Johnny Alegre

Career

Alegre studied composition at the University of the Philippines College of Music in the latter 1970s. He was a founding member of the U.P. Jazz Ensemble.^[4] He participated in workshops by composer Erhard Karkoschka, guitarist Ike Isaacs, and composer Chou Wen-chung.

In May 2002, Alegre formed the Johnny Alegre Affinity with bassist Colby de la Calzada, drummer Koko Bermejo, pianist Elhmir Saison, and saxophonist Tots Tolentino. Their first recorded work, "Stones of Intramuros", written by Alegre, was included in the limited edition Philippine jazz anthology Adobo Jazz: A Portrait of the Filipino as a Jazz Artist (Vol. 1).^[5]

The self-titled album Johnny Alegre Affinity was released in the Philippines in mid-2005 by Candid Records Philippines; and was rereleased in England the same year by Candid Records (UK)^[6] for global distribution as Jazzhound. This was followed by performances at the PizzaExpress Jazz Club in London with guest saxophonist, Dimitri Vassilakis.

During 2006 and 2007, Alegre and Affinity worked on Eastern Skies,^[7] an album of original compositions with the Global Studio Orchestra conducted by Gerard Salonga.^[8] In 2009 MCA released Johnny Alegre 3, a trio album with Ron McClure (bass) and Billy Hart (drums). Alegre was MCA's first jazz act from the Philippines.^[9] In 2014, MCA released a compilation of highlights from Alegre's Candid Records recordings, entitled Stories.^[10][11]

In 2008, Alegre recorded a world music album, Humanfolk, with Cynthia Alexander and Malek Lopez, along with drummer Roberto Juan Rodriguez and percussionist Susie Ibarra, and the later addition of singer-keyboardist Abby Clutario. For Humanfolk, Alegre wrote the award-winning "Para Sa Tao" based on the Baybayin letters of the ancient Tagalog language.

Alegre is profiled in the books The Great Jazz Guitarists by Scott Yanow^[12] and the Cultural Center of the Philippines Encyclopedia of Philippine Art, Second edition (Volume 7).^[13][14]

In November 2023, a retrospective of Alegre's urban folk compositions for Humanfolk were featured in a 2-hour recital at the Ayala Museum, hosted by the Filipinas Heritage Library.^[15][16][17] The official recorded music of Johnny Alegre, including independent works, is aggregated by The Orchard, a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment.

Family

Johnny Alegre is the youngest surviving grandchild of the late Senator Juan Bautista Alegre y Levantino,^[18] senator^[19] who represented the Philippines's 6th senatorial district to the 6th and 7th Philippine Legislatures. The family genealogy of Johnny Alegre is descended from Carlist exiles^[20] from Spain to the Philippines and intermarried with Filipinos. His paternal grandmother, Amanda ("Aimee") Alegre née Sargent,^[21][22] is descended from the early Sargent family of New England.^{[23][24][25][26][27][28]}

Johnny Alegre Affinity

Humanfolk

Letters from UNESCO

Letters of Recognition from UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Inter-Cultural Dialogue, Herbie Hancock; for Johnny Alegre's sustained partnership and participation in International Jazz Day.

• 2015
• 2019
• 2020
• 2022
• 2023
• 2024
• 2025