After the blazing Pre Event Java Jazz Festival for Bandung region two weeks ago (http://jazzuality.com/jazz-event-report/braga-jazz-walk-special-edition-pre-event-java-jazz-festival-2015-the-report/), we are back to the regular community event in supporting local jazz/jazz oriented musicians to showcase and socialize their music to the public. In this edition we invited variety of bands/musicians. By saying variety we mean age (from junior high school students to senior drummer/famous drum teacher), experience and the flavor of their music.

The show kicked off just a couple of minutes after seven pm. To open it up, Hexatonix, the junior high school students from Kalam Kudus Christian School stepped up the gear and drove some fusion out from the stage. Jenny Meijelina (vocal), Kirana Ariel (bass), Karel Kwee (rhythm guitar), Errick Salibana (melody guitar), Cecilia (keyboard) and Sigit (drums) were all the students of young guitarist who’s also a regular faces in our events, Jerry Gates and his friend, Andreas (drums). They are still new to this, only got the chance to learn two months, but the spirit are there already. Thomas Sylvester and Billy Likumahuwa are helping to shape them up too.

The combination of today’s top 40 and jazz standards became their choice. Jenny and Cecilia started first with “If I Ain’t Got You”. Not only playing, Cecilia sang too. After that, the rest of the band joined in. “Autumn Leaves” was the song, followed by Maroon 5’s “Sunday Morning” in much slower tempo. The soulful Jenny then pinned Raisa’s big hit “Could It Be Love” and then served the last party with Bruno Mars’ “Treasure”.

These kids are still in their mid teen, yet look at how good they are progressing in playing jazz. Not easy, since they have responsibilities to do the best on their formal study, but they seem able to share some of their time to play music especially jazz. We are happy to see the birth of new jazz souls like this, and we are excited to see their progress. We know the board of teachers/mentors are good musicians, but now we also know that they are good in teaching the kids. A good musician should also be able to teach too, don’t you think? Passing the knowledge and skill to the next generation will create fresh new players that we need in order to keep it alive. In other words, the future of jazz is in their hands. Thank you Andreas, Jerry, Thomas and Billy, may you never stop in making and finding more potential talents. And kids, keep up the great job!

Different menu was served on the second round. It was a duo of Galant Yurdian and Puspallia Panggabean, together as Gallia. Well, both of them share the same passion and most probably calling. Puspall is active in several groups and often goes back and forth from Bandung to Jakarta, Galant achieves success as the bassist of Deugalih & Folks and 70’s Orgasm Club. With Puspall however, Galant switches his weapon with guitar and proves that he can play it just as good. They have been supporting each other for quite some times and stood tall as one of the Duotone teams at Klab Jazz’s special event last August, 2014. Just based on this fact alone we could already feel that this pairing would give interesting things. And yes, they actually did.

Throughout the session, Puspall who looked cute with Indian ‘bindi’ on her forehead demonstrated the solid vocal quality that has attracted many seniors in Jakarta. Galant did very, very well not only in playing but also in the arrangement post. Basically they served a unique, acoustic tribute to the great, great American legend, Cole Porter. Except one song from Frente, “Cuscutlan”. Not an ordinary song choice perhaps, but they took and played it beautifully. “I just love that song,” said Puspall, giggled. As for the Cole Porter songlist, they didn’t just take them but rearranged them differently.  “Anything Goes” served grand, just like the way Kate Capshaw did at the opening scene of “Indiana Jones and Temple of Doom”. Amazingly, they did it by two, not with a big band like Kate. After the sweet “Night and Day” , Gallia demonstrated how good they could rearrange and execute songs with “Let’s Fall in Love” and “In the Still of the Night”.  The first mentioned song got heavy blues treatment. In a way, we could feel Galant’s soul and spirit in this one. Then, the last song began with minus one before Galant painted the song even more with his colorful play. So different, so fresh, creatively crafted.

There are several factors that make this pairing works. First, they have been supporting each other for quite some times. They know each other closely and share the strong chemistry. Then, this duo share the same passion in music. Eventhough their music reference and channel might be different, but they surely know what to choose. Another important thing to mention, both of them are remarkable artists. Equipped with skills, heavily gifted and fully experienced, they can create something new by flying wide, stretching the border to find broader musical horizon, without leaving each of their style and taste behind. We had been wishing to invite them for a couple of months, but only now finally we got the chance. In the midst of big sized bands, a duo like this can be really refreshing and should be kept going, especially when the duo is as good as this couple. Bravo, Gallia!

