The year 2017 wraps up with a superb series of jazz, blues and fusion performances at Bangalore venues such as The B-Flat Bar, Blue Frog, Windmill Craftworks, and Humming Tree, along with other locations like Alliance Francaise and Pragrup!

In our regular annual deep dive, we look at some of the groups who delighted jazz fans this year in Bangalore. See my earlier Jazzuality articles for a roundup of 2016, 2015, and 2014, and my pick of Jazz Quotes and Blues Quotes (by the late great B.B. King).

 The year kicked off with one of the best performances of the year, by Kefaya at B-Flat. The band featured Italian guitarist Giuliano Modarelli, keyboardist Al Macsween, bassist Domenico Angarano, and drummer Joost Hendrickx. The guitar and drum solos in tracks like ‘Jyothi’ were outstanding, and the compositions drew on influences from the Middle East, Europe and Europe.

The quartet Magic Flutes had two superb performances at B-Flat and Alliance Francaise, featuring French flautist Jean-Luc Thomas paired with Ravi Kulur, along with percussionists Giridhar Udupa (ghatam) and Muthu Kumar (tabla). French gypsy tunes and Carnatic melodies picked up whether the other left off, and blended together to rousing crescendos. Flautist Amit Nadig also appeared as guest musician at the B-Flat performances.

An unusual performance took place in the basement of Goobes Books on Church Street, with Burning Deck. Singaporean violinist Huich Goh played with Sandeep Madhavan on bass and electronics. Creative visuals were displayed on a backdrop of packed bookshelves.

Bookshelves are also the backdrop for another superbly designed venue in Whitefield: Windmill Craftworks, where multi-instrumentalist Nadishana performed with percussionist David Kuckhermann and ace bass prodigy Mohini Dey. This trio explored fresh new frontiers with hang drums, ethnic woodwinds and folk percussion instruments.

The trio Sax Machine delivered a high-energy performance at The Blue Frog, with Guillaume Sené (saxophone), Pierre Dandin (trombonist of Sergent Garcia) and Chicago vocalist Racecar. The set packed deep funk with hard bop, and lots of looped groove.

The Perfect Strangers had a high-energy set of jazz-rock and blues at B-Flat, with Raphael Emileenaa and Pranav DM on vocals. They were backed by Debjeet Basu (guitar), Steve Rajan (keyboards), Prashanth Gnanamuthu (bass) and Preran Pramod Gulvady (drums).

Another European jazz band, this time from Germany, also played at B-Flat: Klaus Graf Quartet. It featured the founder Klaus Graf (alto sax), Olaf Polziehn (piano), Axel Kühn (bass) and Meinhard Obi Jenne (drums). Founded in 2001, the quartet played original compositions as well as ‘Jive Samba’ and ‘Minha Saudades’ (Cannonball Adderley).

The Rotem Sivan Trio featured a superb collaboration by guitarist Rotem Sivan along with bassist extraordinaire Mishko M’ba (see my earlier interview) and Mexican drummer Karina Colis. Rotem has performed at Montreaux Jazz Festival, Sonora Jazz Festival (Mexico), and Bern Jazz Festival. Mishko shuttles between France, Reunion island, and Pondicherry (South India).

Blues and funk fans were also treated to a performance by Shreya Bhattacharya Collective, with Shreya Bhattacharya (vocals), Joshua Costa (keyboards), and Wesley Newton (drums). Abhishek Dey on bass was outstanding, with a series of brilliant riffs.

Hang drum duo Hang Massive played a superb set at Blue Frog. The first half consisted of haunting acoustic tunes, followed by fat electronic grooves. The band has a huge fan following in India; in fact, the founders Danny Cudd and Markus Offbeat first met on the shores of Goa, and continue to tour India extensively.

Two of the best performances of the year in Bangalore were by SubraMania, formed in 2013 by violinist Ambi Subramaniam and vocalist Bindu Subramaniam. They are the son and daughter of violin maestro L.Subramaniam, and are accomplished musicians and composers in their own right. Their performance, aptly titled ‘Next Generation Shining,’ also featured percussionist Karthik Mani, guitarist Alwyn Fernandes, and bassist Keith Peters. Carnatic music and contemporary sound fused seamlessly at their second performance as well, at the end of the year at Pragrup.

Tajdar Junaid performed a pleasing set of ambient and folksy jazz at Windmill Craftworks. The multi-instrumentalist from Kolkata played with Rohan Rajadhyaksha (keyboards), Rohan Ramanna (drums), Nathan Thomas (bass) and Sangeet Mishra (sarangi). Tajdar’s recent album is ‘What Colour is your Raindrop.’

Acoustic and electronic music in two sets were delivered by Ikarushka & Ancient Science. The diverse mix of musicians included Varun Lulla (moorchunga), Mehdi Dehbandi (Iranian guitarist), Yashar Bagheri (on the Persian bowed instrument kamanche), Shreyas Selvaraju (drums), and Petr Nesterov (on the Russian instrument goosli).

Another outstanding band from France was EYM Trio, with Elie Dufour (piano), Marc Michel (drums) and Yann Phayphet. Sounds of Eastern Europe and Africa blended seamlessly with jazz; the band has an album release scheduled for 2018, and will be touring India again. One of their tracks is called ‘Bengaluru,’ and another is named after Kuala Lumpur.

The Brian Molley Quartet, who also played at the Madras Jazz Festival, performed at B-Flat with Scottish founder Brain on saxophone along with Tom Gibbs (piano), Mario Caribé (bass) and Stuart Brown (drums). Their recent album is titled ‘Colour and Movement,’ and features tracks inspired by Rajasthan.

Young blues guitar powerhouse Aayushi Karnik wowed the audience with her energy and riffs at B-Flat. Her ensemble included keyboardist Aman Mahajan, guitarist Sylvester Pradeep, vocalist Shreya Bhattacharya, bassist Avishek Dey, pianist Joshua Costa, and drummer Ashwin Shekhar. Aayushi drew round applause in the middle of one riff where she walked off the stage and climbed onto a couch to continue playing.

Guitarist Francisco Lelo de Larrea brought Latin American sounds to B-Flat, with his quartet of Gabriel Geszti from Brazil on the piano, Camiel Jansen on the upright bass from Netherlands, and Karina Colis on the drums from Mexico. Their mellow music was a nice contrast from the traffic-choked streets outside.

More Latin jazz, with lots of influence from Cuba, Portugal and Brazil, came to Windmill Craftworks with the Pablo Lapidusas Trio. Pianist Pablo Lapidusas was joined by the able Marcelo Araujo on drums and the brilliant Leo Espinosa on bass. Pablo has a master’s degree in jazz performance from the Superior Lisbon School of Music, and now lives in Lisbon.

The venue hosted another fabulous performance by ‘tablatronic’ ace Karsh Kale from New York, who was accompanied by Warren Mendonsa (of Blackstratblues) on guitar and Carnatic flautist Ajay Prasanna. The high-energy set had the audience enthralled, with loops and crescendos showcasing the musicians’ diverse skillsets.

Bangalore also witnessed other gigs by guitarist Sumith Ramachandran with vocalist Rila Banerjee; Ministry of Blues (anchored by guitarist-vocalist Philipe Haydon); German alpine brass band Erpfenbrass; Ziia & the Swing Mates (from France/Reunion Island); and Raghuram Quartet (Raghuraman Ramasubramanian on guitar; Yann Phayphet on bass; Vivek Santhosh on piano; Jeoraj George on drums).

More musical delights were in store from IndoSoul (by violinist Karthick Iyer – see my earlier interview); Girish & The Chronicles (blues rock); Big Band Blues (with vocalist Diyatom Deb); By2Blues (anchored by guitarist-vocalist Ananth Menon); IST (Indian Standard Time – with Arati Rao on vocals); Bansal Band (with musicians from Norway, Nepal, India, Czech Republic); Latination (Latin jazz band from Kolkata); and the aptly titled Songversations (with singer-songwriter Mathangi Jagdish).

The year also featured a number of outstanding Indian classical music performances by maestros who have collaborated with jazz musicians, such as tabla legend Ustad Zakir Hussain. “Knowledge transfer in music is now happening not just between branches and roots of a tree, but across fences,” said Zakir.

Other festivals to track in India are the Mahindra Blues Festival (see my write-ups on the 2017 and 2016 editions), Goa International Jazz Live Festival and Kala Ghoda Arts Festival (Mumbai). The Jaipur Literature Festival features superb music showcases in the evening; blues and fusion bands such as Soulmate, Aga Khan All Stars and Ronnie Malley performed this year.

I picked up a range of CDs from many of the artistes for review, and look forward to another inspiring year of jazz and fusion ahead in 2018! See also my app Oktav (‘Music Quotes & Proverbs’) available on iTunes (https://appsto.re/in/ah1u4.i) and on Android (free version: https://goo.gl/FTFOt5).

Written and photographed by Madanmohan Rao
Editor & DJ, World Music and Jazz;
Bangalore Global Correspondent for Jazzuality.com .

The inaugural Kuching Waterfront Jazz Festival: a musical treat, and good news for jazz lovers in Asia!

With 18 jazz acts featured across two days on the bank of the Sarawak river in eastern Malaysia, the inaugural edition of the Kuching Waterfront Jazz Festival 2017 (KWJF) provided a real treat for music lovers! The bands came from across Southeast Asia and the US, with everything from big band and bossa nova to swing and fusion.

Sarawak is already host to the renowned Rainforest World Music Festival (see my coverage of the workshops and jam sessions from 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, and 2013), as well as the Borneo International Jazz Festival. Asif Ben Pishori, KWJF artistic director, and Mark Justin Silvester, KWJF festival director, hosted daily press briefings between the jazz bands and the media.

From just before sunset to past midnight, the bands performed outdoors to an enthusiastic crowd gathered on the waterfront next to the Grand Margherita Hotel. CDs, festival merchandise and local handicrafts were also on sale along the walkways.

The event was a curtain raiser for the culture festival called ‘What About Kuching.’ The rains mercifully spared the jazz festival, though it poured heavily the next day!

Day One

Festival emcee Rene Barrow kicked off the weekend festival by introducing the bands one by one, along with insightful commentary on the story of jazz. Between each performance, he curated a superb set of tracks tracing the growth of jazz and its different types.

The first performance was by Akoustik Connexion from Malaysia, with a set of jazz and R&B. Founded in early 2014, the band is led by singer-pianist Marvin Jong, along with Adriel Enchana (bass) and Adrian Lim (drums). At KWJF, they were joined by Claudia Geres on vocals and Dennis Tan on the violin, with tracks such as ‘I don’t want to miss a thing.’

An unusual jazz song was performed next, in the Iban tribal language of Sarawak by The UKBD Brothers Band. The group was formed in 2015 by the Mayor of Kuching City North, Datuk Haji Abang Abdul Wahap bin Haji Abang Julai. The 10-member band features the mayor himself. The band also played jazz versions of classics such as ‘Where would you be now’ by the Doobie Brothers.

Artistic director Asif Pishori played a brief piano tribute in memory of Sarawak Economic Development Corporation’s former director of tourism and hospitality John Agustin – one of the organisers of the festival, who unfortunately passed away recently.

Ace on bass Andy Peterson from Kuala Lumpur took the stage next with a solo performance, trading off bass riffs to recorded music (his accompanying musicians unfortunately could not make it to the festival). Andy has been performing for over 40 years, and said he was inspired by the music of the Mahavishnu Orchestra led by John McLaughlin.

Andy has played extensively across Asia, US and Europe as well, at venues such as Caesar’s Palace, Dolby Theatre Hollywood, The Royal Albert Hall and Wembley Arena. He has played with music greats such as Billy Cobham, Randy Bernsen (Zawinul Syndicate), Natalie Cole, Chaka Khan, David Foster, and others.

Diana Liu from Sarawak took the stage next, accompanied by five musicians including Marcus Young on trombone. Diana is a vocalist, composer and producer in Mandarin Chinese and English, with musical influences from classical, jazz, bosa nova and soul. She was the first runner-up in the 2007 season of Project SuperStar, and has performed at venues such as No Black Tie, Alexis and the Hakka Republic.

Diana’s first album, in Mandarin, ‘Most Beautiful,’ was released in 2009. The second album, Sunny Days, has songs in Mandarin Chinese and English, serving as a cultural bridge. The tracks include ‘Whisper,’ written by Indonesian pianist Idang Rasjidi.

What is a jazz festival without Brazilian sound? Smooth bossa nova and upbeat vocals flowed across the warterfront with the next band, Mellow Motif. The jazz sextet from Thailand has released two albums, spearheaded by vocalist Natasha Patamapongs and pianist Eugene Ang.

They have performed at Hua-Hin International Jazz Festival, Pattaya International Music Festival, Miri International Jazz Festival, International Java Jazz Festival, and China’s Nanjing International Jazz and World Music Festival. They have also been featured at jazz venues in Bangkok such as Saxophone Pub, Brown Sugar Jazz Pub, Jazz Happens Bar, and Mello Yello Jazz More.

Mellow Motif’s latest album, ‘Sabuy Dee’ (2010), includes jazz renditions of Thai favourites such as ‘I Feel Sabuy Dee’ and ‘Tur Moon Rob Chun, Chun Moon Rob Tur’ by songwriter Prapas Cholsaranon.

The audience were then treated to sounds from another era by The Shanghai Sisters, which is actually a band from Malaysia, led by three talented female vocalists: Winnie Ho, Janet Lee and May Mow. They sing in three languages, and feature songs reminiscent of old Shanghai, Malay traditions and jazz classics.

The name for the band was actually suggested by an emcee at one of their corporate performances. Winnie was The Astro Talent Quest Champion in year 2000. May Mow was one of the Top 5 Finalists in 8TV’s 2006 singing competition ‘Superstar.’ Her debut album, ‘Flirtation – Passion – Reflection,’ was released in 2015.

Janet is a cabaret performer of Mandarin music of the 1920s and 1950s, as well as American show hits; she conceptualised ‘The Shanghai Jazz Songbook Tour’ series and the show ‘Shanghai Jazz Redefined.’ At KWJF, the vocalists, all dressed in dazzling red, performed classics like ‘Fever.’

Jazz legend Ernie Watts took the stage next, along with the Jeremy Monteiro Organ Trio. The two musicians have been collaborating since 1987, when they first played at a Hyatt Ballroom concert in Singapore to a full house. Ernie and Jeremy not only share a long and deep musical relationship but are also very close friends, and their strong ties showed through in the talent and affection shown on stage.

Two-time Grammy Award winner Ernie Watts is an American jazz, rhythm and blues saxophonist. Singaporean Jeremy Monteiro is a jazz pianist, singer, composer and music educator. Jeremy produced the Ernie Watts album ‘Stand Up’ in 1995; Ernie’s other albums have been produced Quincy Jones and Don Grusin.

Ernie and Jeremy have jointly composed tracks such as ‘Twilight Waltz’ and ‘Oasis,’ which Ernie recorded on one of his albums. At KWJF, they played ‘Wings of the Dreamer’ and ‘Reaching Up,’ with superb call-and-response interactions between the talented musicians.

Smooth jazz-influenced pop filled the air next, with a six-member band led by young singer Kunto Aji. He was one of the Top 5 vocalists of Indonesian Idol 2008. Born in Yogyakarta, his hit singles include ‘Terlalu Lama Sendiri’ and ‘Pengingat.’ His first album, ‘Generation Y’ was released in 2015.

Kunto has won a string of awards including Breakthrough Artist of the Year, Best Newcomer, and Best Indonesian Song. He had the crowd singing and swaying along to his tunes like ‘Choo Choo Boogie.’ He had a memorable duet with the guitarist, and even jumped into the media pit to get close to his audience during the closing track of the night.

Day Two

The evening performances of Day Two kicked off with Malaysian pianist Jolynn Chin, born in Sarawak. She was the first Malaysian to receive a doctorate in piano performance at the Juilliard School in the US. Her music blends jazz, classical and contemporary music. Her quartet ‘Jazzin it Up with Jolynn’ has performed extensively in Sarawak.

At KWJF, she showcased the work of Russian pianist and composer Vladimir Titov. Her trio also played classics by Dave Brubeck and even ‘Billy Jean,’ as well as an original titled ‘Night Groove.’

The 12-piece Borneo Big Band filled the stage next. Led by Joan Jim, the Malaysian ensemble covers Latin and dance music. It featured trumpeter Jessel Yansalang of Sabah Institute of Art. They performed smooth ballads and swing, perfect for the mood of the late evening.

Bassist Andy Peterson performed another solo set, followed by Baihana from the Philippines, an all-female vocal trio. The talented vocalists are Krina Cayabyab (arranger, musical director and the group’s Soprano 1), Anna Graham (Soprano 2) and Mel Torre (Alto).

Formed in 2008, Baihana is inspired by The Puppini Sisters, The Manhattan Transfer, Lambert, Hendricks and Ross, and The New York Voices. ‘Baihana’ is the Filipino word for woman, and the lineup includes Karmi Santiago (drums), Junji Llerma (guitar), Jesper Mercado (piano), and Julius Lopez (bass). They have performed across ASEAN in festivals like the World Youth Jazz Festival in Kuala Lumpur.

At KWJF, the vocalists showcased their talent on tracks where they imitated various brass instruments. They sang in Tagalog as well – taking jazz to new Asian frontiers. The band also performed classics by Charlie Parker and Ella Fitzgerald, showing superb coordination in tracks like ‘It Don’t Mean A Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing).’

Two renowned music pioneers from Asia took the stage next: Lewis Pragasam (Asia Beat) and John Kaizan Neptune (based in Japan). Malaysia’s Lewis Pragasam is the founder and moving spirit of the Asia Beat project, which has been blending Asian and Western music styles since 1979. Ace percussionist Lewis has collaborated with a range of world music artistes.

California native John Kaizan Neptune, now based in Japan, is the ultimate ‘musical bridge’ – he is regarded as a top master of the shakuhachi, or Japanese bamboo flute. At KWJF, he also played morseng and takeda (an hourglass-shaped drum he invented).

The two musicians, accompanied by KL-based percussionists on Indian tabla and mridangam, treated the audience to a melting pot of sounds, covering Asian folk, Indian carnatic and jazz influences. Their closing track was aptly titled ‘West of Somewhere.’

Indonesia’s Sri Hanuraga Trio, with the outstanding vocalist Dira Sugandi, took the stage next. The trio was formed in 2015 at The Freedoms Jazz Festival, and features Sri Hanuraga along with bassist Kevin Yosua and drummer Elfa Zulham. The trio and singer, Zulham’s wife Dira Sugandi first blended contemporary and Indonesian sound at the Museumseferfest Festival in Frankfurt. Their self-titled album was released in 2016.

Indonesia and Malaysia share a common love in music, like brother and sister, the band said at KWJF. “Jazz brings us together in the spirit of togetherness, musical celebration and enjoyment,” said Dira. They played a range of compositions including ‘Kichiki,’ and Dira’s soaring vocals drew loud applause.

Pianist Jeremy Monteiro then took the stage one more time, this time with The Asian Jazz All-Stars Power Quartet featuring Melissa Tham on vocals. The audience was treated to a superb performance by Hong Kong jazz guitarist Eugene Pao, Philippine saxophonist Tots Tolentino, and Thai drummer Hong Chanutr Techatana-nan.

Melissa Tham’s album ‘Falling in Love Again’ was released on Jazznote Records in 2015. Melissa has also performed at the EFG London Jazz Festival in 2014. At KWJF, they played tracks like Jimmy Cobb’s ‘Say, Little Mama, Say.’

Another Asian jazz legend then performed at KWJF: Sheila Majid, widely regarded as Malaysia’s Queen of Jazz. Though she is now 52 years old, you would never have guessed it from her youthful appearance and soulful performance.

She is best known for her 1986 song, ‘Sinaran’ and has been performing jazz and R&B for over 30 years. Her albums include ‘Dimensi Baru,’ ‘Emosi’ (Emotion), Warna, ‘Legenda’, ‘Ku Mohon’ and ‘Cinta Kita’and ‘Boneka.’ She won the Indonesia BASF Award for Best Female Artiste in R&B category in 1987, never before done by a non-Indonesian.

At KWJF, Sheila performed solo, to recorded music. “Next time I will play with a band,” she said, to enthusiastic applause. She performed a range of hits like ‘Legenda,’ with the audience singing along loudly.

Sheila Majid was followed by the eight piece band Abdul & The Coffee Theory from Indonesia. The vocalist-composer Tengku Muhamad Abdulah Amin Ashari chose the name Abdul & The Coffee Theory as his identity, reflecting the spirit of hanging out with friends over coffee. At KWJF, the band played a smooth range of jazzy pop and folk music.

One of the most creative bands of the festival wrapped up the night’s lineup: guitar virtuoso Balawan ‘Magic Fingers’ from Bali. He wowed the audience with his unique tapping style on the double-neck guitar, performed along with traditional Balinese gamelan instruments.

Balawan listened to gamelan since birth, taught himself to play guitar at age eight, and joined his first band at 14. He started off with rock but moved on to study jazz at the Australian Institute of Music in Sydney. In 1997, he formed a band called Batuan Ethnic Fusion.

Jazz and world music fused in a dynamic and entertaining way in his KWJF set. The band’s energetic drummer was all of 12 years old. “Young people don’t get sleepy so easily,” joked Balawan. He played a range of tracks inspired by Stanley Jordan and Al Jarreau. One of the tracks featured traditional Balinese kecak or monkey chant.

Balawan has performed his ‘touch tapping’ style across the region and in Europe, in festivals such as ‘East Meet West Gitarren Festival’ in Edekoben, Germany and ‘Other Minds Festival’ in San Francisco.

All the musicians of the festival came together for the grand finale, featuring a collaborative though joyfully noisy jam led by Nik Azmi, founder of the World Youth Jazz Festival (WYJF) in Malaysia. They played tributes to the greats of jazz such as George Gershwin and Al Jarreau.

The audience roundly cheered the musicians and festival’s organisers and volunteers, and the jam session carried on in the bar of the Grand Margherita Hotel till early the next morning. We look forward to the next edition of the Kuching Waterfront Jazz Festival already, on September 28-30, 2018!

See more pictures:

Written and photographed by Madanmohan Rao
Editor & DJ, World Music and Jazz;
Bangalore Global Correspondent for Jazzuality.com .

‘Jazz is freedom’ – artiste insights from the Kuching Waterfront Jazz Festival 2017

The Kuching Waterfront Jazz Festival (KWJF) in Malaysia provides not just a performance feast for music lovers, but also a wealth of artiste insights for jazz fans and musicians (see my writeup of the inaugural 2017 edition).

KWJF 2017 featured 17 bands: Akoustik Connexion, UKBD Brothers Band, Andy Peterson, Diana Liu, Mellow Motif, The Shanghai Sisters, Ernie Watts, Jeremy Monteiro Organ Trio, Asian Jazz All-Stars Power Quartet, Kunto Aji, Jolynn Chin, Borneo Big Band, Baihana, Lewis Pragasam, John Kaizan Neptune, Sri Hanuraga Trio, Melissa Tham, Sheila Majid, Abdul & The Coffee Theory, and Balawan ‘Magic Fingers.’

The bands also met with media professionals on three days and shared their views on the interpretations of jazz, industry trends, and the role of collaboration. Asif Ben Pishori, KWJF artistic director, and Mark Justin Silvester, KWJF festival director, anchored the discussions between performers and jazz journalists.

Jazz with an Asian touch

Describing their music, the KWJF artistes showed how they are taking jazz to new frontiers in Asia. Jazz is now sung in Tagalog (Baihana), Iban (UKBD Brothers Band), Thai (Mellow Motif), Malay (Sheila Majid), and Mandarin (Diana Liu).

Jazz has fused with Balinese gamelan music (Balawan), south Indian carnatic styles (Lewis Pragasam and Asia Beat), Japanese instrumentation (John Kaizan Neptune), and traditional Indonesian music (Sri Hanuraga Trio with Dira Sugandi).

“It is a privilege to able to see and fuse different music traditions and create something new,” said the vocalists of The Shanghai Sisters.

Unusual instruments

California native John Kaizan Neptune plays jazz on the Japanese shakuhachi flute. “It is normally a solo instrument and played for meditative moods. But jazz influences from my father, who plays trombone, helped lay the foundation for me to explore new directions for musical instruments,” said John.

“Lots of things are possible with this simple flute. The bamboo flute lends itself well to lots of connections,” he said. He has also invented an hourglass-shaped drum called takeda.

