Last month we launched the trial of Javana Jazz Bistro. This event was based on the wish of Javana Bistro, a stylish and delicious Indo-Western eatery located in a famous shopping centre Paris van Java (PVJ) to establish itself as one of the well-known jazz destinations in Bandung. We quickly moved fast and placed variety of jazz in that first edition, ranging from ethnic jazz, bebop, Brazilian to jazz’s encounter with reggae to blues (read the report here: http://jazzuality.com/jazz-event-report/javana-jazz-bistro-premiere-the-report/). The result was good, so the venue decided to carry on. We are happy to stand as their partner in crime. It wasn’t easy to find jazz at PVJ before, but now you all can have the vibrant jazz colors being painted in it once a month.

For Javana Jazz Bistro 2nd Edition we brought a fresh batch. Different colors of jazz was once again become one of our priority, plus the combination of experienced players and rising star. Luckily enough, we managed to find the artists that suit that idea. One: Pangeran Muda, a talented young man is on his way to fame and two: Imelda Rosalin Trio, a small group of jazz giants with international reputation. A pretty lineup that we can rely on in order to make PVJ glitters with jazz.

Performing first was Pangeran Muda. This is one of the new sensation that we should put our eyes on. Pangeran Muda, also known as Panda, has tasted every corners of entertainment since he was still a little boy. Competitions, stage performances (including some prestigious ones like Java Jazz Festival), recordings, jingle, even acting. He holds hundreds of achievements, winning Sherina Star Kids Competition in 2000, McDonalds Kids Awards in 2002, Heartline Gospel Singing Contest (2006), the winner of talent search show produced by Trans TV “Suara Indonesia”, the runner up of Bintang Radio Festival in Jakarta, 2005 and reached the Top 20 in Indonesian Idol 2014.

Since last year he decided to build his solo career. To make the album, Pangeran chose to take the unusual way: involving his fans and friends to stand as the co-producer. This move is called Go Panda! Crowdfunding. “It’s amazing. I had doubt that it would work, but so far 400 people have supported me.” he said happily. While the album is still in the process, he has launched a single, “Terpaku” a couple of months ago and got positive responses over radio charts. His clear, crisp but satin smooth voice should do very well in the business. The lyrics that tell the story of our daily lives, the ear catchy/friendly music where jazz can be felt inside are also the power that would bring this handsome young man all the way to the top.

Pangeran served a delicious first round. He started with his groovy own song,  “Nikmatilah”. For this event he brought strong partners including Andi Rustandi of famous group T-Five on piano, Yabes Chrismanuel on bass, Michael SW on guitar and Dhimas on drums.

One of the signature song of Titiek Puspa, “Bimbi” sounded really nice from him. He carried on with The Delfonics’ “La La Means I Love You”, a song that also popularized by many names from The Jackson 5 to Prince to Swing Out Sister. An original song followed, “Lakukan Yang Kau Suka” (“Do What You Like”), telling people to keep doing what they like no matter what others say.

A Sam Smith’s hit  “Lay Me Down” perfectly suited him. The band did very well from one song to another. Then Pangeran showed his ability to reach high notes and how fast he can sing with the nursery rhymes “Old MacDonald Had a Farm”.  A timeless song taken from Stevie Wonder’s 1976 album, “Isn’t She Lovely” made him gained more applauses. Time for him to sing the single “Terpaku”, a beautiful pop ballad that in our opinion has the power to bring him to the top. As much as we loved his session, he gave one last party with a big hit of Jessie J ft Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj, “Bang Bang”.

Pangeran Muda has everything needed to succeed. He is a prince charming, he has the voice, strong lineup of musicians backing him up and positive energy/good vibration. He can also write songs, he’s humble and friendly. Someone like him can, and should have the chance in our music industry, and we always believe he will make it very soon.

After a cheerful treat from Pangeran, Imelda Rosalin Trio took position on the spot. After a warm greetings, the trio opened up with something sweet, taking a piece from Keith Jarrett, “Memories of Tomorrow”.

Imelda Rosalin is one of the icons of jazz in Bandung. It’s a wonder that we could invite her to perform at the Javana Jazz Bistro since he’s a very busy lady who places her feet on two worlds. She is a successful musicians, she’s also a successful architect. In the music world currently she serves as a regular at TP Jazz Papandayan and Panghegar Hotel, recordings with band from Insititut Teknologi Bandung (ITB) The Last Eighties and for Chris Miller, an LA musician, also active performing on stage and tv show, plus a teacher. While as an architect she’s currently pursue her doctoral degree and deals with transportation matters. Other than these, let’s not forget that she’s a loving mom and wife. It’s not exaggerating if we call her superwoman.

Joining her at Javana Jazz Bistro is a real life couple, Rudy Zulkarnaen and Adisty Zulkarnaen. Rudy is a senior bassist with international reputation. Currently he’s going international with the cross-ethno progressive jazz ensemble simakDialog and Tesla Manaf. While Rudy Zulkarnaen has been a reliable compatriote of Imelda for more than a decade, Adisty is a complete drummer who also shares chemistry with them.

Based on how busy these three amazing musicians are, we feel really lucky to be able to invite them. These are some of the Bandung’s jazz musicians that have made Indonesia proud, not only in the nation but also in the international scene. It was a warm, sweet, homey and intimate show, where jazz flew spontaneous and naturally from them.

We got what we dreamed of having this team in an event. They went sexy with a gem from Cole Porter, “Too Darn Hot” Cool tradings between them dipped everyone fully in jazz. “So Many Stars” surrounding us with warm and romantic moods.

Okay. Just in case you didn’t know, Imelda is the writer of a famous soundtrack of a famous tv series in early 2000’s, “Namaku Strawberry”. “Hidup ini Indah” was the song that directly took us all to the time when it’s aired back then.

Imelda went back much further to reach the 50’s, singing a song written by maestro Ismail Marzuki titled “Layang Layang”.  After this lovely swing, they sang “Água de Beber” in English version.

Some of the ITB community were there supporting their friend, Imelda Rosalin. Since they already played for more than an hour, we thought that was the end. But suddenly Imelda called his friend, a Civil Engineering professor from Insitut Teknologi Bandung Ricky Tawekal to sing with them. The song was “For Once In My Life”, nicely executed by them. Then Imelda called Pangeran Muda to join the band. They chose another Ismail Marzuki’s gem, “Juwita Malam”. Pangeran apparently still had some spared energy to give an all-out singing.

The jam session went even hotter. Pianist Dyah Sekar replaced Imelda and played “Night in Tunisia” with a little Arabian twist. Vocal master Erick Gabe jumped in and sang “Englishman in New York”, as the drum was also changed to Geby Christian. Again, a party was served. Solo drumming from Geby was smokin’ hot.

Rudy stepped down, Farhan Faikar of GFRtrio took over the bass position. GFRtrio was just experiencing a big loss due to the passing of their leader, Guntur Satria at the age of 21. But instead of resting the band, they decided to move on. Replacing Guntur is a skillful young bluesman Ijay Irawan. And Erick Gabe is now joining them on vocals.

Since their drummer couldn’t come, Ijay placed himself behind the drumset. Muhammad Ramadhony was on keyboard. “Route 66″ became their choice, followed by “I Feel Good”. Andre Arizky who was just arrived at late hour directly jumped into the pool. Andre Arizky sailed alone, singing and playing piano, giving us more songs including “What About Love?”, David Foster’s “For Just a Moment”, Toy Story OST “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” and Elton John’s mega hit, “Rocket Man”.  This event ended less than half an hour before midnight. Wow.

Another good round was made, thanks to the all-out performances by both Pangeran Muda and his team and Imelda Rosalin Trio. And the jam session, it was surprisingly way, way too hot to handle. So many came and let themselves involved in it, and the result was fun-tastic! The next Javana Jazz Bistro is going to come on August 22. In case if you miss this second edition, be sure to join in next month. A hint: blues will roar alongside jazz in the upcoming third installment.

Jazz now has its new home at Paris van Java. Not only you can enjoy it while having dinner with your friends and family at the Javana Bistro but you can participate too in painting vibrant jazz colors in this famous mall. In order to bring more and more jazz accessible in Bandung, we do need your support. You can do it by simply come, because no matter how good the players are, nothing will happen without crowds. Thank you to all partners, participating musicians especially to everyone who came. Hope to see you again next month.

See more pictures:

Reporter: Riandy Kurniawan
Photographer: Nia Kurniawati, Noor Cholis

The fact that jazz music grows so much wider in Indonesia nowadays is amazing. You can tell from many jazz events in big scale as well as in small scale are spread evenly around Indonesia. Café, Mall, Convention Hall, and outdoor area are all creatively used as venue for events so it can reach out many people as possible to come and see jazz performances. The organizer of jazz events is also diverse. Big promotor, university student, or a collaboration between a mall, music school, and online media like us also happily join the vibe to serve a jazz event.

The multiplicity in process to produce a jazz event indeed makes the event itself colorful and distinguish one to another. There are gigs where you can see a lot international jazz musician, or maybe both international and Indonesian, or an event contains only Indonesian performers The last one goes to the upcoming INDONESIA JAZZ FESTIVAL 2015. Consistently gives all stages for our own musicians,  this festival is emphasizing on the nationalism spirit as well as providing more chance for national musicians to rest their case. After the premiere in 2013, the second Indonesia Jazz Festival (IJF) comes back again this year later in the end of August at Istora Senayan, Jakarta.

Right at the first day of August, a great collaboration emerged. As usual, Jazzuality.com together with Braga CityWalk and KPH Music School combine their enthusiasm in music and entertainment to serve jazz event once a month. After last successful joint effort with Java Jazz Festival in their pre-event, this time we got another opportunity to work together with IJF for ROAD TO KITA INDONESIA! INDONESIAN JAZZ FESTIVAL 2015 as a special edition of Braga Jazz Walk.

According to Jazzuality’s founder Riandy Kurniawan, the lineup was created in sync with the Indonesian Jazz Festival’s spirit. “We wanted to capture its spirit. We just had to have the lineup consists of jazz icon, legend, the band which carries strong Indonesian traditional music in their concept, a pop groovy band and of course, really young talents.” he said. If you look at the list of artists, you would see that instantly. We believe this pre-event could stand as a miniature in representing the main event at Istora Senayan, Jakarta on 29-30 August 2015. At this event, the committee sold their tickets 50% off and gained many buyers.

At Center Stage Braga Citywalk, Bandung, this event started early around 4 pm with groups of angklung ensemble. Not long after that, a pop fusion group named Apel Manis delivered songs from Sammy Simorangkir’s “Masih Ada”, Justin Timberlake’s “Love Never Felt So Good”, “Sugar” to the recent hit, “Uptown Funk”. Ayub (vocal), Debby vocal) Adi (guitar), M. Yusuf (guitar), Ramadhony (keyboard)  and Haidar (drum) gave a solid appearance in the afternoon.

As more people came in, GFRtrio ft. Erick Gabe then took over the stage. This band has just suffered from losing its leader, Guntur Satria who passed away a couple of months ago at the age of 21. Most of the band will collapse and stop their journey, but amazingly GFRtrio decided to move on. The new chapter of GFRtrio consists of original members Farhan Faikar (bass) and Raka Rizkyandi (drums) plus two fresh players: bluesman Ijay Irawan, and vocalist Erick Gabe. Erick said like they usually do, jamming was their concept this time. This is the advantage of jazz, you can improvise as much as you like and have fun. In their act, they took jazz music as spirit not as genre. This is the reason why they could freely mixed it up with blues and other genres. “”I Feel Good” dragged more audience, then the song written by the late Guntur, “#2″ was given in naughty blues. Ello’s “Gadisku”, and “Route 66″ were the last drops from them.

Promising new beginning for GFRtrio we should say, we hope they can keep climbing to the top. After that,  a crossover group that has bassist Jalu Rohanda, guitarist Arief Ginanjar and singer Dian, plus angklung and kendang player came afterward and gave us chill with their Sundanese tunes along with some today’s chart toppers in ethnic coated music.

A group of boys and girls in their teenager phase work their talents in such a positive way is surely an inspiration. The Teens, formerly known as MY Kids joined the club and with no doubt gave their best all out and captivated our eyes. Luis Anastasia (vocal), Adam Gassor, Korin Werlina, Miguel Thomas (guitars), Yugo Junianto (guitar/percussion), Panji Saptadesta (bass), Brilliant Yosef (drums), Ferdiant Joshua (keyboard) are the personnels of this newborn group .Interesting thing about jazz for them is the difficulty, they consider it as challenge. “1000 Tahun Lamanya”, Yura Yunita’s hits “Balada Sirkus”, and Citra Scholastika’s “Aku Pasti Bisa” were delivered fine and showed their true quality. Their road is still long and school still is their priority but they have found their talents so early and radiated in good way. From what we see, they improve a lot, especially the vocalist Luis. If before she used falsetto to reach high notes, this time she demonstrated her new ability to use power in going up. As a unit, they played calmer and connected. We will be their supporter and can’t wait to see this teens blossom out with their musical skill.

Six young fellows fast caught the attention with their ear-catching name, MotionVibe. Groove, soul, R n B, and beatbox are their secret weapons to quickly climb up the ladder and get themselves known among people. Embracing soul pop jazz genre, the band actually moved fast by having single already. For this event MotionVibe appeared in the alternate formation. Farhan and Raka were there, but they got help from Bhisma Jaya Prasaja (keyboard) and Hendike Yao (saxophone). They added surprise for this gig, Rizka Adlina Veriza, a  young nightingale came along with them and stole the crowd. Renee Olstead’s “A Love That Will Last” and Joss Stone’s “Tell Me ‘Bout It” were triumphantly played. Rizka does have a lovely voice. She is current with today’s music trend, she is beautiful and knows what kind of fashion suits her. Tonight she wore bohemian fashion style that gave her even stronger character. We believe she can be the next top female singer if she wants to. As for the band, not the original formation came tonight, yet they were rock solid.

Let’s move forward to another star from young generation, West Funk Rhythm. A group with four talented people greet us with their first song, two of Chick Corea’s hits, continued with two of John Coltrane’s masterpiece. They were formed from a rhythm class and mentored by a senior drummer Eddy Syakroni. “Looking at the way his students play prove one thing: Eddy is not only a great drummer but great teacher as well.” said Syaharani.  Young lions Rio Fritz Torang Siahaan (piano), Chika Olivia (piano), Hafiz Aga Anshari (bass) and the sensational 13 year-old drummer, Bima Adhitama Suradji played like an experienced jazz band much mature than their age. What also makes us glad is that eventhough they served pure jazz, they got good crowds as well. Since Chika is going to Berklee College of Music soon, we still don’t know how the band will do. But we hope they will find the way to keep going, because they play really good. Happy to be able to feature them.

Lantun Orchestra came up on stage and attractively gave us distinctive sounds to listen to. A perfect combo between traditional, Batavian keroncong to be exact and modern tunes, presented in funny theatrical concept. Dressing in Batavian traditional style, the intro from Si Doel Anak Sekolahan mixed with Benyamin S’ “Ondel Ondel” cheerfully opened the performance. The vintage atmosphere felt wonderful with “Kicir Kicir”.  Next, their new single “Si Mei-Mei” that took us into the old Indonesian Chinese keroncong music. Imagine jazz musicians playing this, imagine the rich sound when trumpet, flute, violin and kendang go hand in hand with bass, guitar and piano. The founder Chaka Priambudi on bass and Nesia Ardi on vocal, Tiyo Alibasjah (guitar), Donny Prasetyo (keyboard), Armiya Husein (flute),  Iyus (trumpet), Dika Chasmala (violin), Arman Chaniago (percussion) and M Rizky (accordion) successfully attracted people inside the mall, dragging them to their show and made everyone happy. With “Tahu Tempe” they sealed their show.

Established in 2013, maybe now they haven’t recognized well, but they surely have dazzled our heart and ear with their pure passion and love toward Indonesia’s rich musical heritage. For us Lantun Orchestra is considered not only unique, but also important and urgently needed in terms of preserving our rich local cultural heritage in such creative way. They bring the authentic sound just as the way it should be but somehow suits today’s style of music. Entertaining theatrical stage act should be added too as one of the most interesting new concept at present time. Look at how many happy crowds they got in Bandung. Since Indonesian Jazz Festival is made under the spirit of nationalism, this band becomes important and relevant to participate in this pre event. For everything they bring, we think it’s safely said their kind of music truly represents the spirit of IJF.

The gang of Syaharani, Donny Suhendra, Bekti Sudiro and Eddy Syakroni came up last. It was our pleasure to see a performance from half part of ESQI:EF’s founder and was charmed with Syaharani’s appearance. What a bless to see such big name still gives her support toward jazz community. Syaharani and the band began with a medley containing “Buat Kamu”, “Anytime”, “Selalu ada Cinta”,  each represents ESQI:EF albums from first to third. Then Syaharani sang one of her latest hits “Arisan Hujan” and for the first time ever sang a gem from 1942 “There Will Never Be Another You”.  Reminding us of the first album, the team gave “De’Dia”.

What an honour for us to have the legendary jazz musician, Idang Rasjidi coming to this event. Syaharani knew that too, and called Idang to join her. Under the chant from the crowds, Idang willingly agreed to participate. He walked on to the stage and gave cool mouth trumpet, guitar and scatting for a start. Then he took position on piano, together they played “Route 66″ in jamming spirit. The last song was ESQI:EF’s first song for the third album written back in 2010, “Morning Coffee”. This high energy, rock ‘n roll tune sealed this pre event just a couple of minutes before 11 pm.

Enjoyable, intimate, colorful genre, full house crowd, are things you will find everytime you watch Syaharani and friends on stage. Just like fine wine, Syaharani’s voice absolutely getting better with age. Crowds still coming during her show. Shouts, chants, loud clappings and plenty of sing-along created such a joyful vibe. Her friendly and interactive approach while performing, including her ‘signature’ of sitting on the edge of the stage brought every audience closer to her, more than one could ever imagine. It’s an honour for us to have Syaharani, Donny Suhendra, Eddy Syakroni and Bekti Sudiro in this event. Thank you folks!