The last performing band was Olteje. Stands as O Learns to Jazz, this group interestingly has a fully respected drummer in it: Henky Suparjan. On the other corners this band also has experts consists of jazz experts: Caroline Tjhi (piano), Okki Jatikusuma (guitar) and Leo Hansen (bass).

They began the journey a couple of years ago, establishing the connection fast and keep digging more and more repertoires, from simple jazz standards to the complex ones. That’s why they like to spread their wings wide on stage, reaching swing, bossa, fusion and other kind of jazz horizons. In performing, they often add more bites with vocalist and/or percussionist.

For this event however, Okki couldn’t make it at the last minute. But worry not, Dicky Ampouw, one of the saxophonist of Salamander Big Band stood tall replacing him. A song written by Joe Zawinul for Cannonball Aderley Quintet, “Mercy Mercy Mercy” gave a grand start. From there, they moved to the second checkpoint, playing Dizzy Gillespie’s “Night in Tunisia”. The classic Latin jazz standard “Mambo Inn” took us into a cozy, breezy beach mood. After “Cheek to Cheek”, Olteje gave a completely relaxing ending in bossa style by taking Jobim’s gem, “Look to the Sky”.

A pure jazz extacy were produced by this amazing jazz quartet. They made it so simple, but you could really hear that they played in master level. Challenging and fascinating, refreshing. Special thanks to Henky Supardjan who’s willing to play with electric drum in order to play in this event.

Jam session served right on. Tonight we got a special participant. Not a senior, but on the opposite, an 8 year-old girl named Nadine. She studies at VMS with Nanet Ken Asri, once an active jazz pianist. She came, approaching us asking to jam, and actually played very well. Accompanied by Jerry Gates (guitar), Billy Likumahuwa (vocal), Farrel Ong (drums) and Yosua Setiawan (bass), she played “Autumn Leaves” flawlessly. The bass guitar changed hand to Nicodemus Horrison and guitar to Adya Amru. “Misty” was the song. Imagine an 8 year-old girl in a jazz event, not just watching but performing! How wonderful is that? We are happy to find another wonder little girl who rises so early.  She knows what she likes already and sticks with it. Amazing.

The photo session took place in the middle of that song. But after that, the jam session still carried on. This year’s X Factor participant, Andre Arizky ran to the stage and sang “Route 66″. Nicodemus on piano, Amru on guitar and our very own photographer, Titus Firmanto on drums.

Another good round that has many stories to tell. We are happy with the result, and we love the variation served in this one. From junior high schoolers to today’s success artists to respected musicians. Positive energy and happy vibes were all over. We thank everyone who came to support us, the playing and jamming musicians, the audience and mall-goers, salute to you all.

Breaking News: Braga Jazz Walk will only be a monthly event from now

Allow us to announce that due to some circumstances, Braga CityWalk has decided to cut off one of the regular schedule. If before we run twice a month, from now on we only run once, on the second Thursday of the month. So, until further notice Braga Jazz Walk becomes monthly. There are many bands still to showcase, but unfortunately the call is not on us. Whoever fill the 4th Thursday night won’t be from us, and we get nothing to do with it at all. This is why jazz lovers and musicians have to keep supporting local jazz community. No matter where, many jazz community struggles to maintain its show. Your support is always counted and appreciated. We’ll see you again next month with another batch, another style and another story.

Watch the video highlight from Braga Jazz Walk 11

Reporter: Riandy Kurniawan
Photographer: Titus Firmanto
Video Editor: Vierna Mariska Kurniawan

The journey finally comes to an end. BEM KEMA Fakultas Ekonomi dan Bisnis Universitas Padjadjaran (FEB UNPAD) finally completed their series of events, PASIFIC (Padjadjaran Music Festival and Culture). Started with the first event in February 2014, committee auspiciously held the gig with numerous big names in music such as NAIF, HiVi, Project Pop, Sheila On 7, Afgan, The SIGIT, Glenn Fredly, and Tulus. Continued to PASIFIC 2 First Event in last month of 2014, FLOAT, Pandai Besi, Senandung Taman, Tiga Pagi, and the remarkable Daniel Sahuleka were up on stage playing their music. At last, the second and third events of PASIFIC happened in this March. While the former spotlighted green activities at Taman Hutan Raya Djuanda, the latter we attended recently presenting Mocca, Maliq & D’Essentials, Sheila On7, and DEWA 19 feat. Ari Lasso. These pretty much summarize the whole sequence of PASIFIC.