Balawan plays the double-neck electric guitar – in an unusual finger-tapping style, like Stanley Jordan. He performs along with two musicians on Balinese gamelan, taking jazz to new creative frontiers.

Jazz as a career

“Music is indeed fantastic, but the music industry is not so fantastic,” joked John Kaizan Neptune, reflecting a common love-hate relationship between musicians and industry, between the creative and business sides of the media world.

“It is hard to make a living as jazz artistes in the Philippines, but that keeps us on our toes,” said the members of Baihana from Manila. “We explore more every time, even with the same songs. It is always exciting and we never tire,” the vocalists said.

“My day job was giving me nightmares,” joked a vocalist from The Shanghai sisters. “Music gave me joy, and the bookings followed. People listened when they saw my joy,” she explained.

“When I first started playing jazz way back in 1958, my mom and dad were scared to death, they said I would starve to death. 60 years later, people are still saying the same thing about jazz musicians,” joked Grammy Award winner Ernie Watts.

“Music is about making a personal commitment. It was never easy to be a musician, or put together a festival or concert,” he added. Musicians should clearly decide if they want to commit to what they like, or if they want to play music that is profitable – they should set their expectations right and be realistic.

“If you do what you do and become the best at it, then all other things will follow,” Ernie advised.

Some musicians said they also take time out from music to refresh themselves. “I take a break to find inspiration,” said Diana Liu. John Kaizan Neptune said he loves mountaineering and surfing.

“I started mountain biking at age 55, and snowboarding at age 64. I am now 65,” John joked. “But feeling blue is not part of my makeup. I am not down often. I feel lucky to be a musician and to feel that vibration,” he added.

CDs and beyond: tech trends

For decades, having a string of albums (vinyl or CD) has been regarded as milestones of a musician’s journey. Indeed, each album does represent the culmination of a musical project or collaboration.

“I started off with an album a year in my early years, but now do one only when I really need to. Each new album should be very different from the earlier ones,” said John Kaizan Neptune.

But the world is changing, and musicians don’t think of their work only in units of albums. John said he composes music all the time. “And many music listeners don’t even have CD players anymore,” he joked.

Social media is also playing an increasing role in connecting bands with their audiences, or starting their own YouTube channels. Many listeners now discover new music through streaming services like Spotify.

Jazz and fusion

 Jazz has fused well with a wide range of other musical genres over the years, ranging from rock to Indian classical music. “Jazz also works well with Western classical music,” said pianist Jolynn Chin from Sarawak.

“You need to know both genres well when you try to fuse two styles,” said Sri Hanuraga from Indonesia. “It then becomes exciting. Jazz always absorbs musical influences from around the world,” he said.

“Jazz itself is an amalgamation of different music types,” explained Singaporean pianist Jeremy Monteiro. For example, John Coltrane’s version of ‘My Favourite Things’ reflects Indian influences. “Jazz is naturally a fusion, has and always will be,” said Jeremy.

 The jazz journey

 Many artistes described how they first got into jazz, and where they are headed next in their musical journey. “I grew up to the music of Miles, Coltrane and Monk, and I played like that. I realised I had been over-trained in that style,” joked Ernie Watts. He then experimented with jazz fusion with blues and pop.

“I fell in love with jazz after hearing Ahmed Jamal in concert,” said vocalist Natasha Patamapongs from Thai jazz sextet Mellow Motif.

Describing their recent works, some of the musicians described how they are exploring new external collaborations in jazz, while others said they are exploring within themselves. “I have done lots of albums with other musicians, and am now reconnecting with my inner roots,” said John Kaizan Neptune.

Diana Liu said her second album is a compilation of her musical journey over the years, right from her university days. It covers a lot of ground: pop, world music and Latin sound. Jolynn Chin’s recent work is both an exploration of her Chinese roots as well as the larger world outside, covering classical music and even electro.

 “Jazz is about expansion as well as consolidation,” said Jeremy Monteiro, describing the journey of guitarist Pat Metheny as an example.

 The meaning of jazz

 I asked many of the musicians what jazz means to them, and how they are giving back to the jazz movement. “Music is my life. Jazz is experimental. Emotions come out through my music,” said award-winning saxophonist Ernie Watts.

“You play how you feel, without saying it. People create their own story, it is creative for everyone,” he explained. “We want everyone to partake in the creative experience,” said Ernie.

“All musicians respect the masters of all genres. All music is inter-connected. Honour other people’s sounds and become less judgmental,” he advised. “Our purpose of life is to promote understanding and joy. We make people feel better after our performance,” he said.

“Jazz is played differently every single time,” said pianist-composer Jeremy Monteiro. Other forms of music such as Western classical music do have emotion as well, but less variation in performance.

“Jazz opened me up to a whole world of improvisation. It gives me room to express myself and add my own personal touch, and spread the love. This is how music can change you. Jazz is more than entertainment,” said vocalist Natasha from Mellow Motif.

“Jazz is something you can feel, it changed my heart,” said Abdulah Amin Ashari from Indonesia, founder of Abdul & The Coffee Theory. “Jazz is about the future, and for a better future,” he said. “Music is my life, music is everything,” said fellow Indonesian musician Kunto Aji.

“Jazz is freedom. Not everyone can appreciate or play jazz, but if you can it is beautiful,” said the members of Borneo Big Band.

Jazz also lets musicians add a unique personal touch to their compositions. “One of my songs is based on what my dad would say when I went to the airport. He said he would always feel sad when I left on a journey,” recalls vocalist Diana Liu.

 A life of jazz

 Jazz can indeed be a lifelong calling, as shown at KWJF by veteran musicians like Sheila Majid, Jeremy Monteiro, Ernie Watts, John Kaizan Neptune, and Lewis Pragasam. “I have been on tour for 40 years,” said Ernie.

Their long and inspiring tenure in the world of jazz has also led to endearing and productive partnerships: such as between Jeremy Monteiro and Ernie Watts, as well as John Kaizan Neptune and Lewis Pragasam.

The future of jazz 

Many musicians see a good future for jazz, though the 1930s and 1940s are regarded as the ‘golden age’ of jazz when it was mainstream music.

“Jazz is in good hands,” said pianist Jeremy Monteiro, who has helped create the Jazz Association of Singapore (JASS) and also gives numerous talks on jazz history and appreciation.

 It is certainly possible to stimulate youth to listen to jazz. “Play with the youth! They are energetic, excited and exciting. Our young drummer is 12 years old, and has no girlfriend issues,” joked Balawan from Bali. Trends like Nu Jazz and Electro Jazz are attracting new and younger audiences also.

“We have 160 musicians at this festival. The more time we spend together, the more we can collaborate,” said Asif Ben Pishori, KWJF artistic director. “We want to hear new sounds,” said Agus Setiawan, founder of jazz media WartaJazz.

Agus organises an astonishing 67 jazz festivals each year in Indonesia. He suggested that a jazz album in the Iban language be recorded, and maybe even a regular online channel of jazz from Asia could be launched.

After such stimulating discussions and interviews, the media meets were followed by fantastic stage sets featuring the jazz bands. We look forward to the next edition of the Kuching Waterfront Jazz Festival already, on September 28-30, 2018 – with its mix of music performances and artiste dialogues!

See more pictures:

Written and photographed by Madanmohan Rao
Editor & DJ, World Music and Jazz;
Bangalore Global Correspondent for Jazzuality.com .

Jazz. Coffee. Golf. Think of this combination. Many of us would probably think that it’s a dream, but in Indonesia, it starts happening! Look at this event. Podomoro Golf View and Tata Production proudly presents: PGV Jazzturday: Your Live Music in Saturday Night.

PGV Jazzturday is a music event that highlights Jazz as the selected genre. This event is comin soon on this Saturday, 13 January 2018 starting from 4:00 pm until 9:00 pm, taking place at the Podomoro Golf View, just approximately 100 m from the exist tollgate of Cimanggis, Depok. If you think this is interesting, this following info will draw you closer even more: it’s free entry!

This event presents Indonesian young jazz genius who has been consistently contributing towards the development of jazz in our nation and has established his name not just nationally but also internationally. He is the proud son of senior guitarist/teacher Venche Manuhutu, pianist David Manuhutu. Starting from jazz community, he got a golden chance to study at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, USA. In there he kept on making big achievements as well as building strong connection with many jazz giants. When he came home, he didn’t just jumped into the pool full of big fishes but he also released his debut solo album titled “A Journey” which surprisingly featured two top American jazz guitarists: Adam Rogers and Peter Bernstein plus drummer from Peru, Ken Ychicawa.

For this event, David Manuhutu will team up with many other young lions united as Soul Syndicate, featuring the blues sensation who is not a stranger to jazz Ginda Bestari (guitar), drum master who started so early since he was still a little kid Demas Narawangsa and the soul power house, a lady with amazing voice and appearance, Bubu of Bubu Giri.

That’s not all though, because The PGV Jazzterday has more mouth-watering lineup. How about a young violin wizard who casts magic wherever he appears, from jazz, blues, rock, ethnic, whatever? This dude has been shining since he was still in his early teen. He is none other than Pangestu Hning Bhawana. We have seen him with many different hybirds from his own bands including Sasadana and being featured everywhere, but for this time he will come with Estu Hning and The Gang. No matter where he appears, he always makes a difference. We have no doubt he will blast this one too.

Then there will be a group of young jazz geniuses formed by the iconic harmonica virtuoso Hari Pochang. This band in our opinion is one of the most interesting pairings at present time: The New Blood. This 5-piece band consists of Jason Limanjaya (piano), Anjuan Julio (guitar), Sugih Gumilang (drum), Ezra Manuhutu (bass) and the amazing teenage saxophonist/pianist Philip Manfred Pincencia. This team is mind-bending with their intoxicating funky fusion, so intense that none of you would be able to stand still. Each of them are the key players in their bands, now imagine when these showstoppers live together inside the same ship.

To make things even more interesting, this event will also bring in Komunitas Organics Indonesia (KOI), Barista Indonesia Jakarta and Barista Club Bandung which will allow every jazz lovers could enjoy the music presentation while tasting many kinds of coffee variants from the Komunitas Pecinta Coffee (Coffee Lovers Community).

For confirmation and more information, you can contact:
Evan Adam (+62 812 9133 1400) and Fritz (+62 813 1100 0646).

If you wish to make your Saturday nice with the combination of jazz, golf view and coffee, all you have to do is come to the PGV Jazzterday. Jazz can come in so many different ways, it’s time taste a new experience in jazz presentation.

New year, new dawn, new hope. Yes, we all have entered the year 2018. For many of us, 2017 was not an easy year to pass. We got to struggle so hard to survive, and this year is predicted by many to be just as difficult, if not worse, especially in a developing country like ours. But as we always look on the positive side, we know that we have to keep going with our mission as much as possible. We want to keep our contribution in the process of regeneration as frutiful as it’s been. We are happy that our regular jazz community event is continued. The Braga Jazz Night – previously known as Braga Jazz Walk – is now in its 4th year of service. So many success stories have been made here. Some debutants have now reached the higher ground, some are going there, and some are waiting to have their chance. We are happy if we can support them in any which way we can, while at the same time we happily welcome the successful musicians to share their knowledge, skill and experience by sharing the stage with the young ones.

We are ready to launch the Braga Jazz Night #43 on Thursday, 18 January 2018 taking place at the usual ground zero, Braga CityWalk starting from 7:00 pm onwards. In this episode, we are welcoming a new band that takes jazz into the edgier side where rock and blues live on. We are going to have an update of a young bassist who is still crawling to establish himself, and a very special reunion between two musicians who recently join forces again after more than 10 years. This reunion involves piano and violin, two instruments that’s probably found often in classical scene. But now, we can see that this combination could create beautiful music too inside jazz. For us, this lineup could describe our continuing mission at best, and certainly it’s a cool way to start our service in 2018.

Alright then, let’s now dig a little deeper into the reunion, which we simply named : MICHELLE –  AMMY REUNION. As the name suggested, the reunion is between two renowned musicians: violinist Ammy Kurniawan and pianist Michelle Efferin. They met and started playing together around 14 years ago in 2003. “Michelle was still so young back then. But she played jazz really well and I felt connected with her right away.” said Ammy. At that time they played together quite intense, from Cellar Cafe to several jazz events here and there. “It was all good, but then suddenly she’s gone.” said Ammy. That’s because Michelle needed to carry on with her formal study to Sydney, Australia.

Ammy then moved further, establishing his career rock solid, placing his feet on jazz, blues and everything in between. Other than being active as sessionist, we often found his appearance in community events and existed in some bands including the stunning 4Peniti and Ammy Alternative Strings where he showcased his students (he is also a teacher by the way). Just a few months ago Ammy just launched his debut solo album titled “Let’s Play Violin” which gives a beautiful portrait of his illustrious journey in music.

Meanwhile, after finishing her college, Michelle established her own music school not long after she returned home. The M.E. Music Centre, that’s the name of Michelle’s school which uses her own initial is proved to be fruitful up until now especially in equipping children with good ability in performing on jazz stage.Ammy played at Michelle and Richard’s wedding party in 2009, it was so cool that both Michelle and Richard couldn’t help themselves not to jam with the band. “There were two pianos at that time, we jammed also with Didi Mudigdo, an amazing musician, a friend of mine back in Oz. I remember, we even managed to play 6 hands piano. It was so cool!”, said Michelle. They did play together again here and there like in Klab Jazz event and at Melinda Hospital, but they rarely crossed path as both parties have been busy with their own agenda.

Last year Michelle told us that they felt it was time for them to reunite. The only thing was, they were still unsure about how and where to do it. They had to wait until the end of 2017 where they finally got it: it was at M.E. Music School’s event: Christmas Jazz Night. We were fortunate to be able to see that golden moment when they ‘talked’ happily to each other through music by using their instruments and feels.

Michelle told us that’s what happen when they play together. “When I play with him, it always feels like we have so many things to talk about, endlessly, through music.” she says, while stating that she really enjoys playing with Ammy. As for Ammy, Michelle is a perfect partner in crime. “To me, she is like a pianist with complete jazz scale. I want to ‘wake’ all the scales up and bring out the best of her, jazz speaking.” he chuckles. Ammy also told us that he’s still not satisfied with their first reunion at the Christmas Jazz Night. Therefore, we offered them to make another reunion gig in this event, and they happily agreed.

Just like in the first gig, Michelle and Ammy are going to be supported by two more players: Michelle’s husband Richard Sirait on drums and Iwan on bass. For the sake of friendship, memory and love of jazz, we know this is going to be beautiful. If last year Michelle brought her reunion with her former college friend in Australia, Jessica Kung, this time we have the privilege to hold her reunion with the jazz ”Paganini’, Ammy Kurniawan. They are inviting you to share the happiness through a merry-go-round performance, make sure you won’t miss it.

We welcome the bassist who is still crawling to establish his name in the music scene, Joe Bastian with his project: JOE PROJECT. This young man is certainly not a stranger to us since he’s been appearing in here many times with variety of groups, from the duo with a baritone vocalist that has left the scene due to religious reasons Billy Likumahuwa, as a part of now inactive Fine Taste, supporting Fadhilla ‘Lala’ K Pramastij and of course his own project. He chooses bass as his major by learning from Rudy Zulkarnaen, but when needed, he can be a guitarist with just about equal skill.

Since last year we have been pushing him to step up the plate by working on his own project. He brought it for the first time in this event last July in the 37th edition (http://jazzuality.com/jazz-event-report/braga-jazz-night-37-young-guns-the-report/). 6 months passed, it’s time to bring him back again and see how he is doing this recent time.

While he is clearly passionate in fusion, for his first single which he is currently working on, he choose pop in a hope to be able to reach more people. Even when it’s pop, for us it’s important to see his move especially since this is a bassist’s project. This time he will bring some new players. Other than his original drummer Kevin Bernard whom he played with in supporting Lala last year, he brings in Abdul Aziz (keyboard) and Rendi Dwiyanto (guitar).

Another change is the name. If before he used Joe Bass Project as the name, now he decides to drop the ‘bass’ and goes with just Joe Project. What we also heard is that he is going to feature a vocalist on one song, but let’s just wait until then. Jazz rock fusion was the menu when we got him on stage last time, let’s see what the next chapter is like. As you can see, we don’t just invite bands, but we also follow their update, as it is important if we want to give better support.

Last but not least, a new found band is going to make its debut gig. The name is RED ZONE. This is the new band of a regular visitor of our event, rockin’ blues guitarist Eki Johan after his period with Little Dutchman ended, or at least is inactive.

There’s an interesting story behind the establishment of the band as told by Eki. According to him, the band was birth from an odd coincidence. It all began from a music test at Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia (UPI) some months ago, at 9 am to be exact. At that time, there were two boys sitting and playing guitar. Slowly but surely, more boys came in until it became like a group with 8 personnels. They played together before they even introduced themselves to one another, but they felt a strong chemistry as if they have played together before. They kept playing and playing all the way until the late afternoon. Realizing that they feel comfortable playing as a team, they established a band named Red Zone, referring to their meeting point.

For their debut gig, Eki Johan (guitar/vocal) is coming with the core team including Amir Fiqih (drum), Alfi Ibrahim (guitar/vocal) and Moch.Diva Sundara (bass). They are going to play variety of styles, but mainly will use jazz, blues and rock as the roots. It’s always fun to meet new band, we hope they will have a pleasant and progressive journey after landing on our stage for the first time.

If we still have some spare time, jam session will be available. Just bring your gear and let us know if you wish to participate.

Once again, the Braga Jazz Night #43 is coming soon on Thursday, 18 January 2018. The location is right in front of the Braga CityWalk’s main entrance, starting from 7:00 pm all the way until the mall closes. In case you don’t know, this event is 100% FREE of any charge. A reunion between two stellar musicians with their team, an update of a project we have been supporting and a debut gig of a newfound band are ready to bring the multi-colors of jazz. From swing, bebop, jazz fusion, pop to rock and blues, all can be enjoyed in this episode. Do come and support the band and the community. Mark your calendar and see you then!

Braga Jazz Night #43

Date: Thursday, 18 January 2018
Time: 07:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Location: Braga CityWalk
Jl. Braga 99-101, Bandung

FREE EVENT!

FEATURING:

:: MICHELLE – AMMY REUNION ::
Michelle Efferin – piano
Ammy Kurniawan – violin
Richard Sirait – drum
Iwan – bass

:: JOE PROJECT ::
Joe Bastian – bass
Kevin Bernard – drum
Abdul Aziz – keyboard
Rendi Dwiyanto – guitar

:: RED ZONE ::
Eki Johan – guitar/vocal
Alfi Ibrahim guitar/vocal
Amir Fiqih – drum
Moch.Diva Sundara – bass

We started this regular jazz event in November by the invitation from The Papandayan Hotel. This hotel has a cozy, luxurious jazz club named TP Stage which already has its own weekly jazz event called TP Jazz, but they felt it’s necessary to extend their contribution to jazz and the musicians by making up community events, collaborating with us, Jazzuality.com and Klab Jazz.

We gratefully accepted the offer, thinking that we could let the young musicians to experience how it is like performing in a jazz club, something that they might only saw in a movie like La La Land before, for example. So, if in our other on-going regular event in a mall the musicians can taste the feeling of performing live in front of mall-goers and passersby, in this one they will enjoy the moment when the audience’s eyes are totally on them. We call this event Jazzuality @ TP.

Just like how jazz club is, people come to enjoy the live performance while enjoying their drinks or meals. They will pay attention closely to the music presentation, with much lesser people come and go like in the open space of a mall. The number of people might be lesser, but we feel happy to notice that we got nice amount of audience in the previous episodes. We got not only jazz lovers from Bandung but also from Jakarta and Depok. Many of them are musicians who we will surely bring into the spotlight whenever they are ready. As how a community goes, we always make our event accessible to everyone. No gap, no sides, anyone can join the party either they only want to watch or play.

The first two episodes were specific, one was to honor the late jazz/music figure Widyasena Sumadio and the next one was for Christmas. Entering 2018, we are ready to continue our service. If you wonder why we named this event Jazzuality @ TP , it’s our way to tell everybody that our community has now landed on the TP Stage of The Papandayan Hotel. We think it’s important to make the schedule fixed, so we are making this event as a monthly event, comes every fourth Sunday of each month.

As we are already pass half of January, this month’s edition is right around the corner. And yes, we have selections of bands that we believe will be entertaining and educative, and on the other hand, as usual we bring newcomers as well. In Jazzuality @ TP .03 you will have the chance to enjoy the progressive ethno-jazz ensemble which combines the modern, Western instruments with our own traditional, (South) Eastern instruments, mainly Sundanese, presented by a mad music explorers who always think that sky is the limit in cooking up their crafts. Then you will have a trio consisting of senior musicians who will show their true jazz side. And last but not least, an acoustic vocal-guitar duo will show the smooth, relaxing jazz vibe which would certainly fit the cozy jazz club like TP Stage.

Let’s dig more about the progressive ethno-jazz ensemble first. The band is WEST JAVA SYNDICATE. The band is consisting of high-flyer musicians who love to explore the realm of jazz free as a bird. The band is the brain-child of Zahar Mustilaq, an open-minded drummer with exceptional skill whose feet are standing tall on different musical corners. From the start he brought in his two best friends: rockin’ bassist Dede SP and jazz pianist Yopie D Nafis. Positioned in Kendang now is the youngest of them all, IpinZbet, and a woodwind player they met by chance in an event but then became an essential part of the family, Randy Gevenk.

Speaking of Randy, this man is currently studying in the Republic of China. Since he is the kind of musician who loves to explore, he brings back many traditional Chinese woodwinds back home and uses them along with the traditional Sundanese like tarompet, karinding, bamboo flute and so on.

So if you haven’t heard about this mad band, try to imagine the sound of the traditional Javanese woodwinds, humming and kendang mixed with jazz pianist, rock bassist and unique crossover drumming. Rich musical landscape, colorful textures and hey, they love to make their appearance funny by throwing jokes on stage, shouting and laughing as much as they like, and if you are lucky, they can bring dancers as well, all will surely entertain you to the max.

West Java Syndicate has just launched their full album a couple of months ago titled “Bubuka” following the EP some years earlier. They are still promoting the album, so it’s a good chance for you to catch their promo gig and grab their CD directly from them. One thing for sure, this one is a catch that none should miss.

The next band we are featuring is a band consisting of senior and well respected musicians named JIM CONNECTION. Two men and a lady are found inside this trio: Amoeng Gaia (guitar), Henky Suparjan (drum) and Arnie Christanti (bass). Amoeng is a fine guitarist who has been marking his existance for more than 30 years. While he spent many years playing rock alternative like with his successful band established in 1997 named Gaia among others, he actually has played some jazz in 1984 with Jilly Likumahuwa. You can find him gracing many jazz stages today, from supporting the communities in several cities to festivals, reaching as far as Lombok.

More about Jim Connection, usually he plays alongside Henky and Balqi, but the players are usually replaced when any of them can’t make it. For this event, other than the iconic drummer who needs no introduction the bass lines will be secured by Arnie who is famous as the original member of SHE band and Jazzy Juice. She is a lady, but you will forget it when she starts playing. Not only she lets the monster groove out naturally, she never fails to attract the audience with her swaying moves.

Accoring to Amoeng, this is the group that he always goes to whenever he wants to release his pure jazz soul. “I play alternative rock often, but whenever I go to jazz, this is my group,” he said. He furthermore added that Jim Connection is referring to the jazz standards (the real book).

If you like pure swinging jazz or fancy jazz standards, make sure you won’t miss Jim Connection.

Last but not least, we are bringing an acoustic guitar-vocal duo to this event right after they participated in our Christmas edition at Braga CityWalk. The name of the duo is LUIS & JHONNY. Like the name says, it consists of singer Luis Anastasia Sinaga and guitarist Jhonny Sitompul. Luis is no stranger to us because she has appeared in our event since she was still in high school with several bands, from her own vocal harmony group Puella to representing her church as MY Kids. Her delicate voice is now used in her church too by being a worship leader. The guitarist Jhonny is no stranger to us as well. Step aside from his daily activity as a guitar teacher at Purwa Caraka Music Studio which he has been doing for 17 years straight, he is also an active musician. For our event, he has played alongside Erick Gabe, Irul, Caroline and presented his own project. Dedicating his life to music, this man is fabulous guitar player.

As we wish to push the regeneration of jazz musician, we always think it’s important to encourage talented kids especially those who we think has something to offer. Playing in a jazz club like this with different atmosphere than anywhere Luis has been in would certainly give her valuable experience. Before she gets busy again with her study, we are taking her in gladly.

