May 02, 2007 06:19 PM Wednesday

By: Mario E. Bautista  

FREEHAND

THE COMPANY GOES BOSSA 

THE bossa craze continues to peak and the country’s top vocal group, The CompanY, now releases its own album, “Destination: Bossa”, destined to be the ultimate soundtrack for Summer 2007. It’s a perfect follow up to their “Christmas Album” last December which we really treasure. This new musical journey sees them exploring the colorful rhythms and moods of Brazilian music, perfect to accompany you during those warm lazy afternoons of extended siestas. Sergio Mendes gets to meet the Manhattan Transfer, mixed with some Swing Out Sister and with a pinch of Hed Kandi and the result is an album of pop classic gems with a twist of Brazil for the Filipino musical taste.

The album has 15 cuts and the first one is “Goodbye Sadness (Tristeza),” remixed with hip hop beats. James Taylor’s “Your Smiling Face” morphs into Brazilian jazz.

Other songs are “Tulad Mo” (a Tagalog adaptation of “Like a Lover”), the French disco classic “Souvenirs” with a touch of a capella, “Every Little Thing He Does is Magic” by the Police, Seals and Crofts 70’s hit “Summer Breeze” (turned into a samba), Donna Summer’s “Whispering Waves”, Madonna’s “La Isla Bonita,” Parokya ni Edgar’s “Harana” (terrific as it goes bossa nova), Ernani Cuenco’s classic “Bato sa Buhangin”, and The Beatles’ “Here Comes the Sun” turned samba reggae and sung in Portuguese.

Produced by the group’s artistic director, Moy Ortiz, for his sub label Pop Art Music/Viva Records, Moy gets top guest artists performing with them: Aquarella, Electronica Manila’s DJ Brian Cua, Electronica Manila’s Flipperbaby aka Ado Ortiz, Guarana, Bo Razon, Eileen Sison, and Mike Villegas.

See The CompanY perform their new album on SM Davao on May 6, SM Iloilo on May 13,SM Cebu on May 20, SM Bacolod on June 3, and SM Cagayan de Oro on June 9. For their schedules, visit www.thecompanysingers.com.

People's Journal

http://www.journal.com.ph/index.php?issue=2007-05-02&sec=3&aid=16880

i Speak

By NOEL FERRER 

Issue # 3: The Company: Still at their 17th album!

Described as the ultimate and essential soundtrack for the summer of 2007, The Company’s newest album "Destination: Bossa" released under Viva Records purports to be the perfect gimmick music for that long awaited tropical vacation. Whether you are in a chill out mood for those calm siestas on warm lazy afternoons, or you prefer the thrill of wild tropical party nights – "Destination: Bossa" takes you where you want to go depending on your mood swings. Think Sergio Mendes meets Manhattan Transfer, sprinkle with some Swing Out Sister, then add a pinch of Hed Kandi. Place all the ingredients in blender and blend until smooth; then press PLAY and enjoy the summer!

This latest musical journey finds The Company with an album full of pop classic gems reflecting the impeccable musicale taste of Filipinos with a twist of Brasil! Featured songs are as follows: the Brazilian classic "Goodbye Sadness (Tristeza)" gets remixed with hiphop beats; James Taylor’S "You Smiling Face" latest incarnation morphs into Brazilian Jazz "Tulad Mo" (a Tagalog adaptation of "Like A Lover" written by The Company’s Cecile Bautista), the French disco classic by Voyage entitled "Souvenirs" is given a sunshiney acapella lift, The Police’s "Every Little Thing He Does Is Magic" now has a jet set cool feel perfect for driving down the Pacific Coast Highway, Seals and Crofts ‘70s hit "Summer Breeze" turns into a samba, the obscure Donna Summer hit "Whispering Waves" is the perfect remedy for the frayed city nerves, Madonna’s "La Isla Bonita" stumbles into a new dance subgenre – "acoustic house music", Parokya Ni Edgar’s "Harana" goes full on bossa nova, OPM classic "Bato Sa Buhangin" by Ernani Cuenco and Snaffu Rigor turns contemplative with this acapella version, The Beatles’ "Here Comes The Sun" finds its samba reggae cousin and is performed in Portuguese. Two more alternate remixes are also featured as bonus cuts on the album.

This is a must-have album. Expect The Company to come up with a well thought-out, well-executed collection everytime. Even the album design, photography and lay out are well put together. Bravo to The Company!

You always stand out as the best vocal group in the Philippine music industry!

