Piedmont Piano Company, in association with the San Francisco Filipino American Jazz Festival and the Philippine American Writers & Artists, Inc present Jazz for Leyte
2013-11-30
Piedmont Piano Company
1728 San Pablo Ave, Oakland, CA
7:00 PM, Saturday, November 30, 2013

[7:07 PM lights down, 7:08 announcements from Norman Landsberg and Carlos Zialcita]

1. [7:17 PM; Little Brown Brother] Equinox
2. [7:28 PM; +NL] In a Sentimental Mood
3. [7:35 PM; +GB, CZ to emcee] Tenderly
4. [7:42 PM; -JB] ? I Believe in Love
5. [7:46 PM; -CP] ?
6. [7:51 PM; -GB, -NL, +CP, +JB] Song for Lolo
7. [7:59 PM; -JB, +AMF, +NL, -CP] God Bless the Child
8. [8:07 PM; +CP, +ER †] What a Difference a Day Makes
9. [8:12 PM; -AMF, -ER, -NL, +SdC, +JB] ? Hina Hina
10. [8:19 PM; +NL, +GB, -JB] One Note Samba
11. [8:25 PM; -SdC, -GB, -NL, +LA, +CP, +JB, +RC] So in Love
12. [8:31 PM] Chega de Saudade
13. [8:36 PM] Twisted
14. [8:41 PM] Smile
    [set ends 8:48 PM]

[9:06 PM lights down, Carlos introduces the Boy Palacio and the “Little Big Band”]

1. [9:09 PM] My Family
2. [9:24 PM; +AMS] No More Blues
3. [9:31 PM] Never Let Me Go
4. [9:34 PM] You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To
5. [9:38 PM] My Funny Valentine (piano/vox duet)
6. [9:43 PM] Blue Skies
   [show ends 9:47 PM, thanks and announcements to 9:52 PM]

Little Brown Brother

• Jonathan Bautista: tenor saxophone;
• Mio “Timbalero” Flores: congas, bongos, timbales, percussion;
• Mark Foglia: drums;
• Ben Luis: contrabass;
• Carlos Zialcita: harmonica, emcee.

• Claudio Baria: trombone;
• Jonathan Bautista: tenor saxophone;
• Dio “Boy” Palacio: piano;
• ?Amile Ramirez: alto saxophone;
• Eddie Ramirez: trumpet, † flugelhorn;
• ?: contrabass;
• ?: drums;

• Lily Alunan: vox;
• Gemma Bulos: vox;
• Socorro De Castro: piano;
• Ray Cristobal: piano;
• Anna Maria Flechero: vox;
• Norman Landsberg: piano;
• Cristóbal Rey: piano;
• Ann Marie Santos: vox.

Tonight's show was pretty fun, though squeezing it into an already over-scheduled Saturday was a little bit stressful! In any case, we arrived with enough time to grab four prime seats in the fourth row, perfect! And though our timing seemed good, the musician's seemed to be running on a slightly more relaxed schedule – perhaps they followed island time? – and as the official start time came and went, the drummer and percussionist slowly put their works together while the bassist and others mingled with friends and family in the audience.

Eventually everything was set up and everyone was ready, and when Little Brown Brother kicked off with John Coltrane's classic Equinox, I was in heaven – setting the pace with St. John is always auspicious! After a couple tunes, it was time to begin the parade of guests, and personnel changes by the tune became the norm. I tried to keep track of the coming and going, but it's entirely possible that I screwed up those details more than once!

For the most part, I really appreciated the song selections, and the performances were also quite strong, though not without the occasional glitch or missed cue that tends to come with this sort of session.

The long first set was followed by a brief break, allowing the audience a chance to stretch and mingle while the stage was reconfigured for the horn-loaded second set, and improptu agvgvregation introduced by Carlos Zialcita as the Boy Palacio Little Big Band. The horn players all sounded pretty darn good to me, and I wish a bit more solo time had been handed to the trombonist, Claudio Baria, who started off the set with a truly remarkable effort to open things up following the head of My Family. Boy Palacio as deserves commendation, both for his playing and his composition. Unfortunately, the unidentified rhythm section that took over seemed somewhat unfamiliar with seveal of the tunes, leading to more than one crash and burn ending!

All too soon it was time for the last tune, and after brief thanks and a few pictures of tthe final assembly, we headed out into the night, just shy of 10 PM – plenty early for our final engagement of the night!

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