In 1999, Philippine male keyboardist and songwriter
Gerry Paraiso released
Romance. The album is instrumental and features
Gerry Paraiso's keyboards and piano except for one song, "Unchained Melody," which features a vocal by Philippine male singer Jun Polistico. Side one of the cassette contains versions of popular Philippine-composed songs, including two of
Gerry Paraiso's compositions, while side two contains remakes of international tunes, including "Crying in the Rain" and "From a Distance." There is a smooth, contemporary jazz ambience to most of the music. The melodies are played mostly in a note-for-note manner, and the music can also therefore be called instrumental. At times, there is a jazz-like embellishment applied to the melodies, and some songs, such as "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes," contain thrilling, jazz-inspired improvisation performed by
Gerry Paraiso over the songs' chord changes. But this happens rarely and only for short periods of time. The songs' arrangements are often more exciting and complex than the melodies and contain syncopation and other interesting aspects, such as quick horn punctuations (presumably played on synthesizer). The Philippine-composed songs on side one are pleasant and enjoyable, if somewhat predictable. One of the better Philippine songs is "Maging Sino Ka Man" (Whoever You Are), which contains spirit and is adorned by a searing electric guitar line, imbuing a jazz-rock feel. The international remakes are very nice, highlighted by the rendition of
the Everly Brothers' "Crying in the Rain" for which the arrangement here contains a pulsating undercurrent. ~ David Gonzales