Now, let’s pay attention to the last event we covered, which is the third event. Centering the importance of green life, PASIFIC consistently acknowledge their visitors about taking care of our nature surrounds and cleanness in Bandung. Therefore, they brought up “Experience the Soul of Nature” as second event theme and “We Are the Soul of Nature” as third theme. Located at Sasana Budaya Ganesha, last Saturday became one of many memorable music events in Bandung. The gate was opened from 1 p.m. and one distinguished thing about this event was their punctuality. Committee had proved that time and pleasantness of their visitors are important so they surely did the best in time management. In addition for our pleasure, they provided us with many tenants consisted of foods, beverages, performer’s merchandise, and sponsor’s items to choose. No worries of getting hungry or bored.

As usual for college events, PASIFIC 2 was officially opened that noon as the Vice Dean gave his speech and followed by P2K2M. Months ago the committee had held band audition and the result was five groups who played in third event. Our biggest applause for many young yet talented fellas from Summer Breeze, Lebanon, The Mahad, Happy Man, and Mahesvara. They all deserve the spotlight at big stage as in PASIFIC because joyful they served to us through their tunes. Mahesvara is one of those bands closest to us and as much as we are happy to see they develop this far, great to see they continually spread the traditional Sundanese to many crowds. Fun to see they blended the latest hits with their traditional arrangements well just like within their first song, Sia’s “Chandelier”, continued by Titi DJ’s “Ekspresi”, and a Sundanese song from Pupuh Kinanti, “Budak Leutik Bisa Ngapung”.

Right before break at dawn, one of four main stars was ready on stage, Bandung sweetheart, Mocca. We had mentioned within Java Jazz Festival 2015 report that last January Mocca released their newest album called ‘Home’. By saying home, it refers to Bandung as their hometown, where the creative Mocca was born and belongs. ‘Home’ is an album full of their stories about the long journey to come back home and special for this event, Mocca played several songs from that album. “Changing fate”, “Home”, “Somewhere In My Dreamland”, and “Bandung (Flower City)” were their new pieces, added with the old “I Remember” and “Swing It, Bob” which were beautifully sang by Arina Ephipania, Riko Prayitno, Toma Pratama, and Indra Massad.

Right after the pray break time, the crowds increasingly fulfilled the venue as Maliq & D’Essentials was ready to give their best in order to entertain Bandung. The atmosphere was filled with festive atmosphere while Maliq continuously served us with their sundry hits such as “Himalaya”, “Setapak Sriwedari”, “Semesta”, “Terlalu”, “Drama Romantika”, “Pilihanku”, “Terdiam”, “Dia”, “Menari”, and the greatest of all “Untitled”. Since the releasing of their debut album in 2004 until now, there are plentiful gigs they have performed; they have six incredible albums and many labeling them with jazz and soul genre. But as we can see up to this time, they do not stop exploring new side of them, new genres, and many great things are worth to wait from this band.

Sheila on 7 was the only band who performed twice at PASIFIC and still they attracted many people. Two same things as Mocca did: first, Sheila on7 recently released their newest album last year, titled ‘Musim yang Baik’, so until these days their schedule is tight in order to promote their album. Second, they both finally joined the biggest jazz event, Java Jazz Festival 2015. As Duta opened the show with their friendly greeting, the vocalist thanked the crowds whom chose to spent their weekend at Sabuga and appreciate Indonesian music. For sure we expected Sheila On7 not only prepared to sing their newest tunes, but also the old which we are very familiar with. Yes, they gave what we wanted. “Hari Bersamanya”, “Sahabat Sejati”, “Seberapa Pantas”, “Satu Langkah”, “Melompat Lebih Tinggi”, “Dan”, “Itu Aku”, “Buka Mata Buka Telinga”, “Yang Terlewatkan”, and “Anugerah Terindah Yang Pernah Kumiliki” medley with “Lapang Dada” were well served.

It is fair enough to say that this last performer was the highlight of this event. DEWA 19 who last time came to perform in Bandung was 2003 finally satisfied our longing for them. The formation for PASIFIC was Ari Lasso on vocal, Ahmad Dhani on keyboard, Andra Junaidi on guitar, Yuke Sampurna on bass, with two additional players on guitar and drum. It was clearly seen that the personnel really enjoyed the show because of strong vibes from the crowds. Sabuga was full house at that time, many Baladewa was on front line, and the crowds didn’t stop to sing along. Together they didn’t stop gave us the best performance with all-time hits we already knew such as: “Restoe Boemi”, “Pangeran Cinta”, “Cukup Siti Nurbaya”, “Sedang Ingin Bercinta”, “Kirana”, “Pupus”, “Cinta Kan Membawamu Kembali”, “Satu Hati”, “Separuh Nafas”, “Kangen”, “Arjuna”, and finally closed the magnificent show with “Kamulah Satu-Satunya”.

