tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64616942011-07-08T05:49:32.239-07:00"Enchanting Melodies, Native Instruments"Filipino Musicians in America: the Early 20th Century
Jean Venguanoreply@blogger.comBlogger391100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6461694.post-63827798272017561932010-04-01T14:23:00.001-07:002010-04-01T14:27:18.465-07:00BIG CHANGES AFOOT! I am transferring this blog to http://filammuse.wordpress.com Please be patient during the transition, which should take about 3 days. On wordpress I'll be able to more easily upload videos and graphics.Jean Venguanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6461694.post-34623500783948637612010-03-09T22:15:00.000-08:002010-03-09T22:18:56.656-08:00APPRECIATING FILIPINO JAZZ MUSICIANS Music/Arts - ConcertDate: Saturday, April 3, 2010Time: 1:00pm - 5:00pmLocation: San Francisco Main Public Library100 Larkin StreetSan Francisco, CAApril is Jazz Appreciation Month. Designated by Congress and by the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History, Jazz Appreciation Month was launched in 2001 by the Smithsonian Institute as an Jean Venguanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6461694.post-40494981735368974692010-02-23T13:42:00.001-08:002010-02-23T13:44:30.001-08:00SMOLDERING UKE!! For those who can’t wait until September for Burning Uke, the Ukulele Club of Santa Cruz presents:A winter ukulele retreat in Carmel Valley at Hidden Valley Music Seminars: www.hiddenvalleymusic.org When: March 26-28 Fri evening 4pm through Sun. 2pm This is NOT a campout. We will be Jean Venguanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6461694.post-59033383211961826232010-01-26T10:14:00.000-08:002010-01-26T10:31:30.550-08:00I've gone to more than half a dozen meetings of the Monterey Uke Club, and I think that last night was the first time I remember us doing any blues. We did WC Handy's Saint Louis Blues. To my surprise, it inspired some nice vocal improvisations. And found this cute video from Taj Mahal:Jean Venguanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6461694.post-66149548056228618252010-01-17T09:27:00.000-08:002010-01-17T09:39:52.366-08:00Awhile back I mentioned that my newly received 1950s Kamaka uke had a better sound than my Dad's old [brand name not known] uke, which he picked up somewhere in the South Pacific.Well, it's funny what time reveals. Sizing-up by expert ukers (and luthiers), and my own continuing practice on both ukes has made me realize that I like my Dad's uke better (you can see it pictured w/my guitar in the "Jean Venguanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6461694.post-83853545869232932882010-01-17T09:22:00.000-08:002010-01-17T09:27:11.442-08:00Check out this great video of the Bajan Pied Piper, posted by the Humble Uker. Takes some patience, but everything he says is TRUE!Jean Venguanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6461694.post-27896807682093106732010-01-11T09:24:00.000-08:002010-01-11T09:26:54.648-08:00Last night I attended a ukulele workshop given by L'il Rev, and sponsored by the Monterey Bay Ukulele Club. L'il Rev is one terrific ukulele teacher, and an equally terrific performer and storyteller. He'll be giving two more workshops in Santa Cruz in February. If you get a chance to see him, do so!Jean Venguanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6461694.post-45631954145087107912009-12-27T15:26:00.000-08:002009-12-27T15:41:33.697-08:00Recently I found and bought a copy of the old Joan Baez Songbook, circa 1964, at Book Haven in Monterey. That brought back memories. In my early teens, I bought the book to teach myself how to play guitar. While I did learn to play guitar (great songs, easy chord tabs), there was much in the book that I could've learned, but somehow didn't--and I'm not talking about playing guitar. However, it Jean Venguanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6461694.post-45476179233453381982009-04-02T20:08:00.000-07:002009-04-02T20:10:30.901-07:00The Humble Uker rambles on about the Ukulele Song Challenge. Check this out --this could be a great chance to get your song on CD; but it also looks like a lot of fun!Jean Venguanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6461694.post-70002592288348832009-03-21T09:55:00.000-07:002009-03-21T09:56:43.998-07:00One of my new favorite ukulele websites, Humble Uker Ramblings. It functions as a sort of uke/music notebook online, and many of the links he posts are ones that I would want to take note of, too.Jean Venguanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6461694.post-12233495978431207102009-03-12T20:07:00.001-07:002009-03-12T20:09:02.085-07:00I just want