Tomorrow, one of the country's best male singers (and I daresay an absolute favorite of mine to work with) will celebrate his 10th year in the business with a concert at the PICC Plenary Hall.

I met Jed about a decade ago when he was still doing "puwesto" with a band and even then I was already blown away by his talent.  As far back as those days, my dream was to write a song for him.

Last year, I begged him to sing this song I wrote called "Home To You" if it made the finals to PhilPop.  It was one of two entries I submitted.   Jed said he had had it with contests, too much pressure.  My other song "Bigtime" became a finalist but "Home To You" did not, and perhaps it was a blessing in disguise because if it had made it, another singer would have had to sing it.  Since it didn't, I gave it to Jed for his All Original album. 

This is a song I had poured my heart and soul into, a song I spent a lot of time writing because I didn't want to settle for anything less than one whose lyrics made use of internal rhyming and still made sense.  I wanted something with a moving melody, something that would soar and highlight Jed's fantastic vocal range, something that would hopefully give people goosebumps.

I got to produce the song myself and had the pleasure of working with Jed.  He was better than I imagined.   I can't say enough about what a skillful singer he is.   The result is this recording, which I am proud of.

Jed has since performed this song live in the US when he was honored last July at the World Championships of Performing Arts (WCOPA) in Hollywood, CA.  I wish I had been there! 

Congratulations on your 10th year, Jed and more power!

I am so proud of my friends Dodjie and Bambi Fabian, the people behind Wedding Expo Philippines, the biggest bridal fair in the country (or is it in Asia?).  Dodjie was a fellow member of the Ateneo College Glee Club and we've been friends all these years.  Bambi and I both took Communication, although I was a batch ahead.  My mom was ninang at their wedding.  I admire this couple so much.  I'm amazed at all the hard work they've put into building their company into what it is today.

Wedding Expo had its 20th Edition a few months ago, for which this version of the song was created.  This was performed by the Ateneo Chamber Singers, which I am part of.

We'll be singing this at tomorrow's 21st Edition of Wedding Expo at the SMX Convention Center.  For details, click HERE.

Now for my own share of shameless plugging, the song EVERYTHING I NEED is available HERE.  I have my own booth, too, at Wedding Expo.  If you're a soon-to-wed, Wedding Expo is definitely something you need to go to.

Times like these bring out the best in the Red Cross and in anyone who's got the Red Cross spirit in them.  I am blessed to be part of this organization's history by way of having written this song in 1999. They launched a songwriting contest whose theme was Red Cross: The Power of Humanity. I thought about what the phrase meant, came up with a song called "Life Power" and won the Grand Prize.  The best part of it all is seeing various videos of the song on youtube highlighting photos and clips of volunteers in action. It's heartwarming to see how people have made the song their own and found ways to express how they feel about what they do through these videos.  This one's my favorite so far.  (You can play the video or click HERE to watch it on youtube.)

For those who'd like to donate to the red cross, you can click HERE to find out the different ways you can help.  Donations go a long way, as we can see in this photo.  I didn't realize we had these.  Pretty awesome!

Today I was at LaSalle Greenhills to sing with Mass Appeal for Bro. Rolly Dizon and at the simple reception outside the LSGH Chapel, I was delighted to see Randy Santiago again.  I've only "worked" with him once - on a song I wrote for his brother Raymart who had then asked me to write a song for Claudine as a gift to his bride-to-be.  And so I took a trip down memory lane today as a result running into Randy...

I spoke to Raymart before writing this song, interviewed him about his relationship, how they met and so on and what message he had for her.  It was difficult to draw anything out of him.  He was more of the silent type, but I could definitely feel the love he had for his fiancee.  He spoke clearly about the day he first saw Claudine and the things he loved about her.  But what message did he have for her?  That part was left to me.

And so this is the song I came up with.  I think it's a song that expresses how a lot of men feel, and I bet this is something they all wish their girlfriends and wives would understand.  Well, if you're one of those silent guys challenged in the love expression department, go ahead and play this for your loved one.
Click here to listen to "No Words".  Enjoy!

Since tomorrow is the first day of December, I'd like to share one of my Christmas songs with you.  I originally wrote  "This Little Child" for Joey Albert (and it got an Awit nomination for Best Christmas Song back then).  This one is the Ateneo Chamber Singers' a capella version of it, recorded and released last year.  My friends Jay and Aui Tamayo have told me that the song sends them into the "ugly cry" mode.  Precious! =)  I hope you guys enjoy it, too.  You can listen to it and view the lyrics HERE.  Season's Greetings to all!

"Ang Ating Pasko" is a short song I wrote last year.  It's so short that it doesn't even reach the 1.5 minute mark.  And so it's been a pleasant surprise to me that some choristers have been asking if they could get hold of its sheet music so they could sing it.

The song opens the album of the same title, a Chrismtas CD by the Ateneo Chamber Singers released last year.  I remember how we were working on the album and realized we didn't have an album title yet.  We tried choosing among the songs we had, but none of them really summed up what the album was about.  "Ang Ating Pasko" seemed the most appropriate title because it was a collection of Filipino Christmas songs but more specifically, songs written and arranged by people in the Ateneo community.  My friend Niner De Pano, the album's overall producer, told me to come up with a short song that would serve as the album's opening or prelude (much like the cuts in The Carpenters' Christmas Portrait album) and this is the song I came up with.  Fellow-Atenean Marvin Querido did the instrumental arrangement and I did the vocal arrangement, and I must say I'm happy with how it came out.

Since I don't own the rights to the recording, I can't sell it nor its accompaniment track but if any of you would like to get hold of the sheet music, you can download it from here: http://www.greatsongstosing.com/ang-ating-pasko.html - and you can listen to the song as well by clicking on the video link or watching it here: 

Enjoy and an early Christmas greeting to you all!