A “GLOBAL PIECE” was how Roberto “Bob” Aves described the street dance music for this year’s MassKara Festival.
Acknowledged as the leading proponent of Philippine jazz, the Bacolod City-born Aves composed, arranged and produced the music to which tune smiling mask-wearing performers will groove this year.
The music, which will be officially launched next week, is “a fusion of the traditional, modern and ASEAN culture,” Aves said.
This year’s festival has the theme, “Bacolod: City of Southeast Asia.”
“It (MassKara music) shows how ASEAN music can blend naturally with our traditional music and, as a global piece, it can weave naturally with popular Western genres,” he added.
A graduate of Don Bosco Technical Institute in Victorias City, Negros Occidental, Aves finished college at the University of the Philippines College of Music before he went on to study and complete his bachelor’s degree in music, major in composition from the Berklee College of Music in Boston.
He studied jazz orchestra under Herb Pomeroy and Phil Wilson. His jazz arrangements and compositions were performed and recorded by the prestigious Berklee Concert Band and Phil Wilson’s Dues Band.
His works also include musical scores for documentaries and independent films shown in Sundance, Montreal and New York International film festivals, and special collaborative projects with traditional and international artists for small ensembles, to full orchestra, theater and music for contemporary dance.
Collaborating with Grace Nono, their music group performed in international music festivals, like the Womad in Yokohama, Music Village in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong Festival of Asian Arts, Singapore Arts Festival, 2005 World Exposition in Japan, Berlin House of World Cultures, Barcelona-Madrid Asian Festival, and Naning Folk Festival in China, where they presented their brand of Filipino-world music.
Now home in Bacolod from studying and working abroad and in Manila, Aves contributes to local music the development of Philippine jazz, an intercultural music of Southeast Asian and western-colonial heritage.
Aves said the MassKara 2017 music “transforms our traditional music for the global stage.”
“The intercultural dialog of our rich musical heritage, the intermixture of our ASEAN musical flavors and the beat of electronic dance music defines our MassKara cultural innovation,” he explained.
Coproduced by Gerry Grey, who did the previous MassKara music, the 2017 music is divided into three parts.
Part 1 (intercultural dialog) is a mix of ethnic sounds: Tongatong (bamboo instruments) of Kalinga, voice ad libs called “Tata” by Panay Bukidnon, Palawan bamboo and gong counter rhythm, Babandir gongs of Maguindanao, and big Taiko drum accents from Japan (Asian).
Part 2 is the main theme (street dancing). It features the evolution “from tradition to global transformation” with the use of EDM; vocal tracks by JoAnn Bernal, Jet Estefani, Tim dela Rama, and Christian Morales; and “Tata” by Panay Bukidnon.
“I have to point out that the indigenous styles we incorporated into the piece are true, culturally correct pieces. It was not a shot in the dark. These are the real instruments they use, the real music they use,” Aves said.
Part 3 (ASEAN Integration) features various ASEAN musical flavors, hip-hop by Christian Morales, Maguindanao Kulintang excerpts, and Negros “Afro-Cuban” beats. Part 4 is a recap of the main theme. (Report from the Bacolod City Public Information Office/PN)