to mention that, since I have only begun posting again on this blog after several years hiatus, a lot of the older links are now "broken." I will try my best, over the next month or so to renew these links and find the new URLs.Jean Venguanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6461694.post-63080103939082215152009-03-12T19:43:00.000-07:002009-03-12T20:10:51.213-07:00Since my last post, I have successfully bid for and purchased a very nice vintage (1950s) soprano Kamaka koa ukulele (on the right). Hate to say it, but it sounds a LOT better than my Dad's old rustic uke. What a revelation to hear the difference. Some of the lacquer has been rubbed off on the edge, but other than that, it's in great condition, no cracks. Just some nice rubbed spots on the the Jean Venguanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6461694.post-84049240115886052972009-02-15T10:38:00.001-08:002009-03-12T20:04:16.588-07:00It's been ages since I posted to this blog. But there are reasons why I'm starting it up again. I was spurred by a recent failed bid on E-bay, for a banjo ukulele c. 1920s that came with a case marked "Philippine Serenaders." I was tipped off by Filipino-American history scholar Eloisa Borah. While the banjolele would have relatively little interest for non-Filipino players or collectors, it is Jean Venguanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6461694.post-1128411554614192812005-10-04T00:28:00.000-07:002005-10-04T00:39:14.620-07:00To 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 Jean Venguanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6461694.post-1128410857307269312005-10-04T00:21:00.000-07:002005-10-04T00:27:37.313-07:00One 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 littleJean Venguanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6461694.post-1126761141379837992005-09-14T22:06:00.000-07:002005-09-14T22:22:38.343-07:00It's been too long since my last post. Just want to mention now, the Maikai Gents, featured on the Judd's Hill Winery Website (more about them on my editing blog, Rhizome). And here's a clip from their CD, Wiki wiki Grog Shop. My Dad used to play "Little Grass Shack" on his own uke, all the time.In other news, this is belated, but I would like to congratulate Eloisa Gomez Borah on her Institute Jean Venguanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6461694.post-1119582112743518792005-06-23T20:00:00.000-07:002005-06-23T20:01:52.746-07:00Theo Gonzalves pays tribute to his musical influences, and discusses his jazz CD, Novemberly.Jean Venguanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6461694.post-1115441939832631132005-05-06T21:57:00.000-07:002005-05-06T22:18:02.636-07:00I know, I've been scarce for awhile. But I had to reappear to add Accordion Guy, Joey DeVilla, who lives in Ontario, Canada. See, the thing is, I not so long ago entertained the possibility of learning to play the accordion. I almost bought an accordion. But I didn't. Long story. So I admire anyone who has the, uh, cajones to actually learn to play the thing, and go out on the streets and make Jean Venguanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6461694.post-1102236412193423582004-12-05T01:42:00.000-08:002004-12-05T00:53:57.666-08:00
Once again I am violating my no-post-WWII music rule. Here's a review I wrote for the Bobby Banduria Band a couple of years ago:
"Recently, when I listened to the first song on "Pandanggo ni Bobby," I was reminded of my youthful days of mandatory Filipino folk dancing (my mother made me do it). The "Pandango" is a traditional Filipino folk dance derived from the Spanish Fandango. But this Jean Venguanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6461694.post-1101529238210891482004-11-26T20:18:00.000-08:002004-11-27T14:34:24.413-08:00Check out this article on "Downhome Pinoy Blues," by Clarence Henderson. It's over a year old, and Clarence informs me that the subject of this article, Binky Lampano, is now in L.A. pursuing a business degree, but it's an interesting read, anyway.Jean Venguanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6461694.post-1100458418504451432004-11-14T10:52:00.000-08:002004-11-14T14:25:43.733-08:00Have added a new link: Kathy Matsushita: Notes From an Amateur Luthier. Lovely site.Jean Venguanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6461694.post-1094231656448354602004-09-03T09:42:00.000-07:002004-09-03T11:00:24.763-07:00I wonder if I am getting the "bug." That is, perusing the 78s in thrift shops is starting to become -- an obsession? I wouldn't say that yet. Although it's getting dangerously close when one hangs around the backroom of Downhome/Arhoolie Records for an hour, going