Take Me Out of the Dark Sana Maulit Muli Could You Be Messiah More and More Each Passing Night Wag Mo Na Sanang ISipin Shout 4 Joy Di Bale Na Lang What More Can I Say? Until Then Laughter All The Time Look In Her Eyes Eto Na Naman Victory Beyond Words At first glance, a project entitled Beyond Words: The Music of Gary V without Gary V’s vocals--and some might extend that to include visuals of his live and highly charged performances—might be seen by some as inappropriately named. What is the music of Gary V, people might ask, without the man himself, and his deeply internalized message that straddles a number of arbitrarily set musical categories and yet falls safely into none? It’s a question Gary Valenciano himself might have been asking on this unique project, as he lent his songs old and new to arrangers.and musicians from all bands of the musical spectrum, for them to dig past the art of the performer and into the heart of his compositions. Put another way, what is the song without such a visible singer? And so we have songs that have been launched from studio recording sessions, and forged into public consciousness in Gary V’s live performances, now striving for a measure of timelessness as artists and arrangers look for the music behind the songs. The album that emerges from all this soul-searching is an intriguing grab bag of treatments and textures, from classical pianist Raul Sunico’s solo rendition of Could You Be Messiah to London-based DJ Shytown’s (Chris Hough) rave dance remix of Look in Her Eyes, with just about everything in between, including: · Colby de la Calzada’s fretless bass guitar and Mel Villena’s blues harp taking turns drawing the melodic lines of Villena’s world-beat arrangement of Laughter All the Time, which is underpinned by C. J. Wasu on tabla and Punnu Wasu’s chanting · Pop-funksters Parliament Syndicate giving Shout 4 Joy an uptown, hip-hop feel, carried by their horn section of Ike Dy-Liaco and Ruel Cabrera, Kim Lesaca’s chugging bass, and a rap couplet by Judith Alegarbes · Trombonist Roni Marqueses slinking his way through Mon Espia’s samba-flavored treatment of Each Passing Night, with Espia providing vocal embellishment in unison with Marqueses’ trombone · Cellist Renato Lucas carrying the melody in Brian Cua’s electronica-tinged, soft-pop arrangement of Sana Maulit Muli · Vocalists Mon Faustino and Zebedee Zuñiga providing an a capella treatment of Eto Na Naman, complete with 52 tracks of intricate harmonies and vocal percussive effects · Cesar Aguas and Noel Mendez doing a quietly tasteful acoustic-guitar duet on More and More · Classical flautist Tony Maigue going to town on Jay Durias’ (of South Border) faux-jazz arrangement of ‘Di Bale Na Lang · Señor Eddie Katindig pounding the vibes on Romy Posadas’ Latin-jazz arrangement of ‘Wag Mo Na Sanang Isipin · Violinist Jay Cayuca leading an ensemble of piano and string quartet through Arnold Lucas’ classical take on Take Me Out of the Dark · Alto saxophonist Tots Tolentino weaving through Elhmir Saison’s pop-jazz treatment of Until Then · Jazz trumpeter Terry Undag switching to the rounder, softer tone of flugelhorn for What More Can I Say · Gary V himself playing keyboards on his own hitherto-unrecorded composition Victory, a symphonic, anthemic romp with guests Perf de Castro on appropriately squalling guitars and LA-based Mike Shapiro on thundering drums Those familiar with the songs of Gary V as performed by the man himself may find these new renditions of his best-known pieces an interesting companion to his own albums, while those not quite as familiar may find this collection an interesting place to start their own exploration. - Bill Huang |
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