The Jazzuality @ TP .03 is coming soon on the fourth Sunday, 28 January 2018 located at the TP Stage of The Papandayan Hotel. In case you wonder, this event is totally FREE of any charge. All you have to do is come and have a good jazzy time. If you wish to participate, we will provide the jam session after all showcases are done. Do come to support the musicians, our community and mission. Hope to see you there!

JAZZUALITY @ TP .03

Date: Sunday, 28 January 2018
Time: 07:00 – onwards
Location: TP Stage, The Papandayan Hotel
Jl. Jendral Gatot Subroto no 83, Bandung

FREE EVENT!

Featuring:

:: WEST JAVA SYNDICATE ::
Zahar Mustilaq – drum
Yopi D Nafis – keyboard
Dede SP – bass
Randy Gevenk – woodwinds
IpinZbet – kendang

:: JIM CONNECTION ::
Amoeng Gaia – guitar
Henky Suparjan – drum
Arnie Christanti – bass

:: LUIS & JHONNY ::
Luis Anastasia Sinaga – vocal
Jhonny Sitompul – guitar

We have launched the first edition of Braga Jazz Night in year 2018, or number #43 if you count from the first one. This edition also marks the 4th year of our service by collaborating with the venue, Braga CityWalk.

Since the beginning we set our goal to support the regeneration of jazz musicians by giving them chance and place to perform, also to them heard at least by our readers. So far it’s been fruitful as we have seen young musicians having success in their career after starting from this event. There are senior and experienced ones too often found among the lineup, and their appearances are crucial in order to help the young ones learning by watching. What surprises us is that the successful musicians who have placed their signatures on this event are not just from Indonesia but also from other countries like Australia, Malaysia, Italy, Mexico, Cambodia, USA and France. And, eventhough the event is based in Bandung, we have featured bands and musicians from other cities, like Jakarta, Sukabumi and even a city far away from our location, Batam. With all the limitations, we are feel blessed that we could strecth our mission much further than we ever imagined.

For Braga Jazz Night #43 we welcomed a new band that takes jazz into the edgier side where rock and blues live on, getting an update of a young bassist who is still crawling to establish himself, and a very special reunion between two musicians who recently join forces again after 14 straight years. This reunion involves piano and violin, two instruments that’s probably found often in classical scene. But as you can see, the combination works perfectly well in creating the ellegance of pure jazz.

The debut gig of a new band was first. The band’s called RED ZONE. This band was uniquely formed under weird coincidence, so weird that you would probably laugh if it happened in the movie. Let us describe how weird it is. In one fine morning, two boys were playing guitar at the campus ground of Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia. More and more boys joined in, and before they realized, they locked up in the fun of jamming which went for hours until the late afternoon, and it was enough for them to make an 8-piece band! Mind you that they didn’t even know each other, but they did feel strong chemistry to one another.

For Braga Jazz Night #43, Red Zone appeared as a quartet with rockin’ bluesman Eki Johan (guitar/vocal), Amir Fiqih (drum), Alfi Ibrahim (guitar/vocal) and Moch.Diva Sundara (bass). The fact that each of them came from different background creates a multi-colored sounds of music.

Featuring a female singer Ima Nirmala, they began with Stevie Wonder’s “Superstitious” and showed that funk can go perfectly match with classic rock playing style. From there they knocked us even more with The Beatles’ “Come Together” with even higher rock intensity. Two guitarists Eki and Alfi traded punches in front, which stands as interesting about this band since they have different style.

All was good, but just as we thought they would keep it that way, they gave a cool surprise. They played Dave Brubeck’s gem “Take Five” in a totally different way! How often do we hear this song dipped totally in blues and rock, complete with the sound of guitar distortion? The frontman Eki Johan roared wild and free, often in tranced state as if he was possessed with blues demon. We have never heard “Take Five” being played this way. They turned the event into a rockin’ blues bar and had a lot of fun with this song for more than 10 minutes. It was a really pleasant surprise for us, and we say it was a really smart move executed well.

In our interview with veteran blues guitarist Scott Henderson some years ago, he told us this: “…it’s all about jammin’ and creating new stuff all the time, and this is the essence of jazz. So just because you play rock doesn’t mean that you can’t have the mentality of a jazz musician.” (Read the full length interview here: http://jazzuality.com/interview/exclusive-interview-with-scott-henderson/). And yes, we think it’s important to show that jazz breaks boundaries and can be applied in just about any genre and style. While we serve pure jazz in our event, we also have to show this other side of jazz, which we like to describe as ‘jazz by spirit’.

Red Zone is an example of it. They stay true to themselves, who they are, but plays something that still deeply relevant to jazz. They jam, have fun, create new stuff while still being honest to their own nature, and brilliantly uses a jazz standard as their canvas to paint blues, rock with some funk textures. As we said before, that’s a smart move. They put enough space to run solo, as free as a bird and enjoy their moment. Even when they had to play without cymbals and hi-hat, which many believe are vital to blues and rock.

Another thing we could learn from them is that there are many ways for a band to born, even from the unlikely moments that we might never thought possible. We are just happy that the band had their debut with us, and we wish them the best. May they keep bringing those who watch them to a ‘red zone’ area of music, the edgy area where the spirit of jazz generates the rebelious rock and blues.

The second act featured the young bassist who is still crawling to establish his existance in the industry. His name is Joe Bastian. He is no stranger to us since he’s been participating many times with various groups, from a bossa duo with Billy Likumahuwa, supporting her friend Fadhilla ‘Lala’ K Pramastij to the first time we met him in Find Taste. But that’s not all, because since last year we encouraged him to work on his own project so he would find and shape his character faster.

At first, he named it Joe Bass Project and had the debut right here last July. At that time he demonstrated his music color which lies on jazz rock fusion and slices of soul. 6 months has passed, he told us that he is still regularly practicing and working on his first single which he decided to be made in pop, hoping that it would be accepted by larger segment of music lovers. As we heard that there’s been movement, we invited him again.

Now he made the name shorter, dropping the word ‘Bass’ to be just JOE PROJECT. For this second act he took his original drummer Kevin Bernard along with two new players for this event: Abdul Aziz (keyboard) and Rendi Dwiyanto (guitar).

Just like the first band, they had to play without cymbals and hi-hat because they failed to find them up until the last moment. But that didn’t stop them to give their best in producing a beautiful music. They started light with a relaxing joy-trip song written by Agung Munthe “Afternoon Stroll”. Abdul Aziz did very well in this song with his ‘third stream’ piano playing.

After that, Joe demonstrated his skill by pinning the song of famous bassist of this generation, Barry Likumahuwa titled “Walking With the Bass”. Rendi Dwiyanto, who is originally a rock guitarist surprisingly fit the role of playing funky fusion with Joe. As for the drummer, Kevin Bernard showed that he didn’t need complete drum to play well.

For the last song, Joe invited her friend, Irza Rena to join the band on stage and sing Glenn Fredly’s hit from 3 years ago, “Tega”. Irza has a soulful vocal style with smooth but thick vibra. In her voice, this song sounded really nice.

As a musician, Joe has both skill and passion. He is serious in proving to everyone that he can, and will succeed in pursuing his career as a musician. Having qualified ring of friends is his other advantage, which we think he should utilize as much as possible. For tonight he proved that eventhough not all his core team could play, he still got replacements with skills just as good. We certainly think he can. All he needs is time and chance, and we hope we can provide a bit of both for him. We can never get enough of good bassists afterall, and Joe is one of them.

Exactly last year, on the January edition (that’s number #31) we showcased an unforgettable reunion between Michelle Efferin, the founder of fruitful music school M.E Music Centre and her former college friend resides in Sydney, Australia, Jessica Kung. If you don’t remember, allow us to refresh your memory with this link: https://jazzuality.com/jazz-event-report/braga-jazz-night-night-at-old-shanghai-the-report/. What a coincidence that in January 2018 Michelle was back again with another reunion. This time the reunion is with a violinist whom she takes as a perfect partner in crime. This story brings back the memory all the way to 15 years ago, the time when they played intensively together which lasted for a year or so. The violinist is a virtuoso that we always mention as ‘Jazz Paganini’ ever since we began our service. A flamboyant, charismatic and talented man: Ammy Kurniawan. As we want to highlight everything about their friendship, chemistry, memory and of course the joy of regrouping, we give this project a special name : MICHELLE – AMMY REUNION.

As we mentioned, their history began in 2003. They quickly found chemistry, locked as playing partners and landed on many spots. It was all good, but all of a sudden Ammy lost her because she had to pursue her formal education to Sydney, Australia. When Michelle’s done with her study and returned home, they were both busy with their own career. As Michelle established her music school and fulfilled her calling to teach mostly kids by holding an international standard curriculum, Ammy existed as an active musician, flying wide over the jazz, blues and everything in between. They did share the stage once in a while, like in Michelle’s wedding party for example, but not as much as it was back then.

Last year Michelle told us that she actually wished to reunite with Ammy, having the fun and pleasure of playing together again just like they did back then. In December it finally came true. She sounded really exicted when she told us about it which took place at M.E Music School’s event Christmas Jazz Night. For around half an hour they let us feel the magic of two great friends having a happy reunion. It was full with fun and laughter, they were both all out in exploring the jazz territories with selected songs which mean a lot to them.

The question is: how much is half an hour comparing to 15 years? It couldn’t be enough, we thought. We expressed it to them, and Ammy said: “Yes, I’m not satisfied just yet! Let’s do some more!” Hearing that, we quickly offered them to take part in this edition, and they directly took it excitedly.

Just like in the first reunion, Michelle and Ammy were accompanied with two more players: Michelle’s husband Richard Sirait on drums and Iwan on bass. Right after they took each of their position on stage, they played an original song, the last one found in Ammy Kurniawan’s new album titled “Encore”. Eventhough this is not the recording band, this pack did great in playing it. As usual, Ammy with all the smile and charisma quickly caught everyone’s attention, and the chemistry between him and Michelle was clearly felt since the first note.

For the second song they took a classic Brazilian choro song from early 1900’s,”Tico Tico” (“Tico Tico No Fuba”, a song about the beautiful orange/reddish-brown collared bird). This song is perfect for Ammy’s playful character and certainly perfect for being the showcase of magic finger due to the fast-paced nature and rhytmically lively melody.

All of a sudden the stage became a fun playground for them. It was like watching bunch of kids playing merrily in a park on a sunny afternoon. The song is brought artistic and majestic, but full of action. Ammy went teasing Michelle, trading some punches with her in raising intensity before approaching Iwan and had some fun together. Michelle was totally on fire, in a state we have never seen before. If usually we saw her calm and content, this time it’s a totally different Michelle. Expressive, tranced and burning. It was even difficult for us to see her fingers, dancing, streaming and dancing above the keys. Not only Michelle, Ammy also demonstrated how fast his fingers could work the violin. Amazingly, all notes were hit flawlessly. Richard and Iwan gave a solid layer to the song with their steady rhythm. We don’t get to hear this song being played too often anymore, so it was really great to have it back again through the hands of these jazz magicians.

After the vivace tempo tune, they slowed down with a classic from George and Ira Gershwin written in 1924, “Oh, Lady Be Good!”. Eventhough the song is smooth and sweet, they could still make it fun to see. The intensity might be less, but the conversation between two friends in front were still intense. Michelle’s beautiful original composition, “Thursday, 2 pm” became the last drop. This uplifting song served in mid-tempo felt relaxing with positive vibes, a really nice tune that you would love to hear whenever you need to refresh your mood. We do hope somday this song will go to recording so we can listen to it over and over again.

This session is 15 years in the making. The content was full of memory, love between two great friends who clearly still has a very strong chemistry after all these years. The magical conversation built through the combination of piano and violin in jazz, created by stellar musicians like Michelle ad Ammy along with the substantial support by Richard and Iwan was simply beautiful. Not only it’s beautiful, it was also fun to watch, very entertaining. What we hope is that after this reunion they will keep on playing together.

Musicians can build chemistry by practicing and playing together often, also by spending time together off stage. True. But such chemistry that Michelle and Ammy has is special and hard to find. Look, they hadn’t been playing together for years, yet they immidiately locked in harmony right when they’re back as one. No chemistry loss, it just even gets stronger. A very special chemistry they share does make a difference, giving us the chance to see more than just skill, technique and even talent. If possible, we hope we won’t have to wait for another 15 years to have more of the endless conversation between them by using jazz as the language. Thank you for letting us having a great start folks! Cheers to you all!

In this fourth years of service, the Braga Jazz Night #43 has made a good start, thanks to all performers, Gita Bawana and Tiga Negeri who generously supported the instruments and to everyone who came. We can never do it without you guys. May we can keep having your support in our mission to push the regeneration of jazz musicians from Bandung and to keep introducing the rich color of jazz to the society. Especially in the difficult times like where we are now and whatever comes next, we always believe music can bring peace, become a symbol of unity and even a chicken soup for our soul. We will be back again in February with another batch. Thank you once again, see you again then.

Watch the highlights from Braga Jazz Night #43

See more pictures:

Reporter and Photographer: Riandy Kurniawan
Video Editor: Vierna Mariska

We are just done with the third edition of JAZZUALITY @ TP, our new regular jazz community event taking place at the cozy, comfy TP Stage in cooperation with the venue, The Papandayan Hotel. In this Jazzuality @ TP .03, for the first time we brought in a different jazz flavor that’s not only progressive but also has strong scent of ethnic music, especially the Sundanese traditional sound. We also featured a trio consisting of veterans who has been active for many, many years. Some has even reached over 3 decades career. Then, a smooth, simple acoustic duo were completing the lineup.

We started with the duo, representing the soft, sweet side of jazz. The duo continued their participation after our Braga Jazz Night Christmas Edition just a month earlier. It’s LUIS & JHONNY where the delicate, smooth satin voice of Luis Anastasia Sinaga lives harmoniously with the efortless guitar playing by Jhonny Napitupulu.

Although the pairing is new, both of them are no stranger to us. Luis has been a part of our event since she was still in high school with her vocal harmony group Puella and her church’s band MY Kids. As for Jhonny who’s been teaching at the Purwa Caraka Music Studio since the millenium, he supported Erick Gabe, Caroline and brought his own project too. We think this is a promising pairing, so we gladly welcomed them to enjoy the experience of playing in the TP Stage.

Luis already mesmerized the audience when she was still testing the mike. Right after we opened the event, Luis & Jhonny took us to the evergreen from Louis Armstrong in the early 70’s, “What a Wonderful World”. She sang it beautifully with her satin smooth and relaxing vibe. Calm, good control and heartfelt. She brought it effortlessly natural. Jhonny provided all the melody that’s needed to make each song presented in perfect sound.

For the second song they took one of today’s big hits from Adele, “All I Ask”. If in the first song she looked a bit nervous, on this one she was totally over it and sang with full emotion. Jhonny’s guitar cried with her which nicely delivered the message contained in this Adele’s hit. For the last song she chose Keith Martin famous song, “Because of You”. Well, this song suits her vocal character. We have no doubt that if she ever put this song in recordings, you would love to listen to it over and over again. It was that good.

While the possibilities of exploring jazz is limitless, jazz can appear beautiful in simple form in more pop too like this. Luis & Jhonny represented the soft and tender side of it that everyone can easily listen to. The pairing is really good. Eventhough they both came from different generation, they can blend together in sweet harmony. You might haven’t heard her name just yet, but once you listen to Luis, you will agree that this girl has a very, very beautiful voice. We look forward to bring her back again in later episodes.

The second act was a trio of veterans named JIM CONNECTION. We got connected with the band after we’re in touch with its guitarist/founder Amoeng Gaia. As the name suggested, Amoeng has a successful band rooted in alternative rock named Gaia, established in 1997. So he is a rock guitarist then? Sure. But he is also a jazz guitarist. And actually, he has been playing jazz for more than 30 years, at least he had done it in 1984 alongside Jilly Likumahuwa. “I play alternative rock a lot, but whenever I play jazz, I go with this band (Jim Connection)”, he said to us. With Jim Connection, he happily fulfills his jazzy side by playing jazz standards (the real book).

With the Jim Connection, Amoeng plays with the iconic, highly respected senior drummer Henky Suparjan, and the female bassist with monster groove famously known as the member of SHE band and Jazzy Juice, Arnie Christanti.

The band brought in spontaneous jamming way of performance. With manic bass-lines of Arnie, Amoeng’s sharp and fast guitar fingering and steady but rich beat from drum courtesy of Henky, they built something which turned out to be a different version of Dave Brubeck’s “Take Five”. This is what’s interesting. In our other event less than a month ago, there was a band who boldly took this song as a palette to paint their rockin’ blues soul, far different than the original. This time Jim Connection took it into another side of jazz. From them, “Take Five” still appears fully in jazz but placed into classic rock and blues atmosphere, with freedom of playing and lots of twists. The tradings they served and some cool solo runs were entertaining.

Their out of the box rendition continued on with “The Day of Wine and Roses”, an evergreen written by two legends, music by Henry Mancini with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. In the hands of these senior musicians, each song appeared as if their own. For the last song they took Sting’s “Fragile”. In this one Arnie got her chance to handle the melody and again, they made it their own. Big round applause were given to them in the end.

In the hands of these two senior gentlemen and a rhytmic lady, jazz appeared with fresh with attitude. They don’t need to pretend to be someone else, nor that they think too much of playing anything. They just went sailing and gave their best punches by using their true self. The experience, skill, passion and love over jazz were all painted in their show.  Amoeng and Arnie rarely play together, yet they were tightly locked in harmony as if they have been playing together for ages. Three different songs from different sources and generations, but somehow connected like three chapters of one book. Their colorful backgrounds created an unconventional jazz. It’s clearly jazz, but with so much more. We really appreciate the participation of senior musicians like them, beause we believe what they give can also be learnt by the young musicians rather than just entertaining.

Speaking of chaptes and unconventional, the last act presented it in totally different story. The group consisting of 5 dudes who we always see as music explorers than just musicians. This ring of friends have been having great time since 2017 with so many movements. Their music is different. You can clearly feel the jazz vibes, but not in the ordinary way as you can capture some rock, blues even classical inside their crafts.

If you think that’s all, they also have strong infuse of traditional music along the way, particularly Sundanese. That’s make possible by the using of kendang (the double-headed drum) and various bamboo woodwinds. All feels natural and effortless. They are not the only band who bring this kind of crossover music and the combination of modern-traditional instruments, yet they manage to have their own style of sound which you can easily differ from others. We are always proud of this band and wish more people will notice and give them credit. It’s the amazing WEST JAVA SYNDICATE.

Ever since the band established in 2010, it has been moving progressively. With all the ups and downs, the band keeps its creativity that for us goes beyond ordinary. While some bands who share simiiar concept could struggle for years to find the perfect blend, this band found the grip early but still evolving as time goes by. The rhythmic connection between drum and kendangs are always a catch, because more than just serving action, the unusual beat from two players is seamless and tight. Then, imagine a rockin’ bassist goes pentatonic on his bass, the pianist who is always ‘in the zone’ on stage, and a spectacular traditional woodwinds player who has a haunting humming voice. All captured in their concert.

They have released two recordings so far, one EP a couple of years ago and a full album titled “Bubuka” in 2017. The West Java Syndicate always love to extend their musical coverage, as they are happy to collaborate boldly with musicians from another corner, even the unthinkable one like when they serve West Java-West Sumatra connection by having some of the Minangkabau progressive ensemble, Palanta Line Art. We always want them to be exposed wider to more and more people, because we think they are unique and rich in soundscapes and performance.

There have been several changes being made, but since the last couple of years the formation found its most solid shape with founder Zahar Mustilaq (drum), Yopi D Nafis (keys), Dede SP (bass), the youngest of them all IpinZbet (kendang) and Randy Gevenk (woodwinds). Together they are taking the audience and listeners to enter a surrealistic music-magination we might never thought existed.

For this event, Zahar brought his own Nekara drum and Nebulae cymbals, a genuine Indonesian products that have really good sound. The eerie sound appeared before Randy added karinding sound followed by the rest of them and their respective instruments. The first song was the title track of their new album “Bubuka” which was used to introduce the audience to their multi-dimensional world as well as the entrance.

After loud applauses being thrown to them, they took us deeper into their world but this time showing their sensitive side with their romantic tune “Tembang Katresna”. In English, the title means “Love Song”, written by Yopi D Nafis when he proposed his beloved wife, Misty. This song has a sweet melody in Sundanese pentatonic style. The composer was in charge, but it still has a lot of space for the rest of West Java Syndicate to place their signatures.

The band then played the last song they wrote for the album tributing the late key-wiz and composer Riza Arshad who passed away exactly last year. The song’s titled “Like Brother Like Teacher”, showing who Riza was to them. Yopi and Randy are the composers of this song. This song is emotional and sad, making us mourn with them over the loss of a respected figure who is like a mentor and brother at the same time. Zahar made a little quiz afterwards and gave one free Bubuka CD to pianist Widiyanto Sutanto who answered his question right.

They moved on with the glittery, much brighter tune “City of Light”. As the climax, they played their song from the EP written by Zahar Mustilaq, “Gending Rame Ku Kendang.” This song was played intense, full of high-octane action and highly entertaining. IpinZbet got a very important role on this one, especially with his solo opening and his beatboxing while still beating up the double-headed drums. They served a full-throttled coda with rising intensity which stunned everyone inside the TP Stage. The combination of expressive, attractive, blazing performance with thrilling dynamic pushed us to the edge of our seat, creating one spectacular ending for the Jazzuality @ TP .03.

The cohesive work between drum and kendang, the bass player who serves more than just usual role, the explorative piano playing and the mystical sound of traditional woodwinds opens up a Sundanese musical realm in progressive multi-dimensional soundscape through different moods – from grand, majestic, playful to intense action. We always love visiting this musical territory rarely existed, something that we can always have by having these mad syndicate on stage. It’s magical, it’s sensational, with the kind of spirit they have inside their nature. Like a showdown of playful wizards, they delivered bags of surprises and lots of jokes throughout the show. We feel happy to bring them here. Thank you West Java Syndicate for always being a part of us!

As there were some musicians came to this edition, we gave them a chance to jam. Pianist Widiyanto Sutanto and drummer Marissa Wiguna, real-life couple stepped in along with two West Java Syndicate members Yopi D Nafis and ipinZbet. They played “Just the Two of Us” in a unique way. Unique? Indeed. Because this song was played by using both kendang and drum by musicians who didn’t know each other. Widiyanto at first served as the bassist by using keyboard, but then he got his time to improvise. It was cool to see since Yopi and the grand piano were placed behind his back, yet both of them could exchange role smoothly.

Another interesting chapter is added into the Jazzuality @ TP. We got acoustic pop jazz/RnB, swing with splashes of rock and blues and multi-dimensional cross Sundanese ethno-progressive fusion as the miniature of the united colors of jazz, something we always intend to bring in any of our event.

We will be back again on 11 February 2018 with a different batch. There will be another cross ethno-progressive fusion, but this time it will be from West Sumatra (Minangkabau), a native American who plays Sundanese harp, the pianist of Jazzy Juice/SHE band, and the single promo of a power house soul singer who is now going international. Your attendance is important, because by coming you will show your support to the playing band, to jazz and the regeneration and development of jazz musicians which stands as the top list of our mission. Hope to see you again in two weeks.

See more pictures:

Reporter/Photographer: Riandy Kurniawan .

Let’s open up with a good news. Starting from February 2018, our event at the TP Stage, The Papandayan Hotel “JAZZUALITY @ TP” will run not just once but twice. This decision is made to accomodate the wishes of so many musicians to join the party. It’s a surprise because we just started not long ago in November 2017.

Since then we have been receiving requests not only from Bandung but also from other cities like Jakarta that they want to be a part of this event. The response is overwhelming. We are grateful, but we have to do something so we won’t let them down. At the same time, as we have a mission to push the regeneration of jazz (related) musicians, to support them and provide good quality jazz-tertainment to all jazz lovers in Bandung and beyond, more schedule is needed. Luckily The Papandayan Hotel accepted our offer and gave us another slot.

For this month of February, the date is set : on Sundays, 11 February and 25 February 2018. We believe it will be easy to remember, as we will fit the schedule consistently as long as we are still partnering with the beautiful 5-star hotel that is committed to jazz development, The Papandayan.

