By Don Heckman

Los Angeles

Oct. 26. (Mon.)  Charito.  Japanese singer Charito performs convincingly in areas reaching from jazz to r&b and soul music.  She also appears at Yoshi’s Oakland on Oct. 27 (see below).   Catalina Bar & Grill  (323) 466-2210.

Oct. 27. (Tues.)    John Pisano’s  Guitar Night is always one of the Southland’s most enjoyable jazz events.  And this week it’s even better, with Pisano swapping riffs with the veteran guiratist Gene Bertoncini.(who’s played with everyone from Benny Goodman to Wayne Shorter).  Spazio. (818) 728-8400.

- Oct. 28. (Wed.)  Sony Holland.  One of the most interesting members of northern California’s prolific crop of first rate jazz singers, Holland has now moved to Los Angeles.  Here’s the first local opportunity to see and hear this adventurous new addition to the Southland’s own gallery of world class jazz performers.   Catalina Bar & Grill (323) 466-2210.

- Oct. 29. (Thurs.)  The Diva Den.  With Kristen Korb, Kathleen Grace and Inga Swearingen. Divas they may be, but Korb, Grace and Swearingen are far more focused on the impressive musicality of their singing than their status as young prima donnas.   Vitellos Restaurant.  (818) 769-0905.

- Oct. 29. (Thurs.)  Lew Soloff Quintet Veteran trumpeter Soloff, once a stalwart with Blood, Sweat & Tears, has also been a first call player for every imaginable musical style.  THis time out, catch Lewie doing his own thing.    Charlie O’s.   (818) 989-3110.

- Oct. 29. (Thurs.)  William Galison  Quintet.  Harmonica virtuoso Galison – who’s worked with Sting, Barbra Streisand and Jaco Pastorious, among others, makes a rare Southland appearance.  Toots Thielemans calls him “The most original and individual of the new generation of harmonica players.”  The L.A. Modern Jazz Series at the Whitefire Theatre, Sherman Oaks.   323.251.0748.

- Oct. 29 – Nov. 1. (Thurs. – Sun.)  Eldar. He’s been an adventurous pianist since he was fourteen.  Now a more mature player, he’s finding a way to balance his enviable virtuosity with  Catalina Bar & Grill (323) 466-2210.

- Oct. 30. (Fri.)  Inga Swearingen.  In addition to her participation in the Diva Den (see above), Swearingen is a compellingly original singer in her own right.  A frequent guest on A Prairie Home Companion, she brings diverse musicality – from jazz to Swedish folk songs – to everything she sings. In this performance, she celebrates the songs of Johnny Mercer.  LACMA (323) 857-6000.

- Oct. 30. (Fri.)  Bill Cunliffe.  “The Blues & the Abstract Truth, Take 2.” Pianist/composer Cunliffe, always exploring intriguing creative areas, does his own interpretation of the Oliver Nelson classic.   The Culver Club in the Radisson Hotel Los Angeles Westside. (310) 649-1776.  .

- Oct. 30 (Fri.)  Dengue Fever.  Lead singer Chhom Nimo provides offbeat element in Dengue Fever’s Cambodian power rock sound.  The Broad Stage.

- Oct. 30 & 31. (Fri. & Sat.)  Sandra Booker.  Her New Orleans roots are the fundamental source of Booker’s singing, which also blossoms into straight ahead jazz, r&b, soul, Brazilian and beyond.  No wonder she has a resume that reaches from Wynton Marsalis to Billy Higgins.  Hollywood Studio Bar & Grill.  (323) 466-9917.

- Nov. 1. (Sun.)  First Annual Asian-American Jazz Festival. Any doubts about either the quality or the quantity of jazz taking place in Asia will be completely dispelled by this all-star line of talent.  Among the headliners:  Hiromi. Charmaine Clamor. Prelude. Mon David. Gary Fukushima.   Japanese America National Museum Forum.  Asian-American Jazz Festival (617) 281-7285.

San Francisco

- Oct. 27. (Tues.)  Charito.  Japanese jazz singer makes her second California appearance in two nights (see above).  She performs in collaboration with the San Francisco American Jazz Festival.  Yoshi’s Oakland (510) 236-9200.

- Oct. 29. (Thurs.)  Mads Tollings Quartet. Violinist Tollings, a two-time Grammy Award winner takes some time off from his work with the Turtle Island Quartet to front his own group.    Yoshi’s San Francisco.   (415) 655-5600.

Nov. 1. (Sun.)  Pamela Rose. Adventurous singer Rose presents “Wild Women of Song: Great Gal Composers of the Jazz Era.”  It’s a multi-media production with music, narrative and visuals.  Yoshi’s San Francisco.  (415) 655-5600

New York

- Oct. 27 – 31. (Tues. – Sat.)  Pat Martino Organ Quartet.  Guitarist Martino, always an exciting player on his own, leads an especially fiery band, with Eric Alexander, sax, Jeff “Tain” Watts, drums, Tony Monaco, organ.  Birdland.   (212) 581-3080.

