In an exclusive charity event held recently at the Porta Via Restaurant & Bar in Beverly Hills, John Paul Puno launched his single-record called “Via Sacra” (or Secret Road) which is included in his album. He takes pride in accomplishing a whole album which “mirrors the journey of life itself – songs that reflect love, loss, pain and hope.” Following are the songs in his complete album, “Nowhere Man,”“Miracle,”“Run,”“Tarde Para Regresar,”“Rule The World,”“Wherever You Will Go,”“Ordinary World,”“The One That Got Away” and “Via Sacra.”
The album was produced by legendary multi-platinum Grammy award-winner producer, Robert “Bob” Cutarella who also produced for Eric Clapton, Sting, Josh Stone and who has likely garnered hits with industry legends such as:Michael Jackson, Celine Dion, The Beegees, Pink Floyd, Elton John, Michael Bolton, Diana Ross, Chaka Khan, Cyndi Lauper and Slash.
Likewise, the album’s Grammy-award engineer/producer was Francis Buckley, whose movie and television credits include: “Flashdance,”“Jungle Book,”“The Wedding SInger,” and “City of Angels.” He has also worked with the likes of Quincy Jones, BB King, Alanis Morisette, Paula Abdul, Van Halen, Lea Salonga, Deborah Cox and Adam Sandler.
In a recent interview with another publication, John admitted that “selecting the songs for the album was an organic process that developed over time. One of the album highlights is a soaring orchestral version of Snow Patrol’s ‘Run’ arrranged by Puno himself, which eventually became one of the very first songs he self-produced during his early foray in music.”
During the charity event, John performed a variety of songs for us: Judy Garland’s “Somewhere Over The Rainbow,” Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” ( in Spanish and English), Les Miserables’“I Dreamed A Dream,” Wicked’s “For Good,” and “Instrument of Peace” by the Canadian Tenors.
Myrna with artists
John Paul Puno is a graduate of the University of Southern California ‘s School of Cinematic Arts and is an active member of the Beverly Hills community, where this writer met him performing at the Saban Theatre during the 100th Birthday Anniversary/Concert of his Beverly Hills hometown.
Coinciding with the launch of John’s record, there was an art exhibit that featured the paintings of artist Olympio, curated by Orlando Aguillen. A portion of the art sales were donated to the Good Shepherd Center for Homeless Women and Children.
The Good Shepherd Center for Homeless Women and Children is a non-Sectarian program of the Catholic Charities of Los Angeles, Inc. It was established in 1984 and began as an emergency drop-in shelter for women living in the streets and Sister Julia Mary Farley spearheaded the program. It eventually became a “Woman’s Village,” that provided transitional housing for disabled, homeless women and a job training facility. In 2008 it was then renamed The Good Shepherd Center for Homeless Women and Children.
In a similar venture, Pinoy Pop/Rock singer Malou Zagala-Toler has also launched her new Pop single called “Never Rain On My Parade,” on August 25, 2014 released by her copyright and Label company, Famous Records Corporation, whose head, UK-educated JeffreyCollins has booked the likes of: The Beatles, Joe Cocker, Led Zeppelin, Moody Blues and Dustry Springfield.
The new single’s lyrics were written by the creative partnership and collaboration of Malou and her husband Carl Toler. Its theme encompasses Malou and Carl’s shared life’s experiences, particularly when dealing with stress and a lot of pressure before their shows and the positive attittude they both have to enable them not to get distracted and affected by negative issues, because their goal is to present a good show for their growing fan base.
According to Malou who has recently been a Malibu Music Festival award winner, developing a single record includes the grueling process of writing the lyrics and everything else evolves through it. Once they’re done with the lyrics, they would then add the melody and music to the song. In this case, Ted Perlman was their producer. He has worked with well known artists/musicians such as: Bob Dylan, Whitney Huston, George Benson, Joe Cocker and Ron Darling of “Sugar, Sugar” fame.
Malou’s voice coach was former American Idol’s sweetheart, Peggi Blu, and her back vocals were: Lally Parcon and Edwin Bon. For those interested in downloading Malou Toler’s”:Never Rain On My Parade” single, you may find it at:itunes or at: www.Amazon.com.