Jack Of Arts

It's the middle of Tayaw's second month in my bar. For the past month and a half, I have someone to look forward to again. I still remember when he first walked in through the backdoor to my office one afternoon in August; a tall and slightly chubby kid who confidently carries himself despite his age.

I thought it was just another kid who is full of himself only months after learning how to play the guitar. It also didn't help my first impression of him when he pulled out a pristine middle-range acoustic guitar that I almost accused him of being a poser.

I remember only giving him a chance to audition because according to Rocky, he knew how to knock properly on the back door. Not not to say my bar is a Mecca of music, but auditioning is a privilege only earned by musicians I know that are skilled or are recommended by the musicians that already proven themselves in my bar.

Later that afternoon, my impression of the kid changed. He has skills and ironically speaking, experience that is years beyond his age. His singing skills are excellent. Most amateur singers just sing without missing a note and wanted to show off with the high notes, but ultimately barely have any soul in their performance. I cringe further after a crowd cheer for them.

Tayaw, on the other hand, displays subtlety in a variety of ways in his singing. He knows where to emphasize his vibrato. Most singers will put vibrato in their singing whenever they can even if it's excessive.

He knows when and how to use his chest, diaphragm, throat, falsetto and nose when singing. Most singers will just switch to falsetto from chest voice when they can't reach a high note, or switch from diaphragm to throat voice when they can't reach a low note.

Tayaw however, like a veteran singer knows how to use his chest voice at exciting part of the songs, diaphragm to express a narrative, throat and falsetto when expressing desperate emotions, and nasal songs to express emotions of freedom.

Tayaw is a baritone and does not have much range, but with his skills in his voice, he is a compelling singer. His first song in his audtion, "Leaves", and a song I love dearly, was performed by Tayaw, in his own style, very beautifully.

I don't know what Tayaw's love life is like, but I'm pretty much sure he still has not married the love of his life. But his performance of the song made me feel like he is basically the man in the song. I also got lost in the performance as I remembered my lover from years ago who I had to leave because of various circ.u.mstances.

In addition to Tayaw's performing skills, I was also impressed by his song arranging skills. The second song in his audition is originally a disco song, but Tayaw arranged it into a lively acoustic song accompanied by the lovely strumming and half-chords he played on the higher frets of the guitar. With these skills, I knew I found a budding musician who will become famous in the future.

In his performances in September and early October, I had to reassess my impression of Tayaw. Why? Almost all the songs he performed in his gigs are all re-arrangements! Never in my life had I seen someone come up with hundreds of arrangements. He's a prodigy! A genius in the making, sharpening himself in MY bar! This is the reason why I always watch him perform.

Today however, I noticed Tayaw, who just walked in to my office, appear anxious. "What's up kid?" I asked, curious. "Sir, because of school assignments and the exam week, I had not have much time arranging songs and practicing. I just want to explain myself in case you will be unsatisfied later." Tayaw's reply reminded me that a college student's life is also stressful for students especially for a freshman like him.

"It's alright kid. As long as you perform well, I have no problems. You can also repeat the songs you already sung last month." I told him. He has never disappointed me yet. He does not know how conflicted I am to send him, with the skills of a headliner to be an opening act, so I always pay him extra.

In fact, I want to put him as a headliner but I don't know how the other musicians will react. They themselves spent years in their craft to get to their positions.

A couple minutes past 6, Tayaw was done with his introductions for today's line-up. This little segment of Tayaw always amused me, but also made me see a fresh new way of starting the night. I asked Tayaw if I can make other openers like Amelie copy his segment and he agreed.

Amelie and the other openers are also happy to do it. After all, it will save them one song in their set, and they realized it was actually fun to do the introductions in such a way while getting low-lying fruits that are the audience's applause.

While watching Tayaw tonight, I noticed something different. The songs he is performing are shallowly arranged. His performance too, seemed a little lower in quality than his usual. What I noticed though, is that he is performing in a more spontaneous way. Like how blues and jazz musicians perform, Tayaw's guitar playing tonight felt less practiced but he is more absorbed in his guitar than ever.

It feels more down-to-earth like watching a friend jamming by himself on the stage. This gave me a bizarre feeling. Yes, the quality of his singing and guitar is a little lower because of the lack of practice, but his in the moment decisions with the guitar and his voice ad-libbing are so exciting to watch. His performance tonight sounds a little off than usual, but to me, this is more exciting!

Throughout his set, the only time that feels like Tayaw's entirely in his control is at the middle of his song list. A song which I'm very sure that he re-arranged in detail. I think Tayaw also made the song the highlight of his set. In contrast to the excitement it provided the crowd, I noticed how relaxed Tayaw is while performing the song. This however, bored me as I did not see him struggle and is less spontaneous than the rest of the songs he played tonight.

After Tayaw finished his set, I welcomed him backstage, something I do not do often. "Hey kid, great set." I said patting his shoulder.

