Revelation, 2007 World Championships of
Performing Arts (WCOPA) multi-medalist and Zamboanga’s Pride,
officially launched their debut album "Amor y Sueño" (Chabacano
phrase for "Love and Dream") Friday night at Ratskys Tomas
Morato in Quezon City. The album is released through Zone 7 of
Candid Records Philippines.
Revelation is comprised of Zamboangueño
siblings Jimboy Calisang (vocalist/keyboardist), Shalmai
Calisang (vocalist), Nuel Calisang (bassist) and Isaac
Calisang (drummer). Although they all started performing in a
gospel choir at a young age, the Calisang siblings grew up
with different musical tastes. Collaborating on an album with
all original works was indeed very challenging, but it was
worth all the effort – "Amor y Sueño" showcases the fusion of
pop, jazz, R&B, classical and Chabacano musical influences of
the band members.
Produced by veteran album producers Arnold
Jallores and Marlon Silva, "Amor y Sueño’s" carrier track is
the very pop and bouncy "Ikaw" written by Jimboy, Shalmai,
Marlon and Andrew Guevarra. The single has been enjoying heavy
daily airplay on top radio stations 90.7 Love Radio, 101.1 Yes
FM and 93.9 IFM for three weeks now.
Each song in the 12-track album is written
based on personal relationships and recollections of the band
members. Shalmai, for instance, wrote "Daddy’s Girl" for her
sister who passed away and was a personal favorite of her
father. Jimboy penned "Peace for Our Motherland" about twelve
years ago as a hymn to Zamboanga. It was performed as an
original competition piece ten years after at WCOPA in
Hollywood, USA. Isaac, on the other hand, finished "Ignore" a
few hours after his break up with his girlfriend. Other
original ditties in the album are titled "Baby Come Home," "Amor,"
"Baby I Love You," "No More," "Kaibigan," "Meant As One,"
"Hymn to the Sea," and "Sueño."
Classically trained Jimboy stresses, "We
wanted to apply equal treatment among the instrumentalists in
the band. In the track ‘Hymn to the Sea," for example, the
bass player hogs the spotlight. He doesn’t just provide reverb
for the band’s technical sound all the time."
Prior to joining WCOPA, Revelation was
awarded the Orgullo de Zamboanga (Pride of Zamboanga) in 2006.
Honorable Mayor Celso Lobregat is all
praises for the band, "The band’s songs Amor and Sueño help
reintroduce the Chabacano, a Spanish derivative language, to
more people beyond Zamboanga. Singing Chabacano songs is a way
of not only preserving but also strengthening the Chabacano
language and culture.
Revelation joins the roster of mainstream
musicians that include Buddy Zabala of Eraserheads/The Dawn
and Bossa Nova Queen Sitti Navarro who also hail from
Zamboanga.
Catch Revelation at Sta. Lucia Mall in
Cainta, Rizal on June 14 and in Ormoc City on June 17. For
inquiries, call 818-1111 loc. 225 or 0917-8822838.
Revelation’s sponsors include Mohesaka Health and Beauty
Centre, Salon de Mayo, Ratskys and the Calisang family of
Zamboanga.