Going out of the usual flow and setting up your own trend is oftentimes a bit risky because you can’t be too sure if it will click. Filipinos most of the times patronize what they have already been used to. Just like in music. The popular types of music we have nowadays are pop, R&B, or alternative and these are the ones that people commonly listened to. As expected, music artists heed to what is demanded and tend to style their songs according to these genres. But there’s one music artist who, instead of going with the trend, dared to be a trailblazer. This is Bo Razon.
Authentic and traditional Afro-Latin music is relatively an uncharted territory locally. It is Bo Razon who appreciated and consequently spearheaded its entry into the local music scene. For this he gained the distinction of being the grand old man of Latin music in the metropolis and an Afro-Cuban percussion master.
Bo Razon was one of the original personnel and used to be the guitarist of Juan dela Cruz band. Edmund and Mike Hanopol founded this band. It was Edmund who coined the name since they wanted to make rock for the common man. Juan dela Cruz is the character of the common man, and so it was chosen to represent the band. Later on, Edmund changed the band’s name to Anakbayan. Wally Gonzales then replaced Bo Razon a year later Anakbayan became the name of the band.
Presently, Bo Razon is the leader of Fuego band. Bo recognized Manila’s erratic musical environment and for this, he is willing to be flexible albeit his musical foundation is the Latin thing. Fuego’s compositional mix will continue to include Afro-Cuban and Latin works, but will now feature other popular song fare as well.
Fuego personnel include Jo Jo Luz (congas); Sherwin Valencia (trombone); George Abundo and Ramon Mancio (1st and 2nd trumpets); Rancis DeLeon (alto sax); Bo Razon (electric bass); and Floro Sirnande (bongos, flute).
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