The musical education of Eddie K.

After 36 years in the music industry, there is no sign that sax icon Eddie Katindig will ever, ever consider the word "on leave" or "semi-retired."

Nowadays, he is either fulfilling another engagement abroad or going to Boracay for another weekend performance or considering another Manila engagement.

Early evenings at Merk’s Bistro Bar, Eddie Katindig or Eddie K., as he is popularly known, regales jazz enthusiasts who used to frequent Birds of the Same Feather in the late ’70s.

A reunion of artists who used to perform at Birds of the Same Feather is in the offing and of course such a reunion would be incomplete without Eddie K.

What does "Birds" signify in the musical life and times of Eddie K.?

That was the time in Eddie K.’s career when he’d fill up venues like Club Another World in Greenbelt or Vineyard in Pasay Road.

But to him, Birds of the Same Feather was special because that was the venue that opened more doors for jazz players like him.

"I was obsessed with jazz," he said, "but the venues for such music were so few and no one dared specialize on it. But when Birds of the Same Feather opened, we knew we had found an ally for jazz and I have beautiful memories of that place," he added.

"Birds" had attracted a wide spectrum of jazz lovers that even foreign celebrities would find their Manila visit incomplete without jamming at said place.

Among those who found themselves jamming at Birds were the Seawind, Angela Bofil, the Manhattan Transfer, Ronnie Laws, Noel Pointer, Patty Austin, and Bobby Enriquez, among others.

But Eddie K. remembers the composer and sax player who did the soundtrack for the Robert di Niro-starrer, Taxi Driver.

He recalled: "It was at Birds that I met Tom Scott who did the theme song from Taxi Driver. I often played that piece and it was a surprise that the one who wrote it I will meet at Birds. Even in America, you can’t meet such celebrities in their hangouts."

But he was no stranger to celebrities.

At 18, he joined a world tour called Rock Around The World organized by Hollywood impresario, Steve Parker, who happens to be the ex-husband of Shirley MacLaine.

At the time, he was still a percussionist hooked on the drums, cymbal, bonggos, vibraphone and marimba.

The other Filipino recruits of this world tour were Dolphy, Pilita Corrales and Bobby Enriquez.

After his success as performer and recording artist here and abroad, Eddie K.’s only regret was that he did not have the chance to explore the challenge of the other repertoire for sax – classical music.

"I was largely a self-taught musician," he admitted. "I was a percussionist at 17 and the saxophone I only discovered when I was abroad when I was already 25 and playing in the top hotels at the time. My music education came from a tutor who taught me basic sax playing and who also taught me how to read notes. There was no stopping as soon as I learned how to play."

Music was something Eddie K. didn’t have to absorb by rote. He comes from three generations of musicians from Malolos, Bulacan.

His father was actually a pharmacist whose first cousin is a violinist. Another close kin was first alto player for Xavier Cugat.

In a brood of 10, four became active musicians and Eddie K. was part of a family band called The High Chord and later the Philippine Playmate, which performed in Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

When the family band disbanded, it dawned on him that he wanted to go solo on the saxophone.

The first big breaks was a TV show (Jazz by Filipino) on Channel 2 produced by Kitchie Benedicto.

In between engagements abroad was a stint with Birds of the Same Feather which to him opened more awareness for jazz in the country. "It was at Birds where the big stars of jazz – here and abroad – played," he pointed out. I heard Ramsey Lewis there and Steve Gad and many others. They are not just American jazz icons but jazz lovers from Germany, France and Japan."

Playing at Birds was actually a musical stopover in between his engagements in the US and Europe.

But it was at Birds where following for his kind of music got the attention it deserved.

"When we were just starting in jazz," he said, "we couldn’t earn a living just playing pure jazz. So we did semi-jazz, fusion jazz and they were good enough because they introduced new crowds for jazz. That was what made Birds doubly memorable."

(Eddie K. will be heard in the Birds of the Same Feather reunion concert at the Merk’s Bar Bistro tomorrow, May 14 and 28 with Jacqui Magno, Richard Merk, Tonette Buizon and Brother Wayne among others.)