About The Autonomous Region
The Autonomous Region presents both classic standards and modern arrangements of jazz favorites. Led by vocalist Caroline Cabading, this San Francisco-based ensemble performs regularly at the International Hotel Manilatown Center in the city’s North Beach/Chinatown district and also enjoys a variety of public and private engagements throughout the Bay Area.
Autonomous was originally founded in the Spring of 2015 as the house band for the I-Hotel’s Club Mandalay pop-up jazz club, a community engagement project emphasizing family-friendly and affordable live music, spoken word and dance presentations. It was within this environment of creative support that they began exploring and presenting original compositions fusing jazz with the pre-colonial tribal music of the Philiippines. They call this genre Kul Jazz, named after the traditional kulintang music of Mindanao, Philippines.
Video
Presenting Kul Jazz
Hot off the editing machine is this slideshow honoring the 1977 International Hotel Anti-Eviction Struggle that features new song selections, including in order of appearance: a traditional kulintang song, “Kasulampid”, our first Kul Jazz tune, “The Birth of Kul”, and Boy Palacio’s arrangement for us of “Afro Blue”.