For the past several years, the city of Medan has been showing its vivid jazz color. The city now has its own annual international jazz festival and growing jazz community. If before this city was known as a rock city, today jazz is penetrating it more and more. Thanks to Medan’s proud son Erucakra Mahameru, a jazz guitarist/composer graduated from Berklee College of Music in 1995, this capital city of North Sumatra stands as one of the jazz cities in Indonesia.
We got a good news from WEM (World Event Management) Corp, the organizer of North Sumatra Jazz Festival. As we were still waiting for this year’s edition of it, suddenly they are launching a new event that will make Medan goes even more jazzy. Just like the first one, this event also has top stars and legend. The event is coming soon on Thursday, 19 April 2018 at JW Marriott Medan, starting from 7:00 pm onwards. The event is called MEDAN MASTER JAZZ.
So, who are the artists involved in the MEDAN MASTER JAZZ 2018? Let’s start with the legend: DANIEL SAHULEKA. Throughout his illustrious more than 4 decades-spanning career, he has made hundreds of songs separated in around 16 albums. The most famous one without a doubt is “Don’t Sleep Away The Night”, his single from year 1980 who stands the test of time as a true golden classic. The song is still played and loved by so many people across ages or even generations up until this very moment. But this song is not the only hit, because he also made some famous ones such as “You Make My World So Colorful”, “Love to Love You”, “Wake Up”, “You Are My Sunbeam” and “I Adore You”, just to mention a few.
He lives and builds his career in Netherlands, but he was born in Semarang and had an Ambonese father and mixed Chinese-Sundanese mother. Although he doesn’t live here, he has been coming and performing in Indonesia often. This event is not the first one he’s going to have in Medan. He has done it a couple of times before, but we are sure he is happy to visit the city again since he once lived in Medan for a while. And certainly, he’s delighted to perform for his fans in this city.
For many fans, his way of singing ballad might be the one that describes him the most. Of course, his soft high pitched singing voice is magical in taking on such subject. But Daniel is also famous for his disco and funk era. Not to mention his delightful guitar playing which blends seamlessly as one entity with his voice.
In several occassion Daniel stated that he’s not a jazz singer. Maybe he is not. But that doesn’t mean that he’s a stranger to jazz. He’s been playing in almost all big jazz festivals in Indonesia including the Java Jazz Festival and JakJazz, but most importantly is the fact that Daniel actually grew up by listening to jazz recordings from his father, Simon Pieter Sahuleka’s collection. If you want to know how good he is in jazz, listen to his 2014 album titled “Dad’s Request”, consisting of jazz standards his dad favoured which means the world to him. We got the privilege to listen to some songs given by Daniel himself before the album’s released, and there, we knew how much his career was built upon jazz.
After so many jazz-related events and festivals he’s in, it’s time to add a new one, this time in Medan. His evergreens, his hits and songs that are important to him is surely a catch. Make sure you won’t miss this.
This event will also bring in a superstar emerged from Latvia by winning the International Contest of Young Pop Singer New Wave in that country not that long ago in 2009. He is none other than SANDHY SONDORO (Real name: Sandhy Soendhoro). He built his music career in Berlin, Germany while studying archtecture. Starting as a street singer, he slowly climbed up until he released an album in Germany. Then he participated in the singing contest in Latvia, and as mentioned, he won it.
It didn’t take long for him to claim his spot in his own nation by producing several hits. Later on, he joined Tompi and Glenn Fredly as Trio Lestari, which takes him even higher. Speaking of being a winner, he won the International Music Festival “White Nights of St Petersburg” last year (2017). Today, probably nobody in Indonesia doesn’t know him. His name, his presence and of course his unique vocal character guarantees huge number of audience, and for you who live in Medan or nearby, this is your chance to watch his performance right in front of your eyes.
Erucakra Mahameru is in the lineup too. If he usually performs with his well-established band, Erucakra & C Man like what he’s been doing in North Sumatra Jazz Festival, this time for Medan Master Jazz 2018 he is bringing a new group: ERUCAKRA & PLANET 9. According to him, this name means “The Discovery of New Experience”. Just like the name says, he promises to play alongside his mates as if they are living in a different form of a planet based on the expression and speed of time. If you wonder what he means by that, find it out yourself by watching the performance.
Last but not least, the Medan Master Jazz presents a trio called de Professor USU Band. As the name of the band suggests, this trio consists of three professor from North Sumatra University (USU): Prof. Delfitri Munir, Prof Mauly Purba and Prof Herman Hariman. It’s going to be interesting to see how these professors would do on stage after stepping out from the world of science. Also joining Three Champions from the Jazz Arrangement Competition.
The Medan Master Jazz 2018 is coming soon on Thursday, 19 April 2018 at JW Marriott Hotel, Medan, starting from 7:00 pm til drop. The ticketing are as follows:
– Gold : IDR 550K (including Medan Master Jazz T-shirt – glow in the dark)
– Silver : IDR 350K (including Medan Master Jazz T-shirt – glow in the dark)
– Bronze/ sitting on the floor/ front area: IDR 200K
– Festive/standing/back area: IDR 150K
Get the ticket at Harian Waspada or ET 45.
For more info, please conatact +62 811607710 or +62 81376254019
Mark your calendar and join the party.