The air was filled joy, excitement, and tired faces from all people who came to PASIFIC because they enjoyed the gig very much they couldn’t stop singing and dancing along with the performers. The price of tickets is classified into above average for college gigs but for you who came know for sure that it was worth. You never know what time in the future DEWA 19 feat. Ari Lasso will ever performing together again. Also other big names like Mocca, Sheila on7, and, Maliq & D’Essentials in one stage? It was a big winning and Bandung should be glad to see those artists. Big thanks to the hard work of committee who finally done four big events and we hope that we will see another PASIFIC next year. Congrats, kuddos!

See more pictures:

Reporter: Mellysa Anastasya
Photographer: Titus Firmanto

As a community-based jazz edutainment program, Braga Jazz Walk was once running as a two weekly event, but right after the Java Jazz Pre Event which featured artists from three nations, the venue Braga CityWalk informed us the cut down due to some reasons. We still don’t know if this is going to be permanent or until when, but what we do know is that we should still focus in providing the local young guns a reliable platform to grow. Either they need promotion, wish you try out their concept, need to gain experience or simply love to perform in front of real audience in public places, this event is totally free for them to use.

While for the well established musicians, this event should be able to stand as a meeting point between them and the younger ones. They can share their knowledge and experience, they can give feedback, or they can let the youngsters learn through live performances. We provide jam session too in every edition to accomodate just about anybody who want to taste the jazzy stage. For musicians or singers who still has no band, this session can be useful. For the band members, this could freshen them from routines. And for the audience, they can always taste it anytime they want to. So far we have receieved many positive feedbacks and still have to work better on several issues. But generally, so far this event is still running on the right track with plenty of success stories to tell.

After a long one full month, Braga Jazz Walk #12 was back again in action on April 9, 2015. For this edition we prepared 3 bands plus one special session. The special session featured a still 8 year-old girl that seems to know her destiny from such early age. Her name is Nadine. Nadine is currently studies at Venche Music School (VMS) under the guidance of a female jazz pianist we know very well, Nanet Ken Asri. She brought her mom and came to the previous 11th edition, where she directly approached us in order to ask for joining the jam. She amazed us directly from the first note. She could already play on stage like a pro and even joined much older players in jam session without any problem. This event is for talents like her. We invited her to have a slot in this edition, she grabbed it excitedly.

Before Nadine had her first ever gig in life, Find Taste was the band to start the night. The band’s called Find Taste with Billy Likumahuwa (vocal), M Rizky Pratama (guitar), Joe Bastian (bass), Anthony (guitar) and Andre (drums). The vocalist Billy who constantly appears and jams almost in every edition of Braga Jazz Walk has a unique deep baritone voice and loves to sing no matter what genre he’s being given. Since last year he’s been placing his interest in jazz singing that’s perfectly accomodated by having reliable compatriotes in Find Taste.

Speaking of song choice, they selected 4 songs with really different backgrounds. First, Antonio Carlos Jobim’s gem “Wave” in pop bossa, then they caught everyone off guard with Ismail Marzuki’s “Panon Hideung”. From there they visited The Beatles by singing “Come Together” in jazz-rock spirit then sealed their session with “Biru”.

As they have been showing their support by attending our event at regular basis, We’re happy that finally we can give one full slot for them. Unique baritone voice and young but capable musicians are found inside this band. As they are still pursuing the formal education in music, we are glad to be able to support them. Since Find Taste’s filled with passionate boys, we know they still have many things to offer. If this event still runs, we will invite them again and see their progress.

Then came the time for us to see the adorable little girl, Nadine. She was there alone, playing all by herself. She was very brave to do so. Look at her repertoires: “Take Five”, “Over the Rainbow” and “Night in Tunisia”. Sweet and simple, with all the innocence and purity of a child, Nadine mesmerized everyone as she gained loud applauses from one song to another. How could a girl her age handle the pressure of performing in front of the audience? Not something that’s easy for them, but the adorable Nadine overcame all of her nervousness and came out as a winner.

We always feel happy to meet new talent, especially a rare talent like Nadine. Imagine, while girls her age are still playing with dolls and starting to learn how to develop skills in activities they love, Nadine already found what she destined to be specifically. We are thinking, if she can already play like that today, how amazing will she become in the future. She has all the chance in the world, especially since her parents are supporting her fully. We are proud to be able to feature/introduce her, and hope she will take Braga Jazz Walk as home and come more often.

