(Twenty-fourth of a series)
I was obviously late to the Charito Vergara party, having caught her on stage only earlier this year when she was in Manila for a visit. But there’d been quite the buzz about the shows and workshops she held in Manila, Bacolod and Cagayan de Oro over the last several years.
I got lucky one evening at our favorite jazz bar in Cubao, Quezon City, while catching Up All Night. Charito quietly walked in with two friends; then, midway through the trio’s second set, she joined them on stage and sailed joyfully through three songs. Three things struck me: her contagious enthusiasm, her refined vocal styling, and the visible pleasure she finds in the performance.
But don’t let me be the judge of that. In 1990, the three-time Grammy Award winner and legendary jazz vocalist Nancy Wilson paid Charito this compliment: “The first time I heard [her], I physically and emotionally embraced her, and thought [to] myself, beautiful…that came from the heart and the soul. She has a warm way of presenting a song and she represents what a singer really is, a song stylist.”
Natural singer
Many of Charito’s performances are accessible on YouTube, including a delightful 2025 gig at Meyhouse Jazz in Palo Alto, California, with the Akira Tana Trio. For me, the highlights were her covers of two Michael Jackson classics and the Michel Legrand masterpiece, “Watch What Happens.” Her version of the latter is perhaps the most sensual treatment of the beloved standard I’ve ever heard.
Charito possesses that mastery which “conceals art”—a skill so deeply honed that it eliminates all trace of effort. It is sprezzatura, or a “studied carelessness” that makes the most challenging vocal feats seem like a casual conversation.
“My mother, a soprano, loved to sing,” says Charito. “She had always said I was a ‘natural singer’ from the time I was born, and that I could easily memorize and perform songs since age 5.” Charito adds that she had grown up in a “melody-filled home,” with a father who listened to records and the radio music of Frank Sinatra, Johnny Mathis, Doris Day, and Julie London, among others.
Hers was also a pretty straightforward path to an overseas career. While a mass communication student at the University of Santo Tomas, she joined a singing audition sponsored by the Japan Hotel Association “for fun and adventure.”
She won and shortly moved to Japan for what she thought would be a temporary six-month job in Sendai City, joining a local Japanese band. “I was struck by how deeply music was appreciated there as an art form rather than just entertainment,” she recalls. “This inspired me to study music seriously. Though I began in R&B and pop, the magnetic charge of jazz records eventually drew me in. I embraced the genre for its improvisational freedom and soulful depth.”
Reflecting on her brief singing stint in Manila as a college student, Charito says she realized she had been part of what many consider the Golden Era of live music. “If you wanted music, you went to a venue,” she says. “That created a high demand for versatile performers who could handle everything from standard pop hits to complex jazz.”
From Japan to the world
Charito gradually established an international presence through extensive global tours and festival appearances. In 1996, she became the first Filipino artist to perform at the Montreal Jazz Festival, appearing before an audience of 70,000. She returned to the festival the following year, which paved the way for headlining shows in Canada and renowned North American venues like Yoshi’s in Oakland, California.
Her reach extends across Asia’s prestigious stages, with performances in major Chinese cities—including the Beijing Jazz Festival—as well as headlining engagements at the Dewan Filharmonik Petronas in Kuala Lumpur and the LG Art Center in Seoul. Her European circuit has been equally impressive, anchored by appearances at the Krakow Jazz Festival and the Chodziez Jazz Workshop in Poland.
Charito remains one of Japan’s most prolific jazz vocalists, a mainstay at premier venues where she is often invited back for recurring engagements. She maintains a regular presence at Tokyo’s top clubs—including Body & Soul, Sometime, Keystone Club, and B-flat—while keeping a rigorous touring schedule across that country. Though jazz often favors rotating lineups, she frequently performs with a core group of what she describes as “fantastic Japanese musicians.”
She notes that jazz in Japan is “exceptionally vibrant and deeply institutionalized.” She adds: “The country is often described as having more jazz clubs—over 100 in Tokyo alone—than New York City. It thrives on a combination of historic, high-end jazz clubs (like Blue Note Tokyo) and a deep appreciation for diverse styles, ranging from hard bop to modern fusion.”
Moreover, there’s a high level of technical mastery among Japanese musicians, who often collaborate with top-tier international artists. “Japanese audiences are among the world’s most dedicated consumers of jazz recordings, viewing the genre as a symbol of sophisticated, modern identity,” she says.
On the other hand, Charito says, the Filipino jazz scene is jumping with high passion, incredible musicality, and a strong affinity for Latin jazz and vocal performance. “Filipino musicians are known for their ability to interpret diverse genres,” she adds. “The Philippine music scene is often characterized by its versatile performers who excel in American-style jazz due to the country’s colonial history, whereas the Japanese scene has evolved into a highly diverse ecosystem that blends traditional jazz with modern elements like hip-hop and R&B.”
Drawing a side-by-side comparison between the two jazz landscapes, Charito observes this difference: While Japan boasts a more established, commercialized industry characterized by significant investment in topnotch venues and high-end festivals, the Philippines, replete as it is with gifted musicians, is more focused on cultivating young grassroots talent through dedicated education and international exchanges.
From the world, giving back
Charito has released 17 CDs, many of which have received notable industry awards. These CDs feature collaborations with international music legends such as Legrand, the Manhattan Jazz Orchestra, Harvey Mason, and Ivan Lins.
Her 2016 album, American Gold Standards—recorded in Los Angeles with the Tamir Hendelman Trio—has been hailed as one of her most “artistic and impressive” works to date. More recently, in 2021, she released When Summer Comes, a thoughtful compilation designed to offer solace and encouragement to those displaced or affected by the pandemic.
She is equally dedicated to philanthropy: In 2002 she founded the nonprofit Because We Care, which spearheads initiatives for children in need across both Japan and the Philippines. In 2012, she further bridged these two worlds by founding the Tokyo-Manila Jazz and Arts Festival (TMJAF). Originally launched to celebrate 80 years of shared musical and cultural history, it remains the most significant assembly of Japanese and Filipino jazz artists. Now in its fifteenth year, the festival continues to promote international exchange and the education of the next generation of musicians in both countries.
“The TMJAF was conceptualized as a cultural bridge between these two long-intertwined jazz worlds,” says Charito. While it has come quite a long way from the first event held in Shibuya, Tokyo, it has had to morph from a simple concert series into a broader mission of education and charity to ensure its sustainability.
It thrives today through partnerships with the Japan Foundation, the Philippine Embassy in Japan, and corporate sponsors. It helps fund scholarships and equipment for groups like the Philippine Youth Symphonic Band.
For now, Charito has found a perfect home in Japan, where jazz is deeply entrenched and highly treasured. Atzko Koshashi, writing for All About Jazz (allaboutjazz.com) in 2025, partly explains that country’s abiding love for the musical form: “…Jazz and Japanese aesthetics share something profound.” She cites Bill Evans’ liner notes for Kind of Blue: “There is a Japanese visual art in which the artist is forced to be spontaneous. He must paint on a thin stretched parchment with a special brush and black water paint in such a way that an unnatural or interrupted stroke will destroy the line or break through the parchment. Erasures or changes are impossible…”
That description of sumi-e, translated to music, sounds very much like jazz. CS
Read more: Portraits in Jazz: Bobby Basa, guitar soloist and conversationalist