So what’s on the menu this time? In JAZZUALITY @ TP .04 you will find 3 showcases with totally different concept, spreading wide across the nation from West Java to West Sumatra, also a world class act where soul blends with jazz and blues, brought by native Indonesian and an American man who has been showing his love to this nation and the traditional instruments. Oh yeah, as February is celebrated by many as the month of love a.k.a Valentine, we are happy that love will fill the air too from real life romantic dating couple.

Alrighty, let’s take a much closer look at the bands. First, we are proud to bring a unique ensemble who plays the traditional (and ancient) music of Minangkabau (the tribe of West Sumatra)in a way none other does. The ensemble consists of many young players with great skill. Its music concept stays true to the original pattern of Minangkabau music, but crafted modern to fit today’s style, plus the progressive fusion that streams in its veins makes it relevant to jazz. Led by a senior artiste specialized in Minangkabau woodwind instruments Maspon Herizal, let’s give a round applause to the mind-bending PALANTA LINE ART.

The Palanta Line Art was established in July 2012 and has becoming the answer of every wedding who needs traditional West Sumatra ceremony in West Java ever since. Maspon Herizal has complete tools. The genuine traditional sound, the instruments, the dancers, dressings, all are there with them. But hey, that’s not all, because the band has the ability to stretch their boundaries to jazz and beyond, amazingly without losing their grip on the traditional Minangkabau music at all. Look at how they pin complex jazz standards in Minang diatonic scales, or playing the Minang song in progressive fusion. Well, it’s kind of hard to explain what this ensemble does, but you will know they are really different and interesting when you see them in real.

Instrument-wise, as we said before they use traditional, even ancient ones along with modern. The traditional instruments including talempong (set of small bronze or brass kettle gongs) and woodwinds such as saluang (an oblique bamboo flute), bansi (a small end-blown bamboo block flute), sarunai (bamboo pipe), tanduak (ancient flute made from bull’s horn) and so on, but they combine it with modern western instruments such as keyboard, bass, drums and guitar. Surprisingly, the combination creates a strong harmony and energy which we think pushes the transformation of Minangkabau music to fit the modern music trend.

In order to know more of this group and their unique music style, you have to know more about the founder. Maspon Herizal graduated from ASKI (Art Institute of Indonesia) Padang Panjang and earned his Magister degree at STSI Surakarta. He was selected as the arranger of musical dance named “Ada Apa di Balik Bambu” by Indriyeti and served as one of the musicians for the 18th Pekan Olah Raga Nasional (PON) at Pekan Baru, Riau. He is the master of traditional Minangkabau woodwinds as mentioned above, true, but he is also a multi-instrumentalist and brilliant songwriter/arranger/composer. If that’s not enough, he can do the high-pitched voice humming that will send chills down your spine.

In Palanta Line Art, he brings young but skillful boys in. They are Arts Fiaris (guitar), Regi Permadi (drum), Shendy Susanto (bass), Qorry Restu Qodirullah (keyboard) and Kiky Septian (talempong). Ocassionally, some of the West Java Syndicate gang join the band, or you can find Maspon and some of the boys supporting West Java Syndicate too which has happened a couple of times in our events before.

It’s going to be interesting to see how they tune the diatonic talempong instrument to be chromatic, or to find how traditional and ancient woodwinds work in progressive fusion. How the traditional Minangkabau music can suit the modern music style while still keeping the originality. One more thing, they like to extend their performing space more than just the stage. It’s rare, unique and mind blowing. We don’t find many Minangkabau-based bands on jazz stage, that’s why we feel blessed to know them and want to keep on introducing them to more people. Come and see the Palanta Line Art, because we are sure you will get a new experience after watching them. Highly recommended for open-minded people and music lovers who expect to see something different.

Next, we are also proud to welcome our soul sister, AGIS KANIA. Agis Kania Kusumadewi, a woman of Sundanese, Chinese and Indian descent grew up in a musical family. She has been pursuing her passion in singing (music) since her childhood, regularly won winging competitions regional and national levels. She sang the anthem of Sukabumi (her hometown) in Sundanese pop tune which becomes iconic there.

Speaking of genre, she has done it all. Other than Sundanese pop, she has encountered others, from Keroncong (she performed regularly on air in Indonesian National Radio (RRI), Soul and RnB (with her friends from Brown Sugar and T-Five), Blues (a part of Blues Libre, with Hari Pochang and Ginda Bestari) and Jazz (with Satura, Agis Bape and variety of appearances in Klab Jazz and Jazzuality’s events among others). As you can see, in such a young age (she was born in 1987), she already has such an illustrious career.

She is remarkable in any music field, but last year she found her most solid grip which turns out to be Nu Soul through the release of her solo single “Baby You”. Composed by Tabriz Muhajier ‘Ajier T-Five’ Effendy (who also co-produced the single with Inal Chaniago of Two Triple O) with lyrics by Agis herself, the single was officially launched at our event Braga Jazz Night on June 15, 2017. This single has all the elements that could become an international success. The ear-catchy melody tailored in Neo Soul with splashes of EDM, the cool mid tempo beat, sexy and seductive lyrics, lovely arrangement brought alive by high quality soulful voice that has a strong character, clearly the song has it all. And it did. Not long after it was launched over top digital platforms, the song became a hit, listed in top chart and purchased by many, where most of the downloaders came from overseas. Thanks to today’s technology, she’s no longer local artist but international.

Last month Agis told us that she’s ready to launch the second single titled “Erase My Number (EMN)”, a song featuring fine young bluesman Ginda Bestari. The release date is just two days ago, on February 2nd, 2018. Just like the first one, this single is produced by Ajier and Inal. Continuing her success from the first single, EMN will get international radio airplay, in Asia, USA, Europe and even South Africa. This is a very good news to us as we have been watching her transformation and struggles through the years.

Back to “Erase My Number”, the song tells a story about a dysfunctional relationship with broken communications until the couple erased each other’s number, but it is not an excuse to give up and drown in sadness, but rather to be optimistic and find ‘other numbers’ of new prospective partners. In other words, EMN gives a message that if we experience failure in any relationship, never give up and keep looking because the world is still full of wonderful people.

Now let’s talk about the featured star for this single, Ginda Bestari. For you who know him, we are sure you are agree that Ginda is one of the most fascinating talents Indonesia has for at least the last decade. This young man is an amazing musician who is also great in singing, composing and writing songs. He rose to fame with his trio Ginda and the White Flowers (with Gega Gageh and Yandi Andaputra). They graced the stage of blues, jazz and everything in between, and managed to release one album titled “Let Me Try” in 2012.

Aside of his tight schedule as a sessionist (this humble bluesman always loves playing everywhere with everyone), he made a big breakthrough in 2015 by releasing his debut solo album “Soulful Desire”, an album where you can find not just jazz and blues but also funk, soul and even rock n roll. For this album he brought in two great musicians, senior bassist with chunky funk Yance Manusama, the highly respected Harry Anggoman on Hammond, Rhodes and Piano and drummer Rayendra Sunito who also produced the album. He is influenced by many guitar maestros such as Robben Ford, Matt Schofield, Chris Cain, Eric Gales, Derek Trucks, Joe Bonamassa and Philip Sayce, also from the rock world like Andy Timmons, Eric Johnson and Joe Satriani. Drawing influences from these great names made him able to shape up his own style which is smooth, soulful and sophisticated, but can be wild at times. It was a pleasant surprise for Agis that Ginda offered his service to fill up the song, which makes the song much richer and colorful than expected.

Continuing our support for Agis after the release of her first single in our event, now we are proud to have her promoting her single “EMN” in this edition of Jazzuality @ TP. Agis told us she’s ready to appear full team, with both of Ajier (guitar) and Inal (bass) and Ezra Abraham (piano). We heard that she’s looking for a chance to make concerts in Malaysia and Singapore, so before that and while the single is still hot, we are more than happy to welcome her and the second single. Come and let’s give her some love!

Last but not least, we welcome a unique duo that has just gotten its name, SEKARA. It consists of dating couple Dyah Sekar (piano) and Dan Nicky (kecapi Sunda – Sundanese harp). Step aside from being a real-life couple, they both have established their names in the music scene. Dyah is the pianist of Jazzy Juice who is now a proud member of ladies band SHE.

As for Dan Nicky, this man is really different. It’s like as if he was born on the wrong side of the planet, because he is an American musician but he appears, talks and playing traditional instruments like a Sundanese artiste. He has a big concern in preserving the Sundanese culture, and because of that, Dan, who has been breathing in Bandung for no less than 8 years has spoken his concern everywhere, including many appearances in televisions, radios and newspapers.

Dan was born in Chicago, Illinois, USA and studied “World Music” at the Old Town School of Folk Music Chicago, focusing on Gamelan under the guidance of I Gusti Ngurah Kertayuda, an Indonesian cultural expert living in Chicago. Together they established “Indonesian Dance of Illinois”, a non-profit organization with the intention to introduce Indonesian culture to American citizens in cooperation with the Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia in Chicago.

Dan plays traditional Sundanese woodwinds and also some other Sundanese traditional instruments, including the Sundanese harp. We heard that he is currently establishing project with his girlfriend, connecting harp and piano. “We really want to see how it turns out”, says Dyah to us. Well, it is really interesting and rare. How often do you see a duo playing Sundanese harp and piano on stage, especially in jazz event? Of course we can’t stay still when we hear about something unique like this.

Before Dan goes back to Chicago, we quickly invited Sekara and luckily they happily agreed. Not only this performance will let you have a new musical experience from the combination of traditional Eastern and Western instrument, love will be in the air too, which will be perfect as we are approaching the Valentine’s Day.

One cross Minangkabau ethno-progressive jazz ensemble, a unique duo and a promo single of an amazing lady with world class soulful voice will definitely make this edition shine brightly. Three showcases holding three different stories, stretching the concept from West Java to West Sumatra, to the American music built upon Soul, Jazz and Blues. For us that’s a wow. We feel blessed to be able to invite these awe-inspiring artistes and have them all in one event.

Once again, the JAZZUALITY @ TP .04 will come soon on Sunday, 11 February 2018, starting from 7:00 pm onwards at TP Stage, the cozy jazz club of The Papandayan Hotel, Bandung. This event, just like any other of our community events are totally FREE of any charge. We hope you have time to enjoy it with us, and we’d be so proud to have your support over our community and the featured artists. Mark your calendar and see you there!

JAZZUALITY @ TP .04

Date: Sunday, 11 February 2018
Time: 07:00 pm – onwards
Location: TP Stage, The Papandayan Hotel
Jl. Jendral Gatot Subroto no 83, Bandung

FREE OF CHARGE, OPEN FOR PUBLIC

Featuring:

:: AGIS KANIA :: * Erase My Number (EMN) Single Promo *
Agis Kania – vocal
Tabriz Muhajier ‘Ajier T-Five’ Effendy – guitar
Inal Chaniago – bass
Ezra Abraham – piano

:: PALANTA LINE ART ::
Maspon Herizal – traditional Minangkabau woodwinds
Arts Fiaris – guitar
Qorry Restu Qodirullah – keyboard
Kiky Septian – talempong
Regi Permadi – drum
Shendy Susanto – bass

:: SEKARA ::
Dyah Sekar – piano
Dan Nicky – Sundanese harp

Any public or hangout place should know what to do in every festive season if it wants to be trendy. Making up series of program and specific theme is a must. For us who hold a regular monthly jazz community event called BRAGA JAZZ NIGHT inside a happening mall, of course we have to fit our theme with the mall’s program. And we think it’s cool. We have been making Ramadhan Jazz edition in the fasting month, Christmas edition in December, and also the Chinese New Year (in Indonesia it’s also called Imlek) which Braga CityWalk – our partner and the venue – always celebrates every year. This year the Chinese New Year falls on Friday, 16 February 2018, welcoming the Year of the Dog (Earth Dog). For the believers, they should find out what the Feng Shui says to make the most of this year, especially since we seem to face even more difficult year than ever.

Well, let’s leave it there. Difficult or not, smooth or rocky, it’s still worth to celebrate. That’s what we think, and that’s what we intend too. According to our regular schedule, it should fall on 15 February because that’s the third Thursday. But due to the request from the mall, we move it a week after. So it’s set. The Braga Jazz Night #44 : “Shanghai Night Jazz”, Special Chinese New Year Edition in accordance with “Flowerichious”, Braga CityWalk theme this year, will be on Thursday, 22 February 2018. Starting on 7:00 pm as usual and always FREE of charge.

Let us begin by saying that there are the wide variety of jazz found in Indonesia. It’s wide, because pop jazz, swing and fusion are not the only sub genres of jazz found in it but also the more complex and relatively more difficult to play like Progressive Jazz (Prog Jazz). This genre often goes side by side with the Progressive Rock/Art Rock where the amount of each are vary. It usually contains experimental elements or even influenced by avant-garde. As we said, due to the complex pattern and the high level of difficulties, probably not that many bands of young musicians dare to step in it, but hey, we have a Prog Jazz band in Bandung which has all young players. It’s BLUE OCEAN PROJECT.

The band came to life as the brainchild of drummer Rio Al Abror and pianist Ditra Prasista, starting from piano-drum duo inspired by Rudess Morgenstein Project. Slowly but surely more players came in. In 2015 Fuji Kyra joined the formation positioned on bass, shaping the band to become a trio.

In 2016 Leviana Puteri and Meita Yunita filled the vocal lines, but then they position was taken by Kharisma Hakiki. Entering year 2017, the Blue Ocean Project once again made some interesting changes. Didin Ginanjar is now in charge with vocal, then the band welcomed two more players: Dwi Fari on flute and Erwi Apriliadi on sax.

So the most recent members of Blue Ocean Project are Rio Abror (drums), Ditra Prasista (piano), Fuji Kyra (bass), Erwin Apiliadi (sax), Dwi Fari (flute) and Didin Ginanjar (vocal/voice).

The Blue Ocean Project has been working on their debut album. According to Ditra, the theme of the album is schizophrenia. Certainly not a usual theme most of the bands would refer to, but to find out how they tell the story through music, we have to wait until the album releases, projected around April or May this year.

It’s our duty to present variety of jazz found in Bandung, the cities nearby and if possible, around the archipelago. It’s our duty to support the jazz related musicians and their movement. Especially since this band is rooted in Prog Jazz, the experimentative hybrid of jazz that we don’t find often, realizing the creative and daring brains of the founders in jazz-ploration and the unique theme that they have for the upcoming album, bringing them to our event is a must. Something like this always excites us. We hope you also feel the same excitement and come to support this band. Without your support, it’d be impossible for us to hope for a great or better future of jazz in Indonesia.

This edition marks the comeback of a band after more than 2 years: OUT OF 7. This band was established in May 2013 by pianist/arranger Widiyanto Sutanto consisting of his church serving team including his wife, Marissa Wiguna (drum), Herman Yulianto (guitar) and Abet Darmaji (bass), plus our team who has a remarkable singing voice, Erick Gabe. The band was progressing quite fast, starting from the community stages like Klab Jazz and Jazzuality’s, but they have made stunning achievements too such as becoming the winner of ESPOSE 2013 band competition, performing at the JakJazz 2013, Pre Event Indonesian Jazz Festival, Kampoeng Jazz 2014 and Red White Jazz Lounge in Jakarta. They also served as the opening band for Hadrien Feraud Trio and Indro Hardjodikoro & The Fingers in June 2014.

This band loves to play wide in variety, which most likely caused by the fact that the personnels came from different background and has different music taste. While Widiyanto Sutanto is without a doubt a skillful jazzman by nature, Marissa Wiguna had a rock background before entering the jazz circle. This girl has complete ammunition which enables her to perform great in any genre. Her power, beat variety and cute but lethal appearance often stand as one of the attractions in their gig. Herman has rock and blues running in his veins, while Abet has a good groove on bass. Guitarist Daniel Christy often supported the band too here and there. Not just covering Herman, but they also played together in the band.

Out of 7 released one single titled “Kita Indonesia”, a song that sends important message of peace, togetherness and love to the nation and people despite of any diversities found in it. They were doing well, but unfortunately the band couldn’t keep due to some problems they were facing. The band went to hiatus shortly after.

Eventhough the band is in hiatus, they have been making some appearances once in a while on stage or on air. That includes this event, which they happily regroup to present the jazzy way in celebrating Chinese New Year. They are going to be an instrumental band since Erick got too tight schedule to practice with the band. Having 4 out of 5 will be good enough, and actually it’s going to be interesting to see how the band would do without having a singer in. We believe it won’t be a problem, and it might be good so they will have something new to dig. We happily welcome the Out of 7 back gracing our stage. The cute drummer but bangs wild while performing, the acrobatic fingers above the keys, the blues, rock and funky guitar and groovy bass, how would it sound in playing oriental songs? Let’s found out together.

Since last year this event has been supported by an educational istitute which is focusing on enhancing the productivity of its students from the creativity sides: GITA BAWANA. Located in the Southern part of Bandung, the school has variety of classes including Music Course, Music Production, Traditional and Modern Dance Course and Modelling. Provided by one of its teachers, drummer Zahar Mustilaq, this institute has been helping us with the drum and keyboard, which enables us to keep this event running until now. We can’t imagine how to make it without them, so we can never thank them enough.

In this edition we are going to feature its music students. Yes, jazz is an integrated and important part of the music course in its curriculum, which for us is no wonder since there are quite many skilled jazz musicians working there as the teachers. So this time we got the chance to see some of the talented students of Gita Bawana recommended by the teachers, consisting of kids and teenagers. What we heard so far is that some of the teachers will also support them on stage. We think it’s great so they will feel more comfortable in their gig by having their teachers’ presence beside them. By the way, the picture above is just four of the kids who are going to mark their debut on our stage.

Once again, the Braga Jazz Night #44 (Shanghai Night Jazz : a Chinese New Year’s celebration) is coming on Thursday, 22 February 2018 at the Braga CityWalk, starting from 7:00 pm until 10:00 pm. It’s totally FREE and open for public. See you there!

BRAGA JAZZ NIGHT #44 : SHANGHAI NIGHT JAZZ

Date: Thursday, 22 February 2018
Time: 07:00 pm – onwards
Location: Braga CityWalk
Jl. Braga 99-101, Bandung

FREE!

Featuring:

:: BLUE OCEAN PROJECT ::
Rio Abror – drums
Ditra Prasista – piano
Fuji Kyra – bass
Erwin Apriliadi – sax
Dwi Fari – flute
Didin Ginanjar – vocal/voice

:: OUT OF 7 ::
Widiyanto Sutanto – keys
Marissa Wiguna – drums
Herman Yulianto – guitar
Abet Darmaji – bass

:: GITA BAWANA ::
Anita
Bintang
Agnes
Usa
tba

In this month of February we got the green light to run the JAZZUALITY @ TP twice. We proposed The Papandayan Hotel to consider to double it up permanently, not because of our own reasons but due to the overwhelming response from the musicians to take part in this event. Unfortunately we failed to get the approval. Anyway, it’s still lucky that in this month of love we could go twice, as there are some important features that we really should highlight.

The JAZZUALITY @ TP .04 was held a couple of days ago on 11 February 2018. Since this event was held near Valentine’s Day, we invited a real-life couple who could let us taste the romantic atmosphere of love through music performance. They are not just a couple, because they use the combination of instruments that’s really rare to find especially on the jazz stage. Then, we feel proud to continue our support to a lady with amazing soulful voice who is now on her move to go international. Last but not least, we featured a unique ensemble who brings traditional Minangkabau (the tribe of West Sumatra) into a new height, progressively. This edition has such a super cool batch that shows the rich variety and true heart of jazz.

To our surprise, this edition was fully crowded! Most of the audience stayed until the end, they enjoyed each of the performance, taking pictures and recorded the shows. They gave loud applause and cheers, and that made the this even ran lively.

We planned to start with the couple Dyah Sekar and Dan Nicky, together as SEKARA. Dyah is known as the keyboardist of famous girl band, SHE and also one of the Jazzy Juice. She’s cute, can look a bit shy, but when she’s placed next to the piano, this girl is always playful in letting her fingers dance some jazz above the keys. She’s absolutely no stranger to us since she has been participating in our event many times, including our two first events 5 years ago.

Now let’s talk about Dan Nicky. Dan is different, as if he was born on the wrong side of the planet. He is native American, but he is 100% Sundanese at heart. He can speak Sundanese fluently, he plays traditional Sundanese music and has a big concern about preserving the traditional Sundanese culture. Many of you especially those who live in West Java should be familiar to him already because he has appeared many times on television, radio and newspaper.

From Dyah we heard that they are working on a project combining two instruments from diffrent side of the spheres: Sundanese harp (Kacapi Sunda) and piano. It’s really rare to see this kind of collaboration especially on jazz stage. Of course they caught our attention and directly featured them here before Dan goes back to Chicago.

Sekara is supposed to play first, but we thought of something different. Before they started their gig, we decided to go first with one song involving all the bands. It was unique. Not only because most of the musicians still didn’t know one another but also the variety of instruments being used in it. Imagine, this early jam session got two sets of talempongs (sets of kettle gongs, the traditional instruments of West Sumatra), Kacapi Sunda (Sundanese harp), Sundanese bamboo flute along with the usual modern instruments. Both Dyah and Nicky were participated in, then from Palanta Line Art there were Kiki Septian and Sandi Ndung stood behind two talempong tables plus Arts Fiaris on guitar, Qorry Restu on keyboard and Shendy Susanto on bass. Representing Agis Kania was Fuad Rudyan. They all played a Sundanese traditional song “Mojang Priangan”.

The appearance of Dan in the middle became an interesting sight. He’s dressed in traditional Sundanese including the headband, played flute, harp and also sing! As far as we know, a jam session using this kind of combination never happened anywhere else before. And that’s not all, because they also executed the song really great. Loud applauses were given to the jamming participants in the end.

Everyone left the stage except Dan and Dyah as Sekara. What they presented was not just music but like a semi theatrical performance. They did some jokes in between songs by playing words between Indonesian, Sundanese and English.

This scene directly appeared from the first song, their original called “Bulan Maret” (“The Month of March”). The glittery piano opened it up before Dan joined with his instruments and then they sang together. The way Dan sings reminds us of Hugh Jackman’s style in his most recent blockbuster, “The Greatest Showman” which is not only singing the song but also telling the story.

Then they took Coldplay’s hit from 2002, “The Scientist”. Dyah played really beautiful, making us felt like watching them stargazing on a clear dark night, sharing every drop of love they have to each other. “Just Another Chance” and “Setting Sun” gave an excellent proof that the Sundanese harp works really well with piano. Serene, peaceful and romantic.

For the last song they took Sundanese folk, “Es Lilin”. What’s unique is that they made an English version of it and made some jokes inside it. The audience loved it and gave them loud cheers and applause as a way to thank them for a sweet and entertaining gig.

Different, romantic, beautiful and relaxing. That’s what we have in mind from Sekara’s music performance. We have heard many bands whose music lies in between two worlds, but we haven’t heard the kind of harmony produced by the combination of Kacapi Sunda and Piano like this. The way they were romancing through their passion in music is really beautiful to watch and listen to. For us, a unique collaboration like this is always important if we want to see fresh, new things in music. Even if it doesn’t work well, it’s still worth to try. But when it works like a charm like what Sekara does, with the semi theatrical and the jokes, it creates magic. We hope they will continue developing this project, trying and finding new possibilities, experimenting on new stuffs which in the end will give benefit to the world’s music especially Sundanese traditional music and culture.

From West Java we went straight up to the West Sumatra, switching from pentatonic to diatonic, courtesy of the distinctive Minangkabau music brought progressive and modern by a mind-bending ensemble, the PALANTA LINE ART.

Minangkabau music has spesific music rhythm and melody. It’s captivating and dynamic, it could be energetic and uplifting but also smooth in terms of romantic or sad. Whatever the sound is, you will easily notice if a song has Minang sound in it. The question is, how often do we find it in jazz scene? Well, there were some famous ones from the likes of Karimata and Emerald, we did find it in a jazz festival in Batam a couple of years ago, but it’s still quite rare, at least comparing to the Sundanese.

That’s why we felt so excited when we found them, thanks to Zahar Mustilaq of West Java Syndicate. The Palanta Line Art was established in July 2012 by traditional Minangkabau woodwinds virtuoso Maspon Herizal and has becoming the answer of every wedding who needs traditional West Sumatra ceremonies in West Java ever since. They do great in it, but the band actually has the passion to explore wide and try new stuffs, which of course naturally made jazz as a perfect habitat for them to live in.

What’s cool is that Maspon brought in with many young talents to play the side of music that is not easy. Arts Fiaris (guitar), Qorry Restu Qodirullah (keys), Kiki Septian and Sandy Ndung (talempong), Shendy Sutanto (bass) and Regi Permadi (drum) do really well in delivering the concept and they seem able to enjoy it too.