Next was a trio, YD Nafis Trio. First, meet YD Nafis, an all-round keyboardist highly respected by many young guns in Bandung. About 6 months ago when the Braga Jazz Walk was just started, he told us about his plan of establishing his own group. It wasn’t easy to find the perfect ones to fill up each line, but instead of waiting, he started directly with whatever available. The drummer was already there, the young Alman Naufal who’s currently absorbing drumming knowledge and skill from Elfa Zulham and proudly is working as a drum instructor at the Venche Music School. With a very minimalistic format they have graced some stages, including some appearance on our own soil. Later on we heard that he has found a bassist. Then we invited him and his trio to fill up this edition’s slot. He took it and told us that he just got a new bassist, Robby Tribuwono Saksono.

For the first time YD Nafis Trio rest their case in our regular event, and according to Nafis, it was their first ever gig too as a trio. “All the Things You Are” was first, but then they served a surprise by pinning Nirvana’s classic “Smells Like Teen Spirit” into a soft but free jazz outfit. Throughout the songs Alman tranced behind the drums, showing how much he’s dwelling into it. Nafis let his soul go over the terrains, freely, happily. As for the newest member Robby, he is remarkable in guarding these two and keep everything intact. For the last song, they gave a cool cover of Robert Glasper’s song titled “FTB”.

YD Nafis is not only a remarkable jazz pianist. He’s also a leader that expressively spreads positive vibe and happiness that can be felt by both fellow players and the audience. He leads and serves at the same time, thus make the trio stands solid. Alman as usual was into his trancing mode as a reflection of how much he’s into his play. And Robby is indeed an excellent bassist who really knows what to do. We predicted earlier that this session would be interesting and enjoyable, and yes it actually was. We enjoy YD Nafis’ keyboard playing in Tesla Manaf ft Mahagotra Ganesha and West Java Syndicate, now we see the other side of him in more central position. According to Nafis, Robby completed the core. His group may expand with more than trio, but the three will always be the core. Playing as a  trio is tricky and never easy, but Nafis should feel lucky to have Alman and Robby around, vise versa.

The final showcase was a band, consists of young guns, that places two violins in front. The band’s called Violin Project. It’s still new, established earlier this year when two young violinists, Kiki Abdul Haqi and Raga Dipa wished to hold an internal concert that finally took place at the Auditorium Indra Music last month by the name of Violin Night. The violin duo are strongly supported by their friends such as Pandu Watu Alam (piano), Marsha Oktora (guitar), Satria Tri Buana (bass) and the talented drummer who has played at our event quite many times, Andi Pramudito.

Andi told us earlier that Funk/Fusion is the main style of their music. Since Raga is the personnel of Bandung rock band named Restless, some rock pattern is alive and kicking too in their music. They opened up with Chick Corea “Spain”. Jazz rock sounded majestic from them, plus some samba beat and other twists enriched this opening song. As they attracted more and more people, the threw more songs including Secret Garden’s “Poeme”, and Clean Bandit’s “Rather Be”. They do have original song too, written by Didi entitled “Journey”. For the last song, they played UZEB/Didier Lockwood’s “The Kid”.

6 players connected and shone bright. The rich, strong and steady drumbeat, fine guitar line and melodious rhythm from the bass, fired up keyboardist and of course, two brilliant violinists in front created one solid package of music. Violin is not the usual instrument to find in jazz and rock, therefore a band like this is important in terms of enriching our music with colorful varieties. It feels good to be able to feature this in our event. Hopefully more people could see that there are so many possibilities in jazz and certainly, you can use any kinds of instrument to bring out the jazzy soul in you.

Jam session started afterwards with Nadine and YD Nafis. They shared one piano and played “Take the ‘A’ Train” and then “Autumn Leaves”. Interestingly, Nadine’s grandfather who came to support her took the mike and sang. A golden, round baritone voice of the grandpa gained loud applauses and cheers from every one in the venue. Frank Navayo (guitar) joined in.

Nafis’ dear wife, Misty then took over the mike and sang “How Insensitive”. More players rushed in: Omega (piano), Rio (bass), Rizky (guitar), Anthony (guitar) and Alman (drums). Misty led them and sang Raisa’s “Could This Be Love”. Billy took the other mike and sang too. The photo session happened during this song, but there was one last batch: the whole YD Nafis Trio plus Billy (now on guitar) with Fauzan Razak (vocal). They made a spontaneous but stand out cover of “Feeling Good”. That became the end of this 12th edition.

