The blues ain’t nothin’ but a good man feelin’ bad,
Thinkin’ ’bout the woman he once was with…
– Willie Brown from the film Crossroads
‘CROSSROADS’ is a 1986 American coming-of-age musical drama film inspired by the legend of blues musician Robert Johnson, and features an original score featuring Ry Cooder and guitar virtuoso Steve Vai on the soundtrack’s guitar and harmonica by Sonny Terry.
Steve Vai also appears in the film as the devil’s guitar player in the climatic guitar duel.
But we’re not going to talk about the film or its music although it is the quintessential “blues” film with all the clichés; we’re just using it as the foreplay to our feature story that was ironically inspired by the boredom brought about by the quarantine due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Excerpts from the June 1, 2020 article on the Manila Bulletin:
Lampano Alley reunites amid quarantine
Filipinos blues band Lampano Alley on May 30 reunited amid quarantine to make music.
The ‘90s band played “Ganyan Lang” via Simon Tan’s Facebook page.
Formed in 1996 by Ray “Binky” Lampano, the band is dedicated to the proposition of the blues.
“[Blues music] is always emotionally accessible. Let’s talk about people who simply love it: Before the scourges of selfies have been inflicted upon an unsuspecting humanity, there were people who simply found a personal narrative in the language of the blues,” Lampano said in an interview with Blue.GR, an online community of blues, jazz, and rock culture enthusiasts.
Lampano Alley is composed of Binky, Edwin “Kwachi” Vergara, Simon Tan, Rey Vinoya, and Tom Colvin.
In 2019 five-man band performed in the 30th International Blues Competition (IBC) held in Memphis, Tennessee.
For those lost in translation: Blues is a music genre and musical form which was originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1870s by African-Americans from roots in African musical traditions, African-American work songs, and spirituals.
The Blues form, ubiquitous in jazz, rhythm and blues and rock and roll, is characterized by the call-and-response pattern, the blues scale and specific chord progressions, of which the 12-bar blues is the most common.
And we’re talking about Blues, the music that leaves the trendy millennial staring into space in utter amazement.
So who is Ray “Binky” Lampano? Perhaps the only one with the bragging rights to be called “Pinoy Bluesman”.
A musician since the early 1980s, Lampano has blazed trails in whatever genre he’s chosen to perform. His influence over the succeeding generation of musicians is evident in the homage paid to him by the band Sandwich, which mentions him in their song “Betamax” — “Disyembre ni Binky Lampano” — a reference to the first band he was a part of, the new wave group Deans December.
From www.allmusic.com:
Dean’s December only recorded one album, but their significance to Filipino rock & roll music transcends the quantity of their work. Formed in Manila, Philippines, on Nov. 5, 1985, Dean’s December quickly established themselves within Manila’s burgeoning underground music scene, but lack of commercial success made the band grind to a halt. In 1992, Lampano rediscovered his passion for blues, forming the blues outfit Newly Industrialized Combo (N.I.C.).
The N.I.C. was placed on hiatus when Lampano moved to the US. Lampano rejoined the N.I.C. when he returned to the Philippines in the mid-‘90s; the group changed its name to Lampano Alley, backing Lampano on his blues album “I Heard the News.”
Binky Lampano migrated to the US more than 15 years and is now permanently based in Los Angeles where he obtained a BS Business Information Systems degree magna cum laude from California State University and now teaches IT-related subjects in several colleges in the area.
Of course, he still sings and maintains a presence in the Manila music scene by coming back at least once a year for gigs.
I first heard Binky Lampano perform live at the lobby of the Atrium Building along Makati Avenue during weekends in the late ‘90s then at the 70s Bistro in Quezon City and shared a few bottles of beer at that joint (the name escapes me) along West Avenue also in Quezon City.
He had a stage presence and rapport with his audience but it was his voice that stands out and through the passage of time Binky’s voice has further deepened into the baritone range. His vocals possess a sound element described by some as a growl, by others a rasp – a smokey texture that adds layers of complexity to his sound.
I’ll leave you with these words from the “Pinoy Bluesman” Binky Lampano”:
I try to exist in the margins of forgetfulness and the obvious when I play or write music. I’m a singer, and the voice is as close to the heartbeat as one can get. My business is to tell a story – no more, no less./PN