The combination of Western, modern instruments that we often find in jazz and other American music with traditional Minangkabau like saluang, sarunai (bamboo flutes), talempong (a set of small kettle gong) and tanduak, a small flute made from horn bull creates such mystical vibes in no time. The overture directly took us all into the wonderful land of Minangkabau. As our mind went wondering, all of a sudden they played a very familiar tune which caught everyone by surprise: Chick Corea’s “Spain” ! The crowds popped big time as the cheers went up high above the roof.Probably it was the time when the audience realized that this Minangkabau ensemble play like no one else. Look at how they executed the tutti on that famous verse which involved both sets of talempong. It was absolutely beyond believe, you can never imagine how amazing we feel that this happened in our event. Sensational!

After this surprising opening, the Palanta Line Art made another cool move by taking us to the land of the Gods with “Djanger Bali.” Once again they gave something unique, since this song now played not with gamelan but talempong and Minangkabau woodwinds. Maspon and his young mates managed to capture all the mystical elements of this song, but more than that they sprinkled more magic dust with the arrangement and traditional Minangkabau instruments. After that they slowed down with a Minangkabau evergreen, “Sansaro” (“Misery”). Maspon painted all the pain and sadness by ‘crying’ through his flute.

Then they played Maspon’s new original song, “The Magic of Sampelong”. Maspon told us that this sampelong instrument (much bigger size of bamboo flute in a shape and length like a big water pipe) was associated with dark/black magic ritual in the old days, and almost extinct because of that. “Now I’m throwing the ‘black’ but keep the ‘magic”, said Maspon, as described by him in the composition. The low tone of Sampelong sound is indeed haunting. It created eerie feelings, but by combining it with the modern instruments, it actually opened an imaginative musical dimension that probably has never been opened for ages.

For the last song the Palanta Line Art played another Maspon’s masterpiece which according to him was made together with the boys. This song is named “Andalas Raya”, a grand, majestic song picturing the beautiful landscape of Sumatra island. They built the momentum with increasing dynamic all the way until it reached climax. If you listen to it while having your eyes closed, you’d be able to see the fascinating landscape of the island by imagination, as if you were a free-flying eagle admiring everything you see from high up above.

Speaking of authenticity and uniqueness, the importance of preserving the traditional music as a part of our rich culture and the regeneration of musicians, the Palanta Line Art has a big role in all of those subjects. Yet, even if these are not important matters to you, we are sure you’d agree that this band plays like none other, has a very unique concept and highly entertaining. By having Palanta Line Art in our circle, we can (re)introduce the beauty of distinctive Minangkabau music sound and show how jazz can accomodate the multi-dimensional exploration these musicians are into. Simply magnificent music form. Traditionally authentic, yet progressive and boldly provoking today’s music trend.

For the final show of this edition, we proudly welcomed AGIS KANIA to promote her new single “Erase My Number” aka “EMN”, released just last week on February 2nd, 2018. Produced by Tabriz Muhajier ‘Ajier T-Five’ Effendy and Inal Chaniago, this single will follow the huge success of the first one “Baby You” last year.

We are happy to continue our support to Agis after having her launching the “Baby You” single in our Ramadhan Edition of Braga Jazz Night (http://jazzuality.com/jazz-event-report/braga-jazz-night-36-ramadhan-edition-the-report/). This single has been doing really well eventhough it’s only available digitally. It became chart topper with most downloaders came from overseas. This fact helps establishing her name internationally as she continues to receive praises from nu soul lovers all over the world.

In still considerably young age, Agis has been wandering through wide diversity of genres. She’s been singing Pop Sundanese, Keroncong, Pop, RnB, Blues, Jazz and everything else in between. We met her in her jazz period when she existed with Satura and then Agis Bape. Yes, she sings jazz very, very well. And yes, she’s still singing jazz every now and then. But since last year she found her lucky charm which turned out to be a genre which has been living in her every breath, soul. As we mentioned, the first single was a huge success, and this new one is right on the same track. Just a couple of hours after its release in major digital stores, she already got listeners.

This second single she’s promoting “EMN” features a super talented, phenomenal young blues guitarist Ginda Bestari. “I’ve been his fans since I was still in high school, and guess what, finally it happens. I have him featured in this song. I’m so proud of it!!” said Agis excitedly. If you know Ginda, you will surely agree with her. If you don’t know him yet but listen or watch him play, you will too. This man is an authentic blues guitarist with natural talent, but he’s easy to find in jazz events too. So you can imagine when someone his caliber join forces with Agis Kania and her excellent team. It’s awesome.

We tried to have Ginda for this gig, too bad he already has another schedule. But hey, we are lucky that Agis Kania performed in full team. That included both producers Ajier T-Five (guitar), Inal Chaniago (bass), Ezra Abraham (piano) and the fine youn drummer who kindly rushed back here after having a gig with Tulus, Fuad Rudyan (drum).

Right after she and the band started playing, the strong soul atmosphere immidiately filled the room. The first song she chose was her first single, “Baby You.” Her voice, the melody, the music and her body language suggested the sensual feel, describing what the song is all about completely. Since the composer Ajier played in this gig, this song found its perfect form. Inal, Fuad and Ezra did their role flawlessly.

“Insanity” a song taken from Gregory Porter’s Grammy winning album “Take Me to the Alley” (2016) which featured Lalah Hathaway was the next choice. Agis demonstrated her powerful and spirited voice with such deep soulful emotion in this song. Ajier gave a strong flavor too which for us was like the second ‘voice’ in the frontline. Stevie Wonder’s “Isn’t She Lovely” offered a happy mood. some of the audience swayed or tapping their foot enjolying it.

Time for Agis to let us hear her new single, “Erase MY Number”. This song has every reason to be a hit. The catchy lyrics, the storyline, the uplifting, infectious melody, and if you watch her life, you would add fine performance too. It won’t be difficult for you to remember the song especially the refrain part. As an evidence, even most of the audience listened to this song for the first time in this gig, they could already sing along with her. In one part, Agis even conducted everyone, dividing the audience into three parts to be a big choir.

For the last song she took Eric Clapton’s famous song from 1996 Phenomenon, “Change the World”. Many of the audience sang along with her while again enjoying Ajier’s captivating guitar playing. Then Agis made a surprise. She called up Anjuan Julio to replace Ajier, and we got this genius guitarist painting different pattern into the song with his distortive improvisation. Realizing that there was another established guitarist from Tulus’ band, Topan Abimanyu, Agis had him replacing Anjuan to give another vivid color. Using this song as the last party, she said thank you to everyone for staying with her all through the gig and sealed her show.

If you listen to Agis Kania’s singing voice, you will know that she should stand among the best (nu) soul artists in the world today. She doesn’t just sing, she attaches her heart, soul and emotion that makes each song feels alive. From what we heard, “EMN” will be played in so many radio stations all over the world, not only in Asia but also USA, Europe and even South Africa. This is a very wonderful news. We know from the first time we met her that she’s different and has all the potential to be an international (super)star, now she’s getting closer than ever to it. We hope to see her stepping higher. We won’t be surprise if one day she will become more than what we ever imagined.

Found among the audience were two of the groups who qualified into the next round of Jazzphoria, the jazz competition made by MLD. We didn’t want them to go home empty handed, so we asked each of them to sing one song. First, Akbar and Hudda, two young boys still in mid teens. Akbar Herliansyah is a former Indonesian Idol Jr 2017 who reached top 10. They sang “Jati Diri Urang”. As you have probably seen when he competed in the Indonesian Idol and from the Jazzphoria, Akbar is indeed a singer who emotionally attached to anything he sings. That has become his forte other than having a good singing voice. Hudda blended with his voice seamlessly which makes him more than just playing the melody.

Then, we got two of Sava Sika on stage featuring Hudda’s father, Indra on piano. They went bluesin’ together and enjoyed their moment on stage. We feel happy that the stage can provide happiness even to the musicians who are sitting in the audience’s seats or to anyone who feel like playing/singing. That’s how we want our event to be, therefore we always feel great when things like this happen.

What an interesting edition this is. Three showcases got amazing world-class acts who flew over wide musical territory, taking us travelling through cities, tribes and even realm. From West Java to West Sumatra, to the modern Nu Soul with Blues, all are glued together with jazz. We are lucky to be able to bring these talented people as one, united together in the name of jazz and created such an unforgettable moment.

The next edition will be on 25 February 2018. If you are curious who will be in it, it’s going to be a well experienced jazz guitarist as a trio all the way from Batam, the jazz quartet of a UPH student who is having Sri Hanuraga as his teacher and a real life couple who have been supporting each other in real life, church services, wedding ceremonies and jazz stages. It’s going to be interesting as well, we hope you will enjoy it with us.

Thank you all featured artists, participating musicians, the soundman, TP Stage crews and The Papandayan hotel, Mr Bobby Renaldi as the Grand Manager, Mr Doni, the manager of TP Stage also to those who came. We salute you! See you all again in two weeks.

See more pictures:

Reporter : Riandy Kurniawan
Photographer: Kherisna Irawan, Prama Hanindia Wirakusumah , Arie Ramadhatus , Riandy Kurniawan .

As you have probably noticed, this February we got the chance of running the Jazzuality @ TP twice. This is our move to deal with overwhelming response from the bands and musicians that wish to be a part of the show. The first one was done two weeks ago on 11 February 2018, a unique edition where we got the rare combination of Sundanese harp and piano, the traditional and ancient West Sumatra’s instruments being used in presenting the beautiful and distinctive music of Minangkabau and the launching of second single from a lady with amazing soulful voice who soon will embark her journey in the international scene.

An edition like this is hard to beat, true. But we care more of carrying our mission, pushing and contibuting to the regeneration of jazz (related) musicians, and specifically in this event we want the young musicians to gain experience and taste the atmosphere of playing inside a jazz club. However, that doesn’t mean that this Jazzuality @ TP .05 will be less interesting than the previous one. Why? Because in this one we will have a phenomenal young man who is still studying at the UPH Jakarta but already shows such tremendous skill not only in playing but also composing.

Then, there will be a trio coming all the way from the wonderful city of Batam, located in an island close to Singapore. This trio is led by our close friend, an established swingin’ guitarist who has been having an illustrious career for quite a long time. Then, we will let you taste a piece of wonderful jazz in weddings, because we are bringing in one of the successful wedding bands in Bandung led by an amazing jazz pianist who became the semi-finalist of world jazz competition held in Ukraine a couple of years ago. So, this edition is very interesting too. We are excited that we are continuing our support to young and talented musicians not only in Bandung but also from other cities near or far.

The Jazzuality @ TP .05 will come soon on Sunday, 25 February 2018 at the TP Stage of The Papandayan Hotel Bandung, starting from 7:00 pm onwards. In case you didn’t know, this event is absolutely, totally FREE of any charge and open for public. You can feel the atmosphere of cozy jazz club like those out there, being entertained by variety of jazz from selected bands, and by attending the event, you will give your support towards our jazz community, the musicians and the jazz itself.

Now let’s break down the lineup and see who they are closer, starting with our buddy from Batam, jazz guitarist Tchepy Wijaya Soekardi representing the well-established jazz community of the city, the BATAM JAZZ SOCIETY. Tchepy is a former student of the legendary Oele Pattiselano and Kadek Rihardika. He has a good career as one of the Financial Verification staffs of People’s Representative Council (DPRD) in Batam, but that’s not all because he has been active in the jazz scene at least since the turn of the millenium.

We first met him at the Asean Jazz Festival 2012 when he caught our attention with his cool jazz fusion style which involved kendang, the traditional double-headed drums. This international jazz event is only one of the big fest he’s in, because he has graced The Malacca Straight Jazz Festival (2007), Tangsel Jazz Festival (2015), Jazz and Fashion (2015-2017), Jazz at Harbour Bay (with Rieka Roslan and friends) and supporting Soukma in Melia Regency in 2017 other than being a regular participants for the Asean Jazz from 2008 to 2015. He was great as a fusion guitarist, but shortly after we saw him, he decided to be a swing guitarist. That’s an excellent decision as he turns out to be a really good one just like his teacher.

We presented him in Bandung a couple of months ago for the Braga Jazz Night #41 where he played alongside two musicians from Bandung, Alman Naufal and Aries Ardiansyah (read the report here: https://jazzuality.com/jazz-event-report/braga-jazz-night-41-the-report/). His swingin’ fingers flew naturally up and down the fret, pinning some well known jazz standards in his own way. Now that we have a new playground, of course we want him to be a part of it. Not only because we want to support his music career but also because this man really swings beautifully, so we want him to be heard more by jazz lovers in Bandung and beyond.

At first we were planning to invite him alone to experiece the TP Stage, but then we heard that the Batam Jazz Society wishes to contribute too by sending two musicians to join Tchepy: the bassist of Geliga, Muhammad Gusrianto and drummer Andika Chandra. Of course we feel proud to meet and have them in.

The Batam Jazz Society was established more than 18 years ago, just a year before the millenium to be exact. Since then, they have been penetrating the city with jazz, performed by so many great talents. They also proudly held the International Jazz Day in Batam, officially chosen by UNESCO ad the Thelonious Monk Institute which they have been doing since 2014.

As far as we know, this is the Batam Jazz Society’s first visit to jazz community in Bandung and also the first time they officially joined the jazz community event in our hometown. For you jazz lovers in Bandung, it’s your chance to see how jazz Batam actually is, and do give them a warm welcome by coming to their show.

Now, let’s talk about the next featured band, W.ID MUSIC EXPERIENCE. This is a music entertainment for any occasion such as event, gathering, wedding and so on. Speaking of wedding, W.ID has been doing tremendously well, especially in jazz theme. Founded in 30 March 2013 by pianist/composer/arranger Widiyanto Sutanto, W.ID has also landed in many jazz events. He also loves to make music score and big band/orchestration arrangements either on jazz standards or any other well known songs, reaching all the way to semi-jazz/pop jazz, pop, soul, RnB and rockestra.

Step aside of the W.ID, Widiyanto runs a band called Out of 7. The band is not that active right now since the personnels are currently busy with their own lives, but when needed, they would quickly regrouped and ready to sail. Other than that, he has been serving and helping churces for more than a decade, as a player, arranger and so on. He’s bee involved a couple of times in gospel recordings and has made some songs which have blessed so many people.

Another thing we have to mention is that he was one of the semi-finalist of Master-Jam Competition, a world-scale jazz competitions held in Ukraine with judges filled with tens of seniors, legends and music/art masters from all around the world. Eventhough he didn’t win, being able to go through util that point is surely quite an achievement.

For this gig he will bring his most trustable team. That’s including his own wife, drummer Marissa Wiguna, guitarist Daniel Christy, bassist Reinhard Woran, saxophonist Eric Chandra, trumpeter Wisnu Maulana and Rizky Jonathan (vocal). We heard that Widiyanto is going to bring more troops, so it’s going to be crowded for sure.

Today he’s running and developing the music entertainment with his wife Marissa. They have spiced up many weddings with jazz, so now we have the chance to see how good this music entertainment really is without having to be in the wedding or having to spend money. Another thing, since we have just passed the Valentine’s Day, we could feel love translated through music by real life couple in big sized band. We know they are good, we know they are solid and successful, now we invite them in this edition so you can enjoy this music entertainment too.

Last but not least, we gladly welcome a young pianist who impressed us with his skill in both playing and composing. This lad’s name is Steven Christian, landig on our stage as STEVEN CHRISTIAN QUARTET. If you haven’t heard his name, it’s because he’s still studying at UPH Jakarta. But make no mistake, he is a really good jazz pianist and excellent composer.

Steven Christian was born in Bandung on 9 March 1997. He encountered music at the early age of 5 by learning classical. Soon he fell in love with jazz. In order to get deep with it, he then learned jazz piano and took short course with senior and respected jazz piano teacher Yahya Salam. After that he decided to continue his study at the Universitas Pelita Harapan (UPH) in Lippo Karawaci in 2015, majoring jazz piano and pop performance. He’s mentored by none other than Sri Hanuraga, a young jazz piano virtuoso who established his career in Europe but now dedicated his life in Indonesia, both as a playing musician and in the field of education.

Although Steven is still a student, he has performed in numerous music events, clubs and even prestigious jazz festivals including the Java Jazz Festival, Bogor Jazz Festival, Locafore Jazz Festival, Jazz Reunion ad so on. He has also being awarded many times in various music events and competition as the best keyboardist.

From 2016 to 2017 Steven started writing his own compositions. He is now in the process of finishing his debut album “In Real Time”, set to go ito the recording soon in March 2018. The album features Steven’s quartet consisting of guitarist Jabez Chan, drummer Alman Naufal and bassist Timothy Investario.

This is the exact team that Steve will bring in. It’s always exciting to feature young lions like this, especially those who already play like a long time pro. Together with his mates, Steven Christian will surely make a big wave in our jazz scene soon and stands among the top cats.

Based on everything we spilled above about the featured bands, we’re sure you agree that the lineup in the JAZZUALITY @ TP .05 is just as interesting as the previous edition. Once again, the JAZZUALITY @ TP .05 will come next week on Sunday, 25 February 2018 , starting at 7:00 pm onwards at the TP Stage, The Papandayan Hotel. It’s totally FREE of any charge. We hope you come and give love to this musicians, and support our community. Musicians from three cities are ready to pleasure you with each of their jazz style, make sure you won’t miss it!

JAZZUALITY @ TP .05

Date: Sunday, 25 February 2018
Time: 07:00 pm – onwards
Location: TP Stage, The Papandayan Hotel
Jl. Jendral Gatot Subroto no 83, Bandung

FREE EVENT!

Featuring:

:: BATAM JAZZ SOCIETY :: (Batam – Kepulauan Riau)
Tchepy Wijaya Soekardi – guitar
Muhammad Gusrianto – bass
Andika Chandra -drum

:: W.ID MUSIC EXPERIENCE ::
Widiyanto Sutanto – keys
Marissa Wiguna – drum

:: STEVEN CHRISTIAN QUARTET ::
Steven Christian – keys
Jabez Chan -guitar
Timothy Investario – bass
Alman Naufal – drum

Not only in the Chinese mainland, around sixth of the world’s population celebrates the Chinese New Year. This year the celebration begins on 6th of February, marking the beginning of The Year of The Dog, Earth Dog to be exact. Chinese New Year is also called Lunar New Year since it is dated based on the Chinese lunar calendar, some called it Spring Festival because it comes in the springtime. Our partners for 4 years, the Braga CityWalk which is located at the historical Braga street in Bandung makes a special program to celebrate it and use “Flowerichious From East” as the name, running from February 4th until March 2, 2018. Variety of events are made within the program, including our jazz community event, the BRAGA JAZZ NIGHT.

This month the BRAGA JAZZ NIGHT has reached the 44th edition, and got a special theme “Shanghai Night Jazz”. The stage is decorated with lampoons, and the surroundings are made specifically for the mall-goers would feel like watching jazz live performances in Shanghai. We decided to suit the theme, but of course without leaving our main reason in making this regular event, that is to support the young musicians and keep pushing the regeneration process. Plus, we always wish to present the wide variety of jazz by inviting bands with unique concept and make jazz accesible to the society. By combining them all, we created the basic concept for this special edition.

Performing first was the students from an educational art institute in Bandung GITA BAWANA. This school intends to enhance the productivity of its students from the creativity sides by providing variety of classes including Music Course, Music Production, Traditional and Modern Dance Course and Modelling. This school is a blessing for us since through one of the teacher Zahar Mustilaq they have been kindly supporting us from last year with the instruments, particularly drum and keyboard. Without their support, it’d be impossible for us to keep this event running.

Gita Bawana sent its best students to represent its jazzy side. The owner Daniel Denzel was there too supporting them. Apparently, this institute has a lot of talented kids as the troops are big in size. Teachers YD Nafis (piano), Zahar Mustilaq (drum) and Luqman Hertanto (bass) took their position then called a little boy named Bintang to take the second keyboard. This set went sailing with a famous song from The Sound of Music, “My Favorite Things”. Bintang is still a little boy, but he didn’t look nervous at all to play with the teachers.

Next, Zahar called Anita and Kurnia Rizky Husar to join them. Anita is even younger than Bintang. She’s currently in the 2nd grade of the elementary school and has been learning in Gita Bawana for a year. Husar is a high school student. They took “Over the Rainbow”. Anita has a soft little girl voice but she can reach high notes while maintaining her pitch really well. As for Huzar, eventhough he’s still in his 3 months studying there, he could already play good jazz with guitar.

Novira replaced Husar on guitar and the mike moved to Agnes for a famous song in the early 80’s from Nikka Costa, “First Love”. Just like Husar, Novira gave a good round while Agnes did her best in front. Next, the vocal coach/teacher Mirna Nurmala joined her fellow teachers to sing one of Chrisye’s big hits “Kala Cinta Menggoda”. We already know Mirna is a good singer, starting with her part as the vocalist of Continuum and then at the turn of her process in solo career, we have featured her too a while ago. It’s just nice to see her again, this time as a teacher with Zahar, Luqman and Yopi.

All teachers left the stage, replaced by all students of Gita Bawana. They are Yehuda (drum), Carina (bass), Evelyn (keyboard), James (guitar) and three girls on vocal: Naomi, Ferren and Astrid. They took Bruno Mars’ famous song “That’s What I Like” as the last drop. It’s certainly great to see them having fun on stage and played just as cool as their mentors. While the musicians produced solid sound with their gears, the singers gave lovely vocal harmony with no flaw. Adorable but strong performance from them.

The young guns parade from a well-established art educational institute Gita Bawana gave a warm opening to this Special Chinese New Year Edition. The combination of students and teachers also shows how close they are, which makes us think that the learning process in this institute must be fun. These kids and teens are surely new to live performance like this. Perhaps this one is even their first, yet they don’t look nervous.They enjoyed every moment, which for us is far more important than making a gig a skill showcase.

In the end, music and performances should be able to entertain both the players and audience. And, it should connect both sides. Since they are still young, time is on their side. We won’t be surprise if one day some and hopefully all of them make waves in our music scene. We have collaborated with some music schools in Bandung that speak jazz loud, they are really good schools, it ‘s indeed a blessing for this city, the nation and jazz.

The next session marks the return of a multi-faceted band. Led by a pianist who has a strong jazz soul Widiyanto Sutanto, this band has actually climbed quite high in just 2 years. It’s the OUT OF 7. 

The band was established in 2013 consisting of a group of friends who regularly served at a church in Bandung. Except Widiyanto Sutanto, the band has his wife Marissa Wiguna (drum), Herman Yulianto (guitar) and Abet Darmaji (bass). The band came alive not long after the leader Widiyanto advanced to the second round of an international jazz competition Soon after they got a vocalist Erick Gabe who also co-hosts this event since day one. With this formation they found their existance very well, from their first hatch in Klab Jazz’s event to the prestigious Red White Lounge in Jakarta to festivals such as Kampoeng Jazz, Espose and JakJazz. Sometimes they added another guitarist Daniel Christy or got a sub bassist Reinhard Woran.

They have made a couple of original songs, where one became their first single, “Kita Indonesia.” Ironically, when everything seemed to be on their side, the band suddenly went on ‘unusual’ hiatus. We say unusual, because occassionally they regrouped to make special appereances here and there. They haven’t appeared anywhere for around 2 years. Luckily when we offered the band leader to participate in this Chinese New Year edition, they agreed to resurface like the old days.

The solo drum from the only lady in the band quickly grabbed the attention of everyone. Marissa had comfortable time to have fun with the drum which turned out to be the opening of Dave Brubeck’s masterpiece, “Take Five”. Widiyanto followed his wife in developing magic with the keys. A lot of twists were found, showing how much they missed running loose on jazz stage with such joy. Herman and Abet did their part tight and enjoyed their moment when they got their turn. It was a sharp, quite surprising opening from them.

The Out of 7 then slowed down with a bossa classic from Jobim, “The Girl From Ipanema”. Instead of making it simple, they explored all the possibilities of making it interesting with improvisations. So eventhough it wasn’t as manic as the first one, this gem got quite a treat as well.

Realizing that this event was meant to be a special Chinese New Year edition, they played an ageless Mandarin song from the great Taiwanese singer, Teresa Teng titled “Yue Liang Dai Biao Wo De Xin” (in English: “The Moon Represents My Heart”). This very romantic song is still found in many weddings here in Indonesia as well as in the playlist of many people. It was a surprise to see them making a swing version of this. The sweet melody was very well kept, yet they made it as if it was a jazz song, thanks to the smart arrangement by Widiyanto.

