ABS-CBN presents Jazz Night

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Jazz and Arts Festival 2011, in cooperation with Lifestyle Network and Metro Society magazine, present ABS-CBN’s Jazz Night, featuring most sought-after jazz artists — Grammy-nominated Fourplay, Mishka Adams and saxophonist Jon Irabagon — tomorrow, Feb. 25, at the Rockwell Tent, Makati City.

For almost 20 years now, contemporary jazz quartet Fourplay has been enjoying consistent artistic and commercial success by embedding elements of pop, R&B and a variety of other genres to their stanch jazz creations. In the course of a dozen recordings — six of which have climbed to the top of Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz Album charts — Fourplay has continued to explore the limitless dimensions and permutations of jazz while at the same time appealing to a broad mainstream audience.

Mishka, on the other hand, became interested in jazz at the early age of three. Mishka’s first initiations into music were old songs, including those of Joni Mitchell, which she listened to as a child. She then took saxophone lessons at 10 and by 14 she was already singing jazz. It can be recalled that Mishka was invited as guest artist at a major event organized by the British Council (Manila) — a music spectacular Jazz in Time, featuring the UK jazz legend Courtney Pine and Cameron Pierre, one of Candid’s artists. Her impeccable rendition of Billie Holiday’s signature song God Bless the Child earned this young talent the immediate admiration of the audience.

Saxophonist Jon Irabagon, who studied music at the prestigious DePaul University, has steadily made a name for himself since relocating to New York in 2001 to pursue further studies at the Manhattan School of Music. For the past few years, he’s earned plaudits for his work in the gonzo freebop quartet Mostly Other People Do the Killing. Last year, he made an impressive debut as a leader with his band Outright. With these projects and as an in-demand sideman, he routinely erases the boundaries between hard bop and free jazz, excelling at both approaches.

For tickets on the ABS-CBN Jazz Night, call 0920-9509624, or e-mail [email protected]. For details, log on to www.pijazzfest.com or get a copy of the latest issue of Metro Society magazine and tune in to the Lifestyle Network on Skycable 52. The Lifestyle Network is available on SkyCable Platinum, SkyCable Gold, SkyCable Silver and other quality cable operators nationwide.