World Music
What happens when you bring the gong music of the Southern Philippines and the folkloric rhythms of Afro-Cuba together?
This album continues along the trajectory of collaborations between Chris Trinidad and Bo Razon. This time, Conrad Benedicto, a protege of the late kulintang master Danongan Sibay Kalanduyan, joins along for the ride. Shared folkloric rhythmic motifs between Africa and Cuba converge and collide with the melodic modal materials of the kulintang traditions of the Maguindanao and the Maranao peoples of the Southern Philippines. While there are no known musical bridges between these worlds, we are given an opportunity to re-imagine creative possibilities while respecting their unique origins. The results are exploratory, exciting, and enthralling!
PERSONNEL: Conrad Benedicto: kulintang, dabakan, gandingan, agung; Bo Razon: congas, okonkolo, itotele, iya, achere, saronay, gandingan, agung; Chris Trinidad: babendil, gandingan, agung, clave, sartenes, guataca, guagua, campana; Mario Salomón: bongó, timbal, güiro, chekere; José Sanchez: quinto
GENRES: World Fusion, Kulintang, Afro-Cuban, Percussion
INFLUENCES: Palabuniyan Kulintang Ensemble, Kulintang Dialect, Afrocuba de Matanzas
RELEASE YEAR: 2022
ALBUM CODE: IRK 2022 01
Big band music reclaiming unity and hope through community amidst turbulence, distance, and uncertainty.
The pandemic radically changed music making. Musicians are, to some extent, social creatures, and their need to connect with comrades transferred online. Chris headed into 2021 thinking and feeling that the worst was not yet over, and he yearned to keep the creativity and the camaraderie flowing.
Was it possible to realize an artistic endeavor without even setting foot into the same space? Could we use technology to keep us connected rather than isolated and divided? With
original compositions from Chris Trinidad’s Certain Times (Iridium Records, 2014), Chris went about reconnecting with colleagues across several countries and continents and proposed the idea of a virtual big band with arrangers and players united through technology. The album was recorded in isolation through file sharing across multiple time zones brought together by the desire to make music.
PERSONNEL: Chris Trinidad: bass guitar, Reggie Padilla: saxophones, Jamie Dubberly: trombones, Miguelito Valdes: trumpets and flugelhorns, Evan Francis: flute, Alex Hand: guitars, Christian Tumalan: piano, David Rokeach: drum set, Jose Sanchez: percussion
GENRES: Big Band, Jazz Orchestra, Contemporary Jazz
INFLUENCES: Vancouver Ensemble of Jazz Improvisation (VEJI), Electric Squeezebox Orchestra (ESO), Kenny Wheeler, Gil Evans, Stan Kenton, Woody Herman, Maria Schneider
RELEASE YEAR: 2021
ALBUM CODE: IRK 2021 01
What happens when you bring the gong music of the Southern Philippines and the folkloric rhythms of Afro-Cuba together?
This album continues along the trajectory of collaborations between Chris Trinidad and Bo Razon. This time, Conrad Benedicto, a protege of the late kulintang master Danongan Sibay Kalanduyan, joins along for the ride. Shared folkloric rhythmic motifs between Africa and Cuba converge and collide with the melodic modal materials of the kulintang traditions of the Maguindanao and the Maranao peoples of the Southern Philippines. While there are no known musical bridges between these worlds, we are given an opportunity to re-imagine creative possibilities while respecting their unique origins. The results are exploratory, exciting, and enthralling!
PERSONNEL: Conrad Benedicto: kulintang, dabakan, gandingan, agung; Bo Razon: congas, okonkolo, itotele, iya, achere, saronay, gandingan, agung; Chris Trinidad: babendil, gandingan, agung, clave, sartenes, guataca, guagua, campana; Mario Salomón: bongó, timbal, güiro, chekere; José Sanchez: quinto
GENRES: World Fusion, Kulintang, Afro-Cuban, Percussion
INFLUENCES: Palabuniyan Kulintang Ensemble, Kulintang Dialect, Afrocuba de Matanzas
RELEASE YEAR: 2022
ALBUM CODE: IRK 2022 01