Enough with the ballads and smooth tracks, they took a different road by serving funky jazz by covering Lee Ritenour’s “Rio Funk”. High dose of funk were poured in this one, as we saw some ladies swaying on the far right side of the stage. Plenty of goodies were captured in this one as they totally funked us out.

After all these pretty intense servings, they eventually came to the last one, taking on a masterpiece of John Coltrane which was found in his legendary studio album “Giant Steps”, “Mr. PC”. This song is tributing bass player Paul Chambers who was with him for many years and has been known as a major vehicle for jazz improvisation that every jazz musicians should be familiar with. Widiyanto and his fellows seems to know it as they kept the bone structure intact but let the even more ferocious improvisations flowing freely in its veins under pleasuring jamming spirit. All of them released everything they had inside on this one. The trading punches between Marissa and Abet was really captivating, and the way they did their solo runs gave compliment to the fun of jazz playing. It was a final blow that knocked us all out.

This band actually has the x-factor that makes their gig interesting. The no-ordinary arrangement, the blazing finger-dancing over the keys, the lethal young female drummer who deceives people with her cute look, blues-rock oriented guitarist and groovy bassist, put it together then you got the soul of Out of 7. We haven’t seen the band reformed again for two years, but we can see now they still actually have all their uniqueness which has took them fly up high. We always believe that this band is really solid as one team. Probably it wasn’t clearly seen before, but it surely is now. We could also feel how much they miss running wild on jazz stage and playing together. We do hope they won’t go hybernating again after this, because with what they have, they should be able to speak loud in the music scene.

For the last band we featured a band consisting of young musicians that takes a course not many dare to go anymore, the Prog Jazz. The band is named BLUE OCEAN PROJECT (BOP).

This band was born as the brainchild of a pianist rooted in jazz but never stop exploring, Ditra Prasista and drummer with different punches, Rio Abror. They began just by two, said to be inspired by the one and only Rudess Morgenstein Project before the band got bigger by having more players. First they became trio with Fuuji Kyra joined in 2015, then they got Leviana Puteri and Meita Yunita filled the vocal lines a year later. The vocal part moved to Kharisma Hakiki then to Didin Ginanjar. After that, the band added two more players: Dwi Fari on flute and Erwin Apriliadi on sax.

The Blue Ocean Project began in the format of four with Ditra, Abror, Fuuji and Didin, presenting their own version of a song by Tillery – a uniquely gifted trio of respected vocalists – written by its member Gretchen Parlato and Magnus Thompson-Marcelin titled “Magnus”. Right from this first choice we could clearly see that this band brings jazz in different atmosphere. Sharp, explorative yet friendly to even the non jazz listeners. Surely wasn’t easy, but they somehow know how to bring it naturally.

From there, the band pinned a song found in Robert Glasper’s 2005 album on Blue Note label, “Rise and Shine”. In this one the Blue Ocean Project decreased its size to just trio, but even so, they delivered even louder sound. Abror roared wild behind the drum, like a soldier shooting the machine gun with unlimited ammo and hit the target every time. This formation highlighted the second formation of BOP which would work perfectly had they continued on being a trio.

Enough with cover song, Ditra then announced that the last two songs would be their originals. Starting with “Delusion”, the founders Ditra and Abror showed the true core of BOP and how much colors their music pallette has. All members then gathered for one last tune titled “Lunar”. Starting with sparkling solo piano by Ditra, the rest of them started filling up the song until it became full rounded. For us this song is a masterpiece, a celebration of third stream in its finesse. The humming voice of Didin sprinkled more magic into this song, while the combination of flute and saxophone enhanced the sound significantly. For us, this song is a winner. Brilliantly composed, cleanly executed.

It’s important for us to bring in and support a band with different concept to show that Bandung and in general, Indonesia actually have wide diversity of jazz. Creative brains like Ditra and Abror are urgently needed if we want to see jazz being developed bigger and wider. The Blue Ocean Project is currently working on their first album using something quite ‘scary’ as the theme, Schyzophrenia. Interesting concept nicely done. We have been trying to invite this band since some months ago, finally we go them and plan to bring them back again, hopefully when they are promoting the album. If anyone ask, is prog jazz still exists today in Indonesia, now we can say: yes it is. In the hands of Blue Ocean Project, not only prog jazz would live on but also would get the chance to appear in a new face.

As we got the big 10 of Indonesian Idol Jr 2017 Akbar Herliansyah and his reliable partner Hudda, we gave them a shot before we sealed the event. They took Willie Nelson’s everlasting ballad “Crazy”. Once again Akbar let all his heart out in singing the song, something that for us become his forte. Both of Akbar and Hudda are still very young, so we do hope by encountering jazz early, they would have plenty of time to explore and find their own grip in it.

This edition for us is uniquely describes the heart of Braga Jazz Night. We always want to push and support the regeneration of young musicians by giving them a chance to perform since early age, we try to ‘wake’ the bands that we think is good but currently inactive, and showcasing the different form of jazz from creative brains. We thank every participating musicians for giving up their best. We will be back again next month with another set, we hope to still have your support as well as being able to meet your expectation of a variety and good quality of jazz. See you again in March!

Watch the highlights of Braga Jazz Night 44:

See more pictures:

Reporter and photographer: Riandy Kurniawan
Video Editor: Vierna Mariska Kurniawan .

In this February we are fortunate to be able to run JAZZUALITY @ TP twice. We have received overwhelming requests by musicians from Bandung and other cities to participate in this event. And that’s quite surprising since we actually just started last November. With so many musicians to accomodate, from the young guns who still need to gain experience to the established musicians who need to promote their new project or album. By having two shots, we could support more bands than usual.

So, what do we get in the Jazzuality @ TP 05? If in the previous one we showcased the magic of traditional musics from West Java and West Sumatra brought progressively in jazz and the fantastic nu soul singer in her single promo, this time we were focusing more on jazz. Swing, bebop, straightahead and the joy of having an octet complete with brass section. From the regional side, this edition stands out differently because each band came from different cities. One representing the well established community in Batam Kepulauan Riau, one from Jakarta and one from Bandung. As you can see, this edition also stands in its own way.

The rain poured really hard outside since an hour before we started. We was worried that no one would come under the terrible weather. But surprisingly, while the rain was still heavy, the audience started coming and made the TP Stage became full house in just a short time! We feel really happy with it since this venue is not a mall that has its own shoppers. In other words, it needs efforts for them to reach here. Looking at this fact, we highly appreciate it and send our gratitude and respect to everyone who came to support the musicians, our community and the event. Thank you!

We began with the band of highly talented young musicians from Jakarta, led by a pianist who is still studying at the Universitas Pelita Harapan (UPH), Steven Christian. As he is the band leader, he simply named his band as STEVEN CHRISTIAN QUARTET. As we have mentioned, he is still very young, born in 1997. But make no mistake, he is already a really good jazz musicians. By having this kind of special talent, he rose fast and gained his chance to taste the prestigious events like Java Jazz Festival, Bogor Jazz Festival, Locafore Jazz Festival, Jazz Reunion ad so on. He has also being awarded many times in various music events and competition as the best keyboardist. In some ways, he reminds us of young Sri Hanuraga (Aga), a jazz virtuoso who is now based in Jakarta, and that’s no surprise since Steven is a proud student of Aga.

Since last year he started writing his own compositions, which of course would lead on making up an album. And that’s what he is working on right now. What he brings for this event are the exact same team as the recordings: Jabez Chan on guitar,Timothy Investario on contrabass (he is a proud student of Indrawan Tjhin) and a drummer based in Bandung who has helped us a lot, Alman Naufal. Steven’s debut album already has the title, it’s “In Real Time”. We have heard some of the compositions in his instagram, all are made really fine as if they are written by a long time pro.

Steven Christian Quartet is consisting of young musicians who are mostly students, but they surprisingly played like longtime pros. All songs are original and brilliantly made. Right from the very first one titled “Pepperoni”, Steven’s band exploded and put everyone at the edge of their seats. Intense, dynamic and filled with all the fun of jazz that makes us fall in love with, including a tight trading between the drummer and the rest of them.

For the next song Steven explained that it was built upon the rhythm changing. Thunderous drumming from Alman gave us a clue that this song was going to be something. And yes it was. “On the Riverside” has a very complex rhythm, certainly not easy but they all made it like a jolly playground. The audience rewarded them loud and long applause.

After two full action-packed songs, Steven Christian went romancing with his sweet ballad, “You and Me” made in 3/4 time. This song is really beautiful, it’s like watching a lovely couple waltzing together under the moonlight with love. After that, Steven played the soon-to-be title track for his upcoming debut album, “In Real Time.” These boys were like having their energy restored, they went speeding with this uplifting composition in extreme pace.

The way Steven played really reminds us of his mentor, Sri Hanuraga. Steven’s fingers streaming fast like bullets, so fast that we couldn’t see them with naked eyes anymore. As he went mad on piano, the rest of the band traveled with the same speed of light, in real time. Alman gave even heavier thunderous beatings, Timothy hit everything right while exploring the fret of his contrabass and Jabez shared the melodious spotlight with Steven. Just like the previous ones, they all got their own shining moment which gave them lots of applauses, cheers and even shouts from the crowds.

We thought it was the climax, but we got one last treat, a grand, glorious original composition titled “Remember Me”. With this kind of composition and execution, we believe everyone presented in the room will remember them.

A triumphant show it was. The fired-up performances, the winning jazz compositions, the dynamics, the way they build each piece and hit the momentum, the skill, passion and perhaps dreams, the fun factor, all fell in the right place, a wicked showdown of young wizs that far exceeded our expectation.

A band like Steven Christian Quartet is what we are looking for, the main reason of why we keep our community event running. Once again we see the evidence that age is just numbers when it comes to music. As the band leader, Steven successfully shows a good leadership. He gave enough room for his mates to shine, but when he got his turn, he didn’t waste even a bit. From time to time we see the birth of great jazz musicians, in this one we witness it again. We have no doubt that Steven could become the next Sri Hanuraga, Timothy would one day stand like his mentor, Indrawan Tjhin, and Jabez and Alman also have the same bright future. Fun to watch, high-octane, really entertaining action and lovely songs, these young lions are really something.

For the next round we warmly welcome a solid community from another city quite far away from our homebase. It’s a trio representing the BATAM JAZZ SOCIETY, came all the way from the wonderful city of Batam, Kepulauan Riau (Riau Archipelago). The trio is motored by a swingin’ jazz guitarist Tchepy Wijaya Soekardi, former student of the living legend Oele Pattiselano and Kadek Rahardika. On bass was the bassist of unique Melayu fusion band Geliga, Muhammad Gusrianto (Ryan) and Sofyan Nur (Yayan), the new drummer of Geliga who came in at the last minute, they reflected how lively the jazz scene in Batam today.

The Batam Jazz Society was established more than 18 years ago, just a year before the millenium to be exact. Since then, they have been penetrating the city with jazz, performed by so many great talents. They also proudly held the International Jazz Day in Batam, officially chosen by UNESCO ad the Thelonious Monk Institute which they have been doing since 2014. This community has plenty of events and so many great jazz musicians.

We never met Rian and Yayan before, but not Tchepy. We met him for the first time at Asean Jazz Festival 2012 in Batam. At that time he still played fusion, but soon after that he switched to swing. We think it’s the right decision since he has a delicate swing soul just like his teacher Oele. We became close friends with him since last year by communicating a lot eventhough we live in different cities.

Right after we introduced them and the jazz community, they went swingin’/soul boppin’ with a song from Hank Mobley, “This I Dig of You”. Tchepy let his swingin soul flew out naturally through his fingers, complimented with the melodic rhythm from Ryan and exactly the right amount of beat from Yayan. Just the three of them, yet the sound was fully round.

The second song was Tchepy’s original composition that he wrote just a couple of days before he came to Bandung. Originally it was named “Simpang Jam”, the new fly over in Batam, but to make it easier to remember, Ryan suggested the title “Flyover”. This song is brilliantly made. It has the cool avant funk feel like what we found in Medeski Martin and Wood (MMW)’s signature. Just a couple of hours earlier this trio went into the Studio 8 in Bandung to record this song and made it done in just one simple take. This is the kind of song that would make you feel high without taking any drugs. For the last song, the trio selected a classic from 1940 that we don’t hear so often anymore, “Broadway”. This jazz standard has been long associated with the Count Basie Orchestra, but Tchepy, Ryan and Yayan could work it nicely with just a trio.

It’s certainly fascinating to be able to bring the authentic Batam jazz scene to Bandung. And we are really happy to have our buddy Tchepy back with two new friends from a fellow community far away, the Batam Jazz Society, to be with us. Not just the spirit of friendship and togetherness, but we share the same amount of love to jazz and hope for a better jazz future here in Indonesia. May we continue to work side by side, and we wish Batam Jazz Society and everyone living inside it the best. Thank you for coming guys! Keep jazzin’ up Batam and never stop contributing to Indonesian jazz scene!

Whether you realize it or not, jazz has becoming a favorite theme in wedding parties. As we want to expose the jazz scene in real life, we think it’s important to bring this kind of side too. From time to time we invite bands or musicians who exist in weddings. This time we featured one of the most successful ones in Bandung especially with its jazz core, the W.ID MUSIC EXPERIENCE.

W.ID Music Experience was established in March 2013 by a pianist/composer/arranger Widiyanto Sutanto. This man is a genius in music, has a very good hearing and also able to make compositions and arrangements either on jazz standards or any other well known songs, from semi jazz, pop jazz, pop, soul, RnB and even Rockestra. Speaking of size, he is capable to make the arrangements for big band and orchestra too, amazingly all self-taught.

If you wonder how he could do that, we think it’s his activity at church plays a big role, something he has been doing for more than a decade. He’s been jazzin’ up the church along the way, and that’s the reason why we’re connected with him some years ago. As an evidence of his jazz skill, he reached the semi-final of a worldwide jazz competition, the Master-Jam Competition held in Ukraine. Not long after that, he founded his own band called Out of 7 which remarkably reached some prestigious international jazz festivals such as Kampoeng Jazz, Espose and JakJazz. The band is currently on hiatus, but even so, we just brought the band back to life just a couple of days ago at our event in another spot, the Braga Jazz Night Special Chinese New Year edition (http://jazzuality.com/jazz-event-report/braga-jazz-night-44-shanghai-night-jazz-the-report/).

In this event as mentioned earlier, we feature his successful music/wedding entertainment W.ID that he’s running with his wife, drummer Marissa Wiguna. They have been hired not just in Bandung but also in another cities or even nations. As the W.ID has been consistently specialized in jazz weddings and events, we invited them for the first time in full team to bring the jazzy wedding scene in this event.

And yes, full team is what he really brought. Joining him for this gig are Marissa Wiguna (drum), Daniel Christy (guitar), Reinhard Woran (bass), two saxophonist Erik Chandra and Aziz, and a male singer who made a successful attempt in The Voice Indonesia two years ago, Rizki Jonathan.

John Coltrane’s classic dedicated to bassist Paul Chambers, “Mr PC” was first. Quite bumpy at first, but then Widiyanto quickly dealt with the situation. This song showcased sax duel in the frontline, something that we don’t get to see often. Erik and Aziz teased, mocked and battled each other, creating an entertaining show. The band leader used his keyboard more than just an instrument to sound some jazz but also like a control panel to make sure that everyone in the band functioned just like the plan.

The second song was a classic instrumental funk that was found in the B-side of James Brown’s single in 1969 but then made famous by Jaco Pastorius, “Chicken”. The battle between brassmen continued on while Marissa on drums, Daniel Christy on guitar and Reinhard Woran on bass got more space to expose themselves. This funky jazz tunes were popular among jazz musicians and fans as many of them in the venue enjoyed it. Marissa’s solo run was rewarded loud applauses. Significant response were given too to the rest of players whenever they finished their solo runs.

The vocalist of W.ID Music Experience Rizki Jonathan then came onto the stage. Rizki is a young singer with heavy soulful singing voice that has gained experience in some talent searches show on television, most notably when he went all the way to the battle rounds of The Voice Indonesia 2016 (Season 2) under guidance of coach Ari Lasso. With him, the WID presented a song written by Widiyanto that calls for peace and unity among us titled “Kita Indonesia” (“We Are Indonesia”). Unlike the original version, this one is made more cheerful and upbeat. If usually we hear it through the RnB vocal style of Erick Gabe, now we know that the song fits very well too with Rizki’s deep heavy soulful voice.

For the last two songs, Rizki told everyone that they were going to bring two songs of Phat Phunktion, a band from USA who combines the 70’s funk, jazz, RnB and the smooth 60’s soul. The song they chose were “Well Run Dry” and “Knockin’ em Down”, both from “High Fidelity” album in 2011. A cool selection that we don’t get to hear often, it became a funky party that officially sealed this fifth edition of Jazzuality @ TP.

We realize that it wasn’t easy to manage a heavy artilery like this. So we can understand that some flaws were found in it. But what we can learn from them is how to deal with any obstacles that occur during a performance and keep going strong until the end. That’s also a valuable thing to learn. Speaking of fun factor, they did it very well. The fired-up appearance from them are highly enjoyable. In the end, music should be able to entertain people. The cute lady with remarkable drumming skill, the leader with strong jazzy spirit, good bassist and guitarist and the cool sax duel in front, the funk bites, jazz chops and sharp solo punches were found in this act. Probably they don’t have to play this wild in wedding parties, but when there’s a chance, they can go high too on jazz stage. Keep the success up W.ID Music Entertainment! Don’t stop jazzin’ up the weddings and other parties!

Since we still got some spare time, we invited the musicians to jam. The first batch got Tchepy Wijaya Soekardi (guitar), Steven Christian (piano), Timothy Investario (using Ryan’s electric contrabass) and Jabez’s younger brother, Jesse Chan (drum). They went boppin’ with Charlie Parker’s “Confirmation”.

Christian stayed on stage and joined by Marissa Wiguna (drum), Muhammad ‘Ryan’ Gusrianto (bass) and Jabez Chan (guitar). This second team took on Duke Ellington’s gem “Take the A Train”. Since the vocalist of Serendipity Habbits who has a very unique style and appearance Madam’s Rama was there, we invited him to take a bite. Accompanied by husband-wife Widiyanto Sutanto (piano) and Marissa (drum), he gave tribute to Frank Sinatra including a cool take on “Fly Me To The Moon”.

Three bands, three showcases representing three cities makes this fifth edition stands differently. Add a happening jam session, that’s what this event is all about. We thank all musicians who participated, the soundman, Mr Bobby Renaldi as the GM of The Papandayan, Mr Doni the manager of TP Stage and everyone who came to have fun with us. We can never make it without you.

We will be back on 25 March 2018 for another special edition. This time a trio of wild, mad men will come to tear down the house. Yes, it’s LIGRO TRIO in complete formation (guitarist Agam Hamzah, bassist Adi Darmawan and drummer Gusti Hendy ‘GIGI’), they are set to launch their new album “TRANSISI” in Bandung. Warning: their music is controversial, haunting, provocative and even brutal! If you haven’t heard them just yet, get yourself ready because this trio will shake your perception of music, particularly jazz. Please save the date from now, we hope to see you again next month!

See more pictures:

Reporter & Photographer : Riandy Kurniawan   .

For jazz aficionados in Indonesia, the month of March is important since the biggest jazz event in the world, the Java Jazz Festival has been taking places in this month since more than a decade ago. For us, every month is equally important since we are running the community based events to encourage and support young musicians to step up the plate, the successful ones who wish to share the fun with us and bringing variety of jazz closer and accessible to the society. We began this mission around 5 years ago, we still have the same excitement today in doing it.

Here’s the 45th edition of Braga Jazz Night. This event was previously called Braga Jazz Walk, came to life about 4 years ago and have featured hundreds of musicians/bands. For the BRAGA JAZZ NIGHT #45 we are going to feature three different sides of jazz brought by variety of musicians, from those who have been doing it for more than two decades digging the unique sound using the combination of all stringed instruments, the band of youngsters from Majalaya and a remarkable young teenage boy who did really well in a famous talent search program on tv last year. This edition is coming soon on Thursday, 15 March 2018 at Braga CityWalk Bandung, starting from 7:00 pm until 10:00 pm. Like always, it’s FREE of charge!

Allow us to break down the lineup. Let us start by asking, have you ever wonder how jazz would sound from the combination of violin, guitar and contrabass? The reason why we ask is because this combination is rarely found in jazz scene, especially in Indonesia. From the rarity, we remember the late Didier Lockwood made up a trio with this format around 6 or 7 years ago when he paid respect to the jazz manouche legend Stéphane Grappelli. Speaking of Grappelli, he founded a quintet with Django Reinhardt in mid 30’s which is said to be one of the fist all-string jazz bands. Now, we are proud to be able to present a trio consisting of magnificent experienced and high skilled musicians: violinist Ammy Kurniawan, guitarist Opik Bape and bassist Rudy Zulkarnaen. What’s the name of the trio? We asked Ammy, and he comes up with TRIO BIGIBAS , named after their instruments: Biola, Gitar and Bass (Violin, Guitar and Bass).

These musicians have been establishing friendships for many years. Ammy and Rudy are together in some bands such as the stunning 4Peniti and Rudy & Band Listrik. Interestingly, Opik should be familiar with the concept since as a fingerstyle guitarist he’s been going vintage, reaching as far as the roaring 20’s, not just the American songbook but also the golden French Gypsy Swing/Jazz Manouche from Django and Stephane era.

According to Ammy, this trio has just begun and planned to keep its existance. “We want to keep the band permanent, not just a one time project. Other may come in, but the core will always be the three of us.” he said. The Trio BiGiBass is a solid pack of strong lions. If each of them is a master of their respective instrument, imagine what would happen when they join forces. Relating to George Lucas’ Star Wars, this is going to be like a showdown of three Jedi masters. In the name of uniqueness on concept, instruments used or formation, Trio BiGiBas will take you to the side of jazz rarely visited. The flamboyant violinist, the calm guitarist and the groove power-house bassist will bring to you new experience. Don’t miss it!

Following the success of Indonesian Idol, the Indonesian Idol Junior was made to find the talented young singers. One of the finalists of Indonesian Idol Junior season 2 is Akbar Herliansyah, a boy now 14 years old. He gave a good fight all the way to the last 10 when he failed to proceed only because he got lesser number of text-based votes. Eventhough he ended up in that position, he should be proud because he successfully got so many fans. No less than 34.000 fans are found in his instagram, showing that he is really talented and loved by so many people. Due to his participation and achievement in that singing competition, he earns the right to be called AKBAR IDOL JUNIOR. 

When we served as the judge of Jazzphoria, a jazz competition made by MLD last month, Akbar was one of the participants. In the competition he partnered with Hudda, a young pianist around the same age as him. Continuing what’s left from the time we saw him on tv, he actually has been enhanced in singing technique especially in feel. The way he sings is full with emotion. He connects with his heart in singing every line of each song which enables us to feel what he feels. Later on we talked with him, his parents and manager, and found out that he is into jazz but hasn’t been given enough chance in the Indonesian Idol Junior competition to utilize it. We believe jazz community could provide him a chance for a good start and grow along his jazz journey. We see passion. We see good spirit. We feel his energy, wishes and dreams. And he is serious. He kept coming to our events and took part whenever possible.

In this 45th edition finally we could provide him a slot to perform. To show how serious he is, he quickly forms a band to accompany him on this first attempt in a jazz event. We are still waiting for the names at this moment, we will updated it once we have the info from his manager.

In any of our event we always think of finding fresh young talents. They have been one of the main reasons of our existance. We really like Akbar Herliansyah, not only because his talent and passion in jazz, but also for being a good-hearted, humble boy. He is still 14, but we can learn from him on how to sing our heart out, making each song like the story of our lives and share it to whoever listen, melodically. Ended up being a top 10 of a popular talent search competition like Indonesian Idol Jr is certainly not a failure but a huge achievement. That was then, now Akbar is stepping in to the new chapter of his career, where jazz becomes the road he takes. We hope to see him enjoying his jazz moment on our stage, may his participation in this event give benefit to his singing career.

Still from the Jazzphoria competition we found out that jazz is alive and kicking in Majalaya city. There were several bands from this city, which is located around 50 km from Bandung by car, that are really good. This time we feature one of those bands that became the runner up of the competition, SAVASIKA.

