Old and new sounds from Asciano

The name Asciano was probably inspired by the fact that the group is made up entirely of Asians. Topher Cailao on vocals and acoustic guitar, Butch Montejo on vocals and percussion, Al Cobarrubia on bass and backing vocals, Boyet Puro on electric and nylon guitars and backing vocals, Teddy Tipon on drums, trumpet and flugelhorn, Tony Casil on keyboard and Aldos Ramento on second percussion. In fact, unless any of them holds another citizenship in a foreign country, Asciano is definitely a band made up of Filipino musicians.

Nothing is indicative of such in the band’s first album release titled In My Dreams. All of the contents and most especially, Asciano’s approach to the materials are without doubt, Western. The whole repertoire is in English save for one cut, En Mis Sueno, which translates into the album’s title song, which is partly in Spanish. Hints of western rhythms like R&B, reggae, funk and acid jazz are found everywhere. And though I have yet to see the group perform live, I can already imagine that the act will look Asian but will surely be Western sounding.

At a time when Filipino pop music is fast losing its identity as more and more musicians take on Western styles, I see Asciano’s lack of even a token song in Tagalog as a grievous sin. But this group is probably thinking of making it big in the foreign market and who am I to blame them for having such dreams. Today is supposedly the era of global free trade so if we buy CD’s of Lighthouse Family and Dakota Moon, don’t you think it is only fair that people in other countries will get the chance to listen and buy Asciano albums too.

But Filipino or Asiano or whatever, what this group has going for it is loads of talent, which I must admit, is usually the norm for Filipino musicians. The album production is sleek with everything in the right place, the music smoothly grooves from one cut to another, and the materials, well-chosen. The latter is a blend of old favorites and new compositions by somebody named A. Camins. I particularly like the suave interpretation of the Carole King pop classic It’s Too Late among the oldies and the soulful opening cut Sailor Girl written by Camins.

The best thing going for Asciano though is the presence of two very strong and versatile vocalists, Topher Cailao and Butch Montejo. Though I cannot place their previous outings as vocalists right now, their names are certainly familiar and they do a very good job with the songs from the album.

The other songs that make up In My Dreams are The Best, Sexy Mama, She’s Got Me Hooked, Young Girl, remember this one as a big seller for Gary Puckett and the Union Gap, Helping Hand, Why Can’t We Be Friends, You’ve Made Me So Very Happy, the Motown standard popularized by Blood, Sweat & Tears, I Won’t Quit and En Mi Sueno.

If you are interested in watching Asciano perform these tunes plus others live, then you might wish to check out the band’s regular live gigs at Fat Tuesdays on Tuesdays, Shiraz on Wednesdays and Bedrock on Sundays.

Asciano was formed a year ago by Kelly Nocum, president of Mother of Asia International, a talent management agency. In My Dreams on the MOAI label is also the company’s introduction into the local recording industry. Nocum is also the executive producer of the album, which was co-produced by Rene Salta and Teddy Tipon.

Meanwhile the local airlanes remain dominated by two pop divas, our very own singer/actress/hitmaker Regine Velasquez and Mandy Moore, another singer/actress and now hitmaker from the US of A. Regine still sings Dadalhin Kita, the most popular cut from her latest album Reigne and Hanggang Ngayon, her duet with Ogie Alcasid from the album A Better Man, while Mandy still has those three hit singles Cry, Only Hope and Someday We’ll Know.

Here is the list of current favorites: Only Hope by Mandy Moore; Dadalhin Kita by Regine Velasquez; Cry by Mandy; If Tomorrow Never Comes by Ronan Keating; Someday We’ll Know also by Mandy; Hanggang Ngayon by Regine and Ogie Alcasid; Evergreen by Westlife; Stranded by Jennifer Paige; A Thousand Miles by Vanessa Carlton; and Without Me by Eminem.