Blowing the blues away

If the footloose Grim Reaper had a favorite song to send him pirouetting on a carpet of petals nipped in the bud, it could be Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World."

It's supposed to be an ode to the bliss of being alive, its lyrics utterly incandescent to our ears. We could have hummed along like we were swelling up until we could burp the rainbow into rising above us. But, alas, its evocation of paradise never fails to impress me as something fitting for a funeral procession.

It could be the cocktail of rust and champagne in Armstrong's voice, as if he were tasting the ache of bearing witness to all things sweet and light, so sharp it could whittle his heart to its breaking point.

Happiness, after all, happens like refrains in a dirge. Pretty much like background accompaniment only to our front acts and its regular repertoire of these little deaths: our anxieties, our disappointments, the jiggle of our jaundiced eyeballs to the sonic boom of our sighs.

In this season that confronts us with a compulsion to be merry--the topic of my recent column at the op-ed page of Sun.Star Cebu--it is unavoidable for the vultures of worries to spread its wings over our heads. In the face of crisis--global, local, and personal--the pursuit of happiness does loom no less than an obstacle course up the paths of Sisyphus.

What does it take to be cheerful? It's the crux of the cinematic genius of Mike Leigh in his latest film, Happy-Go-Lucky, whose chuckle-prone protagonist comes in sunlit contrast to the stripped-to-the-bone depiction of lives exiled into their inner darkness in Naked (so fully embodied by David Thewlis in a bruising performance worthy of the Best Actor prize at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival).

Worth scrutinizing, indeed, how Leigh mines the dynamics of joy without drilling and driving headlong down the borders of escapism. So far, as in most of Leigh's works, those who have seen it are up on their toes in applause. (Click here to read the chorus of rave reviews.)

No less phenomenal is Sally Hawkins whose portrayal has been rewarded with a Best Actress trophy at this year's Berlin Film Festival. She's been coasting along with a wave of wow as critics' circles from New York, Los Angeles, San Fransisco, and Boston cast ripples all the way to the forthcoming Golden Globe and the Oscar awards.

"Let us be grateful to people who make us happy," exclaims Marcel Proust, "they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom." Here's a bouquet, too, for Mike Leigh and Sally Hawkins. See the trailer below:

Jazz and Pinoy pizzazz

Talk about breathtaking talent, and Mon David is an example for the immodest use of exclamation points when describing his performances.

Blown away. That's how I was the first time I witnessed him perform live with another Pinoy jazz royalty Richard Merck in Cebu several years ago. It was just a small bar, but that night paved my fandom for his fantastic vocal chops. When I went to pee at the bar's rest room, imagine his discomfort as I chanced upon him there and immediately grabbed for his handshake even if he had yet to wash his hand after he took a leak. :)

Man, I could have peed in my pants in euphoria over his feat in 2006 when he brought honor to the Philippines and made history--beating 106 vocalists from 27 countries to win the grand prize at the 1st London International Jazz Competition (LIJC).

Knowing how manic I am for his music, my wife made whoopee for me when she unwrapped his album, Life & Times for my birthday two years ago.

Amen, or so I echo Jim Paredes's hossanah for this album: "Life and Times is an album that says a lot about this man whose gift of music is wonderfully extravagant. If talent for music was like water that could be taken from a well, then it’s quite a deep and endless one that this album partakes of. The music is sweet, pure, refreshing, nourishing, and more than satisfies many musical tastes and wants. Mon abundantly serves his listeners a cocktail of many musical genres—ballads, sambas, traditional folk songs with a playful modern twist, and inspirational ones. And he does all this as composer, singer and instrumentalist, producer/visionary.

While the album is a triumph, alas, it is also an endangered one. It is triumphant since in today’s landscape of musical blandness brought about by extreme commercialism, the integrity, freshness and vibrancy of Life and Times easily towers above the musical flatlands of this new millennium. Endangered because no such albums are created now—albums with heart, albums which refuse to be shackled by the tyrants which most music artists these days kneel and bow to, such as sales reports, radio trends, and other ‘business ‘ considerations. To put it as simply as I can, it’s an album made by one who breathes, lives and loves music in all aspects and wishes to express it in the way it moves him."

For someone like me who wears regional pride and Cebuano heritage on my sleeve, it's also inspiring to know that Mon David takes it as his crusade to champion and preserve his rich, albeit endangered Kapampangan language through his art.

That said, and since Christmas is near, here's another cue for my wife or whoever wants to play Santa for old fogey me. Mon's My One and Only Love album would be a blast of a gift, yes.

Here's a video of Mon David peforming at the 3rd Annual Fil-Am Jazz Festival to remind us that jazz runs in our blood:



A footnote to tap my toes along: Another musical conquest has just proven that the Pinoy flair for a class act in the world of jazz is no fluke. Raised in Chicago, Jon Irabagon recently became the first Filipino to win the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition, dubbed as the most prestigious of its kind. Irabagon won a $20,000 scholarship and a record contract with Concord Music Group, one of the leading jazz labels in the US.

Bitaw, bay, di gyod paiwit ang Pinoy!