Saturday was a most beautiful day.
I had sinigang na salmon sa miso for dinner (because it happens to be my cousin’s birthday and the maternal clan went out), and I listened to Johnny Alegre’s Affinity live for the second time in my life. And I actually got to talk and shake hands with the maestro himself.
As you can probably tell, I am a huge fan of jazz in general, and local acts like Affinity in particular. And yes, I love sinigang to bits. (But not anything sinigang sa bayabas, because I find it too sweet for my liking).
Anyway. I bumped into Clair and Sean some time after my Saturday class. We chatted at The Java Man inside Powerbooks about various topics, including Larson’s “The Far Side”, comics, books, and people. Afterwards, I had to hie off to the Alabang Town Center to meet up my maternal clan (basically my mom’s sisters and their families, my now-eleven year-old cousin included). Dinner was had at Gerry’s Grill, and apparently they decided to order the sinigang. Heaven.
But before I could partake of the sinigang, I had arrived too early. We were meeting at seven thirty, and I arrived just after six. After lounging about the Town Plaza (the center of the old wing of ATC), I happened to walk to the Cortes delas Palmas fountain area, and noticed a drum kit and speakers set up there. My curiosity was piqued further when I spotted an amplified stand-up bass lying on its side— a good sign that this wasn’t a rock or alternative group playing (what rock or alternative group would use a stand-up bass?) Could only be jazz, I told myself. I was really interested, and noticed a table set up (apparently) by Tower Records. And lo, Johnny Alegre’s CD was there. Which meant that they must be playing. So I asked the friendly Tower Records personnel manning the table who was playing. Pointed to the man beside her, who was none other than Mr. Alegre himself. Standing nearby, talking to two other jazz afficionados, was drummer Koko Bermejo. I got to talk to the two jazz masters, and I was absolutely thrilled. They were quite open and friendly.
They did excuse themselves, and I got to listen to a hot set. Although they were just a trio (Johnny Alegre on the guitars, Koko Bermejo on drums, Simon Tan on bass), it was still amazing. At one point, during a drum solo, Mr. Bermejo dropped one of his drum sticks, and still played on with the other stick while trying to pick up its fallen partner. Amazing. They did a Freddie Hubbard, a Miles Davis (“Four”, if I recall correctly) and as encore they played a rocking tune (the title of which escapes me at the moment).
After, I rushed off to Gerry’s, met up with my family, and was treated to food (I am not one to turn down sinigang). Three cups of rice later, the day was done, and I felt that indeed, it was a beautiful day.
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