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On September 12, 2007, the young and talented Filipino-born singer Charmaine Clamor celebrated the release of her new CD, Flippin’ Out at the Iridium Jazz Club in midtown Manhattan. Featured with her were pianist Jeb Patton, bassist Mike Kern, drummer McClenty Hunter and alto saxophonist Julius Tolentino, who also played on Clamor’s CD.
Charmaine Clamor looked beautiful in a long sleeveless brown dress, and sang with pure, pleasing, solid notes. The set opened with “My Funny Brown Pinay,” which is Rodgers and Hart’s tune “My Funny Valentine,” with original lyrics by Charmaine. Jeb Patton served as musical director, having had a lot of experience playing with the Heath Brothers. He directed the band to establish a jumpy rhythm to start, solidifying it into a smooth swing.
“With or Without You” is the Irish rock band U2’s song, arranged for Charmaine with a repeated bassline, brushes for the drums, and no piano. The funky bassline was a perfect foil for Charmaine’s emotions, and the audience got to experience the professionalism of these musicians.
Charmaine brought up Julius on alto sax to play on the selection, “Candy.” One could sense that Julius’ love for the sax began with Charlie Parker - his solos rang out with double-time embellishments around the simple melody.
“I Will Never Forget You” and “I’ll be Loving You” were both Filipino songs that were Jazzed-up by Clamor. The former had a percussive intro that Charmaine scatted over, getting the band to do a bit of call and response. The latter tune was a waltz that both Julius and Jeb tore into with modernized changes. Charmaine mixed in her native language of Tagalog with English, making for an interesting combination that she nicknamed “Jazzipino.”
Ellington’s “It Don’t Mean a Thing” was my favorite song of the set. Hunter set up a groove on the drums, and put a fire under the soloists. Charmaine’s choice of notes and her natural sense of swing made this tune a rousing success.
Charmaine invited her husband, Michael Konik up to sing with her on the numbers, “Stars fell on Alabama” and “Route 66.” Michael and Charmaine met through a vocal harmony ensemble called “Crescendo,” and had only been married for 72 hours at the time of this gig! Everybody shared in their good fortune, and a bottle of champagne was brought onstage for the happy couple.
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