MUSIC IS A universal language, as we are wont to say.
That music heals all wounds, presumably symbolically and figuratively.
It mediates between two or more contesting stands or points-of-view.
It intensifies, creates and renews friendships.
Peer karaoke builds up, cements camaraderie as well as rebuilds relationships.
Nonetheless, it bridges and binds new acquaintances.
Top Filipino jazz artists Jeannie Tiongco, Gina Panizales and Heidi Tann believe so.
Jeannie says jazz has the power to move people to think, decide and act on a particular situation
If there’s a lover’s quarrel, Tiongco shares an experience, that a line or two in a jazz piece can patch things up.
It may not be as immediate as one can get but the magic of the song can mesmerize and clear the cloud of doubt and kinks are gradually diminished.
“Music, generally, is utilitarian just like the ability of a soap, detergent or bath, to wash away dirt or add scent or deodorize a piece of cloth or a human body. In the current state of local or even world affairs in any aspect of life, jazz can balance the equilibrium of the ying and yang.”
TIONGCO BROTHERS
Jeannie when she sings can stretch her imagination as she prolongs a word or a note to emphasize pain and how to blow it away or joy and how to keep and sustain it.
”There are many variations of jazz to show and interpret many nuances of life,” enthuses Tiongco, a progeny of the late music man Emil Tiongco of the iconic Tiongco Brothers.
Jeannie discloses that she used to sing pop but opted to concentrate on jazz not only to be different but to inspire as well.
”Jazz has the power to neutralize,” she quips and adds its capacity to foster peace not only of its soothing and gentleness but its direct message of love, understanding and hope.
Music, generally, is utilitarian just like the ability of a soap, detergent or bath, to wash away dirt or add scent or deodorize a piece of cloth or a human body.
In the current state of local or even world affairs in any aspect of life, jazz can balance the equilibrium ofthe ying and yang.
PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY
It is believed that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky sings his way as well to ease up the struggle between his country and Russia.
The Lumads of southern Philippines can create harmony between nature and man-made disturbances in their ancestral land through chants.
In the Philippines, Heidi’s panacea to some of her worries is singing pop songs in solo or group performances.
When she migrated to the US, though, she not only brought hope and optimism to provide happiness and material support to her family back home but also tagged along music to lerate her thoughts for a brand-new freedom being offered by democracy in a foreign land.
ELLA FITZGERALD
As a Filipino pop culturati, Tann learned to rejoin and renew in the diaspora by collaborating with Filipino or Fil-Am or cross-cultural musicians but also later, to gradually embrace jazz music, a staple Americans and other residents of the US love to dig since the dawn of the likes of Ella Fitzgerald etc. in the musical loop.
Heidi has broken traditions about Filipino jazz composers abroad by making it in the charts and awards.
She may not have been nominated in the prestigious Grammys but she nonetheless got noticedby the discriminating taste of its members and voters.
”The Grammys has noticed my composition, ‘You’re the Best Thing.’ I’m proud of it,” Heidi beams.
Her original work is nominated at the 2025 Indie Soul Award, a prominent awards body in the US.
”Amazing news to find out that it is nominated for Best Smooth Jazz Single of The Year thank you toChris Clay II for this great opportunity to be considered, we are humbled and very honored…What a great start of 2026. Wow!” says Tann.
Heidi has also won the Artist of the Year plum from the 2025 The Central Standard Time Show by Ultimate Entertainment.
Meanwhile, Filipino jazz ambassador to Malaysia Gina Panizales is another pride to contend with in the field.
JAZZ AMBASSADOR TO MALAYSIA
An Ilongga, Gina went to Malaysia not only to sing but to represent the Philippines’ arts and culture, particularly music.
She brought with her the genre that eventually endeared her not only to Filipinos in Malaysia but to true-blooded Malaysians and multicultural everyman as well in Kuala Lumpur and elsewhere.
Panizales isn’t only known in the country but internationally, as she velvety renders standard jazz pieces that connect to her listeners, in-person or virtually.
In KL, she has just launched her newest album, “Invisible,” an entirely jazz collection of her favorite music that could launch not only a thousand ships but also could end tensions among warring individuals and nations.