DIRECTLINE By Boy Abunda

Monday, May 21, 2007

The CompanY’s Destination: Bossa

The CompanY takes a musical voyage exploring the varied rhythms, textures, and moods of Brazilian music with Destination: Bossa. It is the vocal group’s 17th and latest album. Featured songs are Goodbye Sadness (Tristeza); James Taylor’s Your Smiling Face; The Police’s Every Little Thing (He) Does Is Magic; Seals and Crofts’ ’70s hit Summer Breeze; Donna Summer hit Whispering Waves; Madonna’s La Isla Bonita; OPM classic Bato Sa Buhangin by Ernani Cuenco and Snaffu Rigor;  and The Beatles’ Here Comes The Sun.

Destination: Bossa is released under Viva Records.

http://www.philstar.com/index.php?p=49&type=2&sec=31&aid=3411

The CompanY joins the bossa craze
SOUNDS FAMILIAR By Baby A. Gil
Monday, May 28, 2007

The CompanY puts so much heart and soul in the music it  creates that its audience can count on full helpings with everything it does. And that was just what happened when the country’s most enduring pop group decided to join the raging bossa nova phenomenon.

The album is titled Destination: Bossa. It was designed as a travelogue across wild tropical evenings and sensuous afternoon siestas. The group’s ability to think out of the box is once more at the forefront. I believe that this sense of daring and desire to always give listeners its fill is what took The CompanY out of the usual bossa trail to unlikely detours in its search for the materials and arrangements that went into the album.

As a result, you face the unknown with Destination: Bossa. You know you are going to bossa territory. But how you will get there and with whom is what makes the package interesting.

First surprise! Here is a bossa album with just one Brazilian tune, Tristeza, which is presented in English as Goodbye Sadness. No Waters of March here. The rest are pop standards, disco and Filipino pop songs. The latter amazingly lent itself easily to the Latin rhythms. All it took was just a few tweaks and these emerged as the album’s choicest cuts. Credit goes to the Latin gene that still resides in all of us.

Another surprise. Did you ever envision Parokya ni Edgar’s Harana as a bossa tune? Well, The CompanY did. The same thing happened to Tulad Mo (Like a Lover) and the Manila Sound classic Bato Sa Buhangin.

Want another one? What about the disco hit Souvenirs? Forget the swing. It is now in bossa tempo and a cappella to boot. I’m sure that by this time you are already curious about what happened to Your Smiling Face, Every Little Thing He Does is Magic, Summer Breeze, Whispering Waves, La Isla Bonita and Here Comes the Sun.

The CompanY is made up of Annie Quintos, Cecile Bautista, Sweet Plantado, Jay Marquez and Moy Ortiz who is also the artistic director of the group and producer of the album. The group’s mall tour promoting Destination: Bossa is nearing its end. But fans can still catch The CompanY on June 3 at SM Bacolod and June 9, SM Cagayan.

Incidentally, Eileen Sison and Guarana and Aquarela, two of the foremost exponents of Brazilian music in the Philippines who lent their talents to Destination Bossa, have also released their own albums.

Eileen who with her group Guarana joined The CompanY in Here Comes the Sun as lyricist, arranger and singer, has Musica Brasileira. This features samba compositions by local artists like Samba Cancao, which was originally Bong Penera’s A Samba Song, 15 Minutos by Bo Razon, plus a few by Eileen herself like Ibrigada and Tayo’y Magsamba.

This is surely the closest that we Pinoys have come to producing an authentic samba album with Filipino melodies given Portuguese lyrics. Just in case you have forgotten, unlike the Philippines or Mexico, Brazil’s Latin roots come from Portugal, not Spain and the bossa is actually a slower variation of the samba which comes from Brazil.

As for Aquarela, the duo composed of Miguel and Evelyn Juteau, joined The CompanY in Whispering Waves, which they also arranged and provided with French lyrics. Miguel is French and Evelyn is from Cebu but they have been in love with Brazilian music for many years.

Aquarela’s first CD is Bossa Nova Affair which has the usual bossa stuff like Triste, Waters of March and Corcovado, plus originals by Miguel like Melena Loca. Miguel who was a recording artist in France before he relocated to the Philippines is also the featured guitarist in the album. Dix Lucero is on sax and flute while Michael Alba provides the drums and percussions.

http://www.philstar.com/index.php?p=49&type=2&sec=31&aid=4843

Aug. 25

The CompanY at Captain’s Bar, Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Makati.

Call Ticketworld at 891-5610, 891-9999 or 750-8888

Worth the wait
DIRECTLINE By Boy Abunda
Wednesday, September 26, 2007

"Forget your troubles, c'mon get horny," teases the The CompanY, the country's premier vocal group. But before any prude reacts, let me clarify that it is just The CompanY's naughty way of inviting you all to its big band concert titled Let's Kick Some BrASS! (a big band celebration) at the Main Theater (Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo) of the Cultural Center of the Philippines on Oct. 13, 8 p.m.

