How true is Richard Poon to his music?

MANILA, Philippines - When he had just emerged as an exciting singer in the local music scene, Richard Poon admitted to this writer that before he began to sing the so-called standard tunes, he never paid attention to them. When he was given the idea that nobody (at the time) was singing “old” pop songs, he and his manager found a great opportunity to explore a musical genre that may not be as popular as the current pop hits but has a devoted coterie of followers. And so, Richard Poon was born.

He was “introduced” in a national beauty contest several years ago, and most people then thought that he was a pop star from Taiwan who was visiting Manila for the pageant. At first, locals would even talk to him in Chinese, little knowing that he grew up here and talked Filipino like a homegrown native. That performance became his launching pad as a singing personality and it was successful. Many took notice.

Thus, Richard was born. From then on, he was the principal exponent of the songs made famous by the great balladeers like Sinatra, Tony Bennett, and, well, yes, Paul Anka. (I squirm every time new singers proudly say they want to continue the tradition begun by the “great” Michael Bublé who in point of fact is only reviving the standards.) But Richard even then was serious about his music.

He began to learn more standards, and he said he began to like them as well. I am sure his research went deeper than Bublé who is a baby when it comes to singing standards.

Bublé is a big hit here — I guess in record sales and in his two hugely successful concerts at the PICC and the Araneta Coliseum, but for me, Bublé is valuable in that he has helped propagate classic tunes to young audiences. The older folk are glad that Bublé is singing their songs. He is sweet and full of showmanship.

At the Big Dome, he pretended to reprimand the army of mobile phone camera users clicking away interminably but gamely posed and even virtually leaped from the stage, ran toward — and climbed the upper box at the other side of the coliseum to get closer to the crowd. He was a hit.

Richard is doing standard songs a great service the same way Bublé has done. But we haven’t seen Richard go to that extent to satisfy his fans. He seems to be more reserved and proper, maybe concerned that a smooth-singing, debonair crooner sporting a tux and bow tie cannot let his hair down. But Richard is okay as he is, really.

What we’re worried about is Richard’s trying to woo the bigger crowd — by moving in a “new” direction. We understand that a small group of older enthusiasts who want to hear and sing (they teem in piano bars!) the old songs cannot sustain, much less boost, the career of a youngish balladeer. Richard makes it clear in his talks with music buffs that he is not abandoning standard music but is simply expanding his audience.

But at the same time, there is compromise to accommodate newer pop tunes both foreign and local. Current hits have been listed in his repertoire jazzed up and done big band style. We just hope it stops there. We understand that Richard has to grow and expand but hopefully not outside his original realm.

We reminded him about this at the recent launch of his concert set tomorrow, Nov. 12 at the PICC. We reminded him about how excited people were upon seeing him and hearing him revive musical chestnuts at the beauty pageant. And his response seemed to be, point well-taken.

Well, for us, Richard does not need to pander to the gallery. He should leave that to the other show performers. We do not want to lose Richard and merely have a diluted trace of himself — a half-baked musical entity that wants to please everyone by singing jazz here, the rage of the moment there. So far, he has cornered an appreciative market that has allowed him to continue his TV appearances, album projects and concerts. He is a platinum seller. So he is doing right, it seems.

Richard himself says that only about two other local balladeers sing the kind of music he does but hopes that others will follow suit. When you hear other singers and sourgrapes talk sassily that Richard isn’t really an advocate of standards and jazz but a hyped-up pop singer, that’s also a sign that he’s big time (because they wouldn’t bother to talk about him in the first place if he were not).

If Richard begins to make more “commercial” accommodations, he will be less true to his music and will be moving farther away from what captivated his crowd that in the first place. Rocker Rod Stewart gave up rock music temporarily to do standards, racking up a fabulous set of best-selling albums in a few years without changing the spirit and the essence of the music. Barry Manilow is doing the same (though Barry has to go back to the earlier decades). Richard and the guys behind his career may well consider that. The standard repertoire is so vast that Richard will find a title for his every need.

We wish Richard well in his major concert called Richard Poon, The Crooner. He will be backed up by a 25-piece orchestra at the PICC Plenary Hall with high-wattage guest stars namely Sam Milby, Pokwang and Lea Salonga. Musical direction is by Mel Villena, the bandleader who sets Skarlet’s Ten-02 jazz joint at Timog Ave., Quezon City swinging every Monday evening. Show director is Johnny Manahan. Tickets are available at all SM outlets or Ticketworld at 891-9999.

And while Richard is doing his thing at the PICC, a totally different act shall be going on at the Music Museum with K Brosas in her solo concert titled K-Pak: The Wapak Concert (tomorrow, Nov. 12, 8 p.m.) with guests Pooh, Jon Avila, Hotlegs and Copycats. The concert is directed by Kim Idol. We don’t expect jazz here, and K will not dare go beyond what she’s been known for so the tall, lovely entertainer will show her audience her forte — comedy, fun and lots of gleeful music. On Dec. 3, she will headline a Christmas concert billed For Heartsake: A Christmas Concert at BSP. Tickets to K’s concert this week are priced from P1,500 to P750 and are available at Ticketworld.