through the old 78s bins, getting ones fingers grimy in the process. And when one finds oneself talking with the guys about various Jean Venguanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6461694.post-1091927349000333852004-08-07T17:38:00.000-07:002004-08-07T18:34:15.496-07:00 Let's face it; it's difficult to listen to early 20th century U.S. Filipino music without sooner or later having to pursue all the different threads of world music that are somehow linked to this "genre." So, after wondering what kind of string instruments were played before the Spanish and Portugese came to the Philippines, I now find myself listening to Fingguy Flang and Luming Tuan, two Jean Venguanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6461694.post-1091840781873225882004-08-06T18:00:00.000-07:002004-08-06T18:06:21.873-07:00Hey - thanks also to Rona Fernandez for pointing to my website, and for her review (august 3) of "Enchanting Melodies, Native Instruments." Check out her current posting on the good old (and new) days of live music. She writes: "...I crave the nourishment and energy of witnessing and dancing to live jazz, which is what it's all about--the improvisation, the spontaneity, the fresh, happy Jean Venguanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6461694.post-1091840281916479132004-08-06T17:51:00.000-07:002004-08-06T17:58:01.916-07:00Having been gone for more than two weeks, I missed the Filipino music issue of Our Own Voice, in which I have an essay on -- you guessed it -- Filipinos in the circuit Chautauquas. But take a look at the gorgeous front page design (incorporating photos from the Redpath Chautauqua archives) by Geejay Arriola, listen to the lovely kundiman by Gerry De Leon, and read all the essays and literature onJean Venguanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6461694.post-1091821226655510342004-08-06T12:22:00.000-07:002004-08-06T12:45:47.070-07:00Just got back from the FANHS (Filipino American National Historical Society) conference in St. Louis, where I gave a talk on Filipino musicians in the Midwestern Chautauqua circuit, and got a great response. I DROVE to St. Louis from California. On the way, I stopped at the University of Iowa's Chautauqua archives (from whence came many of the images on this website). I found there documents on Jean Venguanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6461694.post-1084985750193104992004-05-19T09:51:00.000-07:002004-05-19T09:55:50.193-07:00OK, I can see that it'll be difficult to stay strictly within the early 20th century on this blog. Anyway, speaking of Joe Bataan, the other day I walked into Downhome (Arhoolie) Records in El Cerrito, and was surprised to find a poster of Joe Bataan on their wall behind the counter! Well, you know, it's just that Downhome/Arhoolie has always seemed so "local" (East Bay/San Francisco) to me, and Jean Venguanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6461694.post-1084915487307472072004-05-18T14:16:00.000-07:002004-05-18T14:52:58.846-07:00I've been reviewing books for the Pacific Reader Literary Supplement of the Seattle-based International Examiner. I've just started reviewing music for them. (What joy!)Today I am listening to Cuong Vu.Jean Venguanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6461694.post-1084914745676792772004-05-18T14:10:00.000-07:002004-05-18T14:12:25.676-07:00Here's a picture of a little red bandurria from Reflections of Asia.Jean Venguanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6461694.post-1084914110470018022004-05-18T13:58:00.000-07:002004-05-18T14:01:50.470-07:00The Likha Pilipino Folk Ensemble gives a history of the Rondalla. The string instruments used in the Rondalla (bandurria, laud, octavina, bass, and guitar) are all to be found in the Filipino bands and orchestras that performed in the Chautauquas. What seems to be different in the Chautauqua bands are the use of piano, violin, banjo and steel guitar.Jean Venguanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6461694.post-1083520543515519142004-05-02T10:55:00.000-07:002004-05-02T11:00:04.343-07:00More on old-timer Filipino musicians coming up soon. In the meantime, read about the father of SalSoul, Joe Bataan.Jean Venguanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6461694.post-1077742051625026682004-02-25T12:47:00.000-08:002004-03-09T23:21:17.983-08:00 Casting my net out on the web for old-time Filipino musicians has given me a new appreciation for the pervasive influence of Hawai'ian/Caribbean/Pacific Islander steel and slack-key sounds in American blues. Even blues artist Taj Mahal has recently come out with a CD celebrating these cross-cultural influences, in Hanapepe Dream.
