What a magical 'Jazzmopolitan' night!

Filipino-American talents Tia Carrere, Michael Paulo, Melissa Morgan, singer-songwriter Chris Chatman performed at the "Jazzmopolitan" held at the iconic Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles.

They joined multiple Grammy-winning vocal group Take 6 and ace smooth jazz guitarist Peter White on the show, a brainchild of talent impresario Ted Benito, a producer and champion of Filipino artists.

We knew it was going to be a very special night when top saxophonist Michael Paulo opened the "Jazzmopolitan" show with a bouncy "Bumpin."

Paulo, whose Filipino father, pianist Rene Paulo, inspired him to be a musician, followed it up with "One Passion" and then dedicated his moving rendition of "My Heart and Soul" to his late dad.

Acting as saxophonist-conductor and co-host of the evening, the sprightly 62-year-old was light-footed and graceful as he danced to his music and oozed with joy and enthusiasm when he played his sax to the enthusiastic audience gathered at the event.

Early in the night, Paulo already garnered the first standing ovation of the show.

It was a precursor of more exciting things to come.

Statuesque and lovely, jazz singer Melissa Morgan was introduced by Paulo as "a singer you will fall in love with tonight." And the audience did as she opened with the jazz classic popularized by Nina Simone, "It Might as Well Be Spring."

Then she followed it with "My Gentleman Friend" by Nancy Wilson and "Mood Indigo" by Ella Fitzgerald. We loved the part when Morgan and Paulo were seemingly answering each other in song and by sax. It was too sexy to forget.

British-born Peter White blew us away with his mastery of the guitar as he played "Promenade/Could It Be I'm Falling In Love" and then had the audience travel down memory lane with "Groovin' " by the Young Rascals and "Downtown."

This 68-year-old musician-composer made the crowd sing their hearts out as he played other familiar tunes like "How Deep is Your Love" and "San Diego/Bueno Funk" with bits of the 007 James Bond theme song and "Get Up Stand Up" by Bob Marley. The playful musician quickly donned a pair of dark sunglasses for this 007 number and gamely danced onstage with Paulo while playing their respective instruments.

Good-looking singer-songwriter Chris Chatman, who described himself as a "Blackapino" or Black-Pinoy because of his mixed heritage, was discovered by Benito when he was watching "Crazy Talented Asians" at the East West Players. "When he started singing about rice, it suddenly hit me that he was really Pinoy!" exclaimed Benito.

Chatman sang Maxwell's "Ascension" and then segued to Donny Hathaway's "For All We Know." And for his final number, he sang the emotional Bobby Caldwell song "What You Won't Do For Love."

Sultry beauty Tia Carrere, on the other hand, wowed us as a versatile triple threat. She decided to sing her beloved Hawaiian songs with childhood friend and fellow Grammy winner Daniel Ho who accompanied her on his guitar. She first sang a soulful "He Aloha Mele" and then followed it with "Aloha Oe." She segued into her composition inspired, she said, "by surviving the pandemic" which she aptly titled, "I'm Still Here."

As for the band members, backing up Paulo on sax were Tateng Katindig on keyboards (lead for Chatman and Morgan), Kimo Cornwell on keyboards (lead for White and Carrere and Ho), Dave Inamine on bass, Fred Schreuders on guitar and Land Richards on drums.

Then the legendary a capella sextet, Take 6, composed of Claude V. McKnight III, Mark Kibblle, David Thomas, Joey Kibble, Khristian Dentley and Alvin Chea, brought the house down with their cool and suave renditions of "Back in Love," "I've Got Life/Spread," "Wade," "Windmills," "Change the World," "Stand By Me," "Roof Garden" and the finale with the band and everybody joining them on stage, "Got to Get You Into My Life."

Produced by LXV Enterprises, LLC, led by Benito, "Jazzmopolitan" is definitely one for the books.

We were able to interview Benito after the show by email and below is our interview.

Ted Benito. Photo by Janet Susan R. Nepales

What inspired you to get Take 6, Peter White and Filipino-American talents Tia Carrere, Michael Paulo, Melissa Morgan and your new discovery Chris Chatman all together in a show?

Let's start with the premise that my self-appointed mission is to promote, produce and present the talents of Filipino-Americans. When you have that goal coupled with a readily available date handed to you from the Music Center for the Walt Disney Concert Hall, I had a rare opportunity to present our talents at one of the best performance halls in the country.

Since the last "Jazzmopolitan" concert was well over ten years ago (I produced it at the John Anson Ford Theater), I wanted to resurrect the concept of the show and present BOTH Filipino-American and mainstream talents in order to have crossover appeal. And it worked!