So many unforgettable moments happened in this IJF 2015 pre-event in Bandung. We got great happening, excited loud crowds, enjoying variety of jazz served nonstop for almost 7 hours. Every bands gave their best, creating triumphant performances that escalated this event, more than just a pre-event to be in a scale of mini jazz festival. We are happy with the result and hope to be able to make another one in the near future. If we can still have your supports like this one, why not?

As clearly as it’s written in the title, Indonesian Jazz Festival is a home for our beloved musicians to spread out their art, their love for music, and meet their loyal listeners. With the spirit of our Independence Day in August, IJF will goin bold with their red and white as you can see everywhere from their logo. 5 stages are going to give you the best night ever in two days in a row and you freely going around and choose which artists you will watch. As one of many pre-events of IJF, we are in great honor for being a witness for many skillful people, enjoyed their play, and had a great time. How much this event tempts you, fellas? Join the excitement! Mark your calendar in the end of August and don’t forget to catch your ticket soon. See you at Istora Senayan on August 29-30, 2015!

Watch the highlight of Braga Jazz Walk: Road to Kita Indonesia! Indonesian Jazz Festival 2015

See more pictures:

Reporter: Mellysa Anastasia
Photographer: Mia Damayanti Sjahir
Video Editor: Vierna Mariska Kurniawan

This info comes late, but we just received the press release last night (August 7, 2015). Since there are still performances for you to get and to know the idea behind this new annual event, do keep reading.

70 Years of Indonesian Independence

In the spirit of Indonesian Independence Day on August 17, 1945, iCanStudioLive along with Indro Hardjodikoro (Artistic Director) and Barry Likumahuwa (Music Director) present freedomsJazz.com FESTIVAL as a new annual program which will be held 17 days in a row from 1 -1 7 August.

2015 is the first year of iCanStudioLive in introducing freedomsJazz.com FESTIVAL. This festival is made as a music appreciation program which features young talents who soon will lead our music industry and the nation itself. As told earlier, this festival will run for 17 days with one show per day. freedomsJazz.com FESTIVAL gives freedoms to musicians to present their own original compositions as well as express their individual skill.

This event will be recorded Studio-Live both audio and visual with integrated concept; from interview, music clinic and demonstration, direct interaction between audience and musicians, CD and souvenir selling. freedomsJazz.com FESTIVAL is a commercial music production with standard procedure in recording production technique including the selection of microphone and the placement, according to the Studio-Live Recording standard. The result will be sold in on-line stores that have the ability to sell worldwide.

iCanStudioLive provides space to young musicians in creating their crafts optimally. This is made to answer the rapid growth of the technology and the way of communicating which become more and more simple and fast.

You won’t be charged at all to watch each show, but you must make reservation to http://www.eventbrite.com/o/icanstudiolive-8349175966 and get the ticket via online. You can see the poster of each performers by clicking the thumbnails below.

The schedule of freedomsJazz.com FESTIVAL, Live at icanStudioLive:

01/08 Nial Djuliarso Swing Machine
02/08 Andy Gomez Trio
03/08 Robert MR
04/08 Richard Hutapea
05/08 Gerald Situmorang Trio
06/08 Barry Likumahuwa Experiment
07/08 Echa Soemantri
08/08 Andre Dinuth
09/08 Tesla Manaf
10/08 BubuGiri
11/08 HWP Trio
12/08 IYR
13/08 The Jongens 4tet
14/08 Jeane Phialsa
15/08 Kul Kul
16/08 Sri Hanuraga Trio
17/08 Indro Hardjodikoro

There a so many things one could describe when they think of Bali. The wonderful beach, forests, green paddy fields, temples, majestic view of sunset and sunrise, unique, mystical atmosphere, traditional dress, dancing, fine art and typical gamelan music, all would easily remind us of this world’s favorite holiday destination. But since three years ago, we are proud to see that jazz has been added into this list. That, as well as seeing Bali as a central of jazz (ultimate jazz destination) of Indonesia. It wouldn’t happen without AA. Anom Wijaya Darsana, Yuri Mahatma and the hard-working team who made the dream comes true. Since three years ago, Bali finally has its own annual jazz fest, the Ubud Village Jazz Festival. According to Yuri, this festival is not meant to be an another jazz festival, not massive festival with uncountable number of stages, not a ‘dance-till-you-drop’ kind of event, but rather, this is set to be a festival with character. Meaning, this festival has to be able to re-introduce the true face of jazz to people of Indonesia and to the world, as well as reminding us that jazz is not only about music or even art, but can also become a reliable tool to solve complex issues of life.

Last year this festival showed its strength in creation, variety and lineup. You can read our report of the 2014 edition here http://jazzuality.com/jazz-event-report/ubud-village-jazz-festival-2014-report-day-1/ and http://jazzuality.com/jazz-event-report/ubud-village-jazz-festival-2014-report-day-2/. So what did we get this year? In this 3rd Ubud Village Jazz Festival (UVJF), once again we got a pretty combination of international established and emerging international musicians and talented Indonesian resources, both from Bali and the capital. Since the festival cores itself to the community and cares of the regeneration of jazz musicians, for the second time UVJF associated with Jazz Summer School in South Korea to facilitate a world-class jazz camp, calling it Bali Jazz Summer School. As for the festival, it took place at Arma Ubud from 7th to 8th of August 2015. This is the report of Day 1.

The Underground Jazz Movement 1 was the first in action. This community has the mission to introduce jazz to young musicians, especially those who reside in Bali. They gather mostly on Sunday afternoon until night and fill it with open discussion, talk and even play jazz. Representing the community was a simple trio: Seto Aji (guitar), Fendy (bass) and Wisnu Priambodo (drum). They played traditional jazz neatly. Just three players, but sharp. They went boppin’ with tradings and improvisations included in every song. Each year we see the improvement, each year we enjoy their happy performance.  If you are a musician living in Bali and wish to get close with jazz, all you have to do is come to their meetings. You can get a lot of information, knowledge, playing tips and many more regarding jazz. You’d know it simply by watching these boys. Fun opening it was.

The Yogyakarta’s proud big band officially opened the Giri Stage. Kirana Big Band began their journey when bassist Agung Prasetyo, turned into a conductor because of his awareness of the role. This band had appeared in major jazz events in Indonesia and we have covered them a couple of times before such as in previous set of Java Jazz Festival, ITB Big Band Concert and in Etawa Jazz Jogjakarta. Kirana Big Band can play swing standards but they do also play Indonesian and traditional songs which they smartly rearrange to fit the big band concept.

Standing in front was a young 13 year-old girl Lana. “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” nicely delivered. If you remember, there was Shelomita and Opustre Big Band’s rendition of “Payung Fantasi” some years ago, this time Lana reprised it with Kirana Big Band just as good. More songs coming, including “Spain” (Al Jarreau’s version), and a challenging free jazz song being executed well. Kirana Big Band successfully represented Jogjakarta’s fine jazz scene. It was really nice to have it here in Ubud.

Performing at Padi Stage was Nita Aartsen. This lady is famous for being an excellent pianist who bridge jazz, variety of Latins and Brazilian, and classical into her distinctive style. Off the stage, she gladly shares her expertise to her students and she is also active as a producer. Nita performs a lot outside Indonesia. This year seems like she’s having even busier schedule. The last time we met her was at the Java Jazz Festival 2015, then she graced more prestigious events from Jazz Gunung, Asean Multi Cultural Festival 2015 (at Chiang Mai, Thailand), a trip to Moskow and she also represented Indonesia at North Sea Jazz Festival 2015 in Rotterdam.

Now we met her again at this festival where she played as Nita Aartsen Trio. Joining her were Bali’s proud bassman Indra Gupta and kendang maestro Jalu G Praditina.They played wide by utilizing the combination of traditional eastern and modern western instruments, from Sundanese pattern, Batavian to variety of Latins/Brazilian. The song choice described Nita’s illustrious career too, playing songs like “Plaisir D’Amour”, “Jali-Jali”, “Fur Elise” and “So Danco Samba” (featuring Brandon Julio on guitar). For almost 30 years she has been romanced with music, spending time in between different corners and put them down inside her heart to make her own music style. This former state pianist (she was there for more than 10 years) has played with many players in different formations, whatever she delivers and with whoever she plays with are always pleasuring and entertaining. Oh yeah, one beautiful young girl from California named Riley also danced with hula-hoop during her show. What a scene.

Sylvain Gagnon drove us to mind-bending jazz at Subak Stage. He is Canadian but based in Hong Kong since the millenium. Gagnon started with accordion during his childhood, then moved to guitar and finally settled on bass. Speaking of bass, he plays contrabass and various bass guitars. And about his jazz encounters, it came from his amazement on the virtuosity and intellectual capability of jazz players.

There’s something unique of the way Gagnon view jazz. For many, jazz means freedom, daring to take risk and borderless explorations. But for Gagnon, since he studied to become an electronic engineer, he has different perspective of jazz, that jazz is mathematical and can be played with logical pragmatic mind. This unique approach can now be enjoyed through his latest album “Blue Moon” (released in December 2014), an album with many featured artists such as Paulo Levi Silveira Teixeira, Cameron Reid, pianist Yoyong Aquino and beautiful songstress Bianca Wu. A colorful jazz show from him, making the warm weather of Bali felt cooler. We love his song from “Blue Moon” titled “Migrating Bird”. Playing with him was Ubud Village Jazz Festival’s Astrid Sulaiman (piano), Gustu Brahmanta (drum) and Pramono Abdi Pamungkas (saxophone).

Back to Giri Stage. After Kirana Big Band, now it’s time to see Oran Etkin. He is a great reedman, composer and educator who always loves to make music from all over the world. For UVJF 2015, this Grammy Award winner presenting his latest work “Gathering Light”, an around the world musical trip which was inspired by his visit to many countries; from New Orleans USA, Israel, Japan, Europe, China to… Indonesia! Yes, one traditional Javanese songs “Gambang Suling” is included in the album.

For Ubud Village Jazz Festival he’s involved in the clinic and pre event just two days ago. For the main event he appeared with Fabian Almazan (piano) and Alvester C Garnett (drums) playing jazz in diversity ranging from ragtime, swing to bebop, to everything else he wishes actually.  Jazz standards like “You’ve Changed” and “Why Don’t You Do Right” got new outfit from him. “Gambang Suling” became the last presentation where he demonstrated how great he could play pentatonic scaled still in his distinctively sensational free jazz approach.

There are many saxophone/clarinet players in the world, but Etkin’s way of playing brings something fresh to the jazz pallette. Either it’s a light smooth song or the upbeat, Etkin blows breath of life into them that creates magic. As the album gains more and more positive feedbacks from both critics and fans, Etkin brought this must-listen album to the land of Gods. Lucky for us, we didn’t have to go to the North Sea Jazz Festival 2015 to see him and this project because UVJF managed to bring him in. It was highly nutricious and pleasuring. Thank you.

Performing on the Padi Stage around 7:00 pm was Dodot & Co. The leader of this group, Dodot is a legendary pianist who can create magic whenever his fingers touch the keys. What’s cool is that like a wizard, he has his own way of playing which integrates both jazz and classical. There were moments when we felt the spirit of Thelonious Monk, at other times we sensed the boldness of Bill Evans. This is our first chance to see him play, and really, he exhibited melodic virtuosity with a fine sense of swing. His compatriotes did very well too in backing him up.

The first Underground Jazz Movement already done their service earlier. At 7:30 pm we got to see the Underground Jazz Movement 2. This second group strengthen the statement of how good jazz development and regeneration is in Bali today. Performing also in trio,  Septian Lee (drum), Ade (keyboard) and Fendy (bass) took the straightahead lane and streamed freely for around 45 minutes. Another good round scored by this Bali’s proud jazz community.

When we moved to the other stage, we bumped into Nial Djuliarso Quartet. Nial is an excellent example of how an Indonesian artist can make a living in the origin country of jazz, USA. He has been pursuing his career there in New York, but he also does great in the Indonesian jazz scene. Imagine how he can maintain his position in two countries with over 16 thousands km apart. This man has studied from and played with many big cats in USA and gained valuable experiences throughout his career. Plus, he graduated from both Juilliard and Berklee College of Music. So, having him in this festival is important for many reasons. But even if you don’t care about that, his fluent jazz dialogues with three brilliant musicians including Robert Mulyarahardja (guitar), Kevin Yosua (bass) and Dezca Anugrah (drum) was really inspiring.

Joining the trio was Laura Brunner. There are so many great female jazz singers throughout the years, but we can never get tired of them, can we? There’s always room for more, especially if they have something special to offer. Laura Brunner has been mentioned as the modern-day Ella Fitzgerald, and yes, she earns that. This Berklee College of Music alumni has a clear, sexy voice with flawless pitch. She is indeed the master of scatsinging too. For the opening they played “Blues for Wilarene” and also sang Ella Fitzgerald’s song. The combination of mystical atmosphere of Bali with a challenging high energy and relaxing music from a lovely jazz nightingale and Nial Djuliarso Quartet, what a perfect combination, what an excellent treat. They were like swinging us to an ellegant, high class jazz club in NY.

It’s certainly a pleasure to be able to watch Gustu Brahmanta Project again. If usually any music that has Balinese traditional music would involve semi or large sized ensemble that includes gamelan orchestra, the format of four could bring the combination between western jazz and Balinese music just by a simple quartet format. Ida Bagus Putu Brahmanta (drums and percussion), Ida Bagus Indra Gupta (contrabass), Pramono Abdi Pamungkas (saxophone) and Subandi (rindik: an instrument made from bamboo with 11-13 keyed xylophones tuned to a fairly even tempered scale, gamelan) presented stunning mystical pentatonic pelog scale with jazz as the core.

In the hands of these amazing natives, the Balinese jazz has a new, innovative brand. The true sound of local wisdom with modern jazz approach means a show where people can enjoy, be entertained and learn from. Their audience were amazed and happy at the same time. For the first song they added one Balinese dancer which brought even more spirit both visual and audio. If you wonder how they sound or wish to hear them more, they have released an album titled “Putri Cening Ayu” which is available at our online store (http://store.jazzuality.com/product/gustu-brahmanta-trio-putri-cening-ayu/). For us, this group is the perfect portrait of having a jazz fest in Bali.

Last year we witnessed the come back of a Bali-based supergroup, Jiwa Band in this event. This time we got half of the personnels who have been friends with each other for so many years, bassist Ito Kurdhi and trumpeter Rio Sidik. The spontaneity on stage,  their energy were just lovely to see.  Their music was driven by each player, creating lovely jazz terrain for more than half an hour. A team up between skillful friends who have been sharing the chemistry for more than a decade simply created a flamable funky gig. Sandy Winarta (drums) and Kevin Suwandi (keyboard) gave big contribution to this act.

When we came to the Giri stage, the event advisor Dwiki Dharmawan was in the middle of playing his first song “Gunung Raung”, inspired by the recent terrible activity of Mount Raung. This man is a highly respected jazzman, but his heart is 100% Indonesia. If you combine these two spheres, you will find out that no matter what he plays, there’s always Indonesia in it. He is the man behind many jazz fests in Indonesia, he is also the man that has made Indonesia proud in Europe and USA. This year he teamed up with super musicians: his partner for 30 years Donny Suhendra (guitar), Adi Darmawan (bass) and Sandy Winarta (drums).  More new songs including “Wild Dance” and “Pasar Klewer” which has lovely pentatonic scales. A fired-up performances, challenging and full of action made his show an ace. What a way to end the first day of this festival.

No less than eleven shows involving the national musicians, the internationals and local heroes were given on day 1. Our energy feels drained, but we are excited to see what to come on the 2nd and final day of Ubud Village Jazz Festival 2015. If you were there yesterday, you have to be there today, because there will be many, many more amazing jazz wizards waiting to put their spell on you. If you missed the Friday show, you still have one day left to be a part of the festival. For those who are not in Bali, don’t worry because we are going to tell you the highlight. Stay tuned for our 2nd day report, and hey, Bali jazz lovers, see you at Arma Ubud this afternoon.

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Reporter: Riandy Kurniawan, Vierna Mariska Kurniawan
Photographer: Dendy Adhyatma Purnama

After the interesting first day (read the report here: http://jazzuality.com/jazz-events/ubud-village-jazz-festival-2015-day-1-report/), now we are about to tell you what’s happening on the second/final day of Ubud Village Jazz Festival 2015.

Just like last year, The Openmind Quartet was the first band to open the second day. This band consists of musicians/lecturers once studied at the Universitas Pelita Harapan Jakarta such as Michael Setiawan (grand piano), Kevin Yosua (electric bass), Reynold Banea (guitar) and Joshua Setiawan (Drums). Cool swingin’ straight ahead felt so good from this young but experienced unit, and that appeared immidiately since the first song, Chuck Loeb’s “December Dream”. They presented the fresh, traditional face of jazz that complimented the cool Ubud  weather.

Animaux’s front Alex Lahey was supposed to represent the land down under, Australia. How unfortunate it was to know that Lahey failed to come because of the Mount Raung eruption. The planes from/to Bali-Australia were cancelled and she couldn’t find empty seat up until the final hours.  One show had to be dissapeared. Hopefully next year she can make it into this festival.

Yesterday, two members of Jiwa Band Ito Kurdhi and Rio Sidik have already performed. Now it’s time to see another personnel, Koko Harsoe. Originally from Batu, Malang, he’s been building his career in Bali for many years. He is a fine jazz guitarist who can play modern jazz compositions perfectly, but he also knows how to bring a new sound by collaborating with exotic instruments from tabla, djembe to Aborigin’s didgeridoo.

Performing with great set of players including Astrid Sulaiman (piano), Indra Gupta (bass), Gustu Brahmanta (drum) and Pramono Abdi Pamungkas (saxophone), this time he didn’t use any traditional instruments and went fully swingin’ and boppin’ with pure jazz delights. The way he and the band plays jazz is like painting fine art on the canvas. This class act shows us that the Koko Harsoe and his team are not just a musician but an artistes. The crowds loved it too and got an encore they asked for.

The sister of Ubud Village Jazz Festival’s founder Yuri Mahatma, Dian Pratiwi once again graced this year’s party. She is truly a great female singer with jazz attached in every breath. For two years in a row she was accompanied by Uwe Plath, this year she’s on her own. Dian Pratiwi made a lovely show which showed her strong and soft side.

