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Out April 4 – Matthew Muñeses and Riza Printup in Filipino Love Songs With his 2022 sophomore release, Noli Me Tángere, saxophonist and educator Matthew Muñeses embarked on an exploration of his Filipino heritage through the songs of 19th century author and national hero José Rizal. What began as a single project soon expanded in scope as Muñeses searched beyond Rizal’s contributions to discover the treasure trove of rich and romantic love songs known as kundiman. While he chose to interpret Rizal’s songs with a Chicago-based quintet on Noli Me Tángere, the unadorned emotionality of kundiman quickly led Muñeses to decide on a sparser setting for his gorgeous follow-up, Pag-Ibig Ko Vol. 1. Out April 4, 2025 via saxophonist (and fellow Filipino American) Jon Irabagon’s Irabbagast Records label, Pag-Ibig Ko Vol. 1, which translates as “my love” in Tagalog, pairs Muñeses with harpist Riza Printup, who also shares his Filipino roots. “When I think about love songs from other cultures, ” the saxophonist points out, “the lyrics use a lot of allegory and analogy. Kundiman are much more direct about their sentiments. They just come right out and say, ‘I love you, ’ or, ‘You're as beautiful as such and such, ’ or, ‘You make me feel like this.’ I instantly knew these songs would be beautiful to play with harp.” Muñeses and Printup had met roughly a decade ago while both were appearing at a Filipino jazz event in California. Given their shared heritage and the elegant beauty of Printup’s playing, her name immediately came to mind. What Muñeses didn’t realize is that while he had only recently delved into the kundiman genre, having grown up with the more pop-oriented sounds of OPM (Original Pilipino Music), Printup had known kundiman from an early age. “She had a very deep sensibility for how these songs should be played, ” Muñeses says. Two of Rizal’s songs are reprised from Noli Me Tángere: “Kundiman Ni Rizal” and “Canto de María Clara.” Pag-Ibig Ko adds two pieces by the songwriter and film actor Miguel Velarde Jr.; “Dahil Sa Iyo, ” which opens the album, has been performed in English translation by the likes of Nat King Cole and Jerry Vale (it was a personal favorite of former First Lady Imelda Marcos). The repertoire also includes songs by Constancio de Guzman, Ernani Cuenco, Nicanor Abelardo and Dolores Patero. Much like those jazz instrumentalists who learn every word of an American Songbook standard in order to bring the lyric’s emotional meaning to bear on their instrumental interpretations, Muñeses took the sentiments of the kundiman to heart when approaching the material for Pag-Ibig Ko. The unique pairing of saxophone and harp also couldn’t help but to shape his sound and phrasing for the session. “It’s much more common to play duo with piano, ” Muñeses explains. “You can stretch out more because you can feel the time and the rhythm in a certain way because of how pianists play. Harp is obviously very different. It's a very delicate percussive instrument because the harpist is plucking the strings. There are elements of rebound and recoil to the sound. So weaving through the time was a lot more fluid than I’m used to; a lot of my compositions tend to be intense and driving, so this was almost the polar opposite.” A form of art song popular in the late 19th and early 20th century, kundiman reflect the Hispanic influence of the Philippines’ Spanish colonizers. With lyrics written in the Tagalog language, the songs served as the ideal soundtrack for love serenades. José Rizal gave the kundiman an additional patriotic imprimatur by immortalizing the songs in his 1887 novel Noli Me Tángere, which has become the national epic of the Philippines and is required reading in the country’s high schools. Both Muñeses and Printup were born and raised in the U.S. as first-generation Filipino Americans, but connecting with this music has been in part an act of patriotism for them as well. Muñeses undertook both this album and its predecessor with the encouragement of one of his mentors, saxophonist Miguel Zenón, whose Puerto Rican roots have become a core element of his own music. For Muñeses, asserting pride in his Filipino parentage is a way of battling against the prejudices he’s faced even as a native-born American. “In an era when anti-Asian sentiment has been on the rise in the United States, ” he writes in his liner notes, “I’ve felt torn between being grateful to live here and angry at the injustices that have been perpetrated… I have also been encouraged to take pride in a heritage that gives me a unique perspective on what the ‘American dream’ represents to non-natives.” Matthew Muñeses Matthew Muñeses is a saxophonist, composer and educator residing in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. Although his introduction to music came through violin lessons at the age of six, music would not take a serious role in his life until he began playing the saxophone four years later. Muñeses has led bands at a number of historic venues across the country, including the Green Mill and Andy's Jazz Club in Chicago, Catalina Bar & Grill in Los Angeles, and the Kranzberg Arts Center in St. Louis. In addition to his work as a performer, Muñeses is passionate about educating future generations of musicians, teaching saxophone technique, jazz improvisation, and composition through his private studio and in-residence at St. Charles North High School and Waubonsee Community College. In 2015, Matthew released his debut album, Threshold, featuring trumpeter Zubin Edalji, pianist Steven Feifke, bassist Raviv Markovitz and drummer Jay Sawyer. His follow-up, Noli Me Tángere, is a tribute to the life, legacy, and compositions of José Rizal, the first national hero of the Philippines. Released through Outside In Music in 2022, with a world-class band featuring Dana Hall, Clark Sommers, Stu Mindeman, Zubin Edalji and Miguel Zenón. Riza Printup Harpist, composer and educator Riza Printup has recorded with Grammy-nominated pianist and composer Kenny Werner, with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra featuring Chick Corea, and with her husband, the acclaimed jazz trumpeter Marcus Printup. She has also performed the music of legendary jazz harpist Dorothy Ashby with the late, great saxophonist and flautist Frank Wess and has shared stages with virtuoso cellist Yo-Yo Ma, jookin dance master Lil Buck, and pop superstar Lady Gaga, and has been featured with Paquito D'Rivera in his presentations of Charlie Parker's classic Bird With Strings at Jazz At Lincoln Center. Printup joined world renowned soprano Kathleen Battle in Battle's presentation of “Underground Railroad: A Spiritual Journey” at Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in 2014 and at Battle's magnificent return to the Metropolitan Opera House in 2016. Her passion for education has led her to author two children's books (Theodore and Hazel and the Bird and The Great Big Spider & The Waterspout Blues) and develop I Have A Song Inside My Heart™, a program and curriculum for early childhood and the K-5 general music classroom. Muñeses / Printup – Pag-Ibig Ko Vol. 1 Irabbagast Records – Irabbagast 030 – Recorded May 12, 2023 Release date April 4, 2025 |
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