Three groups in various formats and styles plus one special solo performance by an 8 year-old girl were the story of this 12th edition. It’s great to see many young players are already capable to bring good music in the name of jazz. We are satisfied with the variety of instruments being used, the wide age ranging and colorful sounds. Oh yeah, the jam was cool too. There are many bands still waiting to be featured. We will bring another fresh batch next month. If the event still runs, you can be sure to get something different. That’s all for now, see you again next month.

Watch the highlight of Braga Jazz Walk #12

See more pictures:

Reporter: Riandy Kurniawan
Photographer: Titus Firmanto
Video Editor: Vierna Mariska Kurniawan

“We want to make it different than other festivals in Indonesia.”  That’s what Erucakra Mahameru told us in April 2011, just a couple of months before he launched his brainchild, the first-ever jazz festival in Medan city called North Sumatra Jazz Festival (NSJF). By saying different, actually Erucakra meant to uphold the idealism in presenting high quality of jazz-tertainment, without forgetting the rich traditional music from different tribes living in that particular area.  It was in 2011. Since then, we have been witnessing rapid growth. It now stands as an international festival. Many spontaneous collaborations indicates the fact that jazz is indeed a universal language. That’s not an easy thing to do in Medan, but it does work. Jazz penetrates Medan in the way never happened before. They have jazz communities, good regeneration and better and better acceptances from the societies. If Medan was once known as rock city, one must admit that it is jazz city too now. And North Sumatra Jazz Festival plays a very vital part of it.

Just a couple of days ago, the North Sumatra Jazz Festival as the fruit of solid collaboration between Waspada emusic (WEM) and Indiejazz Indonesia as the organizer has reached its 5th anniversary. At the press conference held in Marin Lounge Karibia Hotel on Friday, April 10th, Erucakra said that he’s ready to bring more jazz subgenres into the mix of cultures which has been seen as the city’s distinct scenes for years. This new theme’s called Jazzversity Culture. This year’s edition once again showcased spontaneous collaboration among performers from various countries.
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Along with the official home band Erucakra C Man Band, from South Korea we got Phil Yoon Group consists of Phil Yoon (drums), Lee Jongwon (Saxophone), Lee Myeonggeon (Piano) and Heo Jinho (bass). From Malaysia, Razak Rahman and friends featuring Professor Hanafie Imam, Rosita Rohaizad (vocal) and Adrienne Pallikat (drums). From our side were the girl-wonder from Bali, 15 year-old VK a.k.a Vickay joined Emerald BEX’s Roedyanto, and the Indonesian progressive rock-fusion band, The KadriJimmo (Kadri Mohammad  & Jimmo) took us back to feel the atmosphere of 90’s Indonesian music scene together with Keenan Nasution. Keenan’s lifespan carreer as a drummer, pianist, guitarist, writer and also famous singer, from the member of God Bless to Guruh Gipsy (with Fariz RM & Chrisye) and Gank Pegangsaan, has made him a living legend in our music industry. To add more excitement to the younger audience, Indonesian Idol’s alumni Teza Sumendra stood tall in the lineup.

The 2015’s edition started early with the performance from Medan’s local bands Elnino from University of North Sumatra,  Candle & Moonlight and UNIMED’s Kalila, with some Melayu/Malay and South Tapanuli (Mandailing)’s traditional dance to describe more of this year’s cross cultural theme. The night’s got stronger jazz ambience with Rio Riezky & the Band who sang their own compositions and Gugun Blues Shelter’s “Turn It On”.

Vickay then jazzed up the stage with her amazing performance. Being only 15 year old, this jazz girl-wonder came up with her own songs from her first album, “You Don’t Know Me.” Not only great in singing, she also demonstrated her ability in playing multi instruments including keyboard and guitar. With Emerald BEX’s Roedyanto, Vickay sang ‘What’s Going On?”. the bluesy “Beggin” and “Bahagia Lagi”.

Time to check out the jazz icon from our neighboring country: Razak Rahman and Friends. Razak and his team offered jazz tunes with the ellegance of Malay traditional sounds, even included a Malay monologue. The wonderful chemistry of Razak’s saxophone and Prof. Hanafie Imam’s  bass flew smooth over the Malay rendition of Duke Ellington’s “Don’t Get Around Much” presented in a translated Malay format: “Kini Aku Sendirian”. This song was sung by Mazlina Abdul Manan. The treat didn’t stop there, because then they brought in two of P. Ramlee & Puan Sri Saloma’s classic hits “Asmara” and “Mahligai Kahyangan”,  sang by Rozita Rohaizad. Rozita is the niece of Puan Sri Saloma (wife of the late maestro Tan Sri P. Ramlee) and daughter of the legendary actress Mariani. Not only in carrying the legacy, Rozita suits perfectly with the song too, as if she was born to sing it.

