Brass, jazz & class in the big band mood

MANILA, Philippines - Richard Poon and The CompanY joined forces in a rare musical offering featuring their impeccable vocals at the New World Hotel, Makati City recently.

Titled In The Big Band Mood, the concert featured a gamut of music genres, styles, rhythms which celebrated the virtuosity of the big band which treated the audience to a memorable evening of good music and good company.

The event, produced by Artefice Manila, is a unique collaboration between the country’s top vocalists and brass instrumentalists that signaled the revival of the big band scene in Manila’s music circle.

Poon, sang a medley of ’60s standards from Spiral Starecase, James Taylor, and Matt Monro, culminating with the fusion of Frank Sinatra’s Fly Me To the Moon and the Wonder Girls’ Nobody.

He also sang a string of ’70s OPM and jukebox hits by Sharon Cuneta, Imelda Papin and Eva Eugenio.

The CompanY rendered John Mercer’s ballad titled Dream with sax artist Tots Tolentino accompanying the group, plus Ryan Cayabyab’s Kahit Ika’y Isang Panaginip Lang, and Ron Milsap’s I’ll Take Care Of You.

Charlie Green sprang up a surprise number when he jammed with the group in singing the popular noontime show ditty Boom Tarat.

The group highlighted its artistry with a unique vocal arrangement for Nikolai Korsakov’s Flight of the Bumblebee with Michael Guevarra on the saxophone.

The CompanY brought the house down with Let’s Get Loud sung in the style of Astrud Gilberto, rap version of The Way You Look Tonight, Ikaw sung in the style of Sexbomb Dancers, and Michael Jackson’s version of Bahay Kubo.

The concert served as part of the quintet’s 25th anniversary where they distributed their 19th album titled Lighthearted, consisting of contemporary acoustic pop duets.

Also noted for its fashion statements, The CompanY donned the wardrobe of avant garde designer Odelon Simpao.

In The Big Band Mood is for the benefit of World Vision Philippines, a Christian development and advocacy organization dedicated to banishing poverty through scholarships.