RJ plus 1 equals a 24-track album
Ramon Jacinto gathers local and foreign musician-friends for an upbeat offering
FRIENDS and friends of friends make up businessman-musician Ramon Jacinto’s plus-1s in his groundbreaking “RJ Duets” double CD, and the kinship is unmistakable.
Most of these collaborators are guitar players like Jacinto, and all are seasoned performers. So the vibe is one of self-assurance and ease, and that’s always a good thing for the listeners.
Pinoy power
The roster reads like a sellout retro poprock concert lineup, with foreign artists to boot—The Ventures, John Ford Coley, Bobby Kimball (Toto), John Claude Gummoe (The Cascades), Marty Grebb and Dennis Tufano (The Buckinghams)—who have gamely tweaked some very familiar hits.
We happily note that the outstanding tracks are those duets performed with Jacinto’s local guest stars, here rated from hand-in-glove fit (high) to must-hearthem-together-again (definitely ear candy): “Lonely Teardrops,” a Jackie Wilson original, with Nyoy Volante; “Nosi Ba Lasi,” attributed to Sampaguita, with Imago’s Aia de Leon; “Sugat ng Puso” (Jacinto’s best composition, in our estimation) with Noel Cabangon; “Presyo,” with Ely Buendia; and “Ligtas,” with Raimund Marasigan, who also wrote the song.
Hotdog’s Rene Garcia brings to the mix two veritable cult anthems that Pinoys never seem to tire of—“Bongga Ka ’Day” and “Manila.” Jose Mari Chan shows off perfectly honed pipes with “Afterglow” and “Con-