Photo: Cajun-Hawaiian Guitar Player in Louisiana, 1938.
By Jean Venguanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6461694.post-1077602988362915712004-02-23T22:09:00.000-08:002004-02-23T22:12:35.763-08:00While I haven't been able to track down an audio file for one of the Filipino bands, below, I did find an Edison 1921 diamond disk recording of the "Myona-Hawaiian Waltz," music by Morgan-Friedland, played by the Waikiki Hawaiian Orchestra. You can clearly hear the steel guitar being played, and this should give you some sense of how Hawaiian music was being interpreted for American popular musicJean Venguanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6461694.post-1077596386910528252004-02-23T20:19:00.000-08:002004-02-25T12:33:49.340-08:00 Louis Biason, director of the Filipino Collegians (see 2/20 below), also led another group called Manila Music, whose members consisted of C. Oliver (vocalist, mandolin, steel guitar, ukelele), M. Bambalon (banjo and violin), J. Sayas (guitar and mandolin), and B. Bandalon (bass guitar). They played "just about everything from the classics to the popular melodies. Of course, Filipino folk songs,Jean Venguanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6461694.post-1077384306535688612004-02-21T09:25:00.000-08:002004-02-23T20:30:32.716-08:00 Although I've focused this blog on Filipino musicians in the U.S. during the the early 20th century, I'm willing to fudge on the time period a bit. Michelle Bautista points to Sugar Pie de Santo, and says: "One of my favorite musicians that just squeezes into your time frame is Sugar Pie DeSanto...born Umpeylia Marsema Balinton in SF. I saw her a few times at Bindlestiff and another venue and Jean Venguanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6461694.post-1077333309243979392004-02-20T19:15:00.000-08:002004-02-20T20:03:43.576-08:00 In 1903 a group of 98 Filipino students, or pensionados, first arrived in the United States to attend college. The 1921 promo for the Filipino Collegians proudly notes that the manager of the company, Louis Biason (violinist and tenor banjoist), studied at Crane College in Chicago and at Northwestern University. His brother, "P. Biason," was the first mandolinist, and had studied at the Jean Venguanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6461694.post-1077161156255678622004-02-18T19:25:00.000-08:002004-02-20T20:15:05.653-08:00 The Philippine Quartet featured Señora Olivar, a "dramatic soprano of rare quality and a violinist of attainments," and Catalino Olivar, "master of the steel guitar, mandolin and a ukulele soloist." Other members included Alfredo Fernandez on piano, and Marcelino Domingo on flute and guitar. As with the Ne Pomoceno Quartet, the press for the Philippine Quartet highlighted the ethnic novelty of Jean Venguanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6461694.post-1076987637628932332004-02-16T19:13:00.000-08:002004-02-16T22:42:53.996-08:00One of the early venues for Filipino musicians was the chautauqua, a traveling tent show that featured entertainment and lectures for the edification and moral uplifting of rural and small-town folks in the mid-west. The chautauqua was modeled after the popular lyceum movement developed in Massachusetts during the early 19th century. According to Russell L. Johnson, "the chautauqua movement...Jean Venguanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6461694.post-1076477334914854032004-02-10T21:28:00.000-08:002004-02-20T20:24:35.653-08:00
From press copy for Ne Pomoceno's Filipino Quartet: "Ne Pomoceno's Filipino Quartet is a most unique, a most picturesque and at the same time a most artistic organization of native musicians. Mr. Pomoceno has chosen a group of artists -- masters of the "bandurias", the "laud", the "octavina", the "guitarra", the "bajo" and the piano. They present a concert program that meets a popular appeal andJean Venguanoreply@blogger.com0