MON DAVID WINS THE
GRAND PRIZE AT THE
LONDON INTERNATIONAL JAZZ COMPETITION!!!!!

Mishka Adams and Ariz Guinto relayed the fantastic message by text shortly after 5:30 this morning.

A jubilant Mon was in tears as we spoke in the phone because all six finalists were brilliant in what reports describe as a "storming" final which heated up the London jazz scene.

Mon sang Nature Boy, My One and Only Love, and Lullaby of Birdland and literally had the audience at his feet. 

Pete Churchill, one of the jazz gurus at Guildhall School of Music and Drama, who led the trio of top UK jazzers that accompanied Mon, has now offered to have the group tour with him.  Candid Records UK will record a new album with the trio backing Mon on the very songs that gave him the world championship, which will be released in the UK and Europe immediately.

The Filipino community in London, led by Ambassador Edgardo Espiritu himself, has never been more ecstatic.

Mon will have two more gigs -- at the Jagz in Ascot and at Club 606.  He returns to Manila on April 6. 

Sana salubungin natin ng buong tuwa at pagmamalaki ng sambayanan

Mabuhay ang jazz at ang musikong Pilipino!

- Susan Arcega

Check Out Bob Aves’ latest monster CD Translating the Gongs with a review by Angel Peña