MANILA, Philippines - British contemporary jazz band Acoustic Alchemy and other world-class musicians will perform next week at the ABS-CBN Jazz Gala, which is part of the annual Philippine International Jazz and Arts Festival (PI Jazzfest).
The gala will be held on February 24 at the Newport Performing Arts Theater of Resorts World Manila in Pasay City.
For 25 years, Acoustic Alchemy has embraced a spectrum of musical styles, from straight-ahead jazz to folk and rock.
"For a lot of people, instrumental music is just a sound that plays in the background," said guitarist Greg Carmichael. "But we put a lot into it -- not just with this record but with every record we've ever made.
"I'd like to think that after all these years, we've learned how to take people on a journey. A lot of our fans have said that we do that for them. As long as they keep coming back, and as long as they want to stay on that journey, we'll keep doing what we're doing," he added.
Acoustic Alchemy's newest recording is "Roseland," which took four years to create.
Meanwhile, other musicians who are part of the ABS-CBN Jazz Gala include Yaron Gottfried, and Israeli conductor who bridges classical, contemporary and jazz; and Filipino-American Charmaine Clamor, who was cited as "a gifted vocalist" and "one of the most important and original new jazz singers of the decade" by the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, respectively.
Also set to perform are Dave Eggar, and Filipinos Tateng Katindig and Abe Lagrimas.
The PI Jazzfest, which will run until February 29, is considered this year's biggest gathering of local and international artists.
Tickets for the PI Jazzfest are sold in all Ticketnet outlets nationwide. For inquiries, log on to www.pijazzfest.com or e-mail pijazz@gmail.com.
source: abs-cbnnews.com
