‘Johnny Alegre 3’: Journey of a jazz hound

Once in a while you chance upon young jazz or blues artists on YouTube or Spotify and venues such as Backdoor on Matalino St., and are reminded that exciting new music is being made at the fringes of the popular.

“I see today a period of experimentation, when there is a surge of talent everywhere and so few places to make it happen. I am amazed how inventive this situation has made of people to play and be heard,” says jazz guitarist Johnny Alegre.

Alegre knows a thing or two about experimentation. At the peak of Pinoy Rock in the mid-’70s, a then 21-year-old Alegre introduced the nascent local rock audience to jazz-rock with “In Love with You.” 

At a time when popular rock songs were written in Tagalog, Alegre’s band Phase II captivated the jeproks crowd with a love song written in English, with slithering guitar solos from Alegre and guitar cohort Joey Puyat.

Recorded on cassette, “In Love With You” was a left-field hit on DZRJ, Pinoy Rock’s flagship station. And it pushed the boundaries of Pinoy Rock, a scene that was heavily influenced by blues, hard rock, and psychedelia. At 21, Alegre was already intent on blazing a separate path.

Then he did the unthinkable. He went to school. 

“I was stuck somewhere between originality and no gigs. My own colleagues called me the conceptualist, the maverick with the only too occasional stadium concert,” he said. 

He enrolled at the University of the Philippines (UP) College of Music which offered some form of refuge. Eager for traditional learning yet restless in his exploration of music’s possibilities, Alegre attended his classes while immersing in the adventurous offerings of Blue Note and ECM, as well as funk, blues, and hard rock. 

After UP, the “conceptualist” Alegre went on a long hiatus from performing, opting to continue his musical immersion in the recording studio. From the early ’70s until the end of the ’80s, the studio was his second home as record producer. It also gave him the opportunity to work with the best studio engineers of the day. 

“I guess I was just lucky being around when multitrack tape recorders and analog outboard equipment were the standard gear, because I learned the language of the studio,” he says. 

Painterly compositions

Alegre resurfaced as a performer and recording artist many years later, releasing two albums under MCA and international jazz label Candid.

While his first album Affinity showcased Alegre as a composer and band leader, Johnny Alegre 3 puts the spotlight on his versatile, effortless guitar playing. 

Recorded in New York in 2009, the album finds Alegre in esteemed company. He is joined by bassist Ron McClure and drummer Billy Hart. McClure and Hart bring with them impeccable credentials, having played and recorded with jazz greats, among them McCoy Tyner, Wayne Shorter, Joe Zawinul, Herbie Hancock, Stan Getz, and Keith Jarrett. The album, however, belongs to Alegre. 

On eight original compositions (“Wildflower,” “Up 101,” “Ant/Man” “From Long Ago,” “Conundrum,” “Offering,” “Barnabas,” “Theme from Humanfolk”), Alegre pursues his painterly approach first introduced in “Affinity.” His compositions evoke sceneries and atmospheres. Alegre’s guitar playing is uncluttered, exploring spaces yet never self-indulgent, alternately poignant and swinging, even giving a nod to his rock roots.

Like Affinity, Alegre’s second album has been released by independent label Backspacer Records. And if this album, recorded some 15 years ago, sound fresh and invigorating, it owes to the meticulous vinyl mastering overseen by Alegre himself.

Alegre credits Clark Cunanan for the superb sound quality. “Clark pursued tonal balance with very little or no compression.The sound of the vinyl is so different from the CD released years ago,” he says.

Working with 24-bit 48-kHz mixes from Alegre, Cunanan’s mastering vastly improves the album’s sound staging, dynamics, and clarity. 

Listen closely and one hears fingertips scratching the fretboards, amp feedback, gorgeous sibilance on the cymbals, and incidental noises on a masterful live recording.

“My guitar sounds exactly how I want it. I’m up front but that’s how I sound,” Alegre says. 

And for a jazz album, cranking up the volume is a must. “The album is best heard at 12 o’ clock on the amp dial,” he adds, with a laugh. – Rappler.com

Joey Salgado is a former journalist, and a government and political communications practitioner. He served as spokesperson for former vice president Jejomar Binay.

This first appeared in ourbrew.ph