Out of love for the Aetas

Ladine Roxas will perform at Teatrino in Greenhills, San Juan on Dec. 1 at 8 p.m. The show is entitled Here to Stay and Ladine, who by the way is the only Filipino to win the Grand Prize at the Voice of Asia competition, put the event together to kill several stones. First off, it is a birthday concert. Second, it will be the launch of her new CD also entitled Here to Stay. And third, which she regards as the most important reason, she is raising funds for her post Christmas gift-giving jaunt to an Aeta barangay.

Ladine comes from Bataan and had always been aware of the deprivations suffered by the native tribes. So when she started to make good as a singer in Manila, she decided to do something for them. Every year on Dec. 26, she hies off to Bataan where with the help of friends and relatives, she treats Aeta families to a Christmas party and then gives out presents. These are mostly necessities but she also brings little luxuries like toys for the children. It is not really much but she finds the sight of so much joy among the people so fulfilling she makes it a point never to miss this yearly pilgrimage. So every year, she raises funds and donations with her birthday concert and then brings Christmas to the Aetas.

Here to Stay, the CD, is her first recording after sometime. The album has only five cuts but it turned out to be quite special. Completing the 10 tracks are the music minus ones of the songs and these are three new originals by Vehnee Saturno: I Will be Here to Stay, Naisip Mo Ba? and Just Can’t Help Feelin’, a cover of the Diana Ross big seller All of My Life and Lahat Para Sa ‘Yo. The latter is a Tagalog adaptation of Mariah Carey’s My All for which Ladine wrote the lyrics. She got permission from Mariah herself who probably had somebody check the lyrics before she allowed the recording. The famous diva even requested Ladine to send her a picture. This is perhaps to see if Ladine is pretty enough to record her song. To find out how Ladine translated My All, check out her coming concert.

As for Here to Stay, the concert, it is really an event because Ladine is now semi-retired from performing and only comes out for special shows. She has discovered that she also enjoys managing and booking talents. So for this one, she has put together a truly special show. She will sing cuts from the Here to Stay album, plus old songs that are always here to stay from divas like Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, Barbra Streisand, Tina Turner and even Beyoncé. Special guests are violinist Jay Cayuca and the Musicats and musical director is Elmer Blancaflor.

Son pays tribute to Matt Monro

In a world where celebrities’ children are constantly quoted as saying that they were deprived of a normal childhood and would much rather be anonymous, Matt Monro Jr., is an oddity. The son of one of the most successful song artists of the ‘60s, Matt Jr., is not only very proud of his dad, he seeks to perpetuate the memory of Monro by performing his music.

Take a look at this list of Matt Monro hits. Born Free, Softly as I Leave You, Walk Away, Yesterday, For Mama, Around the World, My Way, The Impossible Dream, My Kind of Girl, My Love and Devotion, I Love the Little Things, Fly Me to the Moon, This is All I Ask, Portrait of My Love, And You Smiled and what must be the biggest and most enduring hit of them all, From Russia with Love, the theme from the James Bond movie of the same title.

Matt Monro died in 1984 at 54. Matt Jr., gave up pro golf because he could not play with his father anymore but later had to admit there was no way he could also give up the music. So much love for his father and the old songs remain among fans all over the world and Matt is now touring in Matt Sings Monro: One Man, One Story, A Thousand Memories where he performs Matt Monro songs.

The show comes to town on Dec. 6 at New Pagcor Grand Theater at Casino Filipino in Parañaque and at the Hard Rock Café in Makati on Dec. 9. Tickets for the Pagcor show are priced at P2,500, P1,800, P1,200 and P800 and are now available at Ticketworld outlets. If you want to watch at Hard Rock, call 893-4661 to 64 for reservations.