Jazz Returns to Ayala Museum!

This October and November at Ayala Museum, soak in familiar Pinoy pop songs and folk tunes played with a jazz twist, as Filipinas Heritage Library (FHL), in partnership with Purefoods Deli, presents “Jeepney Jazz: Indigenous Legacies.”

Listeners of Jeepney Jazz will discover the country’s hidden jazz tradition, which spans more than a century, from when American marching bands began playing on our shores to the era of jazz innovation by Filipino musicians and composers such as Angel Matias Peña and Bob Aves, explain FHL’s John Labella and Katrice Jalbuena.

On October 13, leading jazz group Project 201 will showcase original jazz arrangements of folk music as well as of Filipino pop songs like “Raining in Manila.” Formed in 2017 by saxophonist Mike Guevarra, Project 201 comprises young musicians from the University of Santo Tomas and University of the Philippines.

Then join the Jeepney Jazz session on October 28, where Dan Gil and Bituin Escalante will debut the original jazz musical New York, Cubao, followed by the third session on November 17, with guitarist and composer Johnny Alegre and HUMANFOLK, as their indigenous gongs add innovative texture to the big-band sound to capture Manila’s urban soundscape.

For info and discounted tickets for Ayala group employees, visit Filipinas Heritage Library | Jeepney Jazz: Indigenous Legacies (filipinaslibrary.org.ph)

As a prelude to the curated jazz evenings, vocalist and jazz festival organizer Sandra Lim-Viray and jazz historian and drummer Richie Quirino traced the history of Philippine Jazz on September 29; view the recording on the Filipinas Heritage Library’s Facebook page.