"Stories" (on MCA Music) consists of the most exciting and memorable performances from AFFINITY's first two recordings, 2005's Jazzhowd and 2007's Eastern Skies.While Jazzhomd features the quintet, Eastem Skies has AFFINITY (with Joey Quirino as the group's new pianist) joined by the Global Studio Orchestra conducted by Gerard Salonga. "Eastern Skies was recorded in a facility built for a classical music orchestra Recording the orchestra together with a hard-rocking jazz group made it a challenge for the jazz musicians who had to scatter into other rooms. Our way of communicating visually with each other was through closed circuit cameras. I give a lot of credit to Gerard Salonga for holding everything together."
The two opening songs on Stories are each taken from the Jazzhound and Eastern Skies albums, respectively. The melody of "East Indies" from Jazzhound introduces Johnny Alegre's attractive and personal tone on the guitar. "East Indies" was the name that European explorers originally gave to the region of the Philippines, Indonesia,Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. After the relatively mellow theme, Tolentino's high-powered alto is passionate, Johnny delivers a melodic statement that builds on the saxophonist's ideas Saison has a short spot and, following the catchy theme, Bermejo's drums are quite active over the closing vamp. This is followed by the celebratory "Light And Joy" from Eastern Skies, written by Johnny back in the 1970s as a fusion piece, which has been part of his repertoire ever since. The infectious melody serves as a perfect orchestral introduction for this definitive reissue.
The next songs are quintet pieces. Part of the upbeat melody of "Guardian Angel" was thought of by Johnny years ago."It was almost a mystical experience for me, because the recollection would surface in fleeting moments. I would forget the phrase, remember it again, and then forget it again. This happened continually until I finally decided to write it down." The concise alto, piano, guitar and bass solos make each note count with Tolentino hinting a bit at Eric Dolphy. The joyfully funky title track, "Jazzhovnd" (named after a friend who had a huge record collection) was partly inspired by Ron Carter's "Blues Farm''. Cotby dela Calzada enthusiastically plays the groove and Johnny creates a particularly inventive solo.
The following three selections are from Eastern Skies and have AFFINITY joined by the orchestra. 'oNatural Jazz," arranged by Ria Villena-Osorio, is a little reminiscent in spots of Oliver Nelson's "stolen Moments." It is a straight ahead romp for the musicians.
''Mother's Day" and "The Stranger", also arranged by Villena.Osorio, are showcases for Johnny with the orchestra. His sound on these pieces falls between Wes Montgomery and Pat Metheny but his musical personality is very much his ov.vn. "The Stranger", in particular, has a mysterious atmosphere caused by using both major and minor themes. Tolentino's exciting soprano solo is a highpoint.
Returning to the Jazzhound sessions, "Perfect Imperfect" includes Spanish-inspired accents, a haunting chromatic melody, superior solo statements by Saison, Johnny and Tolentino, and heated interplay in the background by dela Calzada and Bermejo."Vertigo" is Johnny's tribute to both Alfred Hitchcock and Wayne Shorter (who loves Hitchcock's films).It has some of the most adventurous solos of the set, with Saison,Johnny and Tolentino all stretching themselves.
Finishing with the orchestra, the picturesque "Beacon Call" was written by Johnny to express the feeling of openness and joy that he gets when seeing meadows and fields in the country. Quirino's solo inspired Johnny to come up with a memorable statement of his own.
The music and playing of AFFINITY still sounds very fresh today. In more recent times,Johnny recorded the "Johnny Alegre 3"album with bassist Ron McClure and drummer Billy Hart, made a world music CD ("Humanfolk") with percussionist Susie Ibarra and today leads a trio version of AFFINITY. But while Johnny Alegre looks towards future projects, the music on Stories shows that he can certainly be proud of what he has accomplished so far.
It is distributed by MCA Music, Inc.
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