Bob Aves, INNER COUNTRY, BMG Pilipinas, 2000
Impressions on Bob Aves and the "Inner Country"

Angel Pena wrote:

I am right now listening to the tape of Bob Aves,' the "Inner Country." It's a new concept of jazz. I believe that jazz is not confined as American music, but rather it is how it is played by any culture. CONGRATULATIONS TO BOB AVES and to all the performers. This is a breakthrough in Filipino cultural arts.

Let me give a humble review of the first few pieces. In the TRAVELLING LIGHT, I am impressed with the melody that sounds like it is based on a scale of E F G Ab Bb, with the E as the center tone. It is exotic! Cleverly constructed, it avoided the B natural in order to disguise the tonality which is already on the accompaniment (Quasi C major in this case). This is just my technical point of view but whether it was consciously or unconsciously done, the point is it is a wonderful piece of music that represents our culture yet maintaining the jazz quality, resulting in original Pinoy jazz. Kudos to Bob Aves. I'd like to meet him.

In CULTURAL EXCHANGE, the rhythmic and syncopated accents by the quartal harmonies akin to eastern sound have lots of elements of surprise! It also displays judiciously the fantastic guitar improvisation of Bob Aves.

In WAVE SONG, I like the soprano's lyrical melody line and the way Tots Tolentino executed it. The general mood is melancholy, contrasted by intricate percussions that enhanced the piece.

In DAMGU, this piece is very indigenous sounding as expressed by the beautiful chanting of Ms. Grace Nono, accompanied by the Kudlong, Gabbang, Skin drums and Guitar synth. The chanting in this piece gives us a feeling of "searching" inwardly
in a trance, maybe, but the rhythm is intricate.

In MEETING YOU, this piece has a strong pentatonic implication in both theme and guitar improvisation. This is one of the many good representations of Pinoy jazz in this recording.

In WHERE THE RIVER FLOWS, what a beautiful bass line musically played by Meong Pacana in the beginning of this piece! The embellishments in the chants by Jakiri and Sindao Banisil, depicts the aura of southern Philippines. The tricky accents in the theme sung by Noel Cabangon in octaves are very exciting!

In AN INVITATION, this has a beautiful transparent sound superimposed by the Octavina. What a fantastic performance by the guitar and the piano (Bond Samson)!
The Octavina enhances the Pinoyish melodic line in parallel 5th as in the parallel organum during the 11th and 12th century practice. But this organum of the Octavina and other instruments are still purely Pinoy.

In IN SILENCE, the absence of the regular rhythm that one can expect of a jazz piece
is very relaxing and contemplative, especially with the transparencies of the harmony. Nevertheless, it will never lull us to sleep but rather it will give us a feeling of passive alertness as in meditation. This can be labeled as "classical" or "3rd Stream," to borrow Gunther Schuller's term for a piece of music that is neither jazz in the ordinary sense nor "classic."

All performers are so good, and the compositions profoundly creative. That is probably what I would call "exotic jazz" - ultimately, Pinoy jazz. By the way, the chantings are beautiful! They are very indigenous sounding with the combination of poly- rhythmic native percussions. The aggregate sound strongly suggests an aura of Pilipino culture.

I'd also like to state that Bob Aves' music, from the way I listened to the pieces, has transcended the stages of evolution of Pinoy jazz and it seems to me Bob Aves has found "THE END" of the search! I believe that the realization of Pinoy jazz, as it is in this recording, is the product of Bob's search for our national identity, and that this quest of his is inspired by the universal Soul within our Being. In secular terms, his music is a profound expression from a combination of intellect and emotion, mind and heart. His music should be felt. It cannot be described in words. One can only approximate its qualitative value.

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