- Oct. 27 – Nov. 1. (Tues. – Sun.)  Ron Carter Trio with Mulgrew Miller and Russell Malone.  A stellar trio if there ever was one, with Carter’s magnificently creative bass playing leading the way.  Opening act is the trio of drummer Francesca Mela. The Blue Note.    (212) 475-8592.

Click here to check out Mike Katz’s iRoM review of the Carter trio during their recent  Los Angeles appearance.

The van seated 14 people along with Johnny, Connie, Tita Cery, Jared, Alice, Jeff, John Patrick, Johnny’s 2 daughters, me and the driver. Perfect deal right? It was a beautiful day not so warm and not so hot. There was a breeze blowing from the North which makes this a perfect day to drive out of town. We packed some nick-knacks and lots of water. The van road so smoothly and air condition was working well.

Bulacan is only 2 hours drive from the Gagalangin but with the traffic it took us close to 3 hours. As we are coming into town of Bulacan Alice saw a pick-up truck with Lechon pig on the back driving opposite from where were going. Ok, Jared was really gung-ho! about eating some Lechon since he saw Anthony Bourdain’s trip to the Philippines special on Travel Channel. More ways for my relatives to find enthusiasm over a tourist white man wanting to eat authentic Lechon so we turned around and stopped to ask the man in the truck if he is selling the Lechon. We followed him where he set-up his little kiosh of food on the sidewalk street and watch him chopped-up this big whole pig of Lechon. Not to be too politically incorrect here… But I still couldn’t help myself to think what this pig had to go through… Did he suffer?

One thing for sure, I’m glad Jared enjoyed the succulent juicy greasy, crispy lechon lol!

Everyone was giving me a piece of the roasted pig, I tasted and enjoy but gave all to this homeless skinny dog prowling for food below the pig table. I just couldn’t gut it to see him starving. This really bothers me and we have another week and half to go through in Luzon Island :0(

I remember this section part of the house… When I was little it used to be a bakery where Aunt Medy used to bake her bread in the large brick oven. It turns out the famous brick oven was demolished years ago and the whole area was completely remodeled and completely unrecognizable. But then again I was too little then to remember everything. My Aunt past-away in early 90’s and my cousin “Charito” in this picture has taken over the family business. It is quite an interesting sight to see her baking cakes & breads in this Antique oven. They are remodeling the bakery again when we got here. Charito wanted it to look more like a place where she can have clients over like having a couch sitting area. I’m sure it will turn out great. Here is your classic “Pansit Noodles”. Please note that in the Filipino house there are always lot’s of people to feed.

Another way they treat dogs are kept in the cage. I can’t imagine why they would do this when I can clearly see that there were lots of open ground where the dogs can run around and play.
I was very upset for his situation I was biting my tongue not to say anything to the people we were visiting. I was looking for other ways to excuse the human behavior, if this could just be plain ignorance. But with all the resources, TV, movies, new media, Internet, government laws, books etc… You would think they would be compassionate enough not to treat animals especially such intelligent as a dog… inhumanly. ;0(

Jared and I were glad to take a break from visiting houses worried we may see another situation that would break our hearts. My relatives took us to Bulacan Dam where my father used to bring me when I was little. The only memory I have the last time I was here was when I almost drowned with my father ha! The Dam is one of the largest in the Country. This dam supplies potable water and energy to Metro Manila and nearby areas. Surrounded by lush greens, this place is also ideal for fishing, boating and hunting.

We were trying to figure out what this guy was doing. It looks to us that he maybe fishing for small bait fishes.
After seeing the Dam we head off to an area where our relatives took us for a big family picnic. I was puzzled about this location. It was a small fresh water pool coming from the river. The pool has several picnic hut where locals can set up their food on the table with videoke player to entertain themselves. In this small fresh water pool my relatives claim that the water is clean but Jared and I were left scratching our heads when sightings of several people washing their clothes, dishes, motorcycle, homeless dogs eating off the garbage that was scattered on the river run while kids and adults swimming on the near by pool from the river. I can’t imagine this place being sanitary clean! But the crazy part is everyone seems to think this is an ideal place for a picnic and the river pool is clean enough to swim on. Hmmm…

One thing you can never take for granted how Filipino’s shows their hospitality. Great foods and lot’s of it… We really appreciated them showing us around and getting all the relatives together for us to meet. After eating our lunch Jared and I were looking for a place where we can wash our hands then my cousins son said “Oh! just wash your hands on the river”. Jared and I died laughing cause after watching the homeless dogs eating off the garbage scattered on the river near us; this got to be the most unsanitary place in the area. But the funny thing is everyone seems to think this is normal.

This is an incredible site to see. Up the hill above the river pool there was a trail where the river used to ran which had dried up from years ago. The river had created and incredible rock formations and caves.

We took our time and hike the area and took some pictures.

Here are the Velada, Jarata and Villianueva women.

Are you thinking what I’m thinking?
This looks to me like a head of a turtle.

