There are things we do so nonchalantly that may mean something special to someone else. There are those seemingly insignificant actions we take that would not even merit a place in our memory bank, but would be fondly remembered by others. Some of us go through life in full stride, sometimes with nary a thought that, somewhere along the way, we have made another person a little happier with a selfless gesture or a kind word.
As Yolanda Adams’s song The Things We Do puts it so pithily:
The things we do, the things we say
Are gentle rays of hope that touch us all each day
The things we do, the things we say
These are the greatest gifts we’ll ever give away...
Oh, every hand that has been held
Has reached out for somebody else
In every move we make
Every day
We pass love on this way…
This in a nutshell was how the Jalbuenas felt on November 8 when the audiophile community presented to them the citation meant for their ailing patriarch, Louie Jalbuena (LJ). In fact, until a few months ago, the Jalbuena children and their mother had no inkling that the album The Ones I Love which LJ and his friends cut in the late ’70s had been creating quite a sensation among those who have heard it.
Limited copies of the album were meant to be given away to LJ’s friends. By a twist of fate, a few of those copies somehow made the rounds of various flea markets, until one album landed in the hands of orthopedic surgeon Lito Gozum who then lent it to me for evaluation. Perhaps it was destiny; certainly, it was a serendipitous discovery: the LP was really meant to be heard by an audience which can appreciate not only the songs but the artist behind them. This column’s effort to search for the man who croons from the heart was ably rewarded when LJ’s family got in touch with me.
Yes, it was bittersweet when Doc Lito and I finally met LJ, still as handsome as he was on the album cover, even as he bravely struggled to cope with dementia. Although his once-energetic body is now unkindly pinned to a wheelchair, he could still nonetheless muster an endearing smile.
The awarding ceremony — fittingly done on the first day of the 5th Annual Hi-Fi Show at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel — nearly reduced everyone to tears. The show’s top honcho Tonyboy de Leon, WiredState owner and administrator Francis Sogono, and Doc Lito alternately extolled LJ’s contribution to the audiophile community. LJ wasn’t physically present when his wife Sandra received from Francis the citation, but the spirit of his genius hovered as his album was spun to the enchantment of the enthusiastic audiophile crowd. It was the first time for most of the audiophiles in attendance to listen to LJ’s album, and they became instant fans.
Some may ask: “Why give a citation to a virtual unknown, whose songs were only heard by a few?” Well, LJ’s virtues are what define WiredState, the online forum of the audiophile community: sharing, friendship, and the zest for a good and peaceful life. Every day that they are glued to their respective computers, these audiophiles share audio knowledge and jokes, and discuss the day’s hot topic.
The Hi-Fi Show is just icing on the musical cake. Throughout the year, whenever their hectic schedules permit, audiophiles hop from one listening room to another to enjoy the sounds, relish the banter and savor the camaraderie. (The delightful food that the session host prepares is also a plus factor, of course.)
On any given day, local DIYers such as Mandy Marino (the maestro); the Harana Boys (maker of handcrafted speaker enclosures, amplifiers and preamplifiers); the Malabon Boys (for speaker enclosures made of stone); the Tono Boys (for preamps, amps), Mang Rod and Jon Agner, among others, are busy cooking up new gadgets for a community just as giddy to acquire new toys.
Mundane though others may think these things are, it wasn’t frivolity that drove LJ to cut an album that intrigued, enthralled and inspired the audiophile community. And it’s not a whimsical community that found in LJ a kindred spirit whose love and passion for music will transcend time and the physical world.
As Yolanda Adams says: In every move we make, Every day, We pass love on this way…
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For comments or questions, please e-mail me at audioglow@yahoo.com or at vphl@hotmail.com. You can also visit www.wiredstate.com or http://bikini-bottom.proboards80.com/index.cgi for quick answers to your audio concerns.