A symbol of Pinoy Christmas joy and beauty

Jose Mari Chan and The CompanY returned home last Nov. 19 after a successful tour of Canada. But judging from the feedback I have been getting from friends in the area, it seems like the experience of watching these Filipino talents perform live will be talked about and remembered for a long time.

We all know that putting up a great show is second nature to Jose Mari and The CompanY. No wonder audiences in the cities they visited rediscovered their music and had a happy time.

The new fans and resurrected fans got curious. I got questions like, “Are their songs really OPM originals?” Yes. Pakisabi Na Lang and Muntik Na Kitang Minahal by The CompanY, Beautiful Girl and Can We Just Stop and Talk A While by Jose Mari and other tunes. “Ang galing na ng mga Pilipinong gumawa ng kanta.” I say they have been excellent at that job for a long time.

“I remember Jose Mari Chan from the Philippines many years ago.  Ang dami niyang hit songs. National Artist na ba siya?” Yes, he has been around since the late ‘60s but, no he is not a National Artist. I say he should be, given how his music brought so much success to the music industry. I also believe that because of the title a National Artist should be an artist of the people, which I think he is.

I do not know how National Artists for Music are chosen but judging from the previous winners, it seems like the choices are musicians who studied in the conservatory and who compose serious stuff. Jose Mari does not. He was just born with the gift. This is despite all those hits and especially, Christmas in Our Hearts.

This brings me to a question from a Canadian friend. “I found it strange. Why were people crying while singing a happy song?” It turns out that Pinoys watching the shows shed tears while singing along with Jose Mari’s Christmas in Our Hearts. I asked another friend why. “Hindi namin napigil.  Naalala namin ang Pasko sa Pilipinas. Para biglang gusto naming umuwi.”

That indeed is what Christmas in Our Hearts has become. Some years ago I thought of the song as a very good inducement to Christmas shopping. You hear it at the mall and you just feel like buying and buying and gifting everybody. Then later it became the herald, the harbinger of the Filipino Christmas season, which to the surprise of other countries starts in September. ‘Pag sumisilip na si Jose Mari.

But now this duet recording by Jose Mari with his daughter Lisa Parpan from 1990, with words by Rina Caniza and masterfully arranged with that infectious holiday feel by Homer Flores, has come to symbolize the joy and beauty of the Filipino Christmas celebration. Some of you may find it strange that this can happen to a pop song in English. But why not? Music is all about how it makes the listener feel.  Source, language, whatever are immaterial.

So Jose Mari is no National Artist YET. No harm in dreaming really.  But they say he is the Father of the Filipino Christmas. I do not like the title. It recalls old men figures like Father Time or Father Christmas. Not Jose Mari who is sprightly and is singing romantic love songs in his 70s. I like the association with Christmas though. I was also asked, “Have you met him? What is he like?” He is a nice, kind man who just loves creating beautiful songs.

I also see him as a Christmas person. I do not think that he would have made a hit out of Christmas in Our Hearts if he did not believe in the message of the song. Nor could he have written all those other Christmas songs.

Check out the romantic A Perfect Christmas from the Christmas in Our Hearts album or Going Home to Christmas from the album of the same title. There are also A Wish On Christmas Night; The Bells At Christmas; Let Love Be The Gift and others that Jose Mari’s Canadian fans are doing a lot of listening to. Because he gave them the feel of a Filipino Christmas.