Johnny Alegre

Johnny Alegre (center) with bassist Ron McClure (left) and drummer Billy Hart (right). This photo was taken in New York City when they recorded Johnny Alegre 3 for MCA.

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 and a fellow of the Upsilon Sigma Phi fraternity.[3] 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 Vol. 1.[4] The self-titled album Johnny Alegre Affinity was released in the Philippines in mid-2005 and was re-released in England the same year 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, an album of original compositions with the Global Studio Orchestra conducted by Gerard Salonga.[5] 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.[6]

In 2008, Alegre recorded Humanfolk, the name of an album and a band formed with percussionist Susie Ibarra, drummer Roberto Juan Rodriguez, Cynthia Alexander, and Malek Lopez. For Humanfolk he wrote "Para Sa Tao" based on the Baybayin letters of the tagalog language.

Alegre is profiled in the books The Great Jazz Guitarists by Scott Yanow [7] and the Cultural Center of the Philippines Encyclopedia of Philippine Art, 2nd edition (Volume 7).[8][9]