eyes seeing these two. Welcome back to the music room guys!

Special thanks to Arabelle Jimenez for always taking charge of the camera and making sure that everything was well covered and to Nikki Segundo for his valuable presence. Godspeed to you both! 

As so that’s how the cookie crumbled for last night’s Friday Jam. As the familiar saying goes from one absentee band mate, "it’s not in the quantity but the quality".
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVERYONE! GOD BLESS US ALL!