Tuesday, September 01, 2009

JOHNNY ALEGRE 3




One of the country’s jazz prodigies is back with an album that hoists Filipino talent with his beautifully crafted and skillfully mastered jazz arrangements. A world-class and wholly satisfying jazz opus entitled “JOHNNY ALEGRE 3” is a firm mark of what a genuine artist is in his truest essence – meticulously incorporating different musical styles to produce a wonderful jazz masterpiece.

Recorded in New York, this beautiful album features nine exceptional tracks, which Johnny Alegre performs brilliantly.

Compositions by Alegre such as “Wildflower”, “Offering”, “From Long Ago”, “Theme from Humanfolk” and more harnesses energy and spontaneity that crosses international borders by his collaboration with international jazz legends Billy Hart and Ron McClure.

Expect nothing but stellar performances and riveting melodies by our very own Filipino talent, in collaboration with two international jazz legends! Truly, this is a global breakthrough for the Philippine guitarist-composer --and a treat, both for local and international listeners! Johnny Alegre is a jazz journeyman and unique recording artist. His pioneering projects have contributed meaningfully towards bringing an emergent Asian milieu to the attention of musical audiences local and foreign, defying barriers of genre, demographics and cultural stereotypes. Alegre’s involvement in the Philippine scene encompasses scores of bands and recording projects, spanning more than three decades of history and discography, starting from his roots in seminal “pinoy rock” in the 1970s, his early sorties as an award-winning OPM (Original Pilipino Music) producer in the mid-80s, and the epiphany into modern jazz in the recent years.

In his various capacities as composer-arranger, record producer and performing musician, his protean roles have been none short of forward-looking. Johnny Alegre formed what effectively became Manila’s premier jazz collective, AFFINITY, that caught the attention of the London-based jazz specialty label, Candid Records. Their first eponymous album was released in the Philippines in mid-2005, and subsequently re-released in the U.K. as “Jazzhound”. In 2008, Alegre released “Eastern Skies”, an orchestral jazz collaboration with conductor Gerard Salonga. It was his response to the clamor for even more innovative music from “Manila’s jazz superband”. In pursuit of these encouragements, 2009 is the year of “3”, Alegre’s third outing: a U.S. trio recording of the guitarist-composer joined by two masters of the jazz genre, Billy Hart (drums) and Ron McClure (bass). This third release also marks his migration to his new home and record label, MCA MUSIC (Philippines) of the Universal Music Group.

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