‘Collective Soul’: The making of The Best of Crossover Presents

What do you get when you take the country’s top concert performers, an equally topnotch team of session musicians, a brilliant arranger, and fuse their talents in an album?

That collective effort would definitely be an excellent showcase of spellbinding vocal artistry and fleet-fingered chops — the same musical standards adhered to by the creative brains behind 105.1 Crossover’s Crossover Presents concert series.

The Best of Crossover Presents, their latest anthology, encapsulates the songs that aptly epitomized the "Crossover sound" — predominantly pop sounds with a tinge of jazz and R&B.

But here’s the best part. Imagine a catalog of old Motown and R&B classics given a new spin by such celebrated OPM artists as Basil Valdez, Nanette Inventor, Gary Valenciano, Regine Velasquez, Lani Misalucha, Janno Gibbs, Ogie Alcasid, Jaya, Side A’s Joey Generoso, and the multi-talented vocal ensemble, The Opera.

Did you just hear the sound of egos clashing? Fortunately, there’s not a trace of "ego overload" on this album. Each artist contributes a single cut — with the exception of the Opera’s three a cappella pieces, and a jazz instrumental from The Band.

Much of the synergy can be credited to the collaborative input of The Opera (who are also accomplished arrangers themselves), the Band (composed of Gerard Salonga on piano, Cezar Aguas on guitar, Bobby Taylo on bass, and Roy Mercado on drums) and the artists themselves.

After all, this seamless musical interplay has been tempered by years of arduous studio and concert gigs, and has jelled even further by their tight-knit chemistry since the early days of the three-year-old Crossover Presents concert series.

The end result is never too brash nor pompous. It’s something that lends well to heavy rotation on anyone’s CD player. "Di nakakasawa" as someone aptly described.

Brushing off the plaudits, Gerard Salonga explains his role in the making of the OPM landmark. "It really wouldn’t be fair to say that I was musical director for the entire album," he clarifies. "Sure, I arranged a few songs myself, but most were a collaborative effort among the musicians in the band."

"For the songs that I did arrange," he continues, "no limits were placed other than that it fit the Crossover style. On songs like Never, Never and Hardcore Poetry,’the arrangements couldn’t have been any further from the original styles — unless of course we did them with a full symphony orchestra. Another example is Norwegian Wood. It was actually Sushi Reyes (of the Opera) who thought of using the odd time (signature) for the song. I initially disagreed, but when I thought about it, it made a lot of sense. So we went with it and it worked!"

And how it worked, indeed! As the album’s rousing opener, the Beatles original (retitled Norwegian in 5 & 6) blazes off into a jagged, dodgy shuffle in 5/4, and then casually sneaks into a 6/8 groove during the chorus. Had this been a full-blown live gig, the veteran jazz saxman would have surely laid down his signature Brecker-inspired riffs, but given the album’s time constraints, Tots nevertheless laid down some thematic bop lines on soprano sax. Guitarist Cezar Aguas likewise gets a chance to noodle around with his nasal, Benson-flavored flurries.

For all its spunk and high-octane playing, the fusion-inspired album opener seems to stand out like a sore thumb, especially since most of the ensuing cuts reveal a softer and mellower streak.

Crossover fanatics would definitely recognize the radio station’s signature theme, cleverly interposed by The Band in the intro of Ogie Alcasid’s homage to Stevie Wonder: Sir Duke.

Some of the more interesting cuts include Lani Misalucha’s radically re-arranged version of the old standard, Never, Never, Never. Opening with the rhythmic plucking of a nylon-string acoustic guitar, the samba groove hints subtly at a Matt Bianco or Basia influence. Oozing with a more sensual vibe, this Latinized version can even hold its own against the old Shirley Bassey original.

One of the country’s more underrated vocal groups, the Opera, also gets their chance to shine on Whenever, Wherever, Whatever; Love Dance; and My First Christmas With You. One of the busiest and most in-demand session vocalists in the local concert scene, the group (composed of Zebedee Zuñiga, Manolo Tanquilot, Sushi Reyes and Cecile Aurellado) never fails to amaze listeners with their hauntingly beautiful a cappella renditions.

For those in a deep funk, Regine’s version of the Chuck Mangione/Ester Satterfield classic, Love is Stronger Far Than We, will surely strike a resonant chord. With its sparse instrumentation (with Aguas on acoustic guitar) and equally brooding harmonica solo (courtesy of Mel Villena), the pensive, almost-mournful ballad finds Regine veering away from her usual belter mode as she effortlessly summons crystalline timbres to match the song’s melancholic tone.