She played with her brother Yuri Mahatma (guitar), sister in law Astrid Sulaiman (piano), Dimas (bass) and Najib (drums). Having the assorted of jazz from wide range of choices including Ibu Sud’s famous children song “Tik Tik Tik Bunyi Hujan”, “Close Your Eyes”, “Too Close For Comfort” and Michael Jackson’s “One Day In Your Life” under the moonlight really created a vibrant colors over tropical, mystical Balinese surroundings. Well known jazz standards sang by a natural female singer with jazz being attached in each note, that’s surely a special treatment. She gave a happy show.

Apart from the action served on 3 stages, one of the highlights was a free flow wine (yes, both red and white!) for one hour, from 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm. This was generously given to everyone on both days. You could imagine how long the queuing line on the right side of the Giri Stage to get a glass (or more) of wine.

A guitarist with sharp swingin’ sense, a teacher who can write like a music journalist. That’s how we would describe Dion Janapria. Attained his degree in Holland and known as one of the members of Aksan Sjuman and the Committee of the Fest and Tao Kombo, this man has been giving a lot to Indonesia’s jazz scene. Recently he’s entering the solo world by releasing an independent album titled “Silver is the Color of the Blues” under a trio format. Just like in the album, he performed in trio formation, but with Kevin Yosua (contrabass) and Dezca Anugrah (drums). These talented men delivering world-class jazz compositions where swing, waltz, hardbop and blues-driven compositions either standards, Dion or Kevin’s original songs (from Kevin’s “Contradiction” and Dion’s “Silver is the Color of the Blues”) could be felt in its most natural purity. The captivating guitar play, the seductive brush sticks and stylish sound of bass from them sounded fully round and tight. The album should be taken as a masterpiece, so did the performance.

It was great to meet Ben van den Dungen again after last year. But this time Ben came with a very interesting project called Miles! This tribute to Miles Davis is the first program of the ‘Legends of Music’ series, made not only to simply play Miles’ songs but to bring us closer to Miles, more than we ever dreamed before. The great trumpeter from Netherlands, Michael Varekamp is the brain behind it. Together with Ben van den Dungen and the rest of the team, they bring timeless masterpieces from Miles Davis and songs that he’s played which could stand as Miles’ biography. “In a Silent Way”, “Blue in Green”, “Milestones”, “That’s Right”, “So What”, “Tutu” , also Cyndi Lauper’s 1983’s song” Time After Time” and Michael Jackson’s “Human Nature” that Miles had covered nicely.

Miles Davis is one of the greatest jazz legends in music and cinema. He gave birth to many styles of jazz playing that later became sub-genres, he’s also known as the best jazz ‘coach’ since so many musicians actually began their career in Miles’ bands before they reached the legendary status. From John Coltrane, Jimmy Cobb, Bill Evans, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, John Scofield to Marcus Miller, these are just a few names that have tasted Davis’ magic. This Miles! project provided us time capsule to go back in time, to see, feel and hear this legendary jazz figure. It feels like watching Miles and Coltrane playing with some other big cats. Thank you Michael, Ben and the team, it was truly a beautiful project to remember for a long time.

Proud Bali son, Sandy Winarta was back gracing this festival. He is a versatile jazz drummer who has achieved everything in considerably young age. He currently continues his education in New York, but lucky for us, as he’s back home due to the summer holiday, we could see his huge contribution in this fest. Look at how busy he’s been since day 1. For his own show, Sandy brought his new school buddy in New York, saxophonist Jorge Roldan plus two compatriotes Indra Gupta (bass) and Kevin Suwandi (piano) to transfer his jazz energy to everyone coming to his show. As usual, clean, tight and efortless performance where the beauty of drum beat shone in every corner.

On Subak stage  at 8:30 pm was Julian Banks Trio. Coming from Melbourne, Australia, Julian Banks Trio is a pack of long time friends, on and off stage. Julian Banks (tenor saxophone), Christopher Hale (semi acoustic bass) and James Hauptmann (drums/percussion) served modern jazz in more modern way, resulting beautiful blends of graceful tunes and rhythm. They have released on EP containing 6 tracks in 2014. The CD might be difficult to find in Indonesia, but lucky for us, we could listen directly from them at UVJF 2015. The combination of Banks’ way to stream freely through notes, the unique approach on bass by Hale and groovy beat from Hauptmann creates a wonderous musical journey. And wow, they also featured a kendang player that enriched their sound even more. Tight and clean, bold and sharp, what a package it was from these Aussie mates.

The final show belong to the showdown of Indonesia’s jazz icons, Indra Lesmana and Dewa Budjana. Indra placed his signature for the very first time in this festival, while Budjana made his second appearance after two years ago. Indra Lesmana has been moved to Bali for about a year now, and currently establishing his career there. Now he has brought back the famous Mostly Jazz to settle in Sanur, Bali, he’s still active in making songs, the latest are “Eclipse” ft Gustu Brahmanta and “Frangipani” ft Shadu Shah.

As for Dewa Budjana, this man continues to bag praises from all over the world from his albums, the latest one is the critical acclaimed “Hasta Karma”, released under MoonJune Records. His international reputation brought him to play with many other big cats from abroad. Soon in October he will collide with John McLaughlin and the 4th Dimension in “Duaji Guruji”, taking place also here at Arma Ubud.

The friendship between Indra and Dewa have been going on for 30 years, in fruitful way.  They have collaborated too a couple of times, the most recent ones were at Jazz Buzz Salihara 2015 and here in Bali for Indra’s Mostly Jazz. “We have been friends for that long, we compose songs together, but we never made any collaboration in recording..not until the upcoming album, set to release in next January”, said Dewa Budjana.

For this festival Indra Lesmana and Dewa Budjana brought two other reliable partners: Shadu Shah (bass),  Ricad Hutapea (sax and flute) and Muhammad Rafi (drum). They played original songs composed by each or together including “Cloud of Foggy”, “Mountain of Life”, “Joged Kayangan”, “Dancing Tears”, “Erskoman” (ft Dennis Junio) among other songs. This action-packed, adrenaline rush show reached climax at the masterpiece from Indra and Dewa’s  supergroup JavaJazz, “Bulan Di Asia  (“Moon Over Asia)”. That’s a big WOW.

For two days straight Ubud area in Bali once again being painted by jazz colors. What we love from this annual party is the different atmosphere created by the combination of assorted pure jazz delight, strong Balinese music ambience and of course, the spiritual atmosphere of the land that can never be found else where. Just like what founder Yuri Mahatma said, this event is never created as just another jazz festival, nor that it was meant to be a nonstop rave party with too many stages. “We want to keep it elegant, small, but with quality.” he said. And this event should become a great opportunity for young Indonesian musicians to gain valuable knowledge, improve their skills and learn how to execute it in front of the crowds. The Bali Jazz Summer School as the fruit of Yuri Mahatma partnering with Ben van den Dungen, the initiator of The Jazz Summer School in Korea-Netherlands who became an integrated part of this event provides that. A festival with character, that’s the point. And so far we do see it.

Co founder Anom Darsana once said, “Our talented young Indonesian artists are the key to the development and future existence of Jazz in Indonesia.” Based on this perspective, the Festival aims to provide important cross-cultural and networking opportunities between International and local jazz musicians and will showcase established and emerging musicians. That’s also valuable in we want to see a healthy jazz movement here in Indonesia especially in Bali. Ubud Village Jazz Festival  wasn’t made just overseas players-oriented, but the local and national talents got fair portion too, both in numbers and in the playing spot distribution. This year once again We saw a good percentage of well experienced players and the young lions. The cross-nation collaborations took place in many shows, which can be a miniature of the united world of jazz that we wish for.

We would love to see new artists joining in next year. There are thousands of good jazz musicians around the nation, and surely there are many international musicians wish to be a part of it. Of course, the local jazz artists have to be accomodated too. We think that’s the important homework to make this festival run healthily.

Jazz doesn’t belong only in Jakarta and other big cities in Java anymore. Jazz has been spread wider than we have ever imagined, and surely it now has a reliable home in Bali. Today tourists don’t go to Bali just to enjoy their holiday but also to enjoy a different atmosphere of jazz fest. Thank you Ubud Village Jazz Festival, kudos to founders, commitees, performers, partners, supporters, audiences and everyone involved, and thank you for your hospitality and great service towards us. Look forward to see you again next year. Long live Ubud Village Jazz Festival!

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Reporter: Riandy Kurniawan, Vierna Mariska Kurniawan
Photographer: Dendy Adhyatma Purnama

This is my eighth time at the annual Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF) in Kuching, Sarawak (Malaysia), one of the Top 25 world music festivals and now in its 18th edition! One of the most creative programming features of RWMF is the afternoon workshops and jam sessions, which bring together musicians from the various groups by category – such as instrumentals (all guitars, or all percussion), vocals (eg. traditional) or dance (mixed or by genre).

Three 45-minute workshops in parallel across three venues in three daily slots make for a good 27 sessions – but also a tough problem in deciding which one to attend! The jams and workshops reveal new aspects of creativity and collaboration, beyond the staged and rehearsed performances of the main acts, and are a delight for fans of jazz, folk and world music.

See also my articles on the music jams from the 2014 and 2013 editions of RWMF: Music Workshops and Jams across Borders and Genres: http://jazzuality.com/jazz-event-report/rainforest-world-music-festival-2014-music-workshops-and-jams-across-borders-and-genres/ and Global Jams, International Improvisations: http://jazzuality.com/jazz-event-report/rainforest-world-music-festival-global-jams-international-improvisations/

The RWMF 2015 lineup of 17 international and 7 local groups included Alaverdi (Georgia), Bargou 08 (Tunisia), Driss El Maloumi (Morocco), EPI (Mongolia), Harubee (Maldives), Kapela Maliszow (Poland), Kobagi Kecak (Indonesia), Kobo Town (Trinidad&Tobago), Korrontzi (Spain) , Le Blanc Bros Cajun Band (Australia), Lindigo (Reunion Island), Ndima (Congo), Sangpuy (Taiwan), Shooglenifty (Scotland), Son De Madera (Mexico) Sona Joberteh (Gambia/UK) and Ukandanz (France/Ethiopia). The Malaysian lineup featured Culture Shot, Kenwy Yang-Qin Ensemble, Lan E Tuyang, Mah Meri, Sayu Ateng, 1Drum.org and Sarawak Cultural Village group.

The workshops on the first day began with the music and way of life of the Pygmies from Congo, Brazzaville in Central Africa. The Aka community from Kombola has formed the group Ndima, and showcased their polyphonic yodeling and the amazing mouth-harp called mbela.

The Mexican group Son de Madera from Vera Cruz performed the zapateado fiddle and requinto styles to loud applause and cheers. They cited the influence of Spanish and Indian culture in their music. “The fandango music just cannot stop,” the band members joked; performances often carry on all night long.

Drew Gonsalves and musicians of Kobo Town regaled the audience with the humour and wit of calypso music from Trinidad and Tobago. Calypso survived strict periods of censorship earlier in the 20th century when the artistes would protest against unfair government policies and corrupt politicians.

Each cross-cultural jam session had an anchor, who let all the musicians begin with brief introductory samples of their country’s music, and then laid out a tune or groove for others to improvise on. The first collaborative jam featured dulcimers, xylophones and gongs, with terrific performances on the yangqing by Ho Khong Wee & Eugene Yip (Kenwy Yangqing Ensemble), engkerumong by Mohammed Khairil (Sayu Ateng), and pratuokng by Arthur Borman (Sarawak Cultural Village). The youthful members of the Kenwy Yangqing Ensemble wowed the audience with the shimmering sound of their dulcimers.

The workshop and jam called ‘Hour Glass Curves’ featured guitars and their cousins, such as requinto by Ramon Hernandez and Jarana by Andres Vega (Son de Madera), and cuatro by Drew Gonsalves (Kobo Town). The guitarists were Derek Johnson (from Sona Jabarteh group), Patrick Giunta (Kobo Town), Mohamad Kedari Abu Bakar (Sayu Ateng), Alberto Bengoechea (Korrontzi), Andrew Le Blanc and Kimberly Wheeler (Le Blanc Bros Cajun Band).

The audience was inspired, humbled and completely floored by Mohamad Kedari from the group Sayu Ateng – though he is blind, he showed his amazing skills by playing the guitar over his head, with his teeth, and even flipped over onto his left side!

Each afternoon’s workshops ended with a one-hour drum circle conducted by 1Drum.org from Malaysia. They brought along a range of drums, shakers and other percussion instruments, and some audience members brought along their own instruments. Over a hundred people took part in each drum circle, chanting and drumming to the tunes of music forms like garba.

The workshop and jam titled ‘At my Fingertips’ featured a wide range of plucked stringed instruments, such as mandolin by Ewan Macpherson (Shooglenifty), dotar by Nidhal Yahyaoui (Bargou 08), chonguri by David Kavtaradze (Alaverdi), lang ting tang by Ang Eng Bok (Culture Shot), oud by Driss El Maloumi, sape by Salomon Gau and Lawai Ngau (Lan E Tuyang), kora by Sona Jobarteh (The Gambia), and banjo by Garry Finlayson (Shooglenifty). The sounds of Sona Jabarteh on kora were so mesmerising that Garry Finlayson of Shooglenifty jokingly complained that it was not fair for him to follow such a spectacular performance!

Among the dance and drum workshops, one of the highest-energy sessions was titled ‘I Got Rhythm!’ The percussionists and instruments included bodhran by James Mackintosh (Shooglenifty), daf and darbuka by Lahoucine Baqir (Driss El Maloumi), muyu and bamboo clappers by Orville Lee, Tan Yan Kung and Liew Shan We (Kenwy Yangqing Ensemble), gendang and bedok by Ismail Idris (Sayu Ateng), onugandu by Mohamed Hindhaz and Abdulla Miushadh (Harubee), calabash and djembe by Mouhamadou Sarr (Sona Jabarteh group), bendir by Ramzi Maaroufi and Benjamin Chaval (Bargou 08) and gendang by M. Sivasilan (Culture Shot).

As if this amazing lineup wasn’t enough, the performers were also joined by ‘body percussionists’ from Bali: Wayan Sutapa, Ketut Sariana, Cok Nala, Gung Eka, Made Suwi, Nyoman Adiarta, and Made Sudira (Kobagi Kecak)! They showed how the chest, shoulders, thighs and bellies could also be percussive surfaces between rounds of clapping and finger-snapping. The performers had the audience on their feet by the end of the jam, with rousing calls for two encores.

One of the most exciting workshops on the last day of RWMF was called ‘Sing a Different Tune,’ and featured singers and songs from different communities. Anchored by Kaela Rowan (Shooglenifty), the singers were Sangpuy (Taiwan), Sona Jobarteh (The Gambia), Anthea Chai (Kenwy Yangqing Ensemble), Enkhjargal Dandavaanchig (Mongolia), Olivier Araste (Lindigo), Faizal Jamil (Sayu Ateng), Ibrahim Mamdhooh (Harubee) and Ang Eng Bok, Clarence Ewe and Rebby Sim (Culture Shot).

Anthea Chai moved the audience to tears with her Chinese song celebrating the love and devotion of mothers, and Epi from Mongolia blew the audience away with his spectacular command of the full vocal range, from deep bass to shrill tunes.

Sona Jabarte then laid out a chorus called ‘Iniche’ (thanks) to which the audience clapped, and the vocalists took turns improvising with various twists and turns. The chanting moved to such a crescendo that Olivier Araste of Lindigo got up and began to dance, and had the entire audience on their feet as well.

The workshops were followed by night performances on the main stages, but the audience will always remember how these music stars were also able to step out of their own boundaries and genres, and jam with joy with other musicians in the afternoon workshops. We look forward to the 2016 edition of RWMF already, and its unbeatable combination of workshops and jams!

Workshops & Jams coverage by Madanmohan Rao
Editor & DJ; World music & Jazz
Global Correspondent for Jazzuality.com

Photo courtesy of STB and Madanmohan Rao .

For two months now we have added jazz color into the most happening mall in Bandung, Paris van Java (PVJ) through JAVANA JAZZ BISTRO. This event is made by us, Jazzuality.com to answer the wish of a popular, stylish and delicious Indo-Western eatery Javana Bistro to establish itself as one of the jazz destinations in Bandung. Since June we have featured some of the best artists/bands from the city, ranging from the icons, experienced musicians and the rising stars. So far in our opinion we did well. Good crowds have been there enjoying the performances for more than 3 hours, and the jam session has been so alive. You can read our report from Javana Jazz Bistro June and July edition here: http://jazzuality.com/jazz-event-report/javana-jazz-bistro-premiere-the-report/ and http://jazzuality.com/jazz-event-report/javana-jazz-bistro-2nd-edition-the-report/.

So what’s next? We have prepared the next stop, JAVANA JAZZ BISTRO 3rd EDITION by featuring fresh batch, consisting two bands that offer different concept. If you want to know what the red line is, well, we can simply say it’s Blues, the roots of all modern musics. Both bands are attached with blues, but blues isn’t the only thing to get from them. Jazz and other genres could be found inside their music, flowing naturally from their veins. Who are the band? It’s going to be the amazing guitarist Nissan Fortz and GFRtrio ft Erick Gabe, a band that’s currently entering its new chapter. Why new chapter? And, if you still don’t know them yet, who are they? We will let you know them shortly. But first, allow us to tell you when this event will happen. JAVANA JAZZ BISTRO 3rd EDITION is coming soon on August 23, 2015, taking place at the Javana Bistro, located at the outdoor lane of Paris van Java Bandung, starting from 8 pm until drop. The jam session will be available for everyone after these two performers do their thing.

Nissan Fortz

Now let’s take a closer look at this edition’s lineup. First, Nissan Fortz. This guitarist with unique name has successfully secure his place at the top of Bandung’s indie music scene and is now getting more and more recognition in Jakarta. His band Trias Akustika/The Trias was born in March 2009 along with the opening of Ruang Putih Cafe in Bandung and already graces many festivals in Bandung and Jakarta. Then his collaboration with Sarah Saputri as Sarah N Soul has gained popularity among music lovers. Step aside from the all-star cast Blues Libre, Sarah N Soul and The Trias (also frequently play with Erwin Saz), all rounded but strongly spirited by blues guitarist Nissan Fortz feels the urge to build his solo career. Since 4 months ago he started writing songs for his solo career and began to cook it with his team around 2 months after. For this solo career he will play with all-star cast including Dimas Setiawan (bassist of Sindentosca, Rock on Road and Pagi), Destra Sandjaya (drum; vocalist of Elpucino), Ade Irvan Riswandi (keyboardist; founder of ethnic band Pancasura) and Eggy Pratama (trumpet; active in many bands including Salamander Big Band).