 The CompanY reinvents itself and joins forces with the jazz institution, the 14-man strong, UP Jazz Ensemble under the leadership of Rayben Maigue. "It has taken seven long years for the big band concert to become a reality. We almost thought the special project would never come to be. It was all worth the wait as we realize that God's timing is always perfect!," volunteers The CompanY soprano, Sweet Plantado.

 Let's Kick Some BrASS! will feature music from varied music genres that combine vocal harmony with a sonic wall of brasses. The repertoire runs the spectrum of musical possibilities: Vocal Jazz, Swing, Standard, Broadway, Novelty, Pop, A Cappella, Funk, Classical, Motown, Original Pilipino Music, Latin, Rock and Dance Music, etc. The concert showcases the versatility and musical competence of both vocalists and instrumentalists in adeptly handling different music genres with authenticity and flair. And bravura.

Highlights of the repertoire include a bebop and scatting version of Willy Revillame's novelty hit Boom Tarat Tarat; Dizzy Gillespie's A Night In Tunisia; a vocal version of the Average White Band's instrumental funk hit, Pick Up The Pieces; a comedic vocalese rendition of the most famous marches by John Philip Soussa; a boogie arrangement of the APO's classic OPM hit, Lumang Tugtugin; the classical piece Flight of the Bumble Bee done at break neck speeds, etc.

 For the CCP Gala concert, tickets are available at National Bookstores, the CCP Box Office - tel. nos.  832-3704/832-1125 loc. 1409 -1410, or log on to ticketworld.com.ph.

 Let's Kick Some BrASS! had its world premiere last Sept. 15 in Davao City at the Davao Convention and Trade Center. It was both a commercial and critical success. The concert is written and directed by Moy Ortiz. Musical Director and co-producer is Beth Martin. Special guests are Arthur Manuntag and Michael Guevarra of the groups Saxophoro and Guarana. Choreography by Ding Cruz. Sound and lights by Mon Vitan's Ilaw at Tunog. Sets by Eric Cruz of the CCP. Production management by Peggy Sangco. Technical and lights director Dong Calingacion. Wardrobe by Danilo Franco. Jewelry by Arnel Papa. Hair and make-up by Sherwin Cervantes. Marketing by Ultimate Entertainment and Live Artists Production, Inc.

The CompanY is composed of Annie Quintos, Moy Ortiz, Cecile Bautista, Sweet Plantado and Jay Marquez. For details, log on to http://www.thecompanysingers.com/.

Negros Trade Fair

The Association of Negros Producers (ANP) will launch its annual trade fair in Rockwell, Makati City on Oct. 3. Now on its 22nd year of existence, the ANP which banners the theme Innovation and Reinvention is ongoing until Oct. 8.

"The 22nd Negros Trade Fair is not just to create a shopping venue, but to seek and tap new domestic and international markets and bolster inter-provincial and international linkages,"  emphasized Doreen Alicia Pena, VP for Trade Fair & Marketing.

"The trade fair is a major ANP project which aims to showcase the best creative output of our Negrense producers - models of productivity, industry and ingenuity. We hope to compete globally, as our products are highly marketable internationally as proven over the years," ANP president Mary Ann Colmenares declared. The ANP has markets in the US, Europe, Japan, Africa, the Middle East, Scandinavian countries and Singapore. 

The 22nd Trade Fair will be participated in by 73 ANP producers. The annual trade fair, which exclusively features Negros-made products, has gained wide acceptance as indicated by sales returns showing dramatic increases from year to year and by the volume of visitors.

The Association of Negros Producers is one of the oldest and largest groups of micro and small entrepreneurs in the West Visayas. It has 96 member producers, specializing in local design and manufacturing of indigenous products - gifts and houseware, furniture and furnishing, fashion and garments and food.

The ANP was started by 15 Negrense housewives back in the '80s who put up the first trade fair in Manila as a response to the sugar crisis that befell the Negros economy at that time.

http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Entertainment&p=49&type=2&sec=31&aid=2007092562

Wednesday, October 03, 2007


The CompanY is ready for its horniest show ever

YOU’RE reading it right! It is the goal of the country’s premier vocal group The CompanY to stage its horniest show ever.

The award-winning and ultra versatile vocal quintet joins forces with The UP Jazz Ensemble (under the headship of Rayben Maigue), to bring to the stage a “big band” concert entitled, Let’s Kick Some BrASS!, and never in their almost two decades of showmanship have Annie Quintos, Moy Ortiz, Cecile Bautista, Sweet Plantado and Jay Marquez experience singing with as many horn instruments backing them up as it would on October 13 at the main theater of the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

Let’s Kick Some BrASS! features a wide array of musical genres that combine The CompanY’s tight vocal harmonies with the UP Jazz Ensemble’s sonic wall of brasses. Act One will showcase the musical genres of jazz, standards, swing music, classical music, a cappella, Original Pilipino Music (OPM) and Broadway music. Act Two tackles more the contemporary musical genres of rock, house music, rhythm and blues, Motown, jazz fusion, Latin, novelty, Original Pilipino Music (OPM) and mainstream pop.

