Joey Ayala & Grace Nono: Music of the Filipino Soul

Filipino musical artists in London: Bob Aves, Budeths Casinto, Joey Ayala, Niño Hernandez, Grace Nono, and Malou Matute at the Diaspora Music Village concert in Regents Park

Joey Ayala and Grace Nono, two of the Philippines’ foremost exponents of ethnic/alternative music with ecological, social and indigenous themes, performed in London as part of the Diaspora Music Village, a celebration of world music. The other members of the Philippine group were Bob Aves, Malou Matute, Budeths Casinto, and Niño Hernandez. They joined international artists from more than a dozen countries who gave a series of concerts at the Kew Gardens, Regents Park, Greenwich Park and various venues around London. Ayala and Nono are cultural icons in the Philippines, particularly among the youth, enviromental advocates, and lovers of indigenous, soul, ‘folk-rock’ and ‘neo-ethnic’ music. Playing with intensity and inventiveness, the group drew thunderous applause from the audience. Their music included chants, songs, rhythms and sounds from the Cordillera, Muslim Mindanao, and other ethnic groups in the Philippines, using a variety of brass, string and bamboo instruments. The group also performed at the October Gallery, where the audience included Ambassador & Mrs. Cesar B. Bautista, who later hosted dinner for them at the Embassy residence.

Filipino nurses at the Regents Park concert: Offie Calderon, Jeanette Escobar, Elinor Eblamo, Eleonor Rollon, and Irene Matute