Looking at the personnels’ background, you could take a guess that their music won’t stay in any particular genre. Even Nissan himself is an all-rounder who can play just about any style, spontaneously, just as good. So, since this is his solo career and the music should represent his true-self, we believe his music will reflect all kinds of music he’s been in touch with along his career. The dynamicity and progressivity of music allow creative people to explore music to the limit and create something new with it. When there are high skilled and experienced players in a group like this, music will be very, very interesting. Anything could come out from them. But remember, they are down to earth. Meaning, the lyrics and melodies won’t puzzle you at all, instead you will enjoy every drop from them.

GFRtrio ft Erick Gabe

The other one is GFRtrio ft Erick Gabe. GFR was formed on October 10, 2012 from frequent jamming at a studio in their highschool. Originally GFR stands for the personnels’ initials: Guntur, Farhan, Raka. Just like we mentioned earlier, this band is currently entering the new chapter after losing its leader, Guntur Satria who passed away last May at the age of 21. Not many band survive after being hit by a problem like this, but GFRtrio somehow found its way to go on. Farhan Faikar (bass) and Raka Rizkyandi (drums) decided to have new member, and that’s the young but lethal guitarist, Ijay Irawan. Other than guitar, he also plays bass, harp and even drum when needed. Ijay clearly inherits the gift from his father, bluesman Budi arab (real name: Budi Irawan). To fill the vocal section, Erick Gabe is in. Erick is a teacher who formerly known as the vocalist of Out of 7. This man is a vocal stunt that dares to go beyond limit while singing.

Originally this band plays naughty blues. Since there are two new members entering the band, it’s going to be interesting to find out how the band will be. From what we see, their concept is now wider, reaching soul and jazz. The band has young musicians with enough amunition to create madness. We have big hope for this band, because we know they are really promising and have all the chance to fly high. Therefore we gladly give them space to play on. Hopefully this will give them benefit. You can expect some acrobatic attempt from this one. There will be lots of action and good time.

If you’re a musician, here’s something that can excite you even more. Just like our other events, there will be jam session open for everyone in this event. This jam session will be available directly after the showcase. Or, as what’s happening in the previous editions, you might join the party while the featured band performs. Either way, we wish to make this event accessible for you all. Either for you who just want to have jazztertainment during dinner, or if you want to join the party as a player. It’s going to be cool to jam in PVJ, don’t you think? If you agree, do come and jump in.

Mark the date on your calendar. Javana Jazz Bistro 3rd Edition will come on Sunday night, 23 August 2015, starting at 8:00 pm onwards. Together with Javana Bistro, we will be really happy if you join in. Two cool bands are ready to make your dinner even better. Let’s have fun together, let’s have a party, let’s get loud. See you!

JAVANA JAZZ BISTRO 3rd Edition

Date: Sunday, August 23, 2015
Time: 08:00 pm – onwards
Location: Paris van Java
Jl.Sukajadi no. 137-139 , Bandung

For reservation:  +62 (22) 820 63518, +62 822 1470 8842

Featuring:

:: NISSAN FORTZ ::
Nissan Fortz – guitar
Dimas Setiawan – bass
Destra Sandjaya – drum
Ade Irvan Riswandi – keyboard
Eggy Pratama – trumpet

:: GFRtrio ft ERICK GABE ::
Farhan Faikar – bass
Raka Rizkyandi – drum
Ijay Irawan – guitar
Erick Gabe – vocals

“There is really no end to experimenting with different instruments and musicians” – The Raggy Project from Malaysia

Raggy Singh heads the Raggy Project, an East-West blues and fusion band from Penang, Malaysia. Grooves, guitar and tabla have been blended together by this group for almost four decades now, and they have released two albums as well (see their YouTube video). The lineup at the recent Penang World Music Festival included Raggy Singh (vocals, guitars), Jimie Loh (bass), Jone Yeoh (drums), Richard Gomis (keyboards) and Kirubakaran Naryanasami (percussion).

Raggy joins us in this exclusive interview on musical convergence and impact.

What was the vision behind founding of your music group? What new lineups and instruments have you experimented with since the early days?
My “Project” is a constantly evolving thing, the key being to develop and improve as a musician while the music itself evolves as I go through different stages of my musical journey. I consider myself to be an ordinary person with ordinary talent, but I am willing to go to extraordinary lengths to improve my musicianship, so the “Project’ is to see where all this effort can take me.

The lineup of musician changes sometimes because it is a big strain being in a band focused on a vision which is not abstract. I do not set out to play commercially “safe” music, and when the band has settled into whatever music we are doing I become restless and need to try something different again! I guess I must drive my band members crazy: I’m always unhappy when I am happy.

I’m of Sikh-Punjabi descent, born in Malaysia, and my earliest instruments were the tabla and harmonium. In my early teens I picked up the guitar and bass, and later some keyboards and drums. Over the years I’ve experimented with all these instruments, and also with modern synthesizers, drum machines and sequencers.

I keep experimenting, but I also remind myself to go back to the basics and I also do acoustic shows, sometimes just singing solo with an acoustic guitar. I’ve also experimented with playing the acoustic guitar along with a tabla player and Indian flutes – we did everything from Led Zeppelin to Elvis in this format which got lots of enthusiastic response!

There is really no end to experimenting with different instruments and musicians. Each change brings a different flavour, but one needs to be mindful that the objective is to produce meaningful and beautiful music, not just an assortment of sounds and styles.

What are the challenges you face as a musician and composer?
The main challenge is to be creative and pleasing while retaining originality. Too many musicians sacrifice their integrity playing “safe” structured melodies because that is what sells. I don’t see the point in dedicating my life to music only to become someone else’s plaything.

Who would you say are the leading influences in your musical career? Who are some of your favourite musicians?
Oh dear, this list would become very long, I tend to be influenced by anything that excites me. But if there is one person whom I would say had the greatest impact on my path as a musician, it would be my ex-manager, Grenville Pereira. He was an extraordinarily talented musician and played with Malaysia’s most famous bands, and he would drive me to improve, improve, improve. Unfortunately he died a few years ago but whenever I’m performing I can still hear him say “Hey, that’s a mistake, practice it another thousand times!”

My favourite musicians would include the late Ustad Alla Rakha Khan (tabla maestro), guitarists like Mark Knopfler, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Gary Moore, BB King as well as singer-songwriter types like Don Maclean, Paul Simon, Jose Feliciano, Jim Croce.

How do you blend different musical influences and genres in your music? How do you bring about this fusion without confusion?
I just try to listen to what any given piece of music is telling me. If it starts talking to my soul then the playing styles and instrument arrangement just follows naturally. When I try to force myself upon the music, the result is invariably painful.

How would you describe your musical journey and how your albums have evolved and changed over the years?
“A constant struggle” would be a somewhat apt description It’s not easy when you’re not doing mainstream stuff. But I have an abundance of passion and dedication. My albums are evolving as I learn how to control the various aspects involved in recording and production. I record and engineer/mix/produce all of my songs, in my home studio (that is always getting modified and upgraded as I try to improve the production quality), and as each album gets released I try to work out areas for improvement for the next albums. Two albums have been released and I’m already working on two more.

How does your composition process work: through a main songwriter, or through collaboration/jams between your band members?
So far all the compositions on my albums have been mine, though that may change if band members come up with their own songs as well. Once the basic song has been composed, the final arrangement would involve all band members giving their opinions and ideas and I’ll try to work out something that everybody is happy to work with.

Song ideas come to be at any time, there is no fixed “songwriting mode.” Some songs just flow out in minutes, others get written over a long period of time. Sometimes I get stuck just because I can’t find the words to describe a certain idea; lyrics to me are fundamentally important, and then the melody has to carry the lyrical content appropriately.

How was your overall experience at the Penang World Music Festival? What were the Top Three highlights for you?
It was a fantastic experience! There were so many wonderful musicians around and such a diverse range of music to experience. My Top Three highlights were the Drum Circle workshop (where the percussionists from all the performing bands spontaneously created beats together), and the performances by Dizu Plaatjies (from South Africa) and Razon De Son (from Spain, led by Raul Rodriguez). Of course all the other performances were great too.

What are some unusual reactions you have got during your live performances?
Well, if you want to talk about unusual, there was once this Japanese girl who came onstage when we were playing some heavy rock stuff, and she tried to rip my pants off…

What kinds of social and political messages have been conveyed in your recent albums?
Many of my songs have underlying social and environmental themes, but I steer away from political stuff in my albums. Politics is such a divisive thing. I try to convey my feelings about social issues and figure that if anybody reasonable listens he/she will form their own reasonable conclusions irrespective of their political affiliations.

My vision is that music can bring a reasonableness to our times, but of course that would only be possible if musicians themselves are reasonable. Songs that spew hatred and anti-this or anti-that sentiments don’t really work. I can understand the frustrations that people feel on a number of issues, and I too am often in despair at current socio-political and economical issues but I try to express these in my music in a way that does not alienate people but rather makes them think.

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

“We need music as we need food and love” – Brasilian jazz singer Fernanda Cunha

Renowned Brazilian singer Fernanda Cunha performs contemporary and traditional compositions in jazz and other world music genres. She began her career in 1997 and has since toured around the world, carving out a huge following for her post-bossa groove. She has released five albums so far, with the next one due in September 2015. She joins us in this exclusive interview about her musical journeys and experiences, and her upcoming album.

What was the vision behind founding of your music group? What new lineups and instruments have you experimented with since the early days?
I have been playing with my quartet in Brazil for more than a decade (Zé Carlos on guitar, Jorjão Carvalho on bass, Edson Ghilardi on drums and Cristovao Bastos or Camilla Dias on piano). They are very important in my music since they know me very well, they understand the kind of arrangements I like, they understand my soul.

I also play with Toronto jazz guitarist Reg Schwager when I am in Canada. He is a great musician, very sophisticated and we became friends and partners in music. Sometimes Tom Szcesniak (accordion) and Pat Collins (bass) join us in some concerts in Ontario. I also played with Portuguese guitarist Afonso Pais in Europe, two times in duo. For me is very interesting to make these connections, they learn with me and I learn with them, the fusion is interesting and I grow up learning and changing experiences with them.

What are the challenges you face as a musician and composer?
I am a singer/vocalist and the big challenge is to perform a song written by a composer and bring it to my universe. I try to put my artistic personality into the song and make it special.

As a composer, the challenge is to write lyrics for other people’s melodies. I wrote lyrics in Portuguese for two songs by Reg Schwager for my upcoming CD “Olhos de mar” (to be released in September). I have already wrote lyrics for other composers like Australian Ray Piper, the Canadian Mike Lent, and the Brazilians Camilla Dias and Ricardo Rito.

Who would you say are the leading influences in your musical career?
My influences are Dianne Reeves, Sarah Vaughan, Sheila Jordan, Flora Purim, Leny Andrade, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Djavan, among others. I have also been listening a lot to a new generation of vocalists such as Yun Sun Nah (from Korea) and Kelly Lee Evans (from Canada).

How do you blend different musical influences and genres in your music? How do you bring about fusion without confusion?
I guess I have an artistic personality that is well defined, so I don’t think there is confusion if I sing different rhythms. I like to sing different genres (jazz, pop, bossa nova and samba). I don’t think it is a conflict to sing a bossa nova and a pop song in the same CD or in a concert if they have beautiful harmony and arrangements.

I like beautiful music, no matter what the genre. I do not sing rock or folk music, but it is just because I would not be able to do that well. But I respect all genres of music if they have quality and if they are well performed.

How would you describe your musical journey and how your albums have evolved and changed over the years?
I think I am very fortunate to live from my music and it is an honour to be able to sing all over the world bringing music from my country to other cultures. Maybe this is my mission in life and makes me a happy person.

I have recorded six albums over the years and the new one features previously unreleased songs written by great Brazilian songwriters for this project. But all my CDs have the same feeling, since I don’t think I changed my singing. I still produce my own CDs, and I have all my musicians with me since the beginning.

In 2007 I recorded a tribute to Jobim and Chico Buarque in duo with guitar player Ze Carlos. That was a different project, a duo, but still, Ze Carlos is playing with me in most of my CDs. The CD “Coraçao do Brasil” released in 2012 was also the same band, but I invited Tom Szcesniak to play accordion in one song. And in this new CD, Reg Schwager is playing guitar (acoustic and electric) in two tracks, and we wrote the songs together. I try to keep the same quality in all the CDs but at the same time I try to innovate the repertoire and arrangements, bringing new flavours to the listeners.

How does your composition process work: through a main songwriter, or through collaboration/jams between your band members? Do you compose on the road also, while travelling?
All of the above! (smiles). Mainly I record songs from other composers, I consider myself a better singer than a composer. But I used to write lyrics to my fellow musicians/composers, and sometimes I write on the road. Last year, I wrote a song to the city Lisbon but I did not have courage to record it as yet. I wrote the melody and lyrics, so I want to mature this idea, show to some people I admire and then I will decide what to do. I think we have great composers, I don’t want to be one. I really prefer to sing and perform other people’s songs. That is inspiring and exciting for me.

How was your overall experience in playing in festivals around the world, such as the Borneo International Jazz Festival?
Playing in Borneo was a great experience, it was such a gift singing for that beautiful audience, and different cultures. I felt that music has no barriers and that was magic. My concert in Borneo was certainly a highlight in my career as well as singing in Iqaluit (in Nunavut, Canada) in duo with Reg Schwager in 2012, and in Ushuaia, Argentina (Jazz Al Fin festival) representing my country. These were three amazing experiences. And also I really love to perform in Canada (I have performed there from coast to coast to coast), and in Portugal, Austria, Denmark, and so on.

Among all your tracks or albums, which are your favourite ones, and why?
I am proud of what I have done. The first one was recorded in the US with American musicians, but singing a Brazilian repertoire. The second one was recorded in Rio de Janeiro, it was a tribute to two great composers: Sueli Costa and Johnny Al which I recorded with my quartet plus a small orquestra, saxophone, flutes – it was very special.

Then the third one was in duo with guitar player Ze Carlos, a more intimate CD. The fourth one “Brasil Canada” was recorded in Canada featuring songs and musicians from both countries. The fifth one was recorded in Rio in celebration of my 15 year career, featuring Brazilian standards with a refreshing interpretation and also original and unreleased songs. And this upcoming album “Olhos de mar” features only new songs – unreleased songs written specially for me, so that is very special. But I like all of my CDs. They represent what I am for sure.

What is your message to our audience? What is your vision of what music can do in this age of political/economical turmoil?
Please keep consuming arts (CDs, books, concerts, etc). The market is getting crazy and there are a lot of good artists that nobody knows about. I know some artists who are giving up their careers because they don’t have opportunity. So it’s very important that people keep consuming and encourage the artists. I don’t believe in a world without music. We need it as we need food and love.

I feel arts give people hope, sometimes save lives. And nowadays we need hope, we need to believe in a better world for everybody, we need to be together

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

“Music is vital for everyone” – Gregoire Maret, jazz harmonica ace

Grégoire Maret was born in 1975 in Geneva, Switzerland and began playing the harmonica at age 17. His childhood was filled with a musical influences from his Harlem born, African-American mother and his Swiss father, a jazz musician. He moved to New York city to pursue jazz studies at the New School University – and is now an accomplished award-winning harmonica player. He has recorded and performed with a number of jazz greats and toured around the world.

Gregoire joins us in this exclusive interview on his musical journey, the joy and importance of music, and his message to the world.

What was the vision behind founding of your music group? What new lineups and instruments have you experimented with since the early days?
It was to be able to showcase a lot of different aspect of my instrument in the most musical way. To compose some music especially for harmonica, piano, bass, drums and vocals — the conception of the music was with the harmonica sound in mind. Which is rare.

And also to get some of my good friends and people that I have admired for a long time, involved in this journey. From Jeff “Tain” Watts to Cassandra Wilson or Marcus Miller – without forgetting Federico Pena who co-wrote and produced part of the music of my first record, and Terri Lyne Carrington who produced my second record.

I have done some stuff in duo, trio, quartet, quintet or with full big band or orchestra. I have really tried a lot of different combinations and orchestrations.

What are the challenges you face as a musician and composer?
Each situation has its own set of challenges. If I’m a sideman, the challenges will be to be able to find the perfect way to play the music that is presented to me.

As a leader, it’s playing the best I can, but also bringing a group of people together that will help create magic in the studio or live. And try to make sure that the music and the arrangements are exciting for everyone involved, so we can always push each other to play better, and try to go beyond our limits in a very organic and natural way.

Who would you say are the leading influences in your musical career? Who are some of your favourite musicians?
The biggest influences are people like Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, John Coltrane, Jimmy Scott, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and many more.

But I like also people of my generation like Robert Glasper, Chris Dave, Lionel Loueke, Shedrick Mitchell, Marcus Baylor, Gerald Clayton, Burniss Travis. Also Federico Pena who has influenced all the young keyboard players of my generation like Glasper. I have to name Gene Lake, Mino Cinelu, Clarence Penn, Me’Shell Ndegeocello, Terry Line Carrington, James Genus, Rachel Z, Sean Rickman, Omar Hakim, Vadim Zilbershtein – all who have been very influential in their own right.

How do you blend different musical influences and genres in your music? How do you bring about fusion without confusion?
I try to blend musical genres in the most organic and honest and musical way I can to precisely avoid any misstep – but at the end of the day it’s a question of taste. I may like something that another person may not like as much or vice versa. The choices are endless and I just follow my heart.

How would you describe your musical journey and how your albums have evolved and changed over the years?
I feel very fortunate and blessed to have played with so many amazing musicians like Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays and many more.

I guess I have come to be more mature now so I enjoy writing just as much as playing. That wasn’t the case earlier. All I wanted was to play. Now I love to write with certain people in mind or arrange new songs, then I love to play those compositions live and have the chance to rework the music as I see fit.

