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Bob Aves "Translating the gongs" - la fusion des héritages aux Philippines

By Philippe Vallin

English Translation: By Reni Angeles

Bob Aves ‚ “Translating the Gongs” (Tao music 2006)

Bob Aves is a renowned Philippine musician, guitarist, composer, arranger and producer. This multi-faceted artist made his first public appearance in the mid-70’s when jazz fusion, one of his major influences, was blossoming. Bob was therefore immersed in the worlds of Miles Davis, John McLaughlin and Weather Report among others and this is often evident in his own work. After having studied music at the prestigious Berklee School of Music in Boston, Bob returned to the Philippines where he would become one of the major personalities in the local music scene alongside such artists as Joey Ayala
(well known for his original mix of ethnic and modern pop sonorities). As a producer, Bob has shared his talents with a multitude of artists, such as Pinikpikan, Bo Razon and of course vocalist Grace Nono, his wife, who also collaborates with him on numerous projects.

During the 90’s Bob became increasingly drawn to the task of promoting the musical heritage of his country, the fruits of which include several independent film soundtracks, documentaries and music for contemporary dance. Bob’s personal style would reach its full maturity with the release of his album “Inner Country” in 2000 on BMG records. Here, he sets aside his arsenal of synthesizers and drum machines in favor of a larger instrumental palette drawn from jazz and the traditional music of the Philippine archipelago. Since then, he continues to pursue this creative path as evidenced by the recent release of his album, “Translating the Gongs”. Its music has been conceived as a dialogue between his Asian musical heritage as well as the influences inevitably brought by the Philippines colonial history, Spanish and American jazz sensibilities.

Bob, utilizing only an “Octavina” acoustic guitar, is accompanied by numerous instrumentalists on flute, trumpet, saxophone, piano, bass and of course a percussive section of considerable integrity using a panoply of native Philippine gongs: kulintang, sarunay, gandingan, agong and babandir. These instruments and their intrinsic sound and ‘language’ indeed characterize much of the Philippines’ traditional ethnic music and in fact give justification to the album’s title. Of course, the inimitable Grace Nono lends her voice to some of the pieces, among them the extraordinary “The Outsider” which opens the album and on which she unleashes her voice’s explosive power, accompanied by that of Faisal Monal with a more ‘moderate’ voice with a noticeable Arabic flavor.

An abundance of virtuosity, rich textures of diverse sonorities and teeming with emotion, “ Translating the Gongs” will most definitely appeal to aficionados of jazz bent towards World music. Bob’s compositions bring to mind the exploratory forays of Renaud Garcia Fons (jazz double bass instrumentalist impassioned by flamenco and instruments from the Middle East), the sole difference being that the former consistently manages to come up with arrangements of good taste! One also finds a tinge of Hadouk trio on “ All in a Day”, a magnificent track which will transport you on a veritable voyage with its slow rhythm punctuated by a deep bass accompaniment and saxophone the sound of which approaches that of a Didier Malherbe.

Therefore I can’t do much more other than to encourage you to urgently get a hold of this marvelous work, “Translating the Gongs”, with which you will be able to navigate a familiar musical universe (jazz), and at the same time discover new sonorities which surely you will not yet have heard elsewhere. The only major problem is: the album is still not distributed on our continent, the same goes for the entire catalog of Tao music, which indeed conceals quite a few little “treasures”. The album therefore remains difficult to procure, short of ordering it directly from its publishers. Nevertheless, rest assured, even that much trouble will be worth the effort!