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)