How was your overall experience in playing at Java Jazz and elsewhere overseas? 
Playing at Java Jazz was a beautiful experience. I really love the enthusiasm of the audience. I was very touched when someone in the audience asked us to perform Manha Do Sol, which is one of my compositions. That meant that some people there already knew my music pretty well.

How does your composition process work: through a main songwriter, or through collaboration/jams between your band members? Do you compose on the road also, while travelling?
I try to write in many different ways. For the first record a lot of the music was about the collaboration between me and Federico Pena. For instance the Intros and Outro of both suites (Crepuscule and Children Song) were co-written. Or O Amor e O Meu Pais was co-arranged. Then some people like Krisztof Herdzin arranged the orchestra or Mark Kibble some vocals.

The next record is completely different. I wrote and arranged most of the music, with the exception of the strings arranged by Gil Goldstein, or some vocal arrangements by Mark Kibble, Terri Lyne Carrington, Dianne Reeves, Luciana Souza, Desmond Scaife Jr. and Kokayi.

The idea was to just bring some written music and see what would happen – I wanted no pre-production or anything like that. Just the raw talent of each person involved – no time to prepare, just play and see what we would create together, then work on post-prod to be able to get what I wanted. Usually I will write music on piano, travelling, or at home. I may want to try to write through jamming in the future but I haven’t done much of that yet.

Among all your tracks and albums, which are your favourite ones, and why?
I love the record I did for Krisztof Herdzin, and some records I did for Cassandra Wilson, Pat Metheny, Marcus Miller and Steve Coleman.

Otherwise I love a few songs of mine for different reasons. I love Prayer, Manha Do Sol, Crepuscule suite and Children suite for the different ambiences created which make the listener travel. I love O Amor E O Meu Pais because it was the perfect song to pay tribute to both Toots and Ivan Lins, who are two of my heroes.

I had written the Man I Love arrangement for Cassandra, so when she accepted the invitation it was a real treat! I like to play Lucilla’s Dream in different ways or tempos each evening. So there are a few that I still enjoy listening to or playing.

What are some unusual reactions you have got during your live performances?
Most of the time people are really moved by the music, but I can’t think of an unusual reaction!

What is your message to our audience? What is your vision of what music can do in this age of political/economical turmoil?
Try to learn about new music – and the Java Jazz Festival is a great play to be exposed to new music. Try not to listen only to the music on the radio or which is being promoted now. Listen to what was done before as well as now even if its’ a bit less known.

Music can really help, I believe. It can have a message and change someone’s perception of a reality. Or if it’s just good music, it can help someone have a beautiful moment in difficult times.

So no matter what, I do believe music is vital for everyone. Everyone should really support live music if they can.

See more pictures:

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

Proud to inform you that jazz once again landed big at the most happening mall in Bandung, Paris van Java. Javana Jazz Bistro 3rd continues what the previous two editions have left, with another fresh batch consisting two groups that play wide without leaving jazz inside their musical signatures. The collaboration between us, Jazzuality.com and the stylish and delicious Indo-Western eatery Javana Bistro as the venue made jazz accessible in this particular place. And the result is, we loved it! more crowded, more musicians and more colors. All running in the fast lane. The fun factor was above the roof.

Two bands, rooting in blues but actually, like we mentioned earlier, play wide showed that jazz belong to just about anybody. Meaning, jazz can go side by side with other genres and be enjoyed not only by the jazz lovers but also to the common listeners. It can be played by musicians who don’t play jazz in regular basis. The highlight of this third edition were interesting. All male, come from different background, offering different concept but just as fun. We are happy with the result.

The event started exactly at 8pm. It began with a group that has just embarked its new chapter, GFRtrio. First, let’s take a closer look at this band. This group originally formed on October 10, 2012 from frequent jamming at one studio in their highschool. The name GFR was actually taken from its members: Guntur Satria, Farhan Faikar and Raka Rizkyandi. They were doing great, particularly in playing the irresistible naughty blues. Since the leader Guntur Satria later on decided to pursue his solo career, the band was put to rest temporarily. But then the sad news came in: Guntur Satria passed away in such young age, just 21 years old. Losing a leader isn’t easy. Normally it would end the band’s journey. The left members, Farhan and Raka for a while were confused, whether they should continue or not. But then they realized they have to carry on. We are happy with their decision since we know these two boys are good players.

How did they solve the problem? First, they recruited new player to fill guitar’s position left by Guntur named Ijay Irawan. This young man is a fine blues guitarist who can play other instruments too, like bass, drum or even harp. Ijay also grows inside the blues world. He is the son of the legendary bluesman Budi Arab who has been riding his career too inside the same squire circle. Then, another player is featured as the vocalist, Erick Gabe. By the name of GFRtrio ft Erick Gabe, they are looking forward to continue what’s left.

Let’s go back to this event’s report. The first song being played was “Route 66” in swinging blues mode, then they went pop-ish with Ello’s “Gadisku”. They dipped deeper in blues with the signature song of James Brown “I Feel Good” which included Erick’s mouth trumpet attraction and played naughtily in “#2”, a song written by the late Guntur. Erick then left the stage for a while, letting Ijay took over his role. The trio sang “Last Day in My Room”, a song belong to Time Bomb Blues where Ijay’s father rooted in. This song gained huge applause from the audience due to way they nailed it. Erick came back and sang another Guntur’s song “You’re My Only Light” and then Sting’s “Englishman in New York.” Violist Pangestu Hning Bhawana who came was called to join them and gave more color into the pallette.

There were more familiar faces among the audience. One of them was senior guitarist/teacher Johnny Sitompul. He was invited to play along with a lady with unique harajuku style, Caroline. The song titled “Stay With Me”. Then GFRtrio and Erick Gabe sealed their session with “Just the Two of Us”. Farhan who left his bass to play keyboard drawed most of the applauses since he played really well. Pangestu was still there, plus our dear friend, female jazz singer Bawien Lilaning Panggalih trading scat with Erick in front.

Looking at their new format, we are optimist that they could have a bright future. All players are connected and able to perform joyfully in the spirit of jamming. They based the music on blues, but they clearly able to infuse different kinds of elements including jazz which shone bright in this gig. Farhan is getting sharper as a bassist, Raka gives stronger statement with his drumbeat.  Ijay is an outstanding traditional blues player and Erick’s soulful voice gives another flavor to the band. From what we saw, eventhough they were just starting the new chapter, they seem to have the new character from the new players, that said without losing the original spirit of the band when Guntur was still alive. We want to keep looking at this band’s progression. If they keep the pace in this track, we know they will make it happen.

The next performer was the amazing guitarist, famous in the blues region but he’s an all rounder that gains popularity in the indie area. His name is Nissan Fortz. You might known him from his successful groups like Trias Akustika/The Trias, with Sarah Saputri as Sarah N Soul, the all-star cast Blues Libre and also with Erwin Saz. Imagine how busy he is. Lucky for us, we manage to get him for this event.

The all rounder but strongly spirited by blues guitarist Nissan Fortz recently feels the urge to build his solo career. Since 4 months ago he started writing songs and began to cook it with his team around 2 months after. Speaking of his team, look at the heavy artillery he brought in: an all-star cast consisting of Dimas Setiawan (bass; ex Sindentosca), Destra Sandjaya (drum; vocalist of Elpucino), Ade Irvan Riswandi (keyboardist; founder of ethnic band Pancasura) and Hadis ‘Hulhul’ Hendarisman  (clarinet; playing in Tesla Manaf Quartet). A colorful but strong team as you can see, exactly the team he needs to strike well.

With such team, Nissan Fortz moved fast, pinning Bob Marley’s 1980 song “Get Up, Stand Up” as the first song. Then they went on with a song from the project of Eric Clapton, Marcus Miller, Steve Gadd, David Sanborn and Joe Sample titled “Ruthie”. “Baby Come On” added more flame and then they ended up with a song from Nissan Fortz’s upcoming album Day By Day, “Cantikku”. Again, violist Pangestu Hning Bhawana was featured in this one. Loud round applauses were given to them many, many times, showing how deep the audience were drowned into their act.

The dynamics, the pace, the statement and the joy were all there, built well by them. All songs were brought in the spirit of jam session conducted by Nissan himself. When a very good all-round player team up with an excellent team, the result is sensational. Not too many songs were played since they had to catch another schedule in quite far location, yet they marked a strong note in Javana Jazz Bistro. Jazz can be played in rebelious way, along with other styles, all fit into place creating a different sound and mood. Nissan Fortz  is working fast to finish and promoting his album, let’s wish him the best.

Right after the showcase section came the open jam. But wait a minute. In this edition we got a special guest from Tangerang who plays guitar in unique fashion. He is Haara, the founder of Indonesian Fingerstyle Guitar Community (IFGC). From the name you could guess that he is actually focusing in a style which is really difficult to play, fingerstyle. If you haven’t heard it yet, that’s a technique of playing by plucking the strings directly with the fingertips, fingernails or picks as opposed to flatpicking.

This man is really something in terms of guitar playing, unlike what we see normally. He actually started with drums but then switched to guitar, firstly by learning classical. In 2012 he decied to quit classical to more challenging and free style and started the community. He began composing in 2014 and placed them in competitions. He made it to big 10, the only acoustic solo guitarist among other contestants. In 2015 he made his solo concert titled ENIGMA which also stands as the name of his EP that he’s been working on. One of his song “Incarnation of Dark” will be listed in the first fingerstyle album in Indonesia named “Seventh String Sonority”.

He answered our invitation to play two songs. He chose two Erik Mongrain’s songs, “Fearless” and “Equilibrium” . He didn’t necessarily play standard, but instead he utilizes jazz either in rhythm and chord progression. These comes naturally from him, and that’s possible because he’s been into jazz for quite a long time.

The time was already 10:30 pm, but the show was far from over. Jam session started, firstly taken by Widiyanto Sutanto (keyboard), Marissa Wiguna (drums) and Jerry Gates (guitar). They chose bossa classic “Desafinado”. Since they needed a bassist, Farhan came in and together they played “Spain”. Wahyu was next on guitar plus Farhan, Raka and Widiyanto. Joining them was vocalist Agis Kania. This group sang “Sunny”. Agis’ partner Opik Bape then came in for a shot, swinging beautifully with “Satin Doll”. “Just the Two of Us” was the last drop when the clock was getting closer to midnight.

From just a simple dream of Javana Bistro to establish itself as one of the jazz destinations in Bandung, the Javana Jazz Bistro now has reached the third edition. That means, so far there are 6 groups delivered variety of jazz right at the heart of the most happening mall in Bandung, Paris van Java. We are proud to make that dream come true, standing as the organizer to bring only the best groups into this monthly event. And that’s not all, because we always welcome you guys to be a part of the show. Not just as the audience but also as the player. More and more jamming participants came in, enjoying the stage as a happy playground. That’s what we really, really want. In every event that we made, we want jazz to be accessible in any way possible. Jazz has to be friendly and acceptable to everyone, it has to be enjoyable and entertaining. We will do our best for that. Next month we will be back again with another batch. Hint: there will be a dynamic duo consisting of outstanding swingin’ guitarist and a soul sister. Thank you for all the support, see you again in September.

See more pictures:

Reporter: Riandy Kurniawan
Photographer: Aditya Prinera

 

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Here we go again, still at Istora Senayan Jakarta, give you the most complete report about the only wholly Indonesian-Based-Jazz-Festival. Just like the previous day (read the report of day 1 here: http://jazzuality.com/jazz-event-report/indonesian-jazz-festival-2015-day-1-kita-indonesia/), among five stages, people freely chose who they wanna see, casually wandered around booths, and right at noon the show began.

The very first performer you were able to see was ITS Jazz. A campus-based jazz community is what they call themselves. Formed in end of 2011, some fellas from Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember Surabaya united in the name of jazz with Pramudito Aji as founder. This band consists of campus students but their achievements are beyond university level. They already tasted various stages, like Jazz Traffic last year, until they unlocked Indonesia Jazz Festival this year. Funky groove with sharp bass attax was found in this act.

It’s around 4 pm when Storia were up on stage and met us. It’s been six years after they debuted and many things have happened within the band; one of them is the vocalist replacement. Now they got Inesz on vocal, along with Joel (bass), Aldhan (keyboard), Kitut (keyboard), and Rama (Drum). Storia, an Italian word for “Story”, put their style around pop and 90’s based with a lil bit touch of jazz. That what makes their music so groovy you fall in love in first song.

For someone like Tesla, communication should not be only with spoken words but has to be able to be converted into stream of notes. After years of struggle and plenty of bands, he finally made his way to the international music scene with two steps: his stunning progressive jazz with Balinese gamelan ensemble Tesla Manaf ft Mahagotra Ganesha and the most recent one, his quartet simply called Tesla Manaf. Thanks to USA label MoonJune Records, all his dream is made possible, probably even exceed whatever he has ever wished. As an evidence, he continues to receive positive feedbacks from every corner of the world. If last year we enjoyed his collaboration with the Mahagotra Ganesha, this year we got his mindbending quartet. His Progressive Acoustic Experimental model is like none other. It’s more ‘hardcore’ than anything he has composed before, twisted with rich textures, surely gives great impact to the experience of listening the other side of jazz rarely visited.  Joining him were Hadis ‘Hulhul’ Hendarisman on clarinet and bamboo flute (which added mystical ethnical nuance on “Where Are We Now?”), Krishna Alda Radiansyah on bass and Desal Sembada on drums. Other than that song, Tesla selected “Chin Up”, “Counting Miles and Smiles”, “Necrophilia” and “Sweetest Horn”. Gorgeous arpeggiated guitar lines, intertwined with sinuous dancing clarinet and fueled by subtle yet insistent basslines with the most delicate use of drumkit, plus uncountable bags of surprises should have caught everyone off guard. We know him for many years and have seen his growth, we are so proud of this young man. Mark our words, he will stand among the greatest ones out there really, really soon.

Svarna, we can safely call them one of folk band successfully maintain their own path in Indonesian music industry. Started from Kristian Dharma’s idea, a quartet band was formed. Kristian Dharma is a jazz bassist who already worked with several Indonesian big name musicians. Together with Indra Fahmi on percussion, Oxy Arya on accordion, Aldila Hakim on guitar, and Natasha F. Attamimi, they give new color into Indonesian music. Contempory jazz, acoustic, electric instrumentations, polyrhythm was played very loosely and happily.

JBF Trio stands for Jak Blues, Funky; consists of three fellows who won Jakarta Indie Music Festival last year made their way to Indonesian Jazz Festival. Fawdy Irianto on Guitar-Vocal, Soebroto on Bass, and Ryan Hazairin on drum are the people behind it. As blues is their core melody, JBF Trio expands to jazz and funk music and explore their creativity. They bit right from the start with Stevie Wonder’s  “Superstitious”. Again, neat, clean and tight performance by the three dudes just like how we know them.

RAN is abbreviation for its three members: Rayi (vocal/rap), Asta (vocal), Nino (guitar). It is quite a long time since they established in 2006. You might already have seen their performance in other jazz festival though they were never labelled themselves as jazz musician. Through their outstanding act in every performance, consistency, and hard work, various kind of event have already invited them and spread their musicality. Although IJF wasn’t their first jazz event, they gave 100% preparation into it. According to their say in press conference, what special about jazz event is the crowd. They often see people come to their show really to enjoy the music and they appreciate it. Warming up with “Hari Baru (Keep Moving On)”, then they slammed us continually with their hits such as, “Hanya Untukmu”, “Karena Kusuka Dirimu”, “Pandangan Pertama”, “Jadi Gila”, “Begitu Saja”, and epically closed the show with “Dekat di Hati”. Not only did their own songs, RAN also gave us different ways to listen to Fatur&Nadila’s “Kulakukan Semua Untukmu” and Kahitna’s “Andai Dia Tahu”. It is nearly 10 years of RAN’s contribution to Indonesian music, and they never miss our taste.

The Nelwans is a family trio; Athina Nelwan, Bianca Nelwan, and Christoffer Nelwan are people behind it. These days Youtube is known as one of many online mediums to get famous and share our creativity. Many youngsters have done that and get the advantage from it. The Nelwans is one of them who channeled their musical talent in positive way via Youtube and now more people can enjoy their works.

Another trio, GAC, stands for Gamaliel Tapiheru, Audrey Tapiheru, and Cantika Abigail. Young generation who also were discovered because of their cover songs on Youtube keep rocketing in Indonesian music. Until now they have produced two albums, showing their productivity and willingness to develop music skill. Their latest album called Stronger, is special because they produced it in Sweden and they tried to write the lyrics.

Hemiola Quartet, one of Gerald Hiras Situmorang’s many projects. As a jazz guitarist (well-known as one of Sketsa’s member), Gerald have fun exploring his skills in groundbreaking group along with Dimas Pradipta (drums), Gabriella Sava Putri Miranda (piano) and one of today’s most demanded bassist, Kevin Yosua. Choosing the name Hemiola is somehow unique, since it’s a music term that describes a metrical pattern in which two bars of simple triple composition such as 3/4 or 3/2 are articulated in simple duple time. It’s not a new term, since Mozart has used this pattern in his Piano Sonata K 332 back in the 15th century. What they like to do is tearing down the normal jazz pattern, presenting loads of spontaneous improvisations which makes their music appear as fun as jamming. Innovative, brave, challenging  and incredibly fun interaction with the crowd.

Meanwhile at other stage we found OCD. This is a group of six fellow (Deo Karmawan as guitarist, Demank as bassist, M. Rizky keyboardist, Choky Nainggolan as drummer, Jonathan Prawira as saxophonist, and Jims Wong on vocals). We were also told that their music can be described as contemporary fusion, or usually shortened as confusion. Vocals as an instrument? Why not. OCD does not believe in lyrics: vocals here sings without it. These dudes are rebelious, playing with the punk attitude, embedded with the spirit of Japanese free jazz scene. Fusion, free jazz, experimental, whatever you name it, they have it. Recently becomes more active in Jakarta jazz scene, this group played three of their original compositions: “Good Game”, Well Played!”, “Another Question”, and “Fly Me Back to Earth” which created fun-tastic climax.  A surprise catch right before the sky got dark, they made the crowd explode cheerfully couple of times. Including Barry Likumahuwa, Adinda Shalahita and Jordy Waelauruw who were there among the audience.  Interplanetary boys landed huge on stage.