Some Filipinos had never heard of Take 6 or Peter White just as some non-Filipino-Americans had never heard of Michael Paulo or Tia Carrere! So, my concept of getting an audience was to showcase diverse talent. But the emphasis of "Jazzmopolitan" was elevating Filipino-American talent.

Selecting the artists was not difficult. In fact, when I approached them, they were shocked. I've known Paulo for years; he actually was the headliner for the very first "Jazzmopolitan" I produced at the Aratani Theater way back in 2008 and has been prolific in his music ever since.

I met Melissa over nine years ago when she first came to LA She sang at a fundraiser I produced for victims of Typhoon Haiyan and I have been a big supporter of hers all these years. No one sounds like her in our community. No one has the jazz skills like her in our community. No one comes close to the standard of vocal jazz musicality in our community. So, she's very unique and is proud to be Filipino-American.

Chris Chatman has been singing for such a long time but in hidden shadows; so, I thought it would be great to include his "throwback" style of R&B/soul into the jazz mix. Again...Chris is a unique talent... no one looks and sounds like him in the Filipino-American community and his competence can only grow with time.

With Tia, no one has seen her perform live before a large audience, much less with a jazz band, in quite some time. When I saw her Vibrato debut, I was completely blown away by some of the arrangements she did with jazz music, but I was equally impressed that she chose to showcase her Hawaiian music at a mainstream venue... so I thought, why not at the Walt Disney Concert Hall!

Michael Paulo. Photo by Janet Susan R. Nepales

Paulo was the one who suggested Peter White to me. They are close friends and I've been a fan of Peter's for some time (he even shared with me some stories of his times playing for and touring with 80's vocalist Basia which were unbelievable!) so his inclusion in "Jazzmopolitan" was to draw his fan base; and quite literally, I received well over three dozen emails from his fans asking how they could purchase tickets weeks before the tickets were released!

But I needed a headliner for the show. Originally, I wanted the Manhattan Transfer because this year was their 50th Anniversary. But they were not available so their manager, who is the same manager for Take 6, offered me the vocal sextet and I, of course, said "Yes!" having been a fan of theirs for years/decades.

So, to have both Filipino-Americans and mainstream artists as part of the show was the goal. The inspiration was to expose Filipino-American talent to a mainstream audience and vice versa. In fact, Peter White asked me afterward, "How do I get this Filipino audience for my shows?" to which I simply raised my hand!

What was the biggest challenge for you in putting this show together and how did you overcome it?

There were so many moving parts to the production...dealing with Music Center contracts and staff, coordinating the transportation and accommodations for Take 6, setting rehearsals with Michael Paulo and the band and the singers, trying to market and promote the show to both the Filipino-American and mainstream audiences, working with the LA Times and Smooth Jazz News, etc.

Taken altogether, these logistical tasks consumed both time and energy. Then, the day of the show itself brought its own challenges. Since none of the artists had ever performed at WDCH, they had to adjust to the acoustic perfection of the stage. Likewise, the WDCH sound team had to adjust to the band's playing and singers' voices. What was comforting was that Take 6 was blown away by the acoustics. They brought in their own audio engineer, and he was having a field day trying to fine-tune their vocals on the microphones. But it all paid off. Everyone brought their "A-game"!

 Daniel Ho and Tia Carrere. Photo by Janet Susan R. Nepales

What were the highlights for you tonight?

Just seeing the entire show come together in one night of musical innovation was the highlight of the entire evening. We didn't know what to expect - crowd reaction, attendance, acceptance, audience participation, etc. But when I saw the standing ovations for Michael Paulo, when I heard everyone sing "Downtown" to Peter White, when I saw the reactions to Melissa, Chris and Tia and Daniel and especially when Take 6 got everyone up and dancing, I knew new fans of these artists had been born. And that, to me, is one of the goals of the show.

What was the best compliment you received after the show?

There wasn't one compliment that particularly stood out... but when Take 6 acknowledged me on stage, the hairs on the back of my head stood up. I did not expect that shout-out, having met them all either the day before or that day. The measure of success for my shows: if the audience had fun, then I was successful; and if the performers/artists also had fun (and by all accounts they all did!), then I was truly successful in my endeavor.

Is there going to be a Jazzmopolitan II in the future?

I sure hope so. I trademarked "Jazzmopolitan" (pending with the US Patent & Trademark Office), so I better put it to use!

—MGP, GMA Integrated News