Concert recap: Cayabyab tribute rewinds, fast forwards to past and present with timeless classics

MANILA -- If last Saturday’s “Maestro Ry: A Tribute To Ryan Cayabyab” concert felt like two different shows, it’s because it was originally intended that way.

One group, the St. Scholastica's College High School Batch 95 wanted a fund-raising affair that presented a more classic and traditional salute to the recently minted National Artist for Music and Ramon Magsaysay awardee, while another, led by Elements Music Camp co-founder Twinky Lagdameo, preferred a more, uh, "bagets" approach — Cayabyab’s greatest hits as performed by some of today’s contemporary and alternative artists.

The two camps ultimately decided to join forces and the result was, well, let’s just say that for the most part, they managed to make it work. “Maestro Ry,” which took place at The Theatre at Solaire, was indeed a loving and thoughtful tribute to the man fondly referred to as Mr. C and then some.

Fans of Cayabyab’s music were certainly not disappointed with the opening salvo of classic tunes from host Jon Santos who performed Smokey Mountain’s “Da Coconut Nut,” Celeste Legaspi who took on Mr. C’s a capella favorite “Limang Dipang Tao” and the one-two punch of Basil Valdez’s “Paraisong Parisukat” and “Nais Ko” that sounded as fresh as the day they were recorded.

Legazpi performed with her usual gusto that we can’t help but wonder what could have been if Mr. C wrote some of his big hits specially for her. As Valdez would reveal later in his spiel, Cayabyab wrote and arranged more songs for him than any other artist. Now 67, the iconic balladeer’s flawless rendition (at least to my untrained ears) made us wish he performed a full concert at that point.

Instead, he introduced the guitar-centric blues-oriented band, the Bleu Rascals who delivered a barely recognizable, bluesy reading of “Tuwing Umuulan at Kapiling Ka.” Although Paul Marney’s impressive display of jaw-dropping guitar virtuosity drew loud cheers, most of the older audience, including myself, still wished that Valdez stayed onstage to deliver his classic rendition.

Up next was Morissette who mesmerized the crowd with her elegant warbling of “Sometime Somewhere,” originally recorded by Valdez and later by Regine Velasquez. Morissette herself has performed the song on several occasions and it has always been a show-stopping moment for her.

This was followed by Urbandub's interesting hard-rocking rendition of “How Can I” originally a hit for Martin Nievera.

Then Kuh Ledesma took command of the stage with an astonishing reading of Mon Del Rosario’s “Sino Ang Baliw” punctuated by a Sisa-like maniacal laugh in the middle. She later said she personally asked Cayabyab to arrange the song for her in the tradition of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

Her second song was her definitive version of “Magbalik Ka Na, Mahal” from the musical "Rama Hari." Fun fact: the song has the distinction of being performed on the same night on two different concerts by two different singers as it was also on Lea Salonga’s set list for her “Perfect Ten” show.

As Santos’ witty spiels kept the show chugging along. Legazpi returned for a poignant rendition of “Minsan ang Minahal ay Ako” from the musical "Katy."

Then came Cocoy Laurel, the man who changed Mr. C’s life and gave him his first big break. Still looking every bit like the matinee idol who melted young girls’ hearts in the early '70s, Cocoy launched into “Corner of the Sky” from the musical "Pippin," one of the numerous cover tunes he recorded that Cayabyab arranged.

Mr. C would later reminisce that in order to avoid the curfew during Martial Law, he and other friends would spend the night at Laurel’s house to jam and sing songs. It was there where he met former Vice President Salvador Laurel, who offered the then Accounting major a music scholarship that would change his life forever.

Another Laurel, Cocoy’s niece, Nicole Asensio, was up next with a stirring interpretation of “Araw Gabi,” a hit for Regine Velasquez. Then came the very popular IV of Spades with a more faithful adaptation of “Mamang Kutsero” another popular track from Mr. C’s celebrated a capella album, "One."

