I know I am on holiday, and should be relaxing. However... after having escaped a typhoon, suffered a "brown-out" (which in the western world would be called a black-out) and having had to down about 10 bottles of the excellent beer San Miguel (at 20 cents a bottle) a day, something very nice happened, which I cannot keep from my fellow Kompozarians. Our very good friend Mia all of a sudden informed me that she happens to be a part owner of a recording studio in Manila. Furthermore, since she knew I was a musician, she had by coincidence booked me 4 free hours of studio time "in case you want to record something". This is an example of the unsurpassed Filipino hospitality. Another culturally interesting thing is that the recording time started at around midnight :).

Not having a clue what to do really, we went to the studio and met with excellent sound engineer Boyet, who also happens to be a phenomenal drummer (yes Raf, I am trying to get him on Kompoz). I had taken he precaution to write a piano ballad for Mia (she is a brilliant jazz singer and her father was one of the ten best singers I have ever heard - I will try to find something on the net by him to link in so you can all enjoy it), but when Boyet asked "you want to jam a bit"... well... the travel guitar went to work and the result is now known as "Manila Meltdown". This is also a shameless attempt to attract singers and lead instrument players to this tune.

I have to say that the level of musical skills in the Philippines is very high, possibly a bit too many vocalists and too few instrumentalists, but nevertheless an incredibly stimulating environment. I am possibly slightly biased... hmmmm... anyway, I am hoping in a week or two to have vocals for the abovementioned piano ballad to showcase a great singer from this beautiful country with the very agreeable beer price.

My good friend Sven-Martin says that a blog should be detailed and extensive, and I hope I have filled the quota of extended detail with this entry.

Rock On Ladies and Gentlemen, I shall return!

B