COLLABORATION. How would you react if one of the country’s well-respected and great songwriters asks you to collaborate with him by writing the Cebuano lyrics to some of his melodies? To say I jumped with joy is an understatement. I could not believe it after Jose Mari Chan, one of the country’s top composers, texted me about the offer to collaborate with him on his plan to come up with a new album of original Cebuano compositions. His offer is too good to be true.
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JINGLE. Actually, I had my very first collaboration with Chan last May when a local mayoralty candidate asked him to compose a Cebuano political jingle. And since Chan could not understand the dialect, he asked the politician to look for somebody who could supply the Cebuano lyrics to his melody. The mayoralty bet asked me to write the lyrics. Singer Gino Padilla recorded the campaign jingle.
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ALBUM. As of this writing, Chan is seriously planning to produce an album of original Cebuano songs—music by him and the lyrics by this writer. To me, the task is a big challenge. Working with a musical giant is no ordinary thing. It requires a lot of mental work so I can meet the high expectations of this composer and performer. In the meantime, help me pray that this collaboration will push through.
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TELESERYE. The Cebu Catholic Television Network has a new teleserye to entertain the public, starting tonight, from 7 to 7:30 p.m., on INTV/CCTN 47 or Skycable 56. It’s titled Wildflower. Esther Enjambre Maribao is the writer-director.
I gathered that the plot is an exciting one, but it’s better to watch its debut airing tonight. Assisting Maribao is Rhys Senoran while Wilnard Banzon is the cameraman.
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STARS. Wildflower features some of Cebu’s neophyte and veteran television, radio and stage stars playing important roles.
They include Lormil Cabrera-de Gracia, Grace Estrada, Ray Fraces Pilapil Vertudazo, John Regalado, Dr. Grace Balankig, Julieto Sotto, Eden Cardenas, Fe Ramos and radioman Andy Manatad. I had worked with de Gracia in a previous teleserye, titled Parola, in which I played his love interest of the kontrabida type.
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COPY. The creation of the Loboc Youth Ambassadors (LYA), whose sterling performance I saw last month when I was in Bohol, should also encourage other musically minded individuals to follow suit.
I see nothing wrong with copying other undertakings as long as doing so would benefit a large sector of the society.
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SPLENDID. I saw LYA’s splendid presentation one Friday evening at the terminal of Loboc’s famous river cruise. Ric and Janette Ramasola of the famed Original Ramasola Studio hosted me and my friends Gil Maningo of Kulas t-Shirts and guitarist Lito Espina during our visit to Tagbilaran City. The young musicians rendered a truly fantastic show that mesmerized all of us who watched them from start to finish.
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DELIGHTFUL. It was indeed a delightful performance that the LYA entertained us with. Of the 45 musicians, only three don’t play wind instruments. One uses the drums, another the electric guitar and still another plays the keyboard. The 42 others all use wind instruments of various types, like the trombone, saxophone, trumpet, clarinet, etc. I have been to other cities and provinces, but I haven’t seen and heard a similar group of young musicians like the LYA.
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LAWYER. This fiery practicing lawyer has been winning a string of high-profile cases. But he keeps on reminding his friends not to talk about his lawyering for a nightspot when the missus is with him. (E-mail: samcost@yahoo.com or call/text 09163999909)