This band came to life around 6 or 7 years ago and have been gone through ups and downs. They gave a good fight against many obstacles which makes the band able to keep its existance until today. At first the band has no vocalist, yet amazingly they never gave up. The guitarist joined some times around 3 years ago, while finally they got the vocalist they were looking for in 2016.

Today Savasika comprises of Erfan Iksan Fauzi (vocal), Ryzky Ramdhan (keyboard), Tomy Fhaisal (bass), Wili Rizki Ismail (drum), Naufal Fakhrudin Trisna (percussions) and either Kiki Gusdiana or Rian Ahmad Fauzi (RAF) on guitar.

This band already has some original songs, including “Berteman” which you can watch on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfajrThJsN8 .

As we said before, the road is not always smooth for Savasika. There were times that it was difficult to find gigs, they had to pause the band too for a while due to the busy activities of the personnels. But what’s good about them is they always bounce back. Without this kind of spirit, we won’t be able to see their existance today. They believe in one another and they have faith in the band. That’s why we love their fun-flowing performance in the competition. And now, we are happy to feature them right here.

The jam session will be provided afterwards if we still have some spare time until the mall ends its service. Everyone is invited. Just let us know, bring your gear and do join. It’s that simple.

Once again, the Braga Jazz Night #45 is coming soon on Thursday, 15 March 2018, starting from 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm at the Braga CityWalk. It’s totally, absolutely FREE of charge! Do come to support the bands and our jazz community, for we can’t keep running without you guys. Either you only want to watch or wish to participate, this event is yours. See you!

BRAGA JAZZ NIGHT #45

Date: Thursday, 15 March 2018
Time: 07:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Location: Braga CityWalk, Jl. Braga 99-101 Bandung

FREE!

Featuring:

:: BIGIBAS ::
Ammy Kurniawan – violin
Rudy Zulkarnaen – contrabass
Opik Bape – guitar

:: SAVASIKA ::
rfan Iksan Fauzi – vocal
Ryzky Ramdhan – keyboard
Tomy Fhaisal – bass
Wili Rizki Ismail – drum
Naufal Fakhrudin Trisna – percussions
Kiki Gusdiana/Rian Ahmad Fauzi (RAF) – guitar.

:: AKBAR IDOL JUNIOR ::
Akbar Herliansyah – vocal
tba

Both local and international tourists should visit Lembang if they come to Bandung. This upper side of West Bandung has a cool temperature with so many tourist attractions that would be perfect to getaway from the daily hectic life. Other than shopping and spending time in the amusement parks, you can enjoy the beautiful landscapic nature along with having the best of culinary delights at the same time.

Speaking of which, there’s a must-visit place located in the Maribaya area of Lembang that has been running for more than a decade, BURGUNDY DINE & WINE @ Pramestha Resort. This place offers a taste of luxury in romantic feels through the combination of nature-inspired surroundings and the classic renaissance old Dutch building. You can enjoy the best culinary Bandung can offer ranging from Indonesian, Asian and Western food. And what’s even cooler is, you can try pairing it with their large collection of wines, making your dining experience enhanced dramatically while enjoying the breathtaking nature view of the surrounding area.

Responding to Burgundy and Pramestha’s wish to have a good jazz entertainment in order to spoil the guests even more as well as attracting more people to spend some of their leisure time with them, Jazzuality.com creates a new event called JAZZ & WINE. Unlike usual, this event will be served in the afternoon. we love the idea because other than it gives variety to our other running events, the audience will also be able to enjoy the performance and the cool view of the nature at the same time. Also, it will be good to run it earlier before the weather starts to get cold at night.

For this event we are also cooperating with the very popular radio in Indonesia especially among youngsters, 103,1 FM OZ Radio Bandung which is currently campaigning on the return of its once-happening jazz related program, JAZZY OZZIE. For us, partnering with OZ is a blessing since that means the musicians featured in this event will get the publicity and promotion from both online and on air.

Back to the event Jazz & Wine, it will be held on Saturday, 24 March 2018, starting from 4:00 pm til drop at the Burgundy Dine and Wine, Malabar, Lembang, Bandung. It’s FREE ENTRY and OPEN FOR PUBLIC.

For this event, if it’s continued to run, we will prioritize musicians/singers under the wings of our community who need promotions on their works. We do hope it could stimulate them to make their own compositions or songs because now they do have the channel that could help them in the promotional aspects. For this pilot episode, we feature two of the best talents ever appeared in our events. Both are amazingly gifted and have standout original masterpieces. They are AGIS KANIA and STEVEN CHRISTIAN QUARTET.

When we met AGIS KANIA around 5-6 years ago, we already knew that she’s a star in the making. Why not? This lady has everything needed to be a star. Rare 5-star vocal quality, charm and charismatic appearance. Let’s not forget that she’s a sweetheart too. At that time she was still serving as one of the vocalists of Gypsy Swing/Jazz Manouche guitar duo, Satura.

If you wonder how she could have it all, you should trace her life all the way from the beginning. First of all, she was born in a musical family, where jazz was not a stranger to her childhood. Yet she started making name in Pop Sundanese. In her childhood period, she had her first taste of success by making her song became the anthem of her hometown, Sukabumi, a town located around 90 something kilometers from Bandung.

She then tried her luck in traditional keroncong music, which made her voice be heard regularly in the national radio of Indonesia RRI. After that, she started digging American music in Bandung, having an encounter with soul, blues and jazz.

While having a standout soulful singing voice, she established her career upon jazz and blues. She found her existance strong in blues with the Blues Libre and jazz with Satura. Later on she reached another success as a duo created by Klab Jazz’s founder Dwi Cahya Yuniman named Agis Bape, pairing with fingerstyle guitarist Opik Bape resulting a single and one EP.

Unfortunately the duo didn’t last too long. She soon submerged and stayed low under the radar which went on for almost a year. Until one day, we heard that she re-appeared on the surface with a single in hand.

In the hands of Tabriz Muhajier ‘Ajier T-Five’ Effendy and Inal Chaniago, she became a real diamond. Ajier had a material with no lyrics just yet, and gave it to Agis. According to Ajier, it was Agis who he had in mind when he made the composition. “I couldn’t think of anyone else better to work this one out,” he said to us. Agis instantly loved the music and directly worked on the lyrics. All of a sudden, in a matter of hours, they already finished the recording session. This song marked her new chapter in Nu Soul, and the title of this single is “Baby You”. The sensual content of the song, the beautiful melody which includes EDM are ear catchy, plus the video clip is nicely done as well. All of a sudden, all eyes on her. She’s no longer a star in the making. She is now a star, a diva, a real diamond in the music scene.

Just last month she made the second big wave by realeasing her second single, “Erase My Number” aka “EMN”. This song is also produced by both Ajier and Inal, featuring a magical young bluesman, Ginda Bestari. If the first single successfully entered the charts in major digital outlets and purchased by music fans around the world, EMN continued her success. Even more, this single is being played over radio stations around the world, all the way to reach South Africa.

We already promoted her single in our event at the Papandayan Hotel in February where she performed in full team with both the producers Ajier T-Five and Inal Chaniago, Tulus’ drummer Fuad Rudyan and keyboardist Ezra Abraham, now we are bringing her in this event. Strangely enough, Burgundy Dine & Wine is not a stanger to her since she served regularly as Agis Bape in there some years ago. But this time she will appear in new status. Not a regular anymore but a featured star. The world is within reach now by her. With her passion, spirit and consistency, having a success internationally is just a matter of time. In fact, it’s already happening as we speak.

The next feature artist we have in this premiere edition is a group of young dudes from Jakarta and Bandung who surprised us big time when they made their debut performance for Jazzuality a couple of weeks ago. It’s STEVEN CHRISTIAN QUARTET.

Most of them are still students, but they could already play like a long time pro. Led by a pianist who is currently studying in Universitas Pelita Harapan, Steven Christian, this band has more than enough materials for an album. Steven Christian is a rare jazz talent, no doubt. But he is also in good hands since he is learning from one of the best, a piano genius who established his name in Europe before returning home and now serves as a teacher/active musician/composer, Sri Hanuraga (Aga). Before he entered UPH, he was guided by one of the most respected jazz piano teacher, Yahya Salam.

Steven plays miraculously well. He has a strong sense of dynamic and perfect skill, feel and speed. You should see how fast his fingers stream all over the key board, leaving nothing untouched. So fast that it’s difficult to see with naked eyes. Other than that, he is an excellent composer too. Look at how genius he makes all the original songs. With the help of his band mates, the songs appear ellegant in pure jazz as if all were made by legendary jazz cats. So, the combination of beautiful compositions, fine execution and fired-up performance makes this quartet stand in the different league.

No matter how genius the band leader is, it’s impossible to make it work perfectly without having a solid, great team. Steven is fortunate to have three buddies as his partners in crime. They are guitarist Jabez Chan, (contra)bassist Timothy Investario and drummer Alman Naufal. Alman was the student of Aga’s friend/musical partner Elfa Zulham, while Timothy is now mentored by a bass extraordinaire graduated from Netherlands, Indrawan Tjhin.

As you can see, most of these boys are still studying, but you’d be surprise to see how they play which reminds us of their teachers. Plenty of action, lots of twists, explorative and explosive will always be found in their appearance. For you who are into pure jazz/modern straightahead, the Steven Christian Quartet will give you an absolute great time. The jazz harmony, solid teamwork, intense solo runs and fun tradings, all these, and more, are the things you can expect from these young guns. As they are marching in to the studio to make their first album, we invite them again to make another stellar performance. They will heat you up and make you stay warm with their play.

You can enjoy some offers during this event. There is SPECIAL PROMO FOR COUPLE. Only wih IDR 480.000, you can get Steak Bordelaise (Ribs Eye) and Peppercorn Steak (Wagyu Sirloin) and free two glasses of Wine. You can also get 15% discount on Wine while the event’s running. Other menus and beers are available to accompany your relaxing time.

Once again, this premiere edition of JAZZ & WINE is coming soon on Saturday, 24 March 2018 at Burgundy Dine & Wine, starting 4:00 pm until drop. Jam session will be served afterwards upon request, and this event is FREE! Imagine a beautiful place up on the hill in the northern part of Bandung which is inspired by nature, a cool weather, the best of culinary that you can pair with wine of your choice or by suggestion. Then, you have us providing music, serving the kinds of jazz that we think are perfect to go with wine played by some of the best ones from our community. That’s what you can have by coming to this event. All said, hope to see you there!

JAZZ & WINE

Date: Saturday, 24 March 2018
Time: 04:00 pm til drop
Location: Burgundy Dine & Wine
Jl. Raya Maribaya 163, Lembang, Bandung

FREE EVENT!  .

Realize it or not, jazz has a very wide varieties, due to it’s open-minded nature. It has the habit to assimilate with other musics that it encounters along the way, often it gives birth to a new hybrid. So far there are no less than 70 sub-genres of jazz, and we haven’t talked about the variation from regional aspects which is created when jazz melts with local, traditional musics around the world. What’s cool is that the number isn’t final, meaning that jazz will continue to find its way to have a new form.

We are obligated to introduce this to the society. In our regular events, that’s one of the subjects we always have in mind. That’s why we always feel excited whenever we could bring bands with unique formation, style or sound.

So listen up. Speaking of unique, jazz is not always have to be smooth and swinging. It can go much, much further to the ‘darker’, or even ‘darkest’ area where music is no longer relaxing and fun but ultimately challenging and intense. It could create terror or even horror. Yet it’s still jazz relevant.

This is what we are going to bring to the next JAZZUALITY @ TP .06, set to run on Sunday, 25 March 2018 at The TP STAGE of The Papandayan Hotel Bandung. There’s a group of mad men in Jakarta who have been digging this field for more than a decade. They have achieved an international reputation with their extreme cooking. They have just launched the new album that offers chaotic madness much worse than the previous ones. Yes, it’s LIGRO! And we are really, really proud to host their “TRANSISI” LAUNCHING ALBUM for BANDUNG in this Special Edition. The event is  FREE of any charge (GRATIS).

LIGRO. Read the word backwards and you’ll find “orgil”, a shortened for “Crazy People” in Bahasa. You may wonder, what kind of band named themselves with this kind of name? But once you listen, you will find out that the name perfectly describes three deranged brains found inside the band and the music they produced. Crazy here doesn’t mean that they are having some kind of mental disorder but more to their freedom of creating something unusual, braveness in surfing against the waves and the guts to discover multi-dimensional musical realm one might never thought existed. There is chaos and madness. There are shocking maneuvers and even terrors. They can start calm but then suddenly you are trapped in horror. It’s like riding a dare-devil roller-coaster ride inside a zone where hell breaks loose. The word ‘edgy’ might even be too light to describe their musicality.

The mind-flipping Experimental Avant Jazz-Rock trio LIGRO consists of three out-of-the-world stunt extraordinaires: Agam Hamzah on electric guitar, Adi Darmawan on electric bass and Gusti Hendy (the drummer of GIGI) on prepared drum set. They began embarking this extreme voyage since 2004 by producing some composition until their first album “Dictionary 1” was out in 2008. With each personnel’s varied cultural backgrounds; Adi Darmawan from Madura, Gusti Hendy from South Kalimantan, and Agam Hamzah is mixed between Aceh and Sunda; the combination of dangerous minds and bold braveness in making up something unthinkable backed with their high skills, these three stouthearted musicians gave birth to such music appears to be somewhat unique.

The Dictionary 1 then continued on with part 2 (2012) and 3 (2016), creating such epic trilogy/saga which gained praises from many sides of the sphere, thanks to USA-based label MoonJune Records who distributed the album internationally. The trilogy invite the listeners to encounter their musical dictionary, which is important since what this trio present is something much different to anything you used to listen to. A question rose. What should they do next, that could match what they have made through the epic saga? What’s the next chapter of their story? This question stood unanswered for more than a year, until finally we heard that the fourth album is ready to walk the earth. The title is TRANSISI.

This album is really interesting. While still rooting in their previous compositions, they are taking it into the new, more open and unpredictable direction. This album documented their attempt in going wider with their musical spectrum and feel more dangerously loose. This album serves more than a continuation of the dictionary, more than going further to find out their lexicons but seems to give us a whole different phase. For instance, in this album Agam uses a decatonic electric guitar tempered from Slendro scale made by the maestro Pra Budidharma. As a result you will find a different guitar sound and tone that you have never heard before.

As what the title says, this album contains the story of the transition Indonesia has been experiencing still 1998, also the chaotic, lawless streets of Jakarta that may represent the same problem in other over-populated cities. You will find your mind being flipped upside down, being thrown from side to side and even tear your brain apart. Violent, brutal, derange, fierceful and uncontrolably wild. You will learn how much chaos they created by using just three instruments to go extreme with deathcore. Like three soldiers, they open fire along the whole line with endless ammo, amazingly without missing any target. Even when you think you have arrived in the safe land, they throw you back again into the world of danger, making your journey of exploring the album unpredictably gore. All these madness are packed inside an album simply called Transisi. A dangerous, adrenaline-pumping album that will test your guts.

As the opening act, we proudly feature a band of 5 young wizs who also love to stetch jazz beyond limit. It’s the NEW BLOOD.

New Blood consists of free-spirited young lions. They are Jason Limanjaya (piano), Anjuan Julio (guitar), Philip Manfred Pincencia (saxophone), Sugih Achmad Gumilang (drum) and Ezra Manuhutu (bass). This band was formed by harp virtuoso Hari Pochang who realized that each of these boys have something special and would be able to create magic as a team. And yes, it’s proven. Not long after they were form, they directly funked everyone with their fired-up performance and sound whenever they landed. It’s like they have been playing together for life, longer than their ages, they didn’t even have to spend long time to find out the kind of music they want the band to be. They injected serious dose of funk in fusion-based style. In their hands, all instruments turn out deadly.

What’s interesting is that they all stand as the key-players in each of their band. Anjuan shines with the jazz-rock AFA Trio, Jason Limanjaya is with Nayra Dharma Group and New Equinox (Ezra was in this band too before he quitted) and Sugih is active with Mahagaza. Each of them is the kind of musician that could make a big different with their presence, imagine when they join forces.

“A celebration of creative music”, that’s how they see themselves as. Now they have a debut single titled “Caca Maura”, released just a couple of days ago on March 10, 2018. You can watch the videoclip here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14XOxBgr1wo before it’s released on major digital outlets.

New Blood doesn’t play as brutal as Ligro Trio, but surely they share the wildness. That’s why we see them as a pack of young lions. Their music is intoxicating and entertaining. Explosive and rockin’ mad. We believe the New Blood is an excellent choice as the opening of band like Ligro. They will pump your adrenaline to make you ready for a trip into Ligro’s dangerous zone. And we do hope they will follow Ligro’s footsteps, roaring loud in the wildness of the international music scene.

We welcome you to enter the dangerous ride. Ligro’s latest work “Transisi” is a dare-devil rollercoaster album that will bring you visiting multi-dimensional realm never visited before. It’s toxic, venomous and deadly that only Ligro has the cure.

If you wonder how far can jazz spread its wings, if you wonder how brutal can jazz be, you can find the answer from these mad-men. Especially for you who haven’t heard “Transisi” or Ligro’s previous three albums, get ready to be shocked. It’s time to challenge yourself, how far can you tolerate madness in music. Also, don’t forget to see the pack of young lions on their way to stand at the top of the food chain.

Once again, the JAZZUALIY @ TP 06 : LIGRO TRIO “Transisi” Album Launching for Bandung will come soon on Sunday, 25 March 2018 at the TP Stage of The Papandayan Hotel, starting from 7:00 pm til drop. Mark your calendar and let’s get wild!

JAZZUALITY @ TP 06 : LIGRO TRIO “TRANSISI” ALBUM LAUNCHING : BANDUNG

Date: Sunday, 25 March 2018
Time: 07:00 pm – onwards
Location: TP Stage, The Papandayan Hotel
Jl. Gatot Subroto no. 83, Malabar, Bandung

FREE EVENT and OPEN FOR PUBLIC!

LIGRO are:
Agam Hamzah – guitar
Adi Darmawan – bass
Gusti Hendy ‘GIGI’ – drums

NEW BLOOD are:
Jason Limanjaya – keys
Anjuan Julio – guitar
Philip Manfred Pincencia – saxophone
Ezra Manuhutu – bass
Sugih Achmad Gumilang – drum

We have reached the 45th edition of Braga Jazz Night (formerly known as Braga Jazz Walk), a community-based jazz event made by Jazzuality.com in cooperation with Braga CityWalk. In each and every edition of our event we think of presenting young talents who have the passion in jazz, supporting the established musicians as well as introducing the rich variety of jazz to the society. We always look forward to the chance of expanding our support to musicians outside the Bandung city region. So far we have succeeded in it by having fellow musicians from other cities like Jakarta, Sukabumi, Majalaya, Tangerang, all the way to the mid part of Sumatra, the city of Batam. But that’s not all, because we have stretched our wings further across nations, welcoming singers/musicians from Malaysia, Australia, Mexico, Italy, USA and Cambodia. We are thankful for the opportunity and wish to be able to continue for many more years to come.

In the Braga Jazz Night #45 we presented three sets of performance featuring musicians/singers ranging from the young fellas to the successful ones who have been active in the scene for more than two decades. Speaking of style, it was wide that we got a unique trio using the combination three instruments that are rarely found in jazz scene today especially in Indonesia. We invited a band from a city around 2-3 hours by car  to reach Bandung, Majalaya, and we paved the way for a boy who did very well in the famous singing competition on television to build his career in jazz.

This boy started first. His name is Akbar Herliansyah, better known as AKBAR IDOL JUNIOR. As we said earlier, he rose to fame by ending up in the 10th place on the second season of Indonesian Idol Junior. We met him in person last month when he competed in the Jazzphoria, a jazz competition made by MLD where we served as one of the judges. We were quite surprise to see him, knowing that he didn’t show any sign of jazz during the Indonesian Idol Junior. Realizing this fact, we invited him to join the community so he could find out what kind of jazz suits him the most, while we tried to find a slot for him. Akbar showed a good spirit. He came and took the chance getting on stage in our events several times. And now, finally we could provide a slot for him to perform.

If usually he appears as Akbar and Hudda, this time he built a band. Joining him were Hi-5 Indonesia’s cast Reza Eka Putra (keyboard), Rommy Hendrawan (guitar), Yudi Aditia (bass) and Rivandi (drum). It didn’t take long for Akbar to wow us. why not? He took an evergreen “What a Difference A Day Made” and sang it with deep feeling. No rush, just relied on his inner heart, served by nice, solid band behind him. Of course, he bagged applauses from the audience with this kind of opening.

Akbar then moved on directly by going local, taking on Sandhy Sondoro’s big hit “Malam Biru.” This song works fine with him as well. So does A Great Big World’s “Say Something (I’m Giving Up On You)”.

Back to the time when we met him at the competition, we suggested Akbar to dig Jamie Cullum because we think the more modern jazz style and character of Jamie would be fit on him. He listened. For the fourth song he took Jamie Cullum’s signature song, “Mind Trick”. This song fits him like a glove. Not only Akbar’s vocal work and the substantial play by the band were great, they delivered it joyfully too. Akbar and the band clearly had a lot of fun during this song, and that transfered the cheerful vibes to everyone.

Quite variety of style rooted in jazz has been served by Akbar Idol Jr. For the last song, he surprised us by taking a very difficult song to cover, that’s Etta James’ “At Last”! According to Akbar, it was his uncle, a jazz singer who offered him the song. Amazingly, Akbar successfully nailed this ‘heavy’ song. He attached his heart fully to sing it, which actually is the right way to do, resulting a stellar final. Not a senior jazz diva, not a long time male singer, it’s a 14 year-old boy who took it, a boy who just had his debut on jazz stage, but he claimed this evergreen to be his.

We feel happy and proud to be able to provide the new chapter of Akbar’s career where jazz is written in bold. Tell you what, this boy is not just talented but full of spirit. He is serious, he is humble, and he still has a very long year to progress. Excellent song choices shows that he really know who he is, musically speaking. After the show, he told us that he only got two practice sessions, and they were still unsure what to bring until the last minute. But all the songs he sang were bullseye, right on target. The band also worked really well on him. Reza, Rommy, Yudi and Rivandi were solid in every style. We know he would be great on jazz stage, yet he still surprised us by performing much better than we expected.

This won’t be the last for us to feature him, because we want to follow his update and support him to stand solid in jazz. The way he sings his heart out is always nice to see, and we won’t be surprise if he rises to be a prominent jazz singer in the near future. Keep it up kiddo!

The next session was taken by a jazz-rooted band who took a big effort to participate in this event. They had to travel almost 3 hours, passing around 50 km from their hometown Majalaya to reach Bandung. This band captured our attention when they competed in Jazzphoria like Akbar. It’s a band of 6, consisting of all young dudes. It’s SAVASIKA.

Other than able to play good, this band has a strong endurance. The band was born around 7 years ago, they did everything to stay alive against all odds. They kept their existance even when they still got no vocalist for years, until finally they found what they were looking for in 2016.

So, life is not always easy for this band. There were times that it was difficult to find gigs, at other times the personnels might be busy with their own agenda. They even went to hiatus for a while. But what’s good about Savasika is that they always bounce back, which led us to meet them at the competition. Speaking of the competition, they became the runnerup in the end.

So, today the band comprises of Tomy Fhaisal (bass), Naufal Trisna (percussion), Wili Rizki Ismail (drum), Ryzky Ramdan (keys), Erfan Iksan Fauzi (vocal) and Kiki Gusdiana or Rian Ahmad Fauzi (RAF) on guitar. For this event, it was Kiki who’s in charge with guitar. Too bad Naufal couldn’t make it due to his work and the vocalist was having a bad cold, but even so, Savasika gave a strong performance without losing a grip even a bit.

Savasika directly shows how good they are right from the start. They began with an instrumental track covering Tohpati’s composition from his album “Song For YOu” titled “Happy Jazz”. Not really an easy one to go with, but they did really, really well. We like their style which was served more in fusion than the original speeding ragtime version. As this song originally has a lot of room for the band to play around freely, the boys of Savasika brought that idea by doing it in a fun jamming mode.

The music suddenly switched to a famous song of Tania Maria from 1983 without having a break, “Come With Me”. Let us ask you a question. How often do you hear this song on male voice? This song has a strong sexy vibe, that’s why it usually goes with female singer while male normally would avoid it. But Erfan’s brilliant falsetto technique could make it work like a charm. They wowed us with this one in the competition a month ago, they did it again this time, even when they had to do it without having the percussions which becomes one of the important essences of this song. If Tania Maria were there watching them, we believe she would think it’s funny that a man could do the song that nice.

