And I am not frightened of dying
any time will do, I don’t mind
why should I be frightened of dying?
There’s no reason for it
you’ve gotta go sometime…
— Songwriter: Richard Wright
— Performed by: Pink Floyd w/Clare Torry
YES, IT’S a Pink Floyd song but we won’t talk about it. Not just yet. And yes, it is about dying, particularly about two dead Ilonggo artists who were not only pioneers but icons in their art which is music and their genre of choice.
Considering that both musicians were heavily on the progressive genre, then Pink Floyd, the pioneers of progressive rock, is the perfect reference to who we’re going to talk about.
Both artists/musicians were Ilonggo.One was from Iloilo while the other from Bacolod. Both also came from prominent families in their respective cities.
It’s quite ironic that they were not that popular among the mainstream music fans. We can even say the usual Frappuccino-infused, trendy, social-climbing so-called millennials will never understand or appreciate their music and would probably stare in utter amazement upon hearing it for the first time.
But for the genuine progressive music aficionado, one can be compared if not equal to the late Jaco Pastorius and the other to Pat Metheny. Of course, Jaco Pastorius played the bass guitar while Pat Metheny’s instrument of choice was the guitar. Both were jazz musicians.
And without further ado, let me introduce to you the one and only:
Rizal Dondi Ledesma, also known by the stage moniker, DNDI, was a Filipino bassist and the recognized pioneer of Philippine progressive rock.
His mainstream musical career was most prominent for his supporting role as the virtuoso electric bassist behind the legendary Pinoy rock guitarist, Wally Gonzalez, and drummer-singer-composer Joey “Pepe” Smith, the main proponent of the Pinoy Rock movement.
He performed in a handful of historically significant recordings, including two albums by the Filipino folk-rock group Asin, and Pepe Smith’s only solo outing, Idiosyncrasies.
In 1991, he began independently producing and recording a series of one-man albums, alternately playing bass guitar, piccolo bass guitar, keyboards, flute, sequencers, computer programming and vocals.
He also recorded with the groups Asin and Anakbayan. He had started collaborating with Johnny Alegre (frequently with drummer Paolo Manuel) in a jazz-rock trio over a two-year period when illness overtook him.
In his live performances, DNDI was a crowd favorite because his bass guitar demonstrated qualities of a lead guitar instrument.
Ledesma died of clinical heart failure on Feb. 24, 2009 at the Makati Medical Center.
In jazz and progressive rock, when one talks about bass players, these are the ones up there – the late Jaco Pastorius, Tal Wilkenfeld, Esperanza Spaulding and then there’s Dondi Ledesma to me. And perhaps to the most discerning Filipino music aficionado, DNDI will always stand out because there’s no one else in the Philippines who had the creativity and talent in this genre.
More importantly he was an Ilonggo, a scion of the very prominent Ledesma family. His father, the late TS Zafiro Ledesma, served as mayor of “I Am Iloilo City” during the later martial law years.
Excerpts from an article in https://www.last.fm/music:
Robert Yulo Aves, more popularly known in jazz music circle as Bob Aves, was guitarist and jazz musician.
A composer, arranger, record producer and musical director rolled into one, Aves was one of the leading proponents of Filipino jazz fusion. His jazz arrangements and compositions have been performed and recorded by many musical ensembles around the world such as the prestigious Berklee Concert Band.
In the 1990s, Bob embarked on a quest of rediscovery of Philippine indigenous music, fusing traditional instruments, rhythms and chants, forms and improvisational techniques with contemporary music genres. His original musical style has been apparent in the multi-awarded world-music albums of his wife Grace Nono as well as his own jazz releases.
Together with Grace Nono, they have performed in international music festivals (Womad in Yokohama, Music Village in UK, HK Festival of Asian Arts, Singapore Arts Festival, 2005 World Exposition in Aichi, Japan, Berlin House of World Cultures, Barcelona-Madrid Asian Festival, Naning Folk Festival, China) where they have presented their brand of Filipino-world music.
Also in the ‘90s, Bob and Grace established Tao Music, an all-Filipino record label that specializes in the production and publication of traditional and contemporary culture-based titles of Philippine music.
Bob Aves was recently featured in the DVD Pinoy Jazz, a video documentary on the history and development of jazz in the Philippines.
Bob Aves belonged to the very prominent Yulo clan in Negros, particularly Bacolod City, and in 2017 before his untimely death in Jan. 14, 2019 he gave Bacolod a parting gift, his legacy to his hometown. He composed, arranged and produced the three-part theme for the Masskara Festival.
Years back, if I’m not mistake it was during Fete de la Musique, I had the privilege of watching live on stage the Grace Nono band with her on vocals, Bob Aves on lead guitar and Dondi Ledesma on bass…the epitome of Filipino ethnic jazz fusion./PN
