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My Journal / Sep-Dec 2004
A Christmas Gift, Non-Stop tour, David Matthews Quintet |
The holiday season between Christmas and New Year has always been a time of joy and happiness for me, and I've had my share .... with all the blessings I have received from last year alone, it was a pleasure to give something back to the community. Wonderful expressions of love have been exchanged and it was great to have an opportunity to share once more the gift of music on the 4th annual presentation of “A Christmas Gift 2004”. On behalf of Because We Care Foundation, I would like to thank all those kind spirited friends who have supported us to make this concert a great success.
Preparing this Christmas concert was truly a labor of love for most of the participants, the Nishimachi International School Chorus, the Ensemble Laudatio classic group, guitarist Koshiro Iwatani, Rex Angeles with the Fruits of the Spirit and all the members of the Voice Club. Their wonderful performance on stage and their great efforts made possible the concert's big turnout and ticket sales.
 Funds will go directly to donations to our beneficiaries this year, the Little Angels Orphanage and the Couples for Christ-Gawad Kalinga, both institutions based in the Philippines, that work to help uplift the lives of orphaned and poor children. Part of the proceeds were also donated to the victims of the Niigata earthquakes. In the midst of all this, the heart of humanity is heavy today with the devastating news from the tsunami disaster and we are concerned about more problems to the millions of people affected. 2005 came in with mixed emotions of hope, change and uncertainty..... and as we move into the new year, we can only continue to pray and come together as a people, to provide help to those in need.
There's a lot to be thankful for the past year. 2004 was a busy year especially after the release of my CD “Non- Stop to Brazil”, I was moving non - stop. I went on tour through the final quarter of the year to promote the album taking along with me my Brazilian friends Paulo Gomez on piano/keyboards and Francis Silva on percussion together with one of the finest guitarists specializing in Brazilian music, Kazuhiko Obata. I have played several gigs with just Paulo and Obata san before, they are such a great combination. But this time, Francis, a master of the pandero (tambourine) added passionate Latin rhythm and color to the music.
We toured around Aomori Prefecture where we played in different venues, one of them was inside a cinema theater in Kashiwa Village, which turned out to be a great acoustical experience. Our next surprise was playing inside a traditional Japanese storage house, not only was the sound great, the audience were so warm and receptive, everyone's spirits lifted. It was situated in the center of komise of Kuroishi City, a traditional street where houses' and stores' elongated wooden eaves serve as a shopping arcade, which protect pedestrians from snowstorms in winter and harsh sunlight in summer. It is a national cultural heritage site, a sake brewery and stores line along the street, all of which testify to rich ancestral wisdom.
Another highlight for me in late September was my performance with Benny Powell's Sextet at Tokyo TUC. Best known for his 12 year tenure with Count Basie, and for his eight-bar contribution to the Count's all-time hit, “April in Paris”. He's played with just about everyone. His discography is a virtual history of jazz over the last 50 years. Beginning his seventh decade, trombonist Benny Powell is finally receiving the recognition he deserves. Such a versatile and accomplished player, it was a great honor for me to work with this great legend.
 In October, I invited over my good friend Jeremy Monteiro (pianist, vocalist) from Singapore to perform with me here in Tokyo. Dubbed as “Singapore's King of Swing”, he has won critical acclaim in many parts of the world. We first worked together as members of the Asian Jazz All Stars headed by Terumasa Hino, we toured North America and Asia. With us was Belinda Moody (jazz bassist and composer) from Australia who has gained much international experience living at home and abroad over the past 20 years. Those home bases have included Melbourne, Amsterdam, Singapore and since 2003, Tokyo. She is the first female bassist, among a few, I ever worked with. We were joined by three of the strongest drummers around, Cecil Monroe, Junji Hirose and Tamaya Honda, in separate venues. Music when performed by artists of their caliber can be so very moving and emotionally powerful.
I spent a good part of November in Manitoba, Canada for a family affair, after which I flew to Minneapolis to join my sister who lives there and checked the jazz scene. One of the premier jazz clubs in the country is the Dakota jazz club and restaurant, a great place to catch the established jazz greats as well as the rising stars of jazz. I sat in with the local group performing that night and immediately enjoyed great rapport with both band and the audience. The room is a prefect blend of warmth, space, and acoustics. I am looking forward to singing there sometime soon.
December was the busiest month of all. With the preparations for the charity concert, rehearsals, meetings, workshop and gigs made me juggle with time. Working hard for its' success somehow gave me the much needed strength and I was able to make it except for when my voice gave out entirely on the day of the concert. I realized I drove myself too hard without taking notice of the physical pressures it did to me. Happily, I did not feel any disappointment at all even if I could not sing, which was unusual, after seeing the faces of my students singing their hearts out while I conducted. And together with all the performers, we shared our love of music enabling us to deliver our message.
 As mentioned earlier, I dedicated a whole lot of time promoting my Brazilian album at most of my gigs. I did several Christmas shows in Hamamatsu, Kira and Nagoya. I was also able to join the Jazz Lab Orchestra for a night of big band sounds, that was truly exhilirating! My show at Body & Soul this year was made memorable with the presence of my old time friend, bassist Yosuke Inoue, who has returned from New York after a 13-year stay there. Our music was special and nostalgic that night with Manabu Oishi on piano and Junji Hirose on drums.
Another December highlight was my stint with the David Matthews Quintet at a dinner show at the Capitol Tokyu Hotel. Even today, it is still hard to believe that the David Matthews who worked as arranger/conductor/musical director for funk legend James Brown in the early Seventies is the same David Matthews now very famous in Japan as the leader of the best-selling and poll-winners ensembles Manhattan Jazz Quintet and Manhattan Jazz Orchestra. Both groups recorded extensively in the Eighties on King Records, for which Matthews also worked as co-producer on albums led by Steve Gadd, Michel Camilo, and MJQ mates Lew Soloff and George Young, helping to increase their popularity in the Japanese jazz scene.
It wasn't the first time for me to play with David Matthews, we've worked together for another dinner show years ago. This was the first time with the quintet and it was a night to remember especially with Lew Soloff, soloing and adlibbing by my side. In a word, fantastic!
By the time you read this I will have received Swing Journal's 2004 Jazz disc Awards for best vocal awards for my work on Non-Stop to Brazil. I take this opportunity to thank once again all of you who supported my music. Whew! what a way to start the year!
May you have a good one! Let's make all our dreams happen!
Charito
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