Review: Opera singer Leslie Damaso and Madison band Mr. Chair release “SIRENA”, an ambitious and imaginative album

There are few words that can adequately describe the ethos of Leslie Damaso’s new album SIRENA anything but alchemical. With Kundiman songs (traditional Filipino love and freedom songs) sung in Damaso’s signature opera, accompanied by original compositions by Madison-based band Mr. Chair and featuring performances by Jon Irabagon, Janice Lee and José Guzmán, SIRENA It has been years in the making and was only made possible by the confluence of various creative forces that came together at exactly the right time to produce this multimedia performance.

A blend of elements of Tagalog and Ilocano folk music, original artwork and folklore, jazz and classical music. SIRENA is an ambitious, stunning fusion of tradition and innovation that pushes the boundaries of where we can take homeland art when it becomes part of the diaspora.

In songs like “Sa Kabukiran,” “Dahil Sa Iyo,” and the group’s breakthrough song, “Bayan Ko,” Damaso tells the story of Sirena, a mermaid who falls in love with the sun. The power of their romance shapes the Filipino nation, immortalized by an eight-rayed sun on its flag, symbolizing the Filipino people’s tireless resistance to colonization. The story is told by a grandmother to her grandson, who learns for the first time about the power of pain and healing.

When it came to choosing the Kundiman songs that went into the work, Damaso let her heart guide her. “They were just melodies that I really loved,” she said. “I feel like there’s a little bit of magic in how it all came together, because the meaning of the songs and their distribution fit so well with this story.”

Damaso and Mr. Chair have SIRENA across the country, from the Bay Area to Chicago, and the album itself is a tribute to those live performances. “When you record it, something happens,” said pianist Jason Kutz. “Not only do you really learn the pieces, but you also have to really think about what you want to record. So it solidifies over time in a way.”

The fact that the songs have evolved so much over the years — and continue to evolve — is a testament to the magic that Damaso says is an essential part of making music. “Especially when you get the right people together, there’s this special alchemy that creates the next thing,” she said. The album’s interludes, for example, arranged and written by drummer Mike Koszewski, feature Damaso on the kulintang (indigenous Filipino gongs), which she only recently learned to play.

Damaso and Kutz began working together in Madison in 2016. Kundiman songs were new to both of them at the time.

“Nobody was singing them anywhere in the state, if not more,” Kutz explained. The two originally performed the songs with a piano score, but Damaso also knew it was possible to incorporate the harana, the guitar courtship that is common in the Philippines.

“It was pretty obvious there was room for expansion,” Kutz continued. “At the same time, we formed Mr. Chair, (and I thought we could) arrange these songs.” This led to initial arrangements with drums, guitar and bass.

Although the band is unfamiliar with Filipino languages ​​and dialects, as well as the Kundiman genre, bassist Ben Ferris points out that the melodies themselves contain many elements of Western music, which is a direct result of the Spanish and American colonization of the Philippines.

“One of the first things Jason and I do when we’re arranging or looking at pieces is we figure out what the harmonic chord changes are and make it more like a lead sheet or a chord diagram,” he explained. “So it’s helpful to have that deep knowledge of what’s actually going on here, how these chords relate to each other.”

“The songs are so interesting because they are so familiar,” Kutz continued. “The harmonic content can be found in modern pop music. In Spanish songs, in Italian songs. But beyond that, there is this beautiful language. And that’s what creates this really great intersection of things we know and a language we don’t often hear spoken or sung.”

Ferris adds that Damaso’s poem was a major force in composing the musical elements: “I gave each character a theme. And then those themes evolve and change and interact with each other in different ways throughout the story,” he said.

Even if listeners have mixed feelings about how SIRENA Damaso says she is ready to take traditional Filipino music in new directions: “What I really like about this project is that while the original melodies are there, we are playing with them to draw attention to them in this innovative way and to preserve what is already there,” she said.

And, more importantly, Damaso and the band are proud that a project of this caliber and imagination comes from the Midwest. “When my teacher (Bayan Ko) first heard it, she said, ‘You’re doing something that feels like it came from the coast,’ and I said, ‘Well, there’s a lot that comes from here, too,'” Damaso recalls.

“I’ve also met a lot of Filipino-American players through this project, and part of my next agenda is to somehow highlight that (artistic) talent in the Midwest.”

The album will be released digitally on June 30th, with a double vinyl release in preparation.

Damaso and Mr. Chair will perform at Olbrich After Hours on July 9th and on the Lagniappe stage at Fete de Marquette on July 13th.