Positive vibes fuel Pinoy band in UAE


AL AIN, United Arab Emirates — For the musical group Session Zone, it's all about good chemistry and positive vibes.

“Positive music comes from positive minds,” said the group's guitarist Randy Francisco via email. “Such music uplifts the soul to greater heights, feels good and makes you happy.”

Francisco, an interior designer who moonlights as photographer/videographer, described Session Zone as a “band with awesome chemistry, one that balances each other, energizes each other, and works together to create and perform great music.”

The seven-man musical ensemble had its first major performance on October 12, 2012 during the concert of soul princess Jonalyn Viray here.

Aside from Francisco, the other band members  are saxophonist/flutist Randy Michael Rex Bacarra, 36, a music teacher and a member of the Abu Dhabi Big Band; bassist Ray An Cenicio, 33, a music teacher; keyboardist Marvin Damuag, 34, a pianist at The British Club; drummer Jerome Vidanes, 34, an archives clerk; and singer Hyacinth De Cena, 30, a secretary.

Its sole non-Pinoy member, French violinist Thomas Jean Henri Mauduit, 32, meanwhile, is a software programmer at a security company.

Asked on the source of all the positive vibes in their music, Francisco said: “We believe positive music exists in all genres, from ballads, to country music to rock music which infuses positive content and Session Zone band is versatile and experienced in performing all kinds of music.”

Francisco is no musical neophyte. At 36, he has experienced performing with a former French Ambassador to the UAE (who was a blues/jazz musician) in a band.  He had also been a member of a funk-rock band called Viscous Mishmash.

Spellbound audiences

Francisco said their audiences “are mostly kabayans and some music-loving Europeans” who “are usually spellbound since the violin and the saxophone create magic when performed live.”

After their performance with Viray, Session Zone got booked again to perform with Duncan Ramos, Sitti Navarro, and Princess Velasco in December 2012; with Juris Fernandez in February 2013; with Nina in March 2013; and recently with Aiza Seguerra in September 2013.

“We also perform in various hotels across the UAE such as in the Emirates Palace Hotel, Hilton Abu Dhabi, Dusit Thani, Le Meridien, Le Royal Meridien, and Crown Plaza,” Francisco said.

Challenges

Although versatile in all genres, Session Zone still experiences challenges when performing.

“The main challenge is time. But it’s worth all the trouble when we finally perform and see our audience enjoying our music,” Francisco said.

He said the band makes it a point to choose its songs based on the audience. “The performing venue is [also] a key factor. When we play in various hotels, our audience varies and we practice all genres of music to reach out to them.”

Their Filipino audience, in particular, prefers OPM and old songs, Francisco said.

“Old songs like the APO [Hiking Society] medley can encourage Filipinos to sing,” he said. “These OPM songs really pleased kabayans.”

“It is very important to be a part of their eagerness and their desire for good music. Positive music is any music that makes people in high spirits, energized, and makes them sing along,” he concluded. — KBK, GMA News

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

POPCOM, gagamit ng ‘digital platforms’ para pagtibayin ang mga ugnayang pampamilya

Mas pinalalawig ng Komisyon sa Populasyon at Pagpapaunlad (POPCOM) ang adhikain nitong pagpapalaganap at pagpapabuti ng pakikipag-ugnayan ng mga nakakatandang Pilipino sa kanilang mga anak na nagdadalaga at nagbibinata. Nitong Setyembre 21, ang POPCOM ay nagsagawa ng isang “parent-teen talk webinar” gamit ang Zoom, kung saan ang isang “interactive program” ang nagbigay ng naaayon na kaalaman at kasanayan sa mga magulang, habang tumulong ito sa mga anak na teenager na maabot ang kanilang buong potensyal. Hinikayat din nito ang mga nanay at tatay na sumali sa malayang usapan, lalo na sa mga usapin ukol sa sex at sekswalidad, na nakikitang makakatulong upang bumaba ang mga bilang ng mga pagbubuntis sa hanay ng mga kabataan. Maaaring mapanood ang webinar sa https://youtu.be/lZ9jrJCjYas. Ayon kay Ikalawang Kalihim (Undersecretary) Juan Antonio A. Perez III, MD, MPH, “ang webinar ay naging isang tagapag-simula at ‘padaluyan’ ng pag-uu
Read more

UP Diliman Professors Share Scientists’ Procurement Struggles at Senate Hearing

By Harvey Sapigao Senate hearing of the revised procurement law (Photo credit: Senate of the Philippines) College of Science (CS) Dean Giovanni Tapang held up a little white device as he finished his presentation. “This is a ₱150,000 component,” he described. “Isa lang gumagawa nito sa buong mundo, pero ang hirap pilitin sila na magregister sa PhilGEPS,” he continued, referring to the requirement that foreign companies must first register to the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) before they can sell products to local scientists. Marine Science Institute (MSI) Deputy Director Dr. Irene Rodriguez explained that the small device is a resin that filters metals in water. “May budget tayo,” she said, “pero ang problema ko ay ‘yung resin na ito.” This and other bottlenecks brought about by the procurement law, or the Government Procurement Reform Act (RA 9184), slow down research and development in the country. UPD leaders were invited to the Senate he
Read more

Biden said set to make push for demilitarized Palestinian state as part of new doctrine ---By LAZAR BERMAN

New York Times’ Thomas Friedman, who’s close to the US administration, says emerging doctrine would include Saudi-Israeli normalization, 2-state solution, and campaign against Iran US President Joe Biden’s administration is homing in on a new doctrine involving an unprecedented push to immediately advance the creation of a demilitarized but viable Palestinian state, The New York Times’ Thomas Friedman reported on Thursday. The plan, Friedman wrote, “would involve some form of US recognition of a demilitarized Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip that would come into being only once Palestinians had developed a set of defined, credible institutions and security capabilities to ensure that this state was viable and that it could never threaten Israel.” White House officials “have been consulting experts inside and outside the US government about different forms this recognition of Palestinian statehood might take,” revealed Friedman. What he termed the new “Biden Doctrin
Read more