Nice, soothing music from Candid

A time for peace and quiet is what we all wish for during that holiday lull after Christmas Day and before New Year’s Eve. Of course, the right sort of music helps set the atmosphere and I am happy to say that two interesting CDs from Candid Records were what did the trick for me this year.

One is I Made It Through the Rain by Enrique Marcos. I am sure that like me, there were some listeners who wondered who was the singer with the jazzed up remake of I Made It Through the Rain they had been hearing on the radio. Well done, it swings a lot more than the Barry Manilow original and shows admirable efforts from the singer and the producer to infuse their own ideas on the recording but without being disrespectful of the original. Quite nice. But who is he? Then I saw this new CD release and there it was, I Made It Through the Rain by Enrique Marcos.

Now it is not unusual for young talents to sing old songs like Marcos does in his latest album but his choice of I Made It Through the Rain is particularly audacious. Manilow is not a great singer but he knows how to please his listeners and I have yet to hear of another singer singing his songs and selling more than Barry did. I do not know if Marcos will score big with his album but I do admire the guy for daring to do Manilow and even Marc Anthony in his album of oldies and Filipino originals.

Unlike Manilow, Marc Anthony is an exceptionally expressive vocalist. Listening to him is like getting a look at his love battered insides. Marcos takes on his My Baby You and given his style, which is bluesy with bits of pop and jazz, tones down the angst. Is that good or bad? Not good knowing what Marc Anthony is capable of but very, very good for the relaxing post Christmas listening. Marcos fares much, much better with I Made It Through the Rain and the new compositions included in his album.

The contents of Marcos’ album is pretty much like his singing. Some Las Vegas swing with Around the World and Matt Monroe’s You’ve Got Possibilities and then some pop with Elton John’s Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, the Bee Gees’ First of May and Stevie Wonder’s Lately. Good work but it is with the originals that he turns in his best work. Maybe it is because these songs come with no ghosts of Manilow or Anthony and Marcos allows himself to really fly.

He swaggers with poise and confidence through Dance with Me and Twilight of Love by Sammy Asuncion and Yanna Acosta; Where Love Has Gone by Vehnee Saturno and I’m Your Friend by Fredric Herrera. These songs are so good I honestly thought there was no need for Marcos to do the oldies route. But then you know how the market is these days. Buyers want to know what they are getting and having easily recognizable titles on the cover helps sales a lot.

Now I said, earlier that I listened to two CDs yesterday. One is Marcos’ and the other one is My One and Only Love by Mon David. The latter is more serious jazz stuff but I am really happy to see that David who won the 2006 London International Jazz Competition for Vocalists goes full blast into jazz with this one. Given the realities facing jazz artists in this country, it was no surprise that David dabbled in other types of music in the past. But that prize from London is the real thing and My One and Only Love is proof that he deserves every bit of it.

David takes on the whole route. He is producer, singer and songwriter in English, Filipino and Kapampangan. His own works are Let Go, ’Yan ang Pinoy! Abe Mu Ku, Nasa ’yo, I Listen to You and Soulitude. Then there are the standards which are the titles he performed in London, My One and Only Love, Skylark, Waltz for Debby, Very Early and Alone Together which he performs with the wonderfully voiced Bituin Escalante. The arrangements are excellent and David’s singing is perfection, his best ever. The guys who worked on this album really know their jazz.

The stand out cut though is I Had a Dream, a composition by Gary Granada arranged by Gerald Salonga. The song is not as jazzy as the others but it is so beautiful, I am not surprised David decided to include it anyway.