You can literally walk through this cave, probably about 500 feet deep.

We stopped and visited my father’s cousin. His house was one of the oldest house in the Philippines. He refuse to remodel the house due to all the antiques that was kept and restored around the house. This used to be an old Spanish house build during the Spanish days I’m thinking probably going as far back as 1600’s. The house has a secret passage way in the basement build to hide from the Spanish militant.

This is my Grandmother and her father. I don’t remember seeing any of her picture since she died when my father was very little from a birth complications. I can’t imagine what she had gone through bearing 10 children.

This is an old mother of pearl Spanish window.

We took this picture out in their backyard.

Y llegó el dichoso día. El de la presentación de “Cromos”. Un pase en el marco del Festival de Cine de Zaragoza el jueves por la noche y otro matinal el domingo. En el cine Palafox, cine palomitero donde los haya.

Prometo ir poniéndome en contacto con todos aquellos a los que esta historia os toca de cerca y todavía no la habéis podido ver. Hemos ido auténticamente de lado sólo para llegar al pase del Festival. Así que he dejado el protocolo un poco aparcado.

Y para variar, y dadas las características presupuestiles de la peli, se llegó a ultimísima hora con la copia para el estreno.

Al final, fue un día feliz. No seré yo quien insista mucho en ello, pero por primera vez la vi como una película de la que sentirse sensatamente satisfecho. Seguro que no es redonda, tiene mil aristas que pulir, y su absurdez argumental gustará o disgustará… Pero a mí me coló como largo baratillo y creo que -si no me engañan- a más de uno. Ahora, para gustos…

Y en los próximos días nos meteremos de lleno en la posible y/o extraña distribución de la película. Así que seguiremos informando.

Aprovecho el blog para agradecer al FCZ, al equipo, a los colaboradores, a Sintregua, a los amigos y a los familiares.

Ah, y a mi portátil.

De momento, el cartelaco que hicimos para la presentación, gracias a Jonás. Le faltan los logos de la peña colaboradora y esas cosicas. Mola.

Próxima proyección, en Riotinto el 27 de diciembre.

Para el que no lo sepa, llevo un buen tiempo con una película entre manos. Se llama “Cromos” y hace ya dos años y medio que la rodamos. He hablado de ello en el blog en alguna ocasión y si no doy muchas novedades al respecto es por no dar la brasa el personal. Porque la verdad es que me consta que hay unos cuantos interesados en ver el montaje final. Está el equipo, la gente que nos ha apoyado en Zaragoza, Madrid, Huelva y mil sitios más, los colegas, la familia… En fin, que aunque soporto estoicamente la presión ante la pregunta “¿y la película qué?”, me temo que 2008 va a ser el año en que me meta caña y la saquemos adelante. Habrá, como siempre, que robar tiempo al tiempo y presupuesto al presupuesto, pero lo conseguiremos. A estas alturas, quien no conociera nada del proyecto, ya habrá notado el perfil de “underground” que tiene.

Pero por qué lo del REGALO… La clave está en uno de los comentarios recibidos en este blog hace unos días. Y es que “Cromos”, además de su espectacular elenco cuenta también con una protagonista de lujo: Charito.

Charito es una T2 del 71, una furgoneta Volskwagen muy parecida a la de “Little Miss Sunshine”, aunque prometo una y otra vez que la rodamos sin conocer la existencia de la peli. Y ojalá “Cromos” tenga un uno por ciento de la gracia de aquella gran película. Pues bien, a Charito le cojimos todos mucho cariño, y tras el rodaje y su devolución a Joaquín Jordán -el dueño- le perdimos la pista.

Por lo hablado con Joaquín, conocemos el buen rollo que hay en las transacciones con este tipo de vehículos, que son algo más que unas simples furgonetas. Y por lo que cuenta Juan Antonio -el actual propietario- en este caso ha sido igual de entrañable el cambio de dueño. Desde aquí confirmo lo gran tipo que es Joaquín y lo bien que se portó con nuestro proyecto. Una vez más el agradecimiento a él y al amigo Jorge Nebra, éste último por ponernos sobre la pista.

Así que para ir terminando, si alguien del equipo leéis esto no podéis perderos este enlace. Es casi como ver a un primo después de un porrón de años. Casi cae la lagrimilla…

Charito en Jaén

Para los que tengáis curiosidad por saber algo más de “Cromos”, se inició un diario de rodaje bastante simpático en su momento. Está contado casi todo el grueso del rodaje, pero faltan las últimas jornadas. Igual un día lo actualizamos, pero no prometo nada.

Diario de “Cromos”

Y ahora la PROMESA…

La hago porque me va a venir muy bien ponerme deberes. Atención, atención… El 25 de enero en este mismo blog colgaré el primer avance de la peli. Será algo muy parecido a lo que algunos vieron en mi cumpleaños o en el Festival de Cine de Zaragoza, pero así podremos comprobar si despertamos un mínimo de interés en el mundo exterior.

Y teman, porque si hay Charito, hay segunda parte de “Cromos”.