Sketsa is the second project Gerald Situmorang did for this second day of IJF. Went partners with Dimas Wibisana, this duo is famous for their acoustic guitar play. Many years going duet, lately they became bigger with additional player then formed into full band. New formation definitely enriches the performance with more sounds from contrabass, violin, percussion, clarinet, accordion and some vocals. Today we saw them in format of four and also the core guitar duo. If in the beginning we got dynamic guitar pairing from Sketsa, now we got even wider soundscape. Being creative and brave, the brains inside this group never stops offering us something new. Speaking of Gerald, he surely has unlimited ammo. And Dimas was as expressive as always.

As much as it was mentioned before, Albert Fakdawer cannot be detached from his former status as one of AFI Junior 2004’s finalist. We still could remember how big that show was and how beautiful Albert’s voice was as a child. He was the frontliner of Indonesian Youth Regeneration who bagged a lot of achievements also from abroad. Albert as soloist is an active gospel singer. Now he, as young adult, is still into music,  IJF is not his first jazz events, together with his band they got a stage at Java Jazz Festival 2012.

After his concerts in early 2015 and then a memorable appearance at the Java Jazz Festival 2015, Dian Pramana Putra or Dian PP placed his signature on this festival. He’s been around for at least 35 years with so many achievements and tons of evergreens. Other than his distinctive vocal, he seems doesn’t aged a bit. He still looks just like how he was back then. For Indonesian Jazz Festival 2015 he took everyone into the memory lane with his hits such as “Oh Ya” and “Masih Ada”. A legendary artist with his legendary songs resulting a show that won’t be forgotten.

The master of swing, the legendary guitarist Oele Pattiselano again deceived us with his calm mood. Yes, he can appear very calm as if nothing happens, yet the melody he swings from his guitar is full with feel factor. He never needs to show-off, he never tries to play too complex with over made gestures in order to stand out, the swing he plays naturally shows who he is and how much he’s into jazz. Having a loaded partners enabled him to bring something wider, yet his charisma never fades either he plays alone or with others. In his hands, jazz appears with its purest soul. Tonight he performed under quartet formation with his musical soulmate Jeffrey Tahalele on bass. Always lovely watching Oele’s show.

Right after sunset prayer, Sonic & Drive feat. Baron, Gusti Hendy and Bintang Indrianto brought madness to the stage with their intense performance.  Two years ago Baron and the team nuked our head with surprisingly edgy concept, this year they flipped everyone upside down, throwing us from side to side with different lineup, including Dandy Lasahido (keyboard), Brina Shabyna (vocal) plus saxophone.. Another nuke, another blast, we loved it. Awe-inspiring.

According to one of IJF’s purposes, this event wants to celebrate the increase of newcomer and as we can see, many new talents have appeared. One of them is Isyana Sarasvati. Being Rara Sekar Larasati’s (Banda Neira’s vocalist) younger sister doesn’t make her living in the shadow. Isyana made her own path when she started uploading her cover songs to Youtube. Now, she is in the whole different level. Composing her own single, “Keep Being You”, playing her own instruments (not only one), and collaborating with many musicians, she steadily sharps her musical career. At the Indonesian Jazz Festival 2015 she showcased her gifts totally in front of hundreds of people who came to watch her. Her repertoires other than her single including “Tetap Dalam Jiwa”, EWF’s “September”, “I Can Make You Love Me” and The Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back”. Abram Lembono from Art of Tree was among the lineup. A star is born, you can clearly see and feel it.

A proect with huge dose of funky elixir TnD was next to cover. This is a unique concept that combines two active young musicians in jazz scene, saxophonist Tommy Pratomo and drummer Dimas Pradipta. This project began in November 2014 and started recording in early 2015. Why do we call this project unique? It’s because this project actually divides into two: Tommy and Dimas projects. Each of them compose 6 songs separately. If you buy from iTunes, you can choose either of their project. But later in September when the album’s out, you will get both in one CD. In other words, this album is double album, single CD. Playing with them were Amal Bhaskara (bass), Dimas Wibisana and Angga Pradipta (guitars), Jordy Waelauruw (trumpet), Ivan Alidian (keyboard) and Aldan Prasatya (talkbox). This show also featured a lot of friends just like in the album including Barry Likumahuwa, Joshua Kunze, Rendy Pandugo, Raymonte, Ayushita and Gerald Situmorang. Funky fusion and smooth jazz flew nicely from them.

Dony Koeswinarno is one great example of Institut Seni Indonesia (ISI) Yogyakarta’s alumni. His impressive musical skill has brought him to many festivals both here and abroad. Not only he is well-known in many places, but also he has many opportunity working with a lot of musician, such as loca musicians, international musicians, and many orchestras as well. Now, we had that opportunity to see him playing live in Dony Koeswinarno Quartlectric. Joining him were Tobias Ringga (drums), Fajar Adi Nugroho (bass), Andy Gomez (keyboard) and Robert Mulyarahardja (guitar).

Anugrah Aditya, formerly known as Aditya, changed his personal brand because he wants something new and fresh in his musical career. “Be Mine” and “Tak Ingin” are two examples from many hits he already made and recently he came back with latest single, “Terperangkap”. Still playing around pop and R&B, the man who already produced two albums before is going strong in music industry with his new persona.

90’s generation must be familiar with the famous female trio called AB Three. With one personnel changing, AB Three was also transformed into whole new concept named BE3 in 2009. Cynthia, Nola, and Widi chose this name as it represents their solid unified as trio. Since then, they continuously contribute in Indonesian music and entertain us with many new singles. What’s unique is BE3 brought in their music in thematic concept divided into some sessions. One of their thematic session was Masculinity; songs from Indonesian male singer or band. Kunto Aji’s “Terlalu Lama Sendiri”, Sheila on 7’s “Lapang Dada”, Tulus’s “Baru”, Trio Lestari’s “Gelora Cinta”, Kahitna’s “Cantik”, and Ari Lasso’s “Rahasia Perempuan” were some part of their show tonight.

Guitar and jazz in one harmony was specially served to you who attended IJF by Andre Dinuth. People are usually familiar with the vocalist or frontman of a band or music group. But you must realize that people beside them can’t be easily forgotten. Many musicians, like Tohpati Band, Erwin Gutawa Orchestra, Glenn Fredly, Magenta Orchestra, Indro Hardjodikoro Band, rely their perfect show on Andre Dinuth’s skill because his rich experience and true talent make him one of most wanted Indonesian guitarist.

7 passionate people blend their voice into a harmony in an acapella group named PituPella. Not only their admirable distinctive voices attracted people, but also their unique concept and friendly interaction with the crowd. Last year they happened to be one of Indonesia Mencari Bakat contestant. Though they didn’t get the chance to win the competition, they still make good marks in many local and abroad music festivals.

Yura (Yunita Rachman), one of many blossomy female soloists who also started her music career from television singing competition. But then she got another story and worked with Glenn Fredly. True great voice and sweet stage act bring her career up really fast. Nowadays you can meet Yura performance almost everywhere. You can see how popular she is easily just by looking at her crowds. And what’s ‘scary’ is, it keeps on growing. Again, Bandung should be proud of presenting another star into our music scene.

Bag+Beat arrived with their tagline, “It’s Hip Hop in different form. This is how we do it.” Again, Gerald Situmorang joined the group since he aims to explore as many music as possible to avoid stagnancy. Also consisted of CEO of Alba Productions, Adrian Bramantyo Musyanif and Aldhi Mahardika plus a solid ghetto team, Bag+Beat is indeed a fresh air for Indonesian music. With funky groove and urban hiphop, the crowd definitely enjoyed the show.

The Groove is one example of few musicians who established way long ago but nowadays they still get their place among the youngsters. An icon of acid jazz in Indonesia, this group stands still through many ups and downs in 18 years of music career. Many new hits have already made, but still who can forget their everlasting old songs. After so many years performing, Rieka Roslan and Reza (vokal), Yuke Sampurna (bass), Ali Akbar (piano), Rejoz (perkusi), Deta (drum), Arie (guitar) and Tanto (keyboard) still get that groove and feel like we used to see. “Khayalan” became their opener, hopped to next songs such as “Sepi”, “Dahulu”, and closed with “Hanya Karena Cinta”. Definitely could feel the love they spread, aight?

Talking about blues scene in Indonesia. probably Gugun Blues Shelter is the first whose name comes up in our mind. A band that consists of Muhammad ‘Gugun’ Gunawan (vocal/guitar), John Armstrong (bass), and Aditya ‘Bowie’ Wibowo (drummer) truly blew our mind away with their play and attractive stage act. No doubt we got such an intense performance with constant high blues and funk rhythm from a band who had played in the same stage with bon Jovi in 2011.

Here’s the fact of this next band we cover: you don’t find them often, but once they emerge on the surface, you can’t help to enjoy every second of their performance. It’s the great Tomorrow People Ensemble that we’re talking about. Four longtime friends Nikita Dompas (guitar), Azfansadra ‘Adra’ Karim (keyboards/rhodes), Indra Perkasa (contrabass) and Elfa Zulham (drums) can make you fly without having to take any drugs with their lethal dose of Avant funk. The guts of experimenting plus the vintage sound created by the Rhodes made their playful compositions stand in a different league. Tomorrow People Ensemble called their music “retro-future”, referring to “a way of looking at the future through the past, of revealing the other side of now.” If that sounds puzzling, you would get it if you watch them live or hear their songs. For tonight they took some of the songs including “Eclectic” and “Shock Breaker”, plus Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun” that forced Nikita to sing, and, oh yes, the intro was the “Knight Rider” theme! We don’t see them that much, that’s why we rushed to get them in this event. In our opinion, as a super group with strong concept guarded by considerably young masters, they should be listed in our jazz historical timeline. Happy to see them again!

Jazz can be played with various formation, and it does sound cool with a band that uses two basses at once. We don’t find it often, but luckily Indonesia has a band with this concept, led by senior bassist Indro Hardjodikoro. The band was once called Indro Hardjodikoro and the Fingers, but since the second album “Gadis Shanghai” released last year, they shortened it to just The Fingers. Fajar Adi Nugroho (bass), Andy Gomez (keyboard) and Yandi Andaputra (drums) are his reliable partner in crime, plus Tompi who is also featured in the album, singing the title track. Fusion appears merrily from them, and sound so different since they placed two bassists in the front line. Focusing on the new album “Gadis Shanghai”,  The Fingers played “A Little Space”, “Raga Devha” and of course the title track. Plus, Tompi and Indro covered “One Note Samba” in fully improvised session. The Fingers has showed that this unique formation could actually give compliments to Indonesian jazz scene. Speaking of the show, it was highly entertaining!

It was almost the end of second day of IJF when Yovie & His Friends came up on stage. Can we safely say Yovie Widianto is Indonesian version of David Foster? Yovie is a complete musician because he composes, writes, produces, and plays instruments. Many newcomers have this man behind their successful career and uncountable hits already he made. For this time, he brought along Rio febrian, Marcell Siahaan, Hedi Yunus, Mario Ginanjar, Titi DJ, Mike Mohede, 5 Romeo. What an advantage to see lot of our musicians in one stage. Famous hit from the Indonesian hit man, cool concept took everyone to an unforgettable party. What a way to close a festival.

Finally, the second edition of Indonesian Jazz Festival (IJF) had done. Going home with happy heart and was fully entertained by many musicians who speak the same language with us is truly amazing. How strong the urge to keep supporting Indonesian music and artists as the spirit of Indonesian Independence Day in August still boldly felt. This is where IJF stands for. A home for many Indonesian musicians. You may not realize how many musicians try to keep their spot in music industry and continually work hard to maintain their productivity. So this is the kind of event we really need. A home for living legends and old timer coming back to greet their long time loyal fans and remind young generation about how beautiful old songs are. A rendezvous for newcomers who still need support in order to gain experience, explore new stage, and meet various kind of crowd. A place where top-chart-musicians satisfy the craving of massive listeners.

More chances in a thoroughly Indonesian-based music events are all they need to keep the spirit alive, to find new inspiration, and a mood booster to their creativity. We often say, making an annual event is really a hard work and explicitly not easy. Putting different wishes and ideas into one big show is another challenge and despite any other minus that still there, IJF was a big success. Therefore, we salute ALBA Productions and all committee who have big willingness to provide a special event for our own musicians. Big hope for IJF can carry on next year and years after. Keep the good improvement and let the true spirit remains. Cheers for Indonesian jazz scene!

See more pictures:

Reporter: Riandy Kurniawan, Mellysa Anastasya, Vierna Mariska Kurniawan Deo Karmawan
Photographer: Titus Firmanto, Elvin Octavian

“Great music lasts forever” – Karthick Iyer

Karthick Iyer is a violinist, composer and vocalist in the carnatic style of South India, but has also journeyed into new territories over the last two decades. He has collaborated with international artistes and toured in Asia and Europe, and evolved his own unique sound. I caught the launch of his recent album IndoSoul, whose motto is to “Take Indian music to the world and bring the world to Indian music.” Iyer has also worked with Oscar winning music composer A.R. Rahman, and won a number of awards himself.

Karthick Iyer joins us in this exclusive interview on his music journey, collaborations, vision and message.

What was the vision behind founding of your music group? What new lineups and instruments have you experimented with since the early days?
When I started Karthick Iyer Live, I had already gained a lot of experience from my days as a freelancer, having worked with a variety of instruments from the harmonica to the tavil! I have always wanted to make my own music and this led to the birth of Karthick Iyer Live and our sound IndoSoul.

I always felt that there was a deep yet subtle connection between the Indian and other forms of music. The more one probes into the depths of this connection, the more the possibilities of sound textures and composition. With our latest album IndoSoul – Looking within to Look Beyond, I feel like we have taken our first step in our journey of uncovering these possibilities.

What are the challenges you face as a musician and composer?
The time when I was starting my career as a professional musician was a bit of struggle in terms of convincing my father that I could stand on my own financially. I moved away to Bangalore for about a year just to get head wrapped around being independent, paying my own bills, etc.

Right now I’m trying to find the best way to balance time between my music, practice and the mounting administrative work that comes from being my own band/tour manager for most concerts. I believe these challenges are useful in the sense that they serve to teach us to create new and evolved techniques to cope up with them.

Who would you say are the leading influences in your musical career? Who are some of your favourite musicians?
Well, that’s a long list of musicians! I try and catch aspects of positive things from any music I listen to. Here are some of them in no particular order.
L Shankar – for his early experiments in electric violin and Indo-wesstern fusion since the 1970s.
A.R. Rahman – for the extra dimension he added to produced music in India and his innovations in creating varied sound textures for his songs.
Prem Joshua – for his collaboration of electronic sounds with classical Indian instruments.
Led Zeppelin – For their unique brand of live music, a heady brew of notes and rhythms that four people created onstage.
Billy Joel – For his vivid lyrics.
Michael Jackson – For being the king of pop! The way he could add so many dimensions to his music from lights, costumes, dance to screenplay and stories for his music videos can never cease to amaze.

How do you blend different musical influences and genres in your music? How do you bring about fusion without confusion?
We don’t use the traditional term ‘fusion’ to describe our music. I feel like we need to go beyond genres to get to the root of the commonality of different forms of music. Our sound IndoSoul is something that grew organically out of jamming with my musicians Vikram, Sumesh, Naveen and Ram at the practice pad with the sound evolving with each song. Each musician brings his own flavour to the song.

I think it’s important for songs to have a definite direction and form even if it can’t be classified into the traditional verse, chorus, pallavi or charanam. If there is a certain flow or story that emerges from a song, be it a vocal or instrumental track, I believe half the job is done. The rest depends on how the different aspects of melody, rhythm and lyrics intertwine with the authenticity of the composition to provide a unique song.

Terms like ‘confusion without fusion’ have arisen since most fusion music that we have been exposed to since the 90s have fusion of instruments as an end in itself rather than a means to a creating a unique composition.

How would you describe your musical journey and how your albums have evolved and changed over the years?
When I started working with Oxygen in college, that was my introduction to playing in a band, more so in a band with Western instruments. I learnt about the studio techniques and software tools that aided composition at home with a computer with our first three albums. With Emergence, it was about meeting a bunch of unique musicians from around the world and finding the way to create music together in an organic and sustainable manner. With The Raghu Dixit Project, I got to play to huge crowds that instilled a huge dose of confidence to my playing.

I started to experiment with my playing posture like standing and performing in the Western posture. This gave me the opportunity to move around the stage and shake my leg a bit to the music as well. By then I was yearning to start my own band and create the music that I could envision in my mind. When I formed Karthick Iyer Live, I put all this experience into play. With this overall vision along with valuable inputs from my musicians IndoSoul was born of which my recent album is the first step.

How does your composition process work: through a main songwriter, or through collaboration/jams between your band members? Do you compose on the road also, while travelling?
Incidentally, I composed the melody for one my songs mid-air when on a flight between Auckland and Queenstown during my honeymoon! I visualized the overall framework for the track Boundless during the same trip as well.

To answer your specifically, the composition process varies between songs. There is no prescribed path towards fruition of a song. Sometimes I come up with a melody or the framework and send it to the band. Our most recent songs though have been totally spontaneous outputs of jam sessions between musicians.

For the next album for which I plan to incorporate a mild electronic flavor, I’m leaning towards composing with each musician on the computer software. This helps create a more layered sound and would be an interesting change from our first album.

How was your overall experience in playing overseas? What were the Top Three highlights for your?
The first time I played overseas was with Emergence in the UK. We had gone to perform at Glastonbury. I was 22 at that time and in total awe of the history and culture of England. I followed this up with many tours, most of which was with The Raghu Dixit Project spanning countries like UK, US, Canada, Australia, Spain and so on. What struck me most was the way music in a foreign language could reach and be appreciated by people from different cultures. Also the festival atmosphere, the varied acts that I met, interacted and listened to were big pluses from touring overseas.

Highlights: Glastonbury tour with Emergence – 2008; Maximum India festival at Kennedy Centre for Performing arts, Washington with Emergence, Raghu Dixit Project; WOMAD, Caceres, Spain with The Raghu Dixit Project.

