Sounds of Manila sings Cecile Azarcon
Very few Filipino bands successfully make it in the US. There are some in the West Coast, but the list gets fewer in the East Coast. Not too long ago, however, a four-member band, Sounds of Manila, started its humble beginnings in New Jersey.
Formed in 2009 by Ronnie Sabangan and his wife, Suzanne Lansangan-Sabangan, Sounds of Manila later invited friends and fellow musicians to join the band. Presently, the members are Ronnie (band leader/bassist), Suzanne (female vocalist), Hermie Angeles (male vocalist) and JR Gendrano (drummer). Suzanne and Hermie’s duet tandem started in a church choir.
Occasionally, Sounds of Manila is joined by other musicians — Paulo Areza (keyboardist), former University of the Philippines music professor Jun Javier (saxophone player/flutist), Joanne Javier (keyboardist/ saxophonist), Marla Villacorte (keyboardist/back-up vocals) and Jason Paguiligan (guitarist).
The band does not perform in a regular venue, but it gets to sing in different places, like the Philippine Center in New York City, Symphony Space on Broadway, Music Pier in Ocean City, Golden Nugget Casino in Atlantic City, Six Flags Great Adventure, Bergen Performing Arts Center, Pistahan sa Connecticut, the Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, Beyond the Stars Palace in Los Angeles and Empress Theater in San Francisco.
Sounds of Manila is also a mainstay at the Fiesta in America at the Meadowlands Convention Center in New Jersey. The fiesta is a two-day event held every August and the group performs on two, consecutive days. They also get invited to the Philippine Independence Day events in New York and New Jersey.
“To date, we are honored to have performed as opening acts for Jose Mari Chan and Regine Velasquez,” Suzanne proudly beams. “We have also shared the stage with Grammy award-winning singer, Patti Austin, Pieces of a Dream and Joe Bataan in a jazz concert.”
Whenever Filipino artists visit New Jersey, Sounds of Manila has always been invited to perform with them at
Fiesta in Amerika, their “home” for seven years now. The list includes Jericho Rosales, Martin Nievera, Piolo Pascual, Angeline Quinto, Ariel Rivera, Zsa Zsa Padilla, Aga Muhlach, Jessa Zaragoza, Rachel Alejandro, Angelica Panganiban, Gerald Anderson and Kim Chiu.
Last year, Sounds of Manila got to fulfill its dream of recording an album. Ronnie and Suzanne were introduced to multi-awarded composer, Cecile Azarcon, by their publicist, Elton Lugay, who has worked with Cecile on a previous project. Elton informed Cecile that the group’s mission is to preserve and promote Original Pilipino Music (OPM) in the US and globally.
“Cecile and I spoke on the phone for about two hours to get to know each other and then we later connected on Facebook,” Suzanne shares. “We talked about doing a tribute album for her, which she was very thrilled about. She later introduced us to Lorrie Ilustre, whom she asked to help us with the song arrangements. He was very supportive of the idea of assisting us with the album.”
Cecile offered to produce the Sounds of Manila album and later, Lorrie offered to co-produce it. Hence, Sounds of Manila sings Cecile Azarcon was eventually born. “We did the actual vocal recording in Vallejo, California, so Ms. Cecile can supervise everything,” Suzanne recalls. “We learned so much from her and it was a truly memorable experience for us. We feel so blessed and truly honored to have had the opportunity to record an album containing some of the most beautiful OPM songs penned by a talented and legendary singer and songwriter.”
The group’s first keyboardist is Lorrie, who is also its musical director when it goes on tour. Suzanne was thrilled that Lorrie provided valuable help through the development of the album.