Queen of 'Jazzipino' Charmaine Clamor Breaks Ground in America
Clamor's Success an Embodiment of Jazz as the Immigrant's Music
New America Now TV, 
, Anchor & Producer, Odette Keeley; Videographer & Master Editor, Mike Siv; Editor, Jeremiah Ysip, Posted: Sep 01, 2009
OAKLAND, Calif. -- Many jazz artists and aficionados consider jazz as the immigrant’s music -- embracing and absorbing into a big pot, the many styles, elements and talents coming from musicians from all over the globe.
Charmaine Clamor, recently hailed as America’s leading Filipina jazz and world music vocalist, believes the “Filipino spice” may have found its renaissance in this pot in recent years, through the hybrid genre she created, “Jazzipino”. It’s a blend of the soul and swing of American jazz with Filipino music, languages and instruments. It’s the perfect pairing of her two great loves, Clamor says – of jazz and her Filipino soul, and it has catapulted her into the American jazz stratosphere.
Multi-Awarded Filipina Artist Breaks New Ground With "Jazzipino' from New America Media on Vimeo.
Now living in Los Angeles, Clamor was born in the Philippine town of Subic-Zambales, and her mother, a soprano singer inculcated in her a deep love for the Great American Songbook and Filipino music. Clamor relates that growing up, their home was filled with jazz and opera, alongside Philippine kundimans (torch songs), harana songs (serenades) and folk music.
In 2007, Clamor’s second album, “Flippin’ Out,” made the Top 5 on both JazzWeek’s World and Traditional Jazz radio charts simultaneously. And in 2008, her third album, “My Harana: A Filipino Serenade” made the Top 10 in the world music charts, making her the first Filipino to place two consecutive albums in the Top 10 world music radio charts.
She has been featured in several Filipino-American and mainstream media, including ABS-CBN International - The Filipino Channel, Asian Journal, NPR, BBC, the Los Angeles Times, L.A. 18, and has become one of the Philippines’ newest singing icons.
Clamor has also received numerous prestigious awards here and in the Philippines including as the “Philippines Pride – Best Jazz Singer” from FAMAS – the Philippine equivalent to the Oscars, as well as a 2009 Asian Heritage Award in the Performing Arts, organized by ASIA Magazine.
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User Comments
seth on Sep 04, 2009 at 13:05:51 said:
PLEASE I NEED A RICH WOMAN IN NEED OF A YOUG AFRICAN MAN FOR LOVE AND SPONSORSHIP
Odette Keeley on Sep 03, 2009 at 10:05:15 said:
Dear Ron,
Thank you very much for reading the piece - I hope you were also able to enjoy the video. Thank you also for alerting me to the error on Danny Barcelona - I have corrected it on the piece above. I had unfortunately trusted this one source article on the history of Filipino-American jazz artists but should have double-checked all their data. I will also check in on Michael Konik on his quote on Bossa Nova - I did see that according to one key article: " The initial releases by Gilberto and the 1959 film Black Orpheus brought significant popularity [of Bossa nova] in Brazil and elsewhere in Latin America, which spread to North America via visiting American jazz musicians. The resulting recordings by Charlie Byrd and Stan Getz cemented its popularity and led to a worldwide boom with 1963's Getz/Gilberto..." So Konik might be placing its U.S. peak more on the 60s, so will leave this information for now, but will cross-check with him."
Please continue checking out all our stories on NAM and we welcome your feedback!
Sincerely,
Odette Keeley
Ron Sagye La Rue on Sep 02, 2009 at 21:09:08 said:
Queen of 'Jazzipino' interesting article but some corrections needed: The Louis Armstrong drummer is: Daniel "Danny" Barcelona not "Benny" as listed. Actually, Bossa Nova had its beginnings in 1950s America to be factually and geographically correct. I do wish Carlos Zialcita would have named the "best bands" Pinoys played in on Bourbon street. Charmaine Clamor is currently the most original Jazz singer performing period!
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