Hello kulintang fans!
The last blog post was quite a while ago. Looking at the timeline of content posting stings a little bit, but I am encouraged by all of you who comment, reblog, follow, like, and subscribe to Kulintronica feeds and also everyone who talks to me in person about how they have been looking for music like Kulintronica that brings indigenous Filipino music into today.
Inspiration is not in drought in the San Francisco Bay Area where a persistent and eclectic multi-cultural artist community won’t let a weekend go by without offering something eye-opening.
This last Sunday I was inspired by another Filipino musician whom I admire for pushing the boundaries of Filipino music and also his methodically sound approach to life. It was at Porchfest in historic Napa while a reggae band pumped gritty beats from the lanai that Florante Aguilar asked me when the next kulintang electronic dance music show is.
I told him it wouldn’t be until September 26 and mumbled a couple of words as I went to sip my drink.
“Album launch?” he asked in confirmation. As someone that has released at least five albums and a movie featuring ground breaking Filipino guitar music, he knows that type of gig well.
“Yup… I’ve been working on this so long it almost hurts to think about it.” In that candid moment it was all I could think of saying. The first tracks for the project were recorded many years ago. A crowd of Porchfest revelers sitting in picnic chairs or leaning against their bicycles applause as the Trevor Lyon band introduced their musicians at the end of their set on the porch outside.
“Anything worthwhile takes a long time to do,” he said, as the band outside drops into their encore number. Florante continued to prepare for his set with the Latin Filipino Connection and I went back for another helping of inasal, absorbing what the virtuoso said.
What: OPM Republic presents “‘Til The Break Of Gong” Album Launch
When: Saturday, September 26 at 6pm
Where: Somar Bar in Oakland Uptown
I hope all my treasured kulintang fans have been well, and you all can expect to hear more about this and other recent developments in the Kulintronica world.
Stay tuned and use the hashtag #TilTheBreakOfGong to hear more about the album launch on all platforms.
Thanks
Kulintronica 