 Erucakra then joined them. Together they ran wild with John Coltrane’s “Impressions”.

With Rheinhard Tobing (one of the founder of Medan’s famous Session Band before forming his own Rheinhard & His Combo) as their new additional personnel on keyboards, Erucakra C Man Band seemed to have new power. This time with the formation consists of Brian Harefa (saxophone), Rusfian Karim (drums) and Okky Pendawa (bass), their compositions felt more variative and melodic than ever. The y played Miles Davis’ classic “So What” in acid jazz variations, Chick Corea’s “Blue Miles” in strong blues touch and Dave Brubeck’s  “Take Five” in Al Jarreau’s version with lyrics, which became the highlight of their performance. This quite complicated composition was nicely sang by Erucakra. He also showed his scat-singing ablity which surprised the audience. They ended their part with The Beatles’ classic “Come Together” in a quite unique variations.

Phil Yoon then came up on stage and gave everyone a different flavor. He let us enjoy the  taste of South Korean jazz which is a rarity to many jazz audience here. Their highly attractive playing clearly reflected on the repertoires which were mostly taken from their albums like from the 2007 album “E.J. (Homage to Elvin Jones)”, “Nardis”, “Jindo Arirang”, “The Ride” and from the 2012 album “The Reminiscence of Mom”, “Joshua”, “Bull’s Eye” and “Boston Blues”, where they collaborated with Erucakra Mahameru’s masterful guitar sound and techniques.

As the night got even hotter, The KadriJimmo (formerly The KadriJimmo The Prinzes of Rhythm) got their shot. KadriJimmo is a duo vocalist group consists of Kadri Mohammad and Jimmo (known from Melly’s duet hit ‘Pujaanku’ from the hit movie ‘Eiffel I’m In Love’). Along with the band, these guys knocked the audience out with their progressive rock-fusion repertoires. Some was taken from their album ‘Indonesia Hebat’ like the uniquely titled “Secangkir Teh Sebelum Kau Pergi (A Cup of Tea Before You Leave)” and the upcoming single “Energi Cinta (Love Energy)” composed by Kla Project’s Adi Adrian & Bemby Noor. After the majestic medley of “Badai Pasti Berlalu” which also featured Popo the keyboardist on vocals, the most awaited Keenan Nasution joined them on stage.

Accompanied by The KadriJimmo’s Noldy (guitarist), Soebroto (bass), Popo (keyboard) and Hayunaji (drums), Keenan swept the audience with his classic hit from Gank Pegangsaan, “Dirimu”. Then he took Guruh Gipsy’s “Indonesia Maharddhika” which also came from  2014 all-star thematic collaboration album featured many Indonesian famous musicians including The KadriJimmo and  Keenan. Then finally, the one that started it all in Keenan’s carreer, “Nuansa Bening” came from him in a surprise duet with Vickay, who gave cool improvisations by flying over wide range of notes. It was really, really beautiful.

NSJF 2015 wrapped the event with Teza Sumendra in his ever attractive performance, mostly for the young audience. He sang RnB’s latest hits like Jay Z’s “Show Me What You Got”, Beyonce’s “Drunk In Love”, Jessie J’s “Bang Bang”, Mark Ronson feat Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk”, his own single “Real Love”, “Tonight”, “I Want You, Love”, “Girlfriend” and the festive Earth Wind & Fire’s classic “Let’s Groove”. Teza’s performance successfully brought the audience came closer to the stage and dance.

This festival is fully supported by the city’s government and proudly stands as an international-scaled annual that should be able to attract tourists to visit Medan, as said by Medan’s vice governor HT Erry Nuradi in  his official speech. The collaboration between Erucakra Mahameru’s Waspada Emusic and Dion Momongan’s IndieJazz Indonesia isn’t just successfully introduced jazz and its various subgenres to the wider audience, it also gives more opportunities to the local jazz bands and musicians. In a hope to see more and more success story in years to come, let’s never stop giving our support to North Sumatra Jazz Festival.