Among all your tracks/albums, which are your favourite ones, and why?
While I think every track in IndoSoul interests me in its own way, I consider A Saranga Convergence as a special track. This was one of the spontaneous compositions that came up in the practice studio. We wanted to come up with a psychedelic song initially and hit up on the Carnatic thillana like verse of the song. Vikram’s guitar solo and Sumesh’s konakkol followed and we had a semblance of a song within 90 minutes!

What I like about this song is our experimentations with time signatures. One could call A Saranga a collaboration between carnatic and prog-rock music. However the key takeaway for me from this track is that it still retains the melodic flavour without sounding technical.

What is your message to our audience? What is your vision of what music can do in this age of political/economical turmoil?
My message to any audience is to seek out and listen to music that moves them in one way or other. This is not to say that one should listen to only serious music. Even a happy-go-lucky folk song about the rain can move one deeply by helping them de-stress, possibly.

What I notice today is that ‘so called’ popular songs today, in media like radio and TV, are thrown at listeners so often that one get habituated into accepting it as something they wouldn’t mind listening to. This is probably why songs that are considered popular in today’s market have extremely short shelf lives.

Good music on the contrary always leaves a lasting impression. Great music lasts forever!

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

The magical sound of Big Band has been blowing our mind for around a century. The harmonious sound created by the combination of woodwinds, percussions and brasses played by up to 25 musicians altogether creates a different sensation. It can make your toes tapping, body swinging or even, bring you to the dance floor. Being associated with jazz and huge involvement in giving birth to the great Swing era during the roaring 20’s up to the end of World War II, it’s incredible that big band somehow stands the test of time. Big Band was the trend decades ago, hitting its peak in the 30’s with legends like Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Dorsey brothers and Artie Shaw just to mention a few. Decades later, we still found many notable bandleaders which preserved the traditional sound of swing to fit each and every era. Today, eventhough Big Band doesn’t lead the music industry anymore, it still has its own class. Hey, even Lady Gaga was swingin’ with Big Band in 2012, collaborating with Tony Bennett in Cheek to Cheek. Big Band is still alive and kicking, and will keep on marching on for many years to come.

Now, what about Indonesia? Big Band was originated in USA, but Indonesia does have some top notch Big Bands. And they are not only reside in Jakarta. Bandung, the capital of West Java has one of the best named Salamander Big Band. Salamander Big Band was established on September 17, 2006 by Devy Ferdianto at Bumi Sangkuriang Bandung. This jazz ensemble consisted of young jazz talents from the city with good, continuous regeneration process.

Up until now Salamander Big Band has joined many jazz events both national and international such as JakJazz and Java Jazz Festival and collaborated with many big, big names including Benny Likumahuwa, Bertha, Gilang Ramadhan, Sam Bimbo, Margie Segers, Bob Tutupoly, Frank Reinshagen, Dieter Mack, Thorsten Wollmann and Ack van Rooyen. They have regular annual schedule like Mid year Concert and Anniversary Concert which are held in Bandung and Jakarta.

At the end of 2013 Salamander Big Band went on fundraising concert tour visiting Bangkok, Lampang and Krabi, Thailand for Royal Thai National Music Archive. At their 8th Anniversary concert on 8,9 and 10th of September 2014 in Bandung and Jakarta, Salamander Big Band collaborated with legendary Dutch musician Ack van Rooyen (read our report here: http://jazzuality.com/jazz-event-report/salamander-big-band-meets-ack-van-rooyen-a-jazz-life-the-report/). On March 7th 2015, Salamander Big Band performed at the Java Jazz Festival in Jakarta.

Now listen. Soon Salamander Big Band is going to held their 9th Anniversary Concert, exactly on their birth date on September 17, 2015. As before, this concert will take place at their home ground, BP Bumi Sangkuriang, Bandung. If any of you are curious with the song choice, this year you will get many vocal songs in their repertoire from Salamander Big Band’s great line of vocalists including Nenden Synitawati, Imelda Rosalin, Gail Satiawaki, Lia Amalia and of course the vocal harmony group Salamander Voices which consists of Lia Amalia, Sekar Teja Inten, Devi Remondi and Adi Sigerra. To answer more of your curiousity, they are ready to bring ageless masterpieces from the likes of Cole Porter, Frank Loesser, Richard Rodgers, Johnny Mercer, Henry Mancini, James Morrison and so on. Many of these legendary compositions were popularized by who’s who in jazz, from Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra and Michael Bublé.

There’s one other important info to tell you folks. As you might have known, Salamander Big Band was supported by Goethe-Institut Indonesien since their 2nd anniversary. Unfortunately the cooperation was terminated at the end of 2014. So starting from this year, Salamander Big Band has to cover the concert’s expenses by themselves with the help of donors. Since the budget is limited, this 9th anniversary concert will be held only once in hometown Bandung. The concert is FREE of charge as always.

So there, we have said it all. If you’re fascinated with the swinging Big Band, you are into classic American songbook or/and the big fan of Salamander Big Band, do come to this party, congratulate them yourself and celebrate it together. Remember, this 9th Anniversary Concert of Salamander Big Band will take place at BP Bumi Sangkuriang, Bandung on September 17, 2015, starting at 7:30 pm. Since it’s free, you won’t have problem to bring your friends and family. As how we have seen since 2008 when we covered them for the first time, their concert is always grand and majestic, but at the same time friendly and familiar. Their love, passion, experience and history will be shared to all attending guests from one song to another. Mark your calendar and see you there.

Salamander Big Band 9th Anniversary Concert

Date: Thursday, September 17, 2015
Time: 07:30 pm – onwards
Location: BP Bumi Sangkuriang
Jl. Kiputih 12, Ciumbuleuit Bandung

FREE EVENT!

Salamander Big Band are:

Conductor:
Devy Ferdianto

Dicky Ampouw (Alto Sax 1)
Josepha Sinaga (Alto Sax 2)
Matt Ashworth (Tenor Sax 1)
Erik N. Chandra (Tenor Sax 2)
Bonny Buntoro (Bariton Sax)

Brury Effendy (Trumpet 1)
Andri Hadiyono (Trumpet 2)
Eggy Bayu Pratama (Trumpet 3)
Elbana Adrian (Trumpet 4)
Diana Saralely (Trumpet 5)

Andriyanto Haryanto (Trombone 1)
Agus Suherman (Trombone 2)
Afdhal Zickri (Trombone 3)
Arief Budhyana (Trombone 4)
Ivan Imran Indramsyah (Trombone 5)

Imelda Rosalin (Vocal/Piano)
Rika Andriyani (Piano)
Gallang Dalimunthe (Bass)
Bramania Bachtiar (Guitar)
Augustinus (Drums)
Adya Dhivara (Percussion)

Nenden Syintawati (Vocal)
Gail Satiawaki (Vocal)
Lia Amalia (Salamander Voices)
Sekar Teja Inten (Salamander Voices)
Devi Remondi (Salamander Voices)
Adi Sigerra (Salamander Voices)

Solo City Jazz 2015 : Consistent with Guyub (harmonious in connecting with others), Akrab (Intimate) and Menghibur (Entertaining)

Jazz here, jazz there, jazz everywhere. If you think jazz belong only to the bright light big cosmopolitan cities in Indonesia, you’re so wrong. The annual jazz event in Solo, the Solo City Jazz has reached the 6th edition since it was triggered in 2009 (this event was posponed in 2010 due to the Mt Merapi eruption).

So far Solo City Jazz has been commited to keep the basic concept “guyub” “akrab” and “menghibur”. Especially that this event is always served free, everyone living in Solo and nearby can come and be entertained. This event present friendly music concert that can help you relieved from stress, fatique, calming your mind and so on. And Jazz is the basic ingredient.

The question is, what kind of jazz? It’s the kind of jazz that has to be close to the true heart of Solo as a cultural city, Batik city, friendly. Jazz can very well fitting in. So, jazztertainment, why not? Jazz doesn’t always have to be complicated and difficult to chew. Jazz can appear as ear-friendly, ear-catchy and understood by just about everyone.

This vision can be seen from the variety of music brought into this festival every year. The same thing in 2015. It’s colorful, unique and has to be in good quality. Let’s dig the lineup.

There will be Bengawan Symphony Orchestra. This orchestra is composed of young musicians, students of music school courses in Solo and nearby. Just imagine, a young orchestra perform interpretations of jazz. That should be interesting right? I Know You Well Miss Clara is a band comes from the city of Yogyakarta. Their music is essentially progressive with strong illustrative electronic nuance. Jazz that’s progressive that’s created by these boys have been spread around the globe. Their album “Chapter-One” is released internationally by USA based label, MoonJune Records.

From the city of Bogor, a young girl who can really sing and play musical instruments named Selma will collaborate with Kyra. A relatively senior name, Ivan Nestorman is next to mention. Ivan is a singer and guitarist from Nusa Tenggara Timur province. His music is unique. Moreover, Ivan has also gained experiences from playing in many countries.

From popular names there is Gugun Blues Shelter. Who doesn’t know this mad trio? They already have international reputation as well. Representing Bandung is a group of street performers 57Kustik formed by the late Harry Roesli. After his passing, both of his sons, twins Lahami Roesli and Layala Roesli are carrying the legacy.

Besides 57Kustik there’s also talented young musicians from the capital. Their music has a thick progressive fusion pattern, where jazz, blues, rock all the way to metal are listed among the ingredients. The band is Van Java. They are currently preparing the album, following their participation in the phenomenal compilation album, Indonesia Maharddhika.

Don’t forget to check a beautiful multi talented young girl lives in Bali, Vickay. She sings but also plays various instruments. This future star already has original songs on her pocket. If you want to know more, she can paint. Her debut album has out earlier this year and gains positive response in many cities. You will regret if you miss her show.

Next to mention is two long time friends whose names stand as legends in our music scene. They are both famous as singer and song writer especially in the 80’s. Their collaboration is also monumental during that era, especially among jazz(y) and pop fans. Yes, it’s 2-D, Dian Pramana Poetra and Deddy Dhukun! Maybe some of you are still remember that they have participated in the first Solo City Jazz in 2009. This year they are happily agreed to join again. This time they will be supported by the new face of a familiar name, Clorophyl. You should know that Clorophyl is like the home band of this festival since they play there almost every year. Now, clorophyl metamorphs as Sopana Sokya.

Pecas Ndahe! For Javanese it could look like typo of Pecah Ndase (literally means Breaking Head). Weird name? Maybe yes. But that shows how playful and naughty they are that should be reflected in their music too. They are already popular among Solo music lovers. They are ready to do some reinterpretation of jazz and some other styles.

The list continues on with many more names from other cities like Seroja from Pekalongan, Jazz, Classica & Concerta from Salatiga. Representing the hometown are Kyra Entertainment, Ebuzz and Starfive. Also from the capital is Jakarta Ska Foundation.

This year Solo City Jazz is going to spread those bands on two stages. So do come to Solo City Jazz 2015. It will start no longer than..today and tomorrow, 18 & 19 September 2015, taking place at Taman Balekambang, Solo from 7:30 pm onwards. This event is still made by C-Pro Jakarta, the initiator and the brain behind the concept. Also supported by local organizer Mataya Art & Heritage, the official partner since 2009.

Solo is ready to jazz. Are you ready to join? If you live there or near, just come and be jazztertained.

credit to Dion Momongan (Festival Director)

Ever since Big Band emerged almost a century ago and quickly gained popularity as well as becoming the trend in USA, Big Band has attracted music lovers throughout decades. It was the trend that drove everyone to dance during the 20’s to the end of World War II. Being called a dance band shows how important this ensemble was in spreading happiness towards the society. Many prominent bandleaders like Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Dorsey brothers and Artie Shaw now listed high in world’s jazz historical timeline. What about now? The magical sound of Big Band is still fascinating. Today we still have notable Big Bands all over the world, either carrying the traditional swing as how it was back then, or inventing something new in terms of musical creativity through standard Big Band format and style.

Next question, what about Indonesia, the largest archipelago in the world? This country is not the place where jazz and Big Band was originated, but it has many standout Big Bands too throughout decades. Even now, we do have many great, world class calibers. One of such ensemble is Salamander Big Band. salamander Big Band was established in September 17, 2006 at Bumi Sangkuriang, Bandung by Devy Ferdianto. It began with young jazz talents from the city with good, continuous process of regeration. They have gained experiences and learnt from world’s best musicians. Look at these mouth-watering names: Benny Likumahuwa, Bertha, Gilang Ramadhan, Sam Bimbo, Margie Segers, Bob Tutupoly, Frank Reinshagen, Dieter Mack, Thorsten Wollmann and Ack van Rooyen. Yes, all of these legends have shaped them to be a good quality Big Band that knows how to play the traditional swing authentically plus smart in infusing sounds from many eras and areas. They have been involved in many prestigious festivals like JakJazz and Java Jazz Festival (the last time was in 2015 edition) in numerous ocassions and spread its wings wider to reach Bangkok at the end of 2013. For us who have covered their regular concerts (the mid-year and anniversary) since 2008, we are proud to see them grow bigger, better and badder.

One important note, Salamander Big Band was supported by Goethe-Institut Indonesien since 2007 (their 2nd anniversary). But at the end of 2014 the big band no longer has the support. How relieving it is to know that they still manage to keep going. They have to cover the concert’s expenses by themselves with the help of donors. It’s not easy since Indonesia – as many other countries in the world – is currently experiencing terrible financial crisis. The local currency plunged worse and worse to almost 15.000 against US dollar, but somehow they could still running the regular anniversary concert eventhough they only could make only one concert in their hometown. It’s much, much better than none. Oh yeah, eventhough Goethe-Insitut Indonesien isn’t behind them anymore, a representative of Goethe Institut was there too congratulating and enjoying the concert.

Unlike before, this year Salamander Big Band held its 9th Anniversary exactly on their birth date. Salamander Big Band: 9th Anniversary Concert featured the force of its own members, full team. Devy Ferdianto himself as usual stood tall as the conductor. The saxophone section consisted of Dicky Ampouw, Josepha Sinaga, Matt Ashworth, Erik N Chandra and Bonny Buntoro. On trumpets were Brury Effendy, Andri Hadiyono, Eggy Bayu Pratama, Elbana Adrian and Diana Saralely. On trombone: andriyanto HAryanto, Agus Suherman, Afdhal Zickri, Arief Budhyana and Ivan Imran Indramsyah. Then the rhythm section was filled with singing pianist Imelda Rosalin, Rika Andriyani (piano), Gallang Dalimunthe (bass), Bramania Bachtiar (guitar), Augustinus (drums) and young Adya Dhivara (percussion). Other than Imelda, Salamander has more than enough source of awesome vocals. The Indonesian Diane Schuur, Nenden Syintawati and male crooner Gail Satiawaki were back, plus the awesome Salamander Voices: Lia Amalia, Sekar Teja Inten, Devi Remondi and Adi Sigerra. Just as always, the hall were filled by many guests (many of them were youngsters) even before the concert began.

The manager Mr Yongki Nusantara wasn’t there because he’s still in the hospital. However, by a video he wishes the best as well as reminding the audience that Salamander Big Band is the real big band, not a band that’s big in number of players.

Starting 7:45 pm, under huge applause they kicked off with “Take the a train”, in full grand swing with wicked improvisations and solo runs.

Devy Ferdianto gave a speech, welcoming everyone and shared a brief history of Salamander Big Band. He also told us that he came to know big band from Diane Schuur’s songs which were played on radio when he was still young. “It was then, now here I am with a big band.” he said. Then, former Minister of Industry and one of the founders of Mara radio Mr. Mohamad Suleman Hidayat gave a speech too.

Indonesian Diane Schuur, Nenden Syintawati walked in and led with a song popularized by many artists including Ms. Schuur’, “Caught a Touch of Your Love”. Gail Satiawaki then switched the mood to romantic with Michael Buble’s “You’re Nobody Till Somebody Loves You”.  Next, Lia Amalia gave a beautiful rendition of Cole Porter’s 1936 song, “It’s De-lovely”.

Imelda Rosalin shared her golden voice while still playing piano. It was the sexy Cole Porter’s “Too Darn Hot”, just as good as madame Ella Fitzgerald’s rendition. The Salamander Voices which was established 3 years ago got their turn with “The Days of Wine and Roses”. Brury’s solo trumpet shone too in this one.

Gail and Imelda then gave a harmonious duet with “Baby It’s Cold Outside.” More Cole Porter “Night and Day”. Matt Ashworth gave short but meaningful sax lines.

Gail came back and sang a song popularized by Frank Sinatra, “Witchcraft”. Then Lia sang another Cole Porter classic which always reminds us of the opening of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, “Anything Goes”. The last song for first session was “September in the Rain”.

The second session began with another Cole Porter’s  gem “You’d be So Easy to Love” through the vocal of Imelda. Then they blew up the candle set above the birthday cake. Mr Mohamad Suleman Hidayat, former Minister of Industry (2009-2014)  sang “All of Me”.  Then Nenden came back with Arlen/Mercer’s “Come Rain or Come Shine”.

Gail lifted up the tempo with a superhit of Cole Porter which was brought to fame by so many prominent artists (including Frank Sinatra and Ella Firzgerald), “I Get a Kick Out of You”.

Devy called Lia to sing “Just One of Those Things”. Though this song was sung since 1935 through voices of Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan and many more, younger jazz lovers would probably remember it from Diana Krall or Jamie Cullum. Imelda Rosalin then sang “Mean to Me” without leaving her role on piano.

They switched to Indonesian song. This time Salamander Voices stood tall and delivered a big old hit of Eddy Silitonga, “Jatuh Cinta”. Again, the top notch vocal harmony along with body swinging brought senior audience to memory lane. Nenden moved to ballad again with Rodgers and Hart”s “Bewitched Bothered and Bewildered”. “Finally I could be released from Diane Schuur’s image”, she joked before she sang this song.

Imelda and Gail then boosted up the power with “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)”. As much as we loved the party, the concert came to an end. Salamander Voices came back with a hit originally from Stevie Wonder in 1973 but later became huge again by Incognito, “Don’t You Worry Bout the Thing.”

It should be the end, but Salamander Big Band gave one final shot with all singers gathered in front, partying with Stevie Wonder’s “Sir Duke”.