Highlights of the repertoire include a bebop and scatting version of the novelty hit “Boom Tarat Tarat,” Dizzy Gillespie’s “A Night In Tunisia,” a vocal version of the Average White Band’s instrumental funk hit “Pick Up The Pieces, a comedic vocalese rendition of the most famous marches by John Philip Soussa, and a boogie arrangement of the APO ’s classic OPM hit “Lumang Tugtugin.”

This concert is a fulfillment of a seven-year pipe dream of “The CompanY” and its musical director and concert producer, Beth Martin. It was only this year that all the elements of this concept show came into alignment, signaling the feasibility and fruition of an almost decade long wait.

“When Sir Reyben [Maigue] and Michael Guevarra of UP Jazz Ensemble expressed their enthusiasm and support for the concept, we became very optimistic and hopeful that this might be the year of our big band show,” shares Moy Ortiz, adding, “However, when the officers of the Cultural Center of the Philippines gave the green light for this project, we knew that this dream concert was definitely going to happen this year. That sealed the deal for everyone! Seven years is a long wait but everything happens at the right time.”

For the CCP Gala concert, tickets are available at all National Bookstore branches and the CCP Box Office with telephone numbers 832-3704, 832-1125 loc. 1409-1410.

http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2007/oct/03/yehey/life/20071003lif3.html

Erik shares stage with top talents

'Let’s Kicks Some BrASS' – The CompanY



October is usually the time of year when the Philippines’ premiere vocal group, The CompanY, stages their major concert performances.

This year is no different as The CompanY’s big band concert titled "Let’s Kick Some BrASS!" (a big band celebration), hits the main theater of the Cultural Center of the Philippines on Oct. 13, 8 p.m.

This enduring and ultra versatile vocal quintet, The CompanY, joins forces with the formidable jazz institution, The Up Jazz Ensemble (under the headship of Rayben Maigue), this time around.

"Let’s Kick Some BrASS!" is a realization of seven–year pipe dream for The CompanY. The show will feature a 19–piece big band that will be featured as an ensemble and as individual soloists (i.e. Michael Guevarra of the groups Guarana and Saxophoro). The repertoire is almost entirely all new (of course the original hits of The CompanY have to be performed); so long-time CompanY concert goes have a lot of new surprises in store for them.

This new show runs the gamut of musical genres that combine vocal harmony with a sonic wall of brasses. Act One will showcase the musical genres of jazz, standards, swing music, classical music, a capella, Original Pilipino Music (OPM) and broadway music. Act Two tackles more the contemporary musical genres of rock, house music, rhythm and blues, Motown, jazz fusion, latin, novelty, OPM and mainstream pop.

Highlights of the repertoire include a bebop and scatting version of Willie Revillame’s novelty hit "Boom Tarat Tarat," "Dizzy Gillespie’s "A Night In Tunisia," a vocal version of the Average White Band’s instrumental funk hit – "Pick Up The Pieces," a comedic vocalese rendition of the most famous marches by Philip Soussa, a boogie arrangement of the APO’s classic OPM hit, "Lumang Tugtugin," etc.

"Let’s Kick Some BrASS!" is written and directed by Moy Ortiz choreography by Ding Cruz. Sound and lights by Mon Vitan’s Ilaw at Tunog. Sets by Eric Cruz of the CCP. Production Management by Peggy Sangco Technical and Lights Director: Dong Calingacion. Wardrobe by Danilo Franco, Jewelry by Arnel Papa, Hair and make–up by Sherwin Cervantes, publicity by Boy Abunda’s Backroom, Inc., Marketing by Ultimate Entertainment and Live Artists Production Inc.

For the CCP Gala concert, tickets are available at National Bookstores, the CCP Box Office or log on to ticketworld.com.

The CCP gala performance is sponsored by PLDT Budget Card, CleanKing, Viva Records, Danilo Franco, Arnel Papa Jewelry, Backroom Inc., La Aplaya located at Greens and Grills, Festival Mall, Alabang, RaiRai Ken, Crossover 105.1–all smooth all current, Dream FM 106.7–The Comfortable choice, 96.3 Wrock, The Philippine Star, Manila Bulletin, PDI, The Manila Times, People Asia, Carmel House Studios, TJMAX Music Lab, Nature’s Spring Drinking Water, Ultimate Entertainment, Live Artist Productions Inc., Italiannis, JS Dream Ad, Nescafe, X.O. Candy and Solar TV.

The CompanY is composed of Annie Quintos, Moy Ortiz, Cecile Bautista, Sweet Plantado and Jay Marquez. For more details, please visit www.thecompanysingers.com.

http://www.mb.com.ph/ENTR20071007105063.html