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Reporter: Daniel Irawan
Photographer: Ferry Rumahorbo
Editor: Riandy Kurniawan

2015 must be a blessing for The Executive Student Board (BEM) of the Law Faculty of Padjadjaran University because this year fortunately they could held their annual jazz event, the biggest in Bandung, The 7th International Kampoeng Jazz, without any postponed agenda like previous year. Located at their own campus, Universitas Padjadjaran Dipati Ukur, for about twelve hours in last Saturday, the visitors were spoiled by various artists, lots of food booth, and bazaar. Couple of hours before the show the committee held Press Conference for all media partners at Sheraton Bandung Hotel & Towers. Jizue, Syaharani, G-Pluck Beatles, and Beben Jazz were some musicians who met us there. Back to the main event, at the punctual time as scheduled, Kampoeng Jazz Project Officer, Frero, gave his speech as the event was officially begun. After that, Kama Soekarno, Chief of BEM Fakultas Hukum UNPAD, and the Chief of P2K2M also welcomed the visitors and finally the fun had begun.

With a lot of musicians to perform, Kampoeng Jazz got two stages for them to explore, Main Stage and Lounge Stage which was sponsored by Nescafe Coffee. Just like before, Kampoeng Jazz always gives the chance for amateur/newborn bands to participate via auditions. For this year, three bands were selected by the judge. One, Chakraborty delivered a tight package in the name of jazz. The band was established a little bit more than a year ago but they have played hundreds of times in front of public. They have played in prestigious festivals like JakJazz, they have bagged quite many achievements too. “Kepahitan Termanis”, “Soul Shadows”, and “Sabda Alam” were their creation specially delivered to us. Then, a trio from Jakarta named MEP Trio was really solid in exploring the funky jazz terrain. These guys played like a pro, sharp but smooth. MEP stands for Madra, Eky, and Pandu. For this event the drum position was given to Afi because Pandu couldn’t make it. That was from Lounge Stage, while for Main Stage, Salty Sugar was the first who tasted it. This band is a large ensemble consists of young guns who have been friends since junior high school. They served funky party that would fit everyone. Knowing how today hits could easily attract the crowd, the band closed their performance with upbeat “Get Lucky” by Daft Punk ft. Pharrell Williams and Coldplay’s “A Sky Full of Stars”. So there, three audition winners did very well in setting up the fire early.

Bell Bottom Blues Trio consists of Ruzan as singer and guitar player, Fahmi as bass player, Dhana as drum n percussion player. Starting the journey worked on Jimi Hendrix’s songs three fellows from different genres fuse under blues and epically entertained us with their skills and shared their souls. Hope their motto, “kami akan bermain di mana saja dan kapan saja dengan 200% effort dan soul” goes well with their musical journey. Continued with Dadung and Friends played today’s hits “Love Never Felt So Good” by Michael Jackson and Justin Timberlake. Then, Russel and Electric Band (REB) came up and hit the stage with “Leaving on the Jet Plane”.

Beben Jazz and Friends made a visit to this fest. As you probably know, Beben Supendi Mulyana – better known as Beben Jazz- is an important figure in Indonesian jazz. His community, Komunitas Jazz Kemayoran has performed hundreds of regular gigs and still running well until now. It’s always interesting to see how he introduces jazz to the society. He knows how to make it acceptable to all segments in the society without having to lose the jazz traditions. Jamming mode, improvisations, call and response, all that jazz, plus communicative as Beben likes to share knowledge during his show. A joyful treat full of lessons, that’s what it was. Not only beautifully entertained us with Ella Fitzgerald’s “Summertime”, Duke Ellington’s “Take the A Train”, “Just the Two of Us”, Beben also got a Hall of Fame achievement by Kampoeng Jazz Project Officer.

One of many things we like about Mocca and Friends is how their melodious tunes never get us bored, both live and recorded. Charmed and swept everyone with Arina’s soft voice and the beat from all band players really couldn’t stop us from singing along with them. Greeted their listeners with “Secret Admirer”, continued with Frank Sinatra’s “My Way”, “Bandung”, and then Yura joined the gig in “Balada Sirkus” and “Butterfly in My Tummy”.

Dried Cassava started their musical journey since high school at South Jakarta. Baskoro Adhi Juwono as vocalist and one of the guitarists, Nandie Daniel Febryan as lead guitarist, Bana Drestanta as bassist and Kago Mahardono as drummer, these talented fellow gave us another experience in jazz event with their alternative funk rock and blues. “Paradox” was one of many songs they brought up on stage and you can get this song from their debut album ‘Mind Thieves’.

As rain was pouring, Adhitia Sofyan just came on very proper time, marking his second participation in this event after last year. His voice blended with his guitar produced perfect ambience. “Adelaide Sky”, “The Stalker”, “Tik Tik Tik Bunyi Hujan”, “Blue Sky Collapse”, “After the Rain”, and “Tokyo Lights Fade Away”, a song from ‘