The promoter sounded worried. She was texting us about the Macklemore concert, saying that she hopes tickets would move a little faster. That was a week before the gig.

 

At 10 p.m. on concert day, a sizable crowd filled the courtside, lower and upper box sections of the SM Mall of Asia Arena. Pandemonium broke out as soon as Macklemore, Ryan Lewis and their crew of dancers and live band got onstage.

 

Hip-hop sounded better with a live backup, even if the horn players didn’t really push the music to wondrous heights, but nonetheless fired up everyone.

 

Macklemore could go on and on like a preacher and not bore the audience, because a dynamic relationship has been established through the artist’s songs and videos, which tackle refreshingly new themes.

 

That is why we believe rap is still the most dynamic music genre today.

 

Vibrant

 

But jazz fans need not feel insecure, just because rap is all the rage worldwide. That’s what the emcee at the finale show of the Philippine International Jazz Festival (Pijazzfest), held recently at Sofitel Philippine Plaza, should have avoided saying; instead he kept harping on the need to preserve and patronize jazz because hip-hop has become the current music of choice.

 

The reality is, jazz, which used to be the pop music of prewar years, has now settled down with an elite crowd, and that’s not bad. It only means that the music being created by jazz artists is not for today’s mass (read: baduy) audience.

 

The crowd that watched John McLaughlin and the 4th Dimension at Sofitel was small but mostly composed of exceptional Filipino musicians—who knew that this was one rare occasion they could not miss.

 

The gig looked like a master class in appreciating the marriage of jazz and rock, aka fusion, which had long been considered passe, but which sounded so compelling and vibrant, enhanced by the mix of Indian classical music.

 

Jazz-funk

 

Another gig at another hotel, Solaire Resort and Casino, featured the jazz-funk group Incognito. Surprisingly there was a bigger crowd at the Solaire grand ballroom, compared to previous jazz shows held at the same venue.

 

That’s because Incognito’s music made people dance—which was what happened just a few minutes into the band’s performance. What bothered us a bit was the show’s audio mix, which sounded cluttered and tiring to the ears.

 

Energizing

 

In contrast, a not-too-publicized show featuring smooth jazz guitarist Peter White at SM Aura Premier’s Samsung Hall had a balanced, energizing audio level.

 

White’s ear-pleasing material of originals and covers, including an instrumental version of “Could It Be I’m Falling in Love,” got us grooving like a wide-eyed high school kid on a night out for the first time with the object of our affection.

 

White is an exciting performer even at age 59—jumping around with mocking humor while enjoying the vibe set off by his music.

 

The crowd loved every minute of it, especially since White was joined by another talented musician, saxophonist Michael Paulo.

 

Exuberant

 

Paulo, a Filipino-American based in Hawaii, was the moving force at a recent benefit gig for Super Typhoon “Yolanda” survivors, with over 60 international and local acts performing at MOA Arena.

 

Best known for having been a member of Al Jarreau’s touring band in the 1980s, Paulo demonstrated an exuberant style of sax-playing which infused much energy into his jam numbers with David Benoit and David Pack.

 

We don’t think the concert raised a lot of money for the beneficiaries, judging from the sparse crowd. But here’s hoping promoter Ed Bitanga will do more gigs with proper planning, so that things won’t go to waste.

 

In any case, we raise our glass to such superb performances.