Two lovely foreign voices, Susan Wong and Julienne Taylor, both of whom popular among the people in Hong Kong, expressed their urge to come to the Philippines and perform in front of locals they believe are “famous for being musical.”
The Hong Kong pride Wong and Scottish-born Taylor front-acted for “love song” icon John Ford Coley in the latter’s Hong Kong concert held last Friday at the Shouson Theatre of Hong Kong Arts Center. Both acts were well applauded by a remarkably disciplined audience as Wong, known for doing English covers, did a duet of “Sometimes When We Touch” with Coley and the thin, tall Taylor came out with a set of her kind of music.
In an exclusive interview with the Manila Bulletin, Wong noted, “You guys are famous for live music. I went to Manila once, about eight years ago, and everywhere I go there’s live music. The quality of the singers and the bands is just so high. Philippines is really well known for live gigs.”
The pretty Asian is looking forward to do an Asian tour which she hopes would include the Philippines. This year she just released an album called “511,” offering her renditions of notable pop songs like her single “Billie Jean,” “Blame It On The Boogie,” “Umbrella” and “September.” With her bossa nova inclinations, a visit to Manila should sound interesting for local listeners now accustomed to acts like Sitti, Olivia and the rest of the girls doing laidback revivals of familiar tracks.
Both she and Julienne have been currently on top of the heap, with their respective albums managing to get into the ranking of HMV, probably the largest store of records in Hong Kong. As of latest view, their albums have reached fourth and seventh place, respectively.
Julienne, who had a 12-hour flight from UK to Hong Kong and describes her music as “pop with a Celtic thread,” had less to say about the Philippines, though the company of Pinoy musicians who backed her up on performance night was a telling realization. “The guys in the band are fantastic. It’s good to work with them. I’m a type of getting out there to do live shows and having observed them play makes me want to get to the Philippines.”
The all-Filipino back-up band, led by musical director Carlo Gaa (of Area One fame), did serious work during rehearsals. There was a point when, just an hour before the main thing, Gaa had to orchestrate “voicing” practice between Julienne and Filipina back-up singer Angie Bonnevie (sister of Lou Bonnevie). Thus, it resulted to a tightened harmony during the show proper.
Displaying proper singing minus belting, Julienne’s voice is so mellow that she joked she’s okay “for as long as no one falls asleep.” Credit goes to her for having melodic songs sticking to the mind and keeping one from snoring.
Insisting her wish to fly here, Wong told the Bulletin she is just waiting for Danee Samonte (a.k.a. Steve O’ Neal, the Filipino promoter handling Coley) to seal a deal that would allow her to perform in Manila.
Good ending
Of course, there’s the man of the hour, John Ford Coley who fell in love with the Hong Kong crowd. Just like his experiences with Filipinos, he couldn’t help but ask the audience to repeat key choruses of much-awaited numbers, then pour out his feelings of satisfaction while hearing them sing his songs.
“Asians know the music. They appreciate good melodies and they know the lyrics. They like a lot of love songs and that’s really nice for me. You get excited watching how they respond. I just kind of needed to step back and let them sing,” he shared.
John is about to work on an acoustic album comprising of originals and his version of “Leader of the Band,” a piece he described during the show as one of the greatest ever written. According to him he is set to comeback to Manila next year to perform live with America, something that should give him the opportunity to sing songs from the new album.
For those cynics claiming that Filipinos are still not that competent with the global standard, John is one to carry our Philippine flag. “The Filipino crew supporting me is a pool of very talented musicians. They really sit down and study. I disagree to any statement that would say Filipinos are not yet at par with the world as far as music is concerned. You just need opportunity, just like that guy singing for Journey.”
During the performance, John’s natural funny self came out again and made the Chinese crowd laugh a number of times. Some of his jokes he just repeated from previous shows, yet with the smooth way he delivered them, he made them sound fresh and worth-laughing still. He has now returned to Manila to finish his tour with a show the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig today.
Since partner Dan England died recently, the Hong Kong concert had that bit of drama and nostalgia. He mentioned that he is losing friends left and right, in one instance. Then he continued his statement by dedicating songs to some memorable friends.
As a way of dispelling thoughts that he and Dan parted ways roughly, he said, “Dan and I haven’t talked for a very long time. But before he passed away or a couple of days before he died, I got to talk to him and put everything in order, tell one another how much we meant for one another and things like that. It was a good ending.”
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