WE’RE glad to hear from The Jazz Society of the Philippines, USA that a Filipino-American, Jon Irabagon, has just won the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition.
Jon, said to be the first Filipino to win this competition that is ranked no. 1 in the world in terms of prestige, won a $20,000 scholarship and a record contract with Concord Music Group, one of the leading jazz labels in the US.
Raised in Chicago, Jon has been playing the saxophone since he was eight years old. He cinched his historic victory at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. We can’t wait to watch the new FilAm pride — he will perform at the 4th Annual Filipino-American Jazz Festival at the Catalina Bar & Grill, also in Hollywood, on December 27.
OUR interviews over the years with Fil-Am actor Alec Mapa, whether by e-mail or in person, have always been laugh riots. At the pre-show reception of the recent Filipino American Library’s “Jazzmopolitan: A Celebration of Music” at the Aratani Theatre in LA’s Little Tokyo, we were just shooting the breeze with the star of “Ugly Betty,” many TV shows, films and stage productions when our colleague, Peter Gonzaga, turned on his video camera and mike. The resulting video clip is just a sample of the sassy wit of Alec, whom my wife Janet and I admired since we first saw him in his acclaimed monologue, “I Remember Mapa.”
Alec came on time to the event which raised funds for the laudable Filipino American Library (FAL), which is located in the historic Filipinotown of LA. The actor, who is committed to various charities and foundations, was going to be awarded FAL’s Role Model Award.
Well, many hours and several glasses of wine later, and after terrific performances by Becca Godinez, Mon David, Charmaine Clamor, Three of a Kind, Tateng Katindig, Michael and Rene Paulo, Alec finally got to go onstage and accept his award. Alec’s hair has gone askew and despite having the tough task of delivering an acceptance speech after those excellent musical numbers, he still managed to entertain the crowd and keep the momentum. Toward the end, he invoked his favorite anecdote about how his mother, now deceased, motivated him when he was just starting in show business and was not making headway. “What’s stopping you?” Alec’s mother asked him. That made him pause. Nothing has stopped Alec since then.
ON my drive away from the Greek Theatre where my wife and I just watched our kababayan Arnel Pineda and his Journey bandmates stage the first of two very successful shows in LA, I stopped by a gas station.
As I pumped gas into our car, a young white woman approached me and asked if I just came from the concert. When I said yes, the woman said she watched the show too. Then she peppered me with questions, the gist of which boiled to one thing: she wondered if the many Filipinos who trooped to the Greek Theatre that Sunday evening knew the songs of Journey.
Although the lady said she knew that Neal Schon first saw Arnel when the former came across a video clip of Arnel singing a Journey hit on YouTube (back when he was doing Journey tribute songs in the Philippines), she appeared baffled that people in the Philippines know Journey. I told her that I was familiar with those Journey anthems in the 1980s. She asked me if I was born in the US or in the Philippines. I said I was born and raised in the Philippines and I was back home when I first heard those Journey tunes.
(Editor’s note: Here’s one of the video clips on YouTube that perhaps got Journey’s attention.)
I gave her the benefit of the doubt — the woman appeared to be simply ignorant about the Philippines. Having come from the concert where she must have been struck by the presence of so many Filipinos, she was now very curious about Filipinos and the Philippines. She said, “It was nice to meet you” and walked back to her friend.
