"Enchanting Melodies on Native Instruments" was the phrase used to introduce the Ne Pomoceno Quartet to mid-western audiences in 1917. Nowadays, those words are ironic, considering that, outside of the International Expositions, Filipinos playing in clubs and chautauquas rarely played native instruments, although they did play Philippine adaptations of European string instruments. This website is dedicated to Filipino musicians in the United States, especially those "old-timers" who performed during the early 20th century. My father was one of them: he played in a band in New Orleans and other cities during the 1930s. My grandfather and granduncle played in the Philippine Constabulary Band in international expositions. Filipinos have been entertaining audiences with their music since at least the early 20th century. Considering that "Manilla Men" first began settling in the Louisiana territory during the 18th century, it's possible that Filipino musicians have been making music in the Americas since the 19th century or earlier. My aim for this website is to post information on these little-known and under-appreciated musicians, and update as often as possible. This is a labor of love. Thanks to the "Redpath Chautauqua Collection and Traveling Culture exhibit, Special Collections, University of Iowa for making some of this material (photographs and documents about Filipino musicians in the Chautauqua) available.
If you have information or photos of Filipino musicians or bands from the early to mid-20th century (1960s) and would like it posted on this site, contact me at okir2k@gmail.com.
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
To continue on a bit about the Philippine Constabulary Band, the Filipino musicians were exposed to a lot of interesting musical influences while touring the Expositions. And one of the things that intrigues me the most about this coming together of cultures, is the fact that the Band was present at the Panama Pacific Exposition in San Francisco where Hawaiian Steel and slack key guitar was introduced to the United States in 1915, sparking off a craze for the music that lasted through the 1920s and 1930s, and is enjoying a revival now.
One thing I haven't mentioned much about the Philippine Constabulary Band, of which my grandfather and granduncle were members; both played clarinet, and their band was led by the African American bandleader, Lieutenant Loving. I never met my grandfather, so I don't know much about his life as a musician touring the various International expositions with his band.
However, I just found this little article about "Lolo" Potencio Gregorio Sr., who was apparently a peer of my Lolo Ignacio, and his brother. The article is interesting because it reveals how a 17 year old auditioned for the band -- by playing a piece of his own composition on the banduria, and the piano, for Lieutenant Loving.