Two more Basil Valdez hits were performed in succession. First up was Mr. C’s son Toma and daughter Krina dueting on “Tunay Na Ligaya,” also a hit for Ariel Rivera. This was followed by “Iduyan Mo” from the movie “Aguila” as performed by the girl group Baihana where Krina is a member.

The mood lightened when Toma returned to the stage with his group Debonair District and performed a jazzed up version of the theme from the children’s show, “Sineskwela,” that had the audience singing along. In his spiel that introduced the band, host Santos said the song was personally commissioned by the late Gina Lopez.

It was the turn R&B singer-songwriter Thyro to regal the audience, this time with a well-received performance of “Paano Na Kaya,” originally composed for the reality competition series, "Pinoy Dream Academy," and a big hit for Bugoy Drilon. Thyro owned the song like it was his own as he delivered a relaxed yet heartfelt interpretation.

It was then musical director Mel Villena’s turn to speak. Villena, together with his orchestra composed of former students of Mr. C and backup singers led by the durable Babsie Molina have done an amazing job accompanying the performers. When he spoke, it was as a proud dad to Josh Villena, whose band Autotelic was up next.

Performing an uptempo version of “Kailan,” the debut hit single of Smokey Mountain, Autotelic succeeded the most in creating an alternative version of one of Mr. C’s most popular tunes, perhaps because it hewed close to the original’s spirit. The young Villena and keyboardist/singer Kai Honasan reimagined “Kailan” as a duet and and the crowd responded favorably to their rendition.

Speaking of Smokey Mountain, the tribute concert was supposed to be a reunion of sorts for the vocal group who captured people’s imagination when they were still in their tweens. The lone original member present that night was Jeffrey Hidalgo who revealed that the other members are currently out of the country.

Except for “Kailan” which was a song about first love, most of the songs that Mr. C wrote for Smokey Mountain had strong messages of social consciousness. As interpreted by Hidalgo, Asensio and Morissette, both “Better World” and “Paraiso” still resonated loudly and sounded more relevant than ever.

Hidalgo then went on to introduce the man of the hour himself, who went up the stage to deliver an emotional speech but still in his usually relaxed soft spoken manner. Marveling at the performances but singling out the performances of Valdez and Ledesma in particular, the man could not express his gratitude enough as he also recalled his early days when Laurel took him under his wing.

Sitting in the keyboard, Cayabyab then launched into the haunting opening strains of “Isang Awit,” a song about a mother encouraging his son to pursue his musical dreams. The song is Mr. C reimagining his past because the truth was, his mom, an opera singer, actually discouraged him and his siblings to take the same path she took largely because of its financial challenges.

“Isang Awit” was later recorded by Hajji Alejandro for his "Strictly OPM" album, which also contained Cayabyab’s Metropop winning classic, “Kay Ganda ng Ating Musika.” Now synonymous with Original Pilipino Music itself, “Kay Ganda ng Ating Musika” as rendered by most of the performers closed the show on a festive note, even as Santos’ hilarious miscue prompted Villena to restart it all over again.

All told, “Maestro Ry” was a wonderful show that nicely captured Cayabyab’s story (hence, the title) through most of his best known music. Alas, the entire night is not enough to capture all of the man’s greatest hits.

Missing in the setlist that night was Basil Valdez’s “Kahit Ika’y Panaginip Lang” which would have been ideal as Thyro’s second song. It would have been great to see Morissette performing “Kailan” and Autotelic would probably do well with “Ikaw at ang Gabi” also a hit for Alejandro back in the day.

Since the concert also featured songs Mr. C did not write but arranged, it would have been also great if it included Willy Cruz’s “May Minamahal” and Jim Paredes’ “Nakapagtataka” which the honoree arranged for Alejandro, and “When I Met You” which he arranged for the Apo Hiking Society.

But who knows? The concert’s favorable reception just might prompt organizers to stage a well-deserved sequel. I for one, would certainly look forward to that.