For the last song, Erfan sang another Sandhy Sondoro’s song from 2010, “Superstar (How Could We Not Love)”. His high pitched falsetto and his normal singing voice worked out fine, as if he was fully healthy on stage. His unique body gestures helped to keep us energized. The solo runs from Tomy, Kiki, Wili and Ryzky were cool too. They gave a strong performance all the way till the very end.

Savasika is a good band. They play well, the players are connected to one another and they know how to give an entertaining appearance. No wonder they ended up in the second place at the Jazzphoria. For us, Sava Sika can become an evidence of a good jazz existance in Majalaya today. This is a happy news. If before we never knew how the jazz scene is in that city, now we know that it’s alive and kicking. So many great musicians live in Majalaya, and many of them actually are into jazz. We are proud to present the runner up of Jazzphoria in this 45th edition, and we will invite more jazz-oriented bands from the city to take part in this event. We do hope to see Sava Sika again in the future, if they are still willing to go extra miles to be with us.

For the third and last act we got three magnificent musicians who have been doing their career for many years. They are Ammy Kurniawan (violin), Rudy Zulkarnaen (bass) and Opik Bape (guitar). As you can see, these gentlemen shapes a trio with unique all-strings format, rarely found in Indonesia (maybe even the only one). Ammy named the band TRIO BIGIBAS, the BIola (violin), GItar (guitar) and BAS (bass).

If in Indonesia this concept or formation is rare, in the international scene it is too. We know that the late Didier Lockwood established this exact formation in honoring the legendary Gypsy Jazz musician, Stephane Grappelli. Other than Lockwood, Ukraine violinist Sergei Bolotny has done it too. So, true, some have tried this formation, but still it’s rare comparing to other regular formations.

It was Ammy who told us about this new band, and that caught our interest right away. Probably this is not easy to do, but in the hands of musicians their caliber, we simply got the best ones to make it work. They have known each other for many, many years. Ammy and Rudy have even been playing in the same bands a couple of times, for example in 4Peniti and Rudy & Band Listrik. While Opik is certainly a perfect pick due to his skill and musical background which is spanning wider than just the vintage swingin’ era in the USA but also the French Gypsy Jazz/Jazz Manouche when he stablished Satura some years ago. Today he is still going vintage with Madame & Toean ensemble and plays with Mary Jane. Ammy Kurniawan has just released an album titled “Let’s Play Violin!”, and Rudy got the AMI Awards a couple of months ago for the best sound production (Tulus’ album, Monokrom).

Ammy told us that the embryo of this trio has actually began long time ago with his then-group called Bandung String Ensemble. “But it was short lived, unfortunately,” he said. Rudy was there too, but now the guitar position is taken by Opik Bape, who, according to Ammy is a really, really good and unique guitarist.

The original plan was to use contrabass, but Rudy thought it would be best to use electric to deal with the sound and condition of the venue. Not long after they took position in the middle of the stage, out of nowhere, huge number of crowds quickly gathered in front of them! That created a wonderful scene.

After giving a warm greetings, Ammy led Rudy and Opik to sail. First, they took Chick Corea’s jazz standard written in early 1970’s that speaks loud about celebration, “La Fiesta.” As if the trio wanted to invite everyone to join their party, they played it so merry with cheerful and playful stage act, resulting a very loud applause when they sealed this one in grand.

For the next song they took us to Paris and had us waltz with them with a composition of Richard Galliano. As this theme flows through the veins of Opik who is famous for being a French Gypsy Swing/Jazz Manouche guitarist, Ammy and Rudy teased him with their instrument and funny face mimic. How nice it is to have Jazz-Bal-Musette style appeared on our stage. That’s certainly not the music we found often here in Indonesia especially in Bandung. Without having any accordeon, the Trio Bigibas amazingly captured the scene and sound.

For the third song they gave a special tribute to the late violinist Didier Lockwood by playing a song taken from Lockwood’s album in 1990, “Tiny Twins”. Cute and simple melody, easy listening, but the trio decorated it with their touch. Ammy stepped down the stage playing his violin near the crowds, making their show felt even more intimate that it already was.

Since we still got much time, the Trio Bigibas was very kind to give us two more songs, all taken from Ammy’s latest album released just in May last year, “Let’s Play Violin!”. The songs he chose were “Duo Etude” and “Encore”. If originally “Duo Etude” is played by using just violin and guitar, this time it appeared in trio format. By having Rudy, the song felt slightly different. Richer sound yet still have all the beauty essence of the original. The happy tune of “Encore” which has a slight country feel gave us all a pleasant final for both Trio Bigibas’ session and the event.

The BiGiBas Trio offered multi-dimensional jazz by using three stringed instruments, showing us that the combination of these instruments could create such magical sound. Relating to Star Wars, this session feels like a showdown of three Jedi masters. High amount of action was there, effortless playing made their appearance special. As we always want to show the variety of jazz with all the possibilities, this final round of Braga Jazz Night #45 stood up high. We always love to see something new, we always wish to see innovations, therefore we feel blessed to have these gentlemen landing on our soil.

What an interesting edition this was. Different style, different concept, different format played by former Idol Jr, a band from Majalaya and a trio of experienced, high skilled musicians presenting the unique music crafted from rare combination of all-stringed instruments were on the menu, giving us moments to remember.

We thank every participating musicians, soundman, the venue, our partners and everyone who came to this event. We will be back again in April with another batch. Stay tuned for the upcoming 46th edition, see you again next month!

Watch the highlights of Braga Jazz Night 45:

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Reporter/photographer : Riandy Kurniawan
Video editor : Vierna Mariska Kurniawan .

Imagine yourself having a fine dine in a cozy, romantic place under a breezing cool weather surrounded by breathtaking view of nature. Not just enjoying the delicious meal, but you can also pair it with wine of your choice, or you can also ask the sommelier’s suggestion. Now, add jazz in it. Sounds great right? Then if you are a musician, think of performing in this place while having yourself being promoted by both online and on air. That’s what we pictured in mind when we established a connection with the venue, Burgundy Dine & Wine by Pramestha Resort and a top radio, OZ Radio. Synchronizing with what this place offers, we all agree to name the event “WINE AND JAZZ”.

The pilot project was done on Saturday, 24 March 2018. Unlike the usual time for jazz event which is mostly at night, the Wine & Jazz is served in the late afternoon, starting from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm. That gives the audience a chance to enjoy the view before the sky gets dark without being too cold. Also, we believe this selected time will accomodate the whole family to be a part of it. For us, this will give us something new since our other events are running at night.

A little more information about OZ, this radio has just brought back one of its popular program alive, JAZZY OZZIE. This jazz program was once popular around 7 years ago or so. Just like the name says, Jazzie Ozzie highlighted the jazzy side OZ. After being on hiatus for some years, now it’s back in business. Oz is once again ready to support the movement of jazz in Bandung, Jakarta and beyond by not only playing the songs but also interviewing and airing live performance from selected bands, hosted by former Jajaka Pinilih (The Chosen Young Man) of Bandung 2017, Darryl Max. For us it’s a good news since it wasn’t easy for jazz before to enter the radio in Indonesia, especially the popular radio for youngsters.

For this pilot project or premiere edition, we featured two lineup with different style and sound. One is a pure Jazz/Straightahead quartet and the other representing the modern day Nu Soul. They do have some things in common though. Both of the lineup are amazingly gifted, have a good quality performance, enjoyable and entertaining, and have original materials that we think deserve good and wide publication. They are the nu soul diva AGIS KANIA and the stunning STEVEN CHRISTIAN QUARTET.

We started first with the nu soul diva who is now claiming her position much, much better than where she has ever been before. This lady has a 5-star vocal quality that we dare to compare with any soul singers today in the world. She is AGIS KANIA.

We have known her for around 5 years, the time when she was still a part of the gypsy swing duo Satura. But she actually has started way back long before that. She already embarked her career since she was still a little girl, placing her song to be the anthem of her hometown Sukabumi. At that time she was still singing in Sundanese Pop.

Although jazz wasn’t a stranger in her childhood, she carried on with the traditional keroncong. Again, she had a good time by being aired regularly in the national radio RRI. When she moved to Bandung, she encountered American music particularly jazz and blues. Her soulful voice suited both genres and quickly she established her position in both corners. She took considerably higher step when she formed a dynamic duo Agis Bape, collaborating with fingerstlye guitarist Opik Bape.

Last year out of nowhere we heard about her making a breakthrough. Having two brilliant producers Tabrize Muhajier ‘Ajier’ Effendy of T-Five and Inal Chaniago, she released her first solo single rooted in the modern nu soul titled “Baby You” through digital outlets. Soon the song went well on charts and purchased mostly by foreign music lovers from all around the world. This song was officially released in our event, Braga Jazz Night in the holy month of Ramadhan.

Last month Agis released her second song, still having the same producers. This second song is titled “Erase My Number” aka “EMN”, featuring the amazing bluesman Ginda Bestari. Again, the song gets a very well result as it’s played over radio stations around the world, reaching as far as South Africa.

For this appearance, Agis Kania was supposed to play with the producers Ajier (guitar) and Inal (bass). Unfortunately both of them couldn’t make it. But wait, Agis still has pianist Jason Limanjaya and the cute but lethal girl on drum, Marissa Wiguna by her side. These two musicians could amazingly covered the lack of musicians on stage and made her able to perform her best as if she got full team.

As this event is intended to be an on-air program of Jazzy Ozzie, the host himself, Darryl Max acted as the MC and did just right he was broadcasting in the studio. After a little chit-chat, Agis Kania began her session by covering a song of Gregory Porter with Lalah Hathaway, “Insanity”. Quickly her soulful voice along with Jason’s smooth jazzy vibes and gentle drumming of Marissa painted the atmosphere full of charm.

Then she sang her first solo single “Baby You”. Jason did great in covering the bass part alongside his own role as the pianist. Even only with two musicians, Agis delivered the song perfectly. The song is sensual, full of lust that one could feel just by listening to the music.

For the third song Agis took The Crusaders’ gem from 1979 featuring the beautiful voice of Randy Crawford, “Street Life”. She asked the audience to sing along, also let Jason and Marissa to exchange some punches. A twist was found in this one as Jason and Marissa suddenly went swinging in the middle. That move creates an interesting variation which actually enriches the soulful jazz-funk nature of this song. From Agis’ side, she sings it just as good as miss Crawford or the later version from Joe Sample and Lalah Hathaway in 1997.

She sealed her show with her latest single “Erase My Number” aka “EMN”. If in the original version EMN has Ginda Bestari’s fine blues guitar sound, this time we got another version involving no guitar. But even so, Jason and Marissa tackled it really well.

We consider Agis’ nu soul style would match the concept of wine. Her voice too, for us, is like wine; getting better with age. It turned out right. Not only her appearance melt tastefully with wine and the foods/beverages of Burgundy, it blended sweetly with the cool weather and beautiful landscape of Lembang too.

It’s remarkable to see how Agis grows all the way up to this point, but we know for sure this is not her final stand. She will keep on rising not only in our music scene but internationally. She is getting ready to go on tour soon, aiming not just in Java but also abroad. As usual, we wish her the best and hope she would achieve more than anything she ever dreamed. A great friend, humble, big heart, really gifted. We can’t say anything better than ‘we love you’, Agis. Go get it and stand up there among the stars!

The second and final session was given to STEVEN CHRISTIAN QUARTET. This band consists of all young musicians who we believe will lead Indonesian jazz in the future. Most of them are still students but they are able to play and make great pure jazz compositions like a long time pro. Led by Universitas Pelita Harapan (UPH) student mentored by young jazz genius Sri Hanuraga (Aga), pianist Steven Christian, the quartet has bassist Timothy Investario (the student of jazz (contra)bassist Indrawan Tjhin, drummer Alman Naufal, former student of Elfa Zulham and guitarist Jabez Chan.

Speaking of jazz performance, this band bites hard with their catchy performance that clearly shows how happy they are being on stage. Just like before, they played all original songs which soon will be available in the quartet’s debut album. They opened up with “Pepperoni”, Steven’s composition built upon 12 bar blues. The remarkable skill, the teamwork, the dynamic, all of these aspects were found in their performance from the very start. On “On The Riverside”, Christian and his band demonstrated how well they do the Afro-Carbbean Calypso style creating a vibrant jolly ride.

The band turned gentle and romantic with “You and Me”. This song is lovely, it has the kind of melody that could be found in classic romance movies from decades ago. Try to play this one for the one you love, you would melt his or her heart instantly. For the final song Steven Christian Quartet played the title track of the upcoming debut album, “In Real Time”. Solid beat, fast and furious stream over the keys, the nonstop moving along the bass’ fret, the thunderous drumming and glittery guitar lines made this song a winner. A brilliant composition that shines in every aspect. No wonder they use this one as the album title, considering how strong itreally is.

The ‘handsome’ straightahead was served chilled by Steven Christian Quartet. These boys present the aspects that make us love jazz in first place: beautiful compositions with lots of room to improvise, wicked solo runs, punchy tradings, clean tuttis, free-flowing play, great technique served humble, tight teamwork, active communication between players, twists and turns, and stellar stage performance. Mark our words, these boys are going to be among the top ones in the near future.

For Burgundy Dine and Wine, we offered a Jazz and Wine concept, meaning that we are choosing the jazz style and bands who we believe go along sweet and nice with wine. For this pilot project we selected Agis Kania and Steven Christian Quartet, representing the beautiful sound of nu soul and straightahead jazz. And we are satisfied with the result. If this event continues on, we will bring more excellent performers with their respective style that would work with wine, and quite possibly we will try to fit the theme to the nearest celebration too. We thank all the performers, Burgundy Dine and Wine @ Pramestha, OZ Radio and its program Jazzy Ozzie, and certainly everyone who came. We hope to see you again soon!

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Reporter and Photographer: Riandy Kurniawan .

The Jazzuality @ TP 06 was different in any way. Unlike before, this time we highlighted one band that has a very different concept, set to support and introduce their latest album released a few months ago.

Yes, we are talking about LIGRO, the home of three mad men. This is the kind of band that dares to go beyond limit, embarking a journey into the ‘unknown’ part of music that probably would only exist in the darkest part of the parallel universe. Their music, especially this new album titled “TRANSISI” is one of the most ‘provocative’ jazz recordings we have ever heard. It’s so provocative that we even have to use ‘brutal’ as the one of the words to describe their music. And of course, we just have to feature them in our event. We want our jazz community members to see how far can jazz go if they don’t go against the word ‘crazy’, how borderless jazz really is in the mind of free-spirited musicians and how exactly skill is needed in order to accomodate the creation from a dangerous mind.

So, this is the story of three musician extraordinaries who think differently: Agam Hamzah on electric guitar, Adi Darmawan on electric bass and Gusti Hendy (the drummer of GIGI) on prepared drum set. They gave birth to LIGRO in 2004 and worked on some compositions which led to the first album “Dictionary 1” 4 years after. Their dangerous, deranged mind carried on to the next two albums. Dictionary 2 and 3 were released in 2012 and 2016, making the first three recordings ended up as epic triolgy/saga which gained many praises from all around the world. This was made possible by USA-based label MoonJune Records who distributed the album globally.

At the end of last year they came back with the fourth album titled “Transisi” under Demajors. You can take your wildest guess on what’s inside, but we bet you would still be surprised once you listen to it. While still rooting in their previous compositions, they are taking it into the new level, more open and unpredictable direction. This album documented their attempt in going wider with their musical spectrum and goes more dangerously loose. More than a continuation of the Dictionary saga, they digged much further to find out what’s inside the different, hidden phase. Look at how serious these three mad-men are. In this album Agam uses a decatonic electric guitar tempered from Slendro scale made by the maestro Pra Budidharma. As a result you will find a different guitar sound and tone that you have never heard before.

If you wonder what they want to tell by having “Transisi” (Transition) as the title, this album contains the story of the transition period Indonesia has been experiencing still the huge political turmoil in 1998. But that’s not all, because they also captured the chaotic, lawless streets of Jakarta that may represent the same problem in other over-populated cities. You will find your mind being flipped upside down, being thrown from side to side and even tear your brain apart. Violent, brutal, derange, fierceful and uncontrolably wild. You see, just three players found inside, using each of their respective instrument. Yet you can experience how much chaos they created that goes all the way to the most extreme, passing the deathcore.

Enough for the introduction, and let’s see how this event went. The audience started filling the TP Stage a bit late due to the heavy rain outside right on the time we were supposed to start. Luckily the rain didn’t last too long, and soon after we got pretty enough number to start. Of course, to bring such brutal music courtesy of three madmen, we needed an opening act that we believed could take our mood, mind, heart, soul and every sense to be ready to such show. For that, we proudly relied on a band of young wizards, The NEW BLOOD.

Formed not too long ago by legendary harpist Hari Pochang, this band consists of all free-spirited and skillful young musicians who could also take jazz to the extreme yet pleasant to listen and fully entertaining. Their music is far from brutal, but they share the same wildness in playing like Ligro. The players are: Jason Limanjaya (piano), Anjuan Julio (guitar), Philip Manfred (saxophone), Sugih Achmad Gumilang (drum) and Ezra Manuhutu (bass).

We have featured them in our other event not long after they were formed last year. This band moves quite fast, because now they have more than enough materials to make one or even two albums. Fast, but it’s not a surprise since the band has brilliant musicians who are able to compose instead of just playing.

For this event they played all original songs. New Blood started with the youngest Philip’s composition titled “Look Down”. This song is inspired by his experience playing in a sea cruise. According to him, at first the musicians underestimated him. What could a mid-teen boy like him do? That was what they probably had in mind. But that soon changed when Philip started playing. So, this song was meant to motivate the listeners not to break down when someone look down on them, instead use it to go even higher. The song has some sharp punches primarily from Anjuan and Philip in front. Jason kept everything intact while making it ellegant with his jazzy fingers. Ezra and Sugih teamed up strong in thumping in the rhythm.

“Imagine the feeling when you feel like someone’s stalking you.” said Jason explaining the next song composed by him titled “Stalker”. This one was made heart-pounding that describe that exact feeling. Later on, Anjuan roared wild creating an intense chase scene. From smooth jazz, funk to rock, New Blood delivered the story chilled.

After throwing a couple of jokes, they went on with another story written by Philip based on his trip to an island located around 6 hours by boat from the beautiful Raja Ampat in Papua, off the norhwest tip of Bird’s Head Peninsula. The island name and the title of the song is “Misool”. If usually one would refer to the beauty of an island as the theme, Philip see it from a different angle. During his trip, he heard that a man was just died in the island after stepping on a highly toxic sea anemone. When they started playing, we directly catched a sad, scary and sound of terror inside a beautiful melody. For this one, Jason moved to grand piano and led the band to narate the story. Behind something beautiful lies a tragedy. That’s more or less what they want to tell, and yes, we feel it. Beautiful, intense, sad and terrorizing.

Earlier this month New Blood released their debut single titled “Caca Maura”. This song came almost like in medley. Anjuan made this song about two girl-friends of his, Caca and Maura. Unlike the previous one, “Caca Maura” has the Brazilian joy. while Anjuan stood tall in front accompanied by Philip’s sax lines, Jason was busy behind them moving back and forth from the keyboard to piano. This song easily showcase the fun side of these boys. Probably the lightest of their crafts so far, yet still technically challenging.

“Caca Maura” would work to give a blazing climax, but they wanted to give the audience more. “Do the Best”, another motivating theme written by Anjuan spread the uplifting spirit and positive vibes. They threw every last drop of energy they had resulting a blazing finale. The combination of smooth, funky jazz and hard-rocking fusion are encouraging and entertaining at the same time.

Playing much wilder and intense than any time we have seen before, the boys of New Blood did terrific job in rising up everyone’s mood. When we invited them to be the opening act, we intended to see them deliver high-octane performance that could set the heat before the unthinkable form of music. And they did rise to the occasion. They stepped up the plate and nailed it. Thanks to these young lions, we had no doubt that the audience were ready to enter the dare-devil rollercoaster ride.

More and more audience came in as the three madmen of LIGRO, Agam Hamzah , Adi Darmawan and Gusti Hendy entered the arena. Without further ado, these three madmen directly surprised the audience by letting out heavy distortive loud noise, nonstop for probably around 4 minutes or so. Feels like they are taking us into a transition from our cozy seat inside a cool jazz club to the chaotic, deranged and bizzare realm. If you wonder how it was, well..it was like being trapped inside the running engine of a plane. Oddly enough, soon after our ears adjust the noise, we could somehow hear ‘music’. Yes, it must be. Not like the kind of music we know, but it definitely is. Thunderous drum banging and unorthodox bass playing made it even more bizzare. These are the living entities inside Ligro’s music dictionary.

Adi told us that the story of Ligro began when Agam became the host of Java Jazz’s famous jam session that took place at that time in Hilton. The songs are familiar, but when musicians from all around the world put their sketch, the atmosphere created differently. Agam then came to Adi and Hendy offering an idea. “What if, we do our own jam.” he said. That became the core of Ligro, who then entered the studio and let themselves fly naturally. “All were done in one take, we didn’t even know what we were going to make, how the song would go as, etc.” said Adi. “Basically we based ourselves on motives. We try to figure out the motive of others and answer it. Sometimes it’s right, sometimes it’s wrong. But so be it. We just go straight up.” he added.

For “Transisi”, Agam said that it was actually a recycle of their previous songs, only played totally in different way. Some people refer their music as experimental. Some say it’s avant garde, heavy rockin’, deathcore or even mad music. “We don’t care, we just do what we do.” said Agam. That makes this band one of a kind. They might be inspired by the Mahavisnu Orchestra, they might be provoked by Pra Budidharma and his ingenius guitar creation, or inspired by the jam session involving musicians around the world. In the end, it doesn’t matter anymore, because Ligro transforms into a band like none other. Try to find a band like this, you would find it kind of impossible. Provoking, terrorizing, in times spreading horror, but we still want to put ourselves in it.

They kept on playing in the same fashion. They could start ‘smoother’ with some melodies, but in the end they put all sketches and scratches on each canvas. It’s like enjoying an abstract painting. You don’t have to understand or try hard to find the meaning to be able to admire it.

Gusti Hendy sent love to everyone who came by saying that their coming and th interaction they have with Bandung becomes a spirit for them to keep on creating stuffs.

Then they played a song that was kind of funny, especially when Agam being cool playing a little bit of reggae. The song is “Don Juan”, taken from their second album “Dictionary 2” released in 2012. Although the song was lighter than the previous ones, it still contained intense action from them that took us to the edge of our seats.

Eventually we finally reached the last song. For this one, Ligro gave something special as a token of appreciation by presenting an unreleased track never been played anywhere else before. This song which is projected to enter the upcoming 5th album is called “Bakucau”. From what we know, bakucau means eating by using hand instead of spoon and fork, but according to Hendy, it means scrambling or mixing things that normally would be impossible to blend in. This song turned out to be an epic. Agam produced some pentatonic scales, that was awesome, but what surprise us the most is when Adi left his bass guitar to become a pianist. He made it like a classical piano recital. He got plenty of time to do it as Agam and Hendy stepped aside and let him flew freely presenting wide, landscapic key-ploration. Majestic yet melancoly, but provoking at the same time. From there they roared wild to build the momentum until finally the reached the wild climax. The manic drumming, the crazy guitar part and the way Adi provoked Hendy – something he’s been doing throughout the concert were just unbelievably mad.

It was a bizarre jazz concert that only Ligro could do. Brutal but pleasuring, you can’t even hum with their song yet your soul got hooked to its deepest core. If you haven’t bought their latest album “Transisi”, you better get it now. The album would energized you in a way you have never felt before, it would pump your adrenaline and place you in the darkest corner of a parallel universe you have never thought existed.

It’s a big privilege to be able to present Ligro here in Bandung. We send our respect to Agam Hamzah, Adi Darmawan and Gusti Hendy for accepting our invitation to play for us and for presenting a very special concert that we will never forget. We thank 3 Negeri and Henky Suparjan for helping us out with the equipments, Zahar Mustilaq for supporting us, The Wolf Pack (Howling Channel) for capturing the event both photos and videos, and certainly, everyone who came. We salute you all.

We will be back again in April with another fresh batch. We hope you all will keep supporting us, our event and mission, and also the musicians we feature. We will let you know who will be featured in the Jazzuality @ TP 07 and look forward to see you again then.

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Reporter & Photographer: Riandy Kurniawan .