Hours after midnight, a super typhoon considered to be the strongest cyclone in the world so far this year, had made landfall at our northern shores. Fierce winds and heavy rain battered northern Luzon hours before dawn on Saturday, September 15, after Typhoon Ompong (Mangkhut) made its entry in Baggao, Cagayan at 1:40 am causing havoc and destruction on its path. Metro Manila was not a direct hit but was still under storm signal # 1, which means that we will still be experiencing winds of about 30-60kph and moderate to occasional rains (frankly, i felt last night’s winds was stronger). Notwithstanding and with no hesitation, i decided to push through and go on with our regular Friday Night Jam.
Anticipating a slow and somber night due to the inclement weather, i was surprised to see a big turnout of guests and musicians showing up. International flyboys Capts. Loren Orendain and Bobbit Uson were back in the room to jam, likely having more free time with no flight schedule or their flights being cancelled. House band honchos Rick Trinidad, Joaco Marco, Monchie Henares and Kiko Montecillo were in the house as well. Incidentally, childhood friend and music room pioneer Red Aquino, who is based in Macau, came straight from the airport to join us. Unsurprisingly, the younger generation ended up still outnumbering the more elder and veteran musicians last night. It was only later on when my wife Vicky’s siblings and friends joined in, did it evened out. But when the oldies left, it was mostly the kids in dominion of the whole place, except for Rick who stayed till closing time.
The jam was purely a conglomeration of the young and the old. It was no surprise that with that set up and unfamiliarity, there will be minimal structured songs we can eventually play. As expected, the jam was mostly endless repetitive crazy chord progressions with each taking turns in soloing that seemed to last forever. It was only when keyboardist Kiko Montecillo joined in that we were able to play some actual songs. I surely miss the Magic Hour days when we could really jam decent songs till the wee hours of the morning.
At way past midnight, more youngsters arrived. Some of them joined in the jam and some just settled to watch. By this time the weather outside had deteriorated with more rains and gusty winds but not enough to spoil the fun. When you are actually in the room, you literally are detached from the outside world. If you had already been here, you already know what I mean. There is no trace of what is happening beyond its doors. You can’t even tell if there is sunlight outside. Pardon the pun, but as the song goes..”It’s a whole new world…” (worst joke ever..*facepalm) hahaha!
The jam was non-stop and relentless all night long but had to declare a cut-off time at 4am as it would’ve probably persisted till sunrise. After the jam, some still lingered longer at the smoking area while i was inside tidying up the room. Rick volunteered to take charge of watching over the rest and then to lock up right after. That was my queu to make my French exit. Time for a shut eye for me.
Thanks to everyone who came and braved the weather just to come to the Friday jam. The turnout was tremendous. In closing, please allow me to encourage everyone to join me in prayer for the millions who had been affected by the devastating typhoon. You are all in our prayers.
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVERYONE! GOD BLESS US ALL!
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