"Thank you, sir. It was a struggle though and it wasn't as good as usual." Tayaw said while wiping the sweat on his forehead.

"No, no.. You did just fine!" I said, debating whether to tell him my opinions. "If you say so, then I'm relieved." Tayaw replied smiling.

Suddenly, an idea popped inside my head. "By the way, I think you should reserve the songs you will re-arrange for now, and just do your sets just like you did tonight. It's incredible that you have made so many re-arrangements in the past two months and I know it's exhausting." I told Tayaw to his surprise.

"Will that really be alright?" Tayaw asked.

"Can you promise me then that you will keep on re-arranging songs like you have been? Are you certain you will not run out of ideas in the future?" I asked in return. Seeing the uncertainty in the kid's face, I held back a smile, bullseye.

"I thought so. So in the future, you can just do some shallow arrangements like you did tonight as long as it sounds good to you. You can even improvise more as long as you're confident. To the crowd, it does not make any difference anyway whether the songs you sing are your re-arrangements or just a direct cover." I reassured him.

"I will do as you say then, sir." Tayaw answered in relief.

Over the time Tayaw has been performing in my bar, I also noticed how high his standards are not only to others but also to himself. More than once, when I can't be certain if the musician on stage is messing up their set, it helps me to figure it out by watching Tayaw listen in the green room.

The slightest wrong note on the instrument, the slightest pitch problems by the singers, I saw Tayaw's face grimace at them. When Tayaw is on stage, I watch the reaction of the other musicians in the green room and sometimes; they're listening seriously during Tayaw's set as if they're trying to learn from an interesting lecture. This assures me of Tayaw's high standards in his performances. Considering these, I understand Tayaw's hesitance in doing direct covers and improvising on stage; he does not like making mistakes.

The reason that I asked him to start performing as he did tonight however is not because I'm worried that Tayaw will have a hard time re-arranging songs. No, I don't care much about whether his songs re-arrangements or direct covers, as long as they sound great.

The request is more selfish in origin; I want to feel the excitement I felt tonight watching Tayaw's in-the-moment decisions while performing. That to me is much more valuable. If he will maintain the quality of his set like he did tonight despite his lack of practice, I will be satisfied just watching do his thing. Knowing Tayaw's standards also assure me that the judgment he will make on stage from now on, will remain good.

I then led Tayaw to the green room to rest as we listen to the second performer. A few minutes later, he bid his goodbyes to the other musicians left the bar midway of the second performer's set.

After Tayaw left, Kiyong, the leader and the lead guitar of Beyond Cape Town approached me at while I was talking to Rocky in the back stage. "Boss, wasn't Tayaw's performance … a little different tonight?" he asked me.

"Yes. What did you think of it?" I asked back.

"Oh, it sounded great, don't get me wrong. But honestly, isn't his songs a little less polished tonight?" Kiyong continued to ask.

"Yes. They are. The kid is busy with Northwestern's exam week so he said he wasn't able to practice much." I explained.

Kiyong's eyes suddenly widened. "I didn't see him play but, didn't he look exhausted when he was done?" He paused for a moment. "He wasn't improvising at the interludes, was he?"

Kiyong asked in anticipation. "I actually think he was. I can see him making split second decisions while playing, not unlike the practiced ease that he usually displays." I answered, smiling.

"Incredible. He got through tonight through raw skill? I don't even think I can do that!" Kiyong exclaimed in disbelief.

"Right? He's still young too. What do you think if I made him headline one of these nights?" I asked Kiyong for his opinion.

"Well, even us in the band know him and accept that we're not as good as him, we're just not willing to admit it to others. With his skill, he's good enough to headline. I don't know about your regular headliners though." Kiyong replied, careful with his answer.

"I don't know how they will react either. Even though some of them already seen him perform, I don't know what they think of him. But, you still think he's good enough right?" I asked Kiyong.

"Yes. If we're talking skills alone, I think he's good enough to headline." Kiyong answered. I nodded.

As I was about to leave for my office, he suddenly raised another question. "By the way boss, aren't you forgetting something about Tayaw?" I raised my eyebrows at him.

As much as I like Kiyong, he's like a five year old when you let him continue to ask questions.

"He's still a minor right?" He asked. "So?" I answered, confused at what he's getting at.

"According to your schedule, headliners start performing at 10PM right?" He asked again. "Yeah. So?" I answered again, becoming impatient.

"What about curfew?" Kiyong finally asked the key question. I was speechless at the question. That's right. With my excitement, I forgot that despite how mature Tayaw is, he should still follow Ouigab's curfew for minors.

"Can't you just let him sleep here when he headlines?" Kiyong raised a dumb suggestion.

"Of course not! Curfews are there for a reason, especially for the safety of kids" I replied.

"Well, can't you just let Rocky drive him home when he's done with his headline sets?" Kiyong raised a good point. That's also why I like Kiyong. Despite him asking too many questions, I get to reflect on things while answering his questions.

"I'll consider that.��� I said to Kiyong as I finally headed back into my office.