No guest stars were found in the anniversary concert this year, yet the awesomeness of Salamander Big Band was clearly felt. They shone bright and grand, blended with the majestic view of the vintage, historical hall of Bumi Sangkuriang. Well known songs, cheerful and joy, beautiful ballads took us back to the glorious days of Big Band. And this year the keyword is: fun. Imelda also stated the same to us after the performance. “It was really fun tonight!” she said happily.

We love it, Salamander Big Band! On behalf of everyone in Jazzuality.com, we send you best wishes. Happy anniversary Salamander Big Band! Wish you the best for many, many more years to come. Tens of years from now, probably even centuries later, Indonesia would be proud of having a world class big band with the true swingin’ spirit, Salamander Big Band. Keep preserving it  and go represent the country proudly abroad. Swing on and up, fellas!

See more pictures:

Reporter: Riandy Kurniawan
Photographer: Mia Damayanti Sjahir

The economic situation of Indonesia in 2015, as well as many other parts in Asia, is getting worse and worse. Today a dollar is worth more than 14.000 rupiah and keep falling, the worst since Asian economic crisis 17 years ago. This condition creates a lot of problems everywhere. Many have to slow down or even cut their plans and programs while hoping for the crisis to go away as soon as possible.

It’s been difficult for Braga Jazz Walk too. After the huge success of Road to Indonesian Jazz Festival 2015 on August 1st, 2015 which featured stars from Jakarta including Syaharani, Donny Suhendra, Eddy Syakroni, Bekti Sudiro, Lantun Orchestra, West Funk Rhythm and variety of cool local bands (http://jazzuality.com/jazz-event-report/braga-jazz-walk-special-edition-road-to-kita-indonesia-indonesian-jazz-festival-2015-report/), Braga Jazz Walk had to be on hiatus, temporarily. But now finally we can announce the good news. Jazzuality.com, Braga CityWalk and KPH Music have agreed to continue the program. The next edition is coming next week. Hear ye, hear ye! The BRAGA JAZZ WALK #15 is set to go on September 24, 2015 at Braga CityWalk, starting from 7:00 pm until drop. As usual we are going to feature 4 showcases and open jam session at the end of the show. Yes, it’s FREE as always!

Probably you wonder why the Braga Jazz Walk comes at the end of the month. True, before the schedule runs on the second Thursday of each month. But now the new schedule is on the FOURTH Thursday. Please note this new schedule so you won’t miss any edition.

Also like before, we maintain the variety of performers. Meaning, not only we present experienced ones but also the young talents. And the style will be varied too, from swing, soul, pop, bossa, fusion, blues, rock to …  fingerstyle, a stunning guitar playing style that’s going to be featured at the Braga Jazz Walk for the very first time.

Let’s talk about Fingerstyle guitar first, shall we? Fingerstyle guitar is a style of fingerpicking. Instead of strumming chords, the player pluck the strings directly with the fingertips, fingernails or picks as opposed to flatpicking. Often played singlehandedly, this style is used in almost every genre, from classical, gospel, blues, country, ragtime, rock, jazz to today’s pop hits. So, it’s going to be there at this 15th edition courtesy of a skillful young man with strong character, Haara.

Born as Iqbal Hikmat Prahara in 1991, Haara started his musical journey since junior high school with drum. Later he fell in love with guitar and settled in. For a while he was digging classical at a music school in Bandung, but then he chose to play with total freedom which fits his soul and spirit much better. Not only playing, he established a community named Indonesian Fingerstyle Guitar Community (IFGC). Haara began composing in 2014 and placed the pieces in some competitions. He made it to big 10, the only acoustic solo guitarist among other contestants. In 2015 he made his solo concert titled ENIGMA which also stands as the name of his EP that he’s been working on. One of his song “Incarnation of Dark” will be listed in the first fingerstyle album in Indonesia named “Seventh String Sonority”.

Haara told us that he might not play jazz standards but we would be able to spot jazz either in chord progression, rhythm and so on. He also told us that he’s been into jazz too for a quite long time. He has played two Erik Mongrain’s songs for us at the Javana Jazz Bistro last month (http://jazzuality.com/jazz-event-report/javana-jazz-bistro-3rd-edition-the-report/), now it’s time to welcome him at Braga Jazz Walk and give one full slot for him. Oh yeah, if you want to check him out, you can visit his Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/haaracinos .

We are proud to once again present one of the most influential all-round guitarists from Bandung, Nissan Fortz. This man achieves huge success at the top of Bandung’s independent music scene as he marches on making his name louder in Jakarta. He’s success with several bands such as The Trias (formerly Trias Akustika), Sarah N Soul, Blues Libre and frequently supports Erwin Saz too. He is clearly busy, but he still wishes to add another activity, pursuing his solo career.

Since 5 months ago Nissan felt that it’s time to him to step further. He began writing songs and then cooked them with his team two months after. These past weeks he’s been busy playing at many places to promote his upcoming albums and new songs. For you who are curious to listen to his new songs, you can check his Soundcloud https://soundcloud.com/nissan-fortz-ii. We have invited him in our other event, now we welcome him to do it in this event.

For his solo project he got support from all-star cast including Dimas Setiawan (bassist of Sindentosca, Rock on Road and Pagi), Destra Sandjaya (drum; vocalist of Elpucino), Ade Irvan Riswandi (keyboardist; founder of ethnic band Pancasura) and Hadis ‘HulHul’ Hendarisman (clarinet, also playing with Tesla Manaf).

Just as you know how he is and the personnels’ colorful background, you could take a guess that they won’t serve any specific genre alone. The way we see the performance before, they are spontaneous and highly dangerous. Any kind of music could come out from Nissan and friends, from his root Blues, Jazz to Groove, Soul, to even Rock and Reggae. Especially since this is his solo project, the music represents his true-self that reflects everything he has encountered along the way. You could feel like you’ve already seen it, yet you will stun again and again when you meet them in another act. It’s going to be great to have Nissan Fortz and the gang, and we are happy to let him promote his upcoming solo album in our event.

Standout group with strong bond can born from anywhere, especially from communities. Let’s take a look at the dynamic duo Agis Bape. Vocal powerhouse Agis Kania Kusumadewi and guitarist Opik Bape have known each other for quite some times, even joined hands in French Gypsy Jazz group Satura. But then they decided to take the friendship to another level by participating in DuoTone, an event created by a solid jazz community in Bandung, KlabJazz. From that moment on, Agis and Opik utilize strong chemistry between them as they go exploring the beautiful world of Soul Swing and beyond.

Other than soul and swing, you can find blues, RnB, pop and a little rock here and there, flowing naturally from them. Agis has a strong, prime soulful vocal character with the ability to stretch wide in range, while Opik is a fine guitarist with ‘swingin’ soul and spirit. Recently they are moving much forward by releasing their debut single titled “Embun Pagi” (“Morning Dew”), which made in two version: combo and duo. They are now promoting the single by playing around the city and visiting radios. Step aside from this new single, they are great in pinning monumental works of Marvin Gaye, Etta James, Stevie Wonder and so on. Do spend a little time to visit their website http://agisbape.blogspot.co.id.

Let’s take a look at another one to mention, Billy “Sings Jobim”. Prefer to be called Billy Likumahuwa (after his grandfather’s family name), Billy is unique in some ways. First, he has deep, thick baritone voice which sometimes force him to carefully choose his song list. And second, he has quite interesting background too.

His parents aren’t musicians, but they are into music especially the traditional ones like Sundanese. Since early age Billy loved to learn anything he listened to. He was once sang dangdut, Sundanese pop, rock and even campursari (the crossover of several Indonesian music genres, from Javanese to dangdut). When he moved to Bandung a couple of years ago, he encountered jazz and fell in love ever since. He took vocal major at a music school in Bandung, recently he also took lesson on guitar. He came often to our events and made himself involved in the jam session. We have given him slot too, playing with his band Find Taste. Occassionally he’s featured in Bandung’s jazz band Chakraborty.

This time he’s going to explore another world that he found actually suitable to him the most: Bossanova. For this occasion, he’s happily give tribute to legendary Brazilian musician and composer/songwriter/arranger, the primary force behind the birth of the bossa nova with so many classic hits, Antonio Carlos Jobim. We are happy to finally have another tribute at Braga Jazz Walk after tribute to Joe Sample and the (Jazz) Crusaders (#6 edition: http://jazzuality.com/jazz-event-report/braga-jazz-walk-06-the-report/), tribute to Elton John (#10 edition: http://jazzuality.com/jazz-event-report/braga-jazz-walk-10-the-report/) and of course, our special event tribute to Guntur Satria last July, 2015 (http://jazzuality.com/jazz-event-report/braga-jazz-walk-tribute-to-guntur-satria-the-report/). It’s going to be wonderful to have Jobim’s evergreens in one shot, brought by this young man with colorful background.

Once again, we will provide open jam session afterwards. We welcome musicians from whatever genre to participate in it. Other than piano and drums, please bring your gear, tell us you want to join and jump right in.

So that’s it. We are happy with the return of this regular event. Remember it’s going to come next week on September 24, 2015. Mark your calendar, see you guys soon!

BRAGA JAZZ WALK #15

Date: September 24, 2015
Time: 07:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Location: Braga CityWalk
Jl. Braga no 99 – 101, Bandung

FREE EVENT!

Featuring:

:: NISSAN FORTZ ::
Nissan Fortz (guitar)
Dimas Setiawan – bass
Destra Sandjaya – drum
Ade Irvan Riswandi – keyboard
Hadis Hendarisman – clarinet

:: AGIS BAPE ::
Agis Kania Kusumadewi (vocal)
Opik Bape (acoustic guitar)

:: HAARA (Fingerstyle guitar, Tangerang) ::
Haara (guitar)

:: BILLY “SINGS JOBIM” ::
Billy Likumahuwa (vocal)
Joe Bastian (guitar)

“In our mulitcultural world, jazz is the best art movement” – French jazz saxophonist Lionel Martin

French saxophonist Lionel Martin has carved out a unique trail over the last 20 years, blending jazz, rock and world music. He performed at the recent Rainforest World Music Festival in Malaysia, with ethio-sonic band ‘uKanDanz.’ Martin’s albums include Jazz before Jazz, Awo, Madness Tenors and Raw. He has collaborated with a range of artistes including Mario Stantchev, Georges Garzone, Benoit Keller, Ramon Lopez and Cedric Berron.

Martin joins us in this exclusive interview on his musical journey, collaborations and new album.

Tell us about your musical journey, and some of the personal memorable moments!
Since the age of 14, I began to perform – sometimes alone in the street with my saxophone. The main formative experience was in Barcelona, 20 years ago: a man who had seen me on the street came to me and asked me to play. I started with All the Things You Are, but he wanted more. I followed with Stella by Starlight, but then he said “It’s not you, I just want to hear you!” Since that day I always tried to be myself. And it’s easier to find me in playing my own composition.

Another great experience was in New York three years ago, when I was playing in the street to warm up before a big concert at the Lincoln Jazz Centre. A simple worker came to me with his working clothes, shoes and helmet – and he give me $20. It is so important to be encouraged by people in the street.

What have been some of your top highlights in performing overseas?
In Tokyo at the Sukiyaki Festival; at a small bar in Cincinnati with a wonderful audience; and Stara Zagora, a jazz festival in Bulgaria.

What was the vision behind founding of your music groups?
Founding my own band was the key point, my aim is to create a team (like a sports team), where each member has to be very strong in his/her own specialty, each can bring different points of view, different colours and sounds.

What new formats have you experimented with since the early days?
My preference is to perform in trio with drum and double bass. I also like to play in duo with drums. I have good memories with one of my first bands, Free Sons Sextet. It had flute, soprano sax, tenor sax, trombone, double bass and drum – amazing. I also perform in trio with piano and accordion, in another band called Trio Origines (jazz style with Bulgarian influences).

What are the challenges you face as a musician and composer?
Freedom within constraints! As a composer I try to find a logical way, some music with a kind of evidence, very linked to the personality of each musician. On stage, each musician can be himself/herself through my composition.

Who would you say are the leading influences in your musical career?
Saxophonist Steve Lacy! I meet him when I was 18, he told me to find my own soul and style and not care about him.
But also Iggy Pop, who has no limit on stage! I have played with his saxophonist Steve Mackay and recently played in the first part of his show – such high intensity!
Bela Bartok, in his way to collect and be inspired by traditional music.
And also Sydney Bechet, Albert Ayler.

How do you blend different musical influences and genres in your music?
I just try to be myself. I listen to many records (vinyl is my favourite), I go to concerts with an open mind to hear and explore. I listen to traditional, rock, jazz and experimental music. In participating in so many projects in very opposite directions, I have met a wide range of artistes.

When I write something it’s to target intensity and sensibility – like in painting, which I love to practice too, I start to draw, to sing a line and I let my imagination do the rest. I had a project with saxophonist Georges Garzone, and one week before the concert still had not come up with a composition to play. One morning I wake up with my brain ready! Four hours later I had done the job. One song had Ethiopian influence, a ballad just about crying with the thought of how mad people are, and a fast tempo to celebrate the intensity of bebop.

I try to be true, to be ‘honest.’ People also love to travel with many kinds of influences. In our mulit-cultural world, jazz is the best art movement where people accept mixes and differences. After years and years of influence, music became part of myself, so I take time to let these music types appear in my composition or in my improvisation.

How would you describe your musical journey?
Difficult to say, 20 years has been a long time. With experience, and collaborating with lots of musicians around the world, I feel more and more that I have something ‘special,’ so I work a lot on my saxophone to develop this ‘specialty.’ Since my first album I try to find the way – hoping there’s an evolution!

How does your composition process work?
In many ways. With uKanDanZ for exemple, Damien Cluzel, the guitarist, writes the music and also gives the arrangement on Ethiopian songs. It’s the only band in which I don’t participate in the writing part.

Collaboration with the pianist Mario Stantchev is a new experience, I give him some chords and he writes the melody – we even have some pieces composed by phone or email. For my new awesome quintet Madness Tenor with the giant of saxophone, Georges Garzone, I write the music to give the possibility to play with each other and share a special moment of humanity.

In the past I tried to compose or to write a little melody each day, with 365 days in a year, 365 ideas – some very simple, some not interesting but of course some good ideas to work on. Actually my first motivation is to compose for a band or a situation. When I know people I have to play with, when I know the ‘context,’ I work on it. I want to give energy and poetry. My aim is to give people emotional and personal material in line with what they expect but with a lot of surprise as well!

Among all your albums, which are your favourite ones, and why?
My new CD to be released in January 2016 with pianist Mario Stantchev. It is a duo (sax/piano), we play music from Louis Moreau Gottschalk who played a kind of jazz in the 19th century. I have big satisfaction with this CD, it has very good recording with the engineer Gerard de Haro.
Normally it’s hard for me to be in the studio, but this session was so natural that we really feel comfortable to speak with each other, to dialog. So it is a beautiful album with great compositions of the American master, arrangements from us, and lots of communication and feeling.

What are some unusual reactions you have got during your live performances?
I was playing solo just before Iggy Pop – full crowd, big big stage. After five minutes, my saxophone broke. I let you imagine the rest!

What is your message to our audience?
Don’t care about the style of music – open your mind, be free in your choice! Don’t care about gossip!

What is your vision of what music can do in this age of political/economical turmoil?
A few years ago, I believed in the importance to be involved in a political way. I had a trio called ‘Resistances,’ we played revolutionary tunes from different countries. Today, I’m 41, and realise the world is so hard, politician don’t care about people, they only have an economical view.

I just want to play for people. Here are some flowers, take it!

See more pictures:

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

All photos are provided by Lionel Martin

Palembang Jazz Community presents Jazz Band Competition and Music Clinic

Jazz in Palembang City, the capital of South Sumatra has been growing significantly in the past several years along with the city’s rapid growth. The city already has some jazz events both regular community event and festival, thanks to the proud jazz community called Palembang Jazz Community. Education and regeneration process are important to any of Palembang Jazz Community’s event. Following the success in the previous years, Palembang Jazz Community in cooperation with PIM-Palembang Indah Mall present an annual jazz event where the educational subject being placed up high through music clinic. Then, to increase the creativity among young jazz musicians in Palembang, there will also be jazz band competition. With great performers ready to electrify the audience, you can get all of these in an event called PIM JAZZ FESTIVAL.

PIM JAZZ FESTIVAL is set to come on Tuesday, October 13, 2015 starting 1:00 pm to 9:00 pm, taking place at Atrium Hall Palembang Indah Mall.

the Head of Palembang Jazz Community, Zaenal Hanani explained the reason behind their decision to focus on music clinic and band audition this year, that is, to find and increase the music skill of Palembang’s young talents. This event will begin with jazz band competition, open to all bands in South Sumatra. If you are interested, you can read the terms and condition, and get the registration form at Palembang Jazz Community’s Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/180517225216/.

Meanwhile Wendy Ansa, the Marketing Communication & Event of PIM proudly explained that PIM-Palembang Indah Mall keeps their consistency of supporting Palembang Jazz Community’s activities. “This event has been in our program as an annual agenda, plus we wish to keep the PIM’s jazz image. Meaning, when people hear about jazz in the mall in Palembang, they will refer to PIM right away.” said Wendy. Also continuing the support is Bank SumselBabel.

PIM JAZZ FESTIVAL as usual is open for public and free from any charge. Music Clinic will begin after the performances of bands from competitions, coached by skillful and experienced musicians. The grooveman Barry Likumahuwa will coach the music clinic for bass, A senior musician who have been commited to jazz regeneration in Surabaya, Yohanes Gondo guards the piano and Bagus Djatmiko (BJ) on drums. Jam session with local Palembang musicians will be next and then reach the end with manic collaboration between Barry Likumahuwa, Yohanes Gondo, Bagus Djatmiko (BJ) with Palembang Jazz Community plus Evony Arty.

For more info you can contact/visit:
Palembang Jazz Community (+62 818296859/81326998110)
Twitter: @paljazzcom
FB: https://www.facebook.com/groups/180517225216/

PIM JAZZ FESTIVAL 2015

Date: Tuesday, October 13, 2015
Time: 1:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Location: PIM – Palembang Indah Mall

FREE EVENT!