The one asking was my balikbayan townmate Luisito Jolejole whom I hadn’t seen for ages since he left dear old Las Navas, Northern Samar, as a starry-eyed aspiring musician. Were we in our kneepants when we last played boy games in the narrow streets of Las Navas (now a bustling town, thanks to newly-reelected Mayor Arlito Tan who ran unopposed last May 10)? I don’t even remember.
When he called three days ago, Luisito said no, he didn’t come from Australia where he was based for a long time but from Japan where he has been performing as a duo with Filipina singer Darme Halina at the Nagoya Hilton’s Gallery Lobby Lounge. For more than two years, he sang at the Hayman Island Resort in Queensland, Australia.
I wondered, why was he interested in Tuck & Patti, the husband-wife tandem arriving tonight for a two-day performance at the Meralco Theater on May 21 and 22, 8 p.m.?
"They happen to be our friends," said Luisito who is as American-looking (his mom was American) as Tuck Andress whose musical partnership with wife Patti Cathcart, he as guitarist and she jazz stylist, has been regaling audiences around the world for more than a decade since they rose to prominence in the early ’80s (they’ve been married for more than 20 years).
Over dinner at the Okuya Tempura House (ground floor of the Imperial Palace Suites on Timog-Morato Rotunda, Quezon City), Luisito recalled how he and Darme met Tuck & Patti at Nagoya Hilton’s Gallery last year when Tuck & Patti performed for two nights at Blue Note but stayed at the Hilton.
"They’re such a nice couple," said Luisito. "Very friendly. Very warm. Very humble. Very caring."
It was on Tuck & Patti’s first night (a Sunday) when Luisito and Darme saw them at the hotel’s terrace. Tuck & Patti then watched the show of Luisito and Darme (known as the Cool Change Duo), staying the whole night and even requesting a song (All The Way). Luisito and Darme lovingly obliged. Before the night was over, the two pairs became friends.
"Maybe Darme and I reminded Tuck & Patti of their early years," said Luisito. "They also started that way."
Tuck & Patti invited Luisito and Darme not only to their Blue Note concert but even to their Hilton room where they chatted like long-lost friends and shared red wine.
"They gave us pointers and (pieces of) advice. They told us: ‘Be familiar with what you’re singing because it’s only through knowing what your song means can you sing from the heart; the audience will know if you’re not singing from the heart.’ Darme and I have been bearing that great advice in mind."
The two couple friends met again last February also in Nagoya during the Nagoya Jazz Festival to which they were recommended by Luisito. And now, with all of them brought by fate in another country at the same time, they might just have another reunion. No wonder Luisito is asking where Tuck & Patti are billeted (at the Makati Shangri-La).
And that’s how I got connected to Tuck & Patti – through my Waray connection.
Of course, Tuck & Patti are only among the dozens of international celebrities Luisito and Darme meet and befriend mostly at the Nagoya Hilton. Other include Stevie Wonder, James Brown and Mariah Carey, and several Filipino artists.
Friday and Saturday nights when you watch Tuck & Patti at their Meralco Theater show, expect the duo to impress you with selections like Can’t Help Falling In Love, Sukiyaki, Just The Way You Are (guitar instrumental), Lovin’ You, Hold Me Tight And Don’t Let Me Go, Close To You and Time After Time, among others. (For tickets or inquiries, call the SM Ticketnet at 911-5555 or Artistation, Inc. at 844-2183 or 750-0350; ticket prices are P2,000, P1,500 and P1,000.)
Now, if you happen to be in Nagoya, check out the Cool Change Duo not at the Gallery Lobby Lounge of Nagoya Hilton anymore but at the same hotel’s Windows on the World bar at the 28th floor where they’ll be performing as soon as they go back, starting on July 28, daily (except Thursdays) from 7 p.m. to 12 midnight. The duo’s repertoire includes jazz, R&B and ballads.
The good news is that Jay-R is not "missing," after all. He flew back home yesterday morning from Los Angeles where he hied off for three weeks.
"Yes," Jay-R confirmed, "I kept my mom company after she underwent surgery."
He also started recording for a foreign label, said Jay-R.
After fulfilling some commitments here, according to Jay-R, he might fly back to L.A. last week of June to shoot some scenes for Regal Films’ Amboy (tentative title), his first big-screen caper.
Several times already, on other entertainment columns and even in yours, I have read about Kristine Hermosa’s pronouncements about her coming migration to Canada. That’s fine as it is her life. But what prompted me to write you is her repeated declaration that she will only go to Canada and stay here temporarily to get her Canadian citizenship (that as well is fine since that is what every immigrant’s major aim is, I supposed, and she’s entitled to whatever she wants). But telling the readers (and the viewers as she was shown again on last Sunday’s The Buzz about this issue) that she will get her citizenship in just a year or six months (as she said on The Buzz; in fact, Boy and Kris even asked each other about this, making it all the more "look and sound confirm" that it only takes "six months of stay in Canada" to become a citizen) was giving unconfirmed, and in this case, wrong and misguiding, information to the public.
Whoever told her that it only takes a year (or six months) to get a Canadian citizenship should better review his/her knowledge of Canadian Immigration & Citizenship Laws. A major requirement in acquiring Canadian citizenship is residency in Canada as immigrant for NO LESS than three years. It doesn’t have to be straight three years but it has to be a total of that, meaning if you leave Canada to have a vacation overseas, the number of days you were outside Canada would be deducted from the total number of days, and you can only apply for the citizenship when you have accumulated the required total number of days of residency. You even have to apply in the last three years prior to accumulating this, or else you will have to restart the accumulation. An immigrant should not also be outside Canada for a continued period of more than six months or he/she will lose his/her immigrant status (take note: immigrant status, not citizenship).
A citizenship examination (with a fee) is required of every immigrant wanting to be citizen, and an interview with a jury, if deemed necessary, could also be scheduled. Canadian Immigration Laws are STRICTLY implemented and every immigrant is treated FAIR AND EQUAL, regardless of race, gender, age, religious affiliation or standing in the society. There could be very few exemptions and special cases but this involves only those who are part of a Treaty.
I based these information on my personal experience and on studying Canada's History, Laws & Citizenship Rights when I myself, took the citizenship examination few years ago.
I do not mean to discourage Kristine; I just want to correct the wrong information that must have been given to her.
I hope this letter will enlighten her and your readers, somehow. Good luck to Kristine and her family.
(E-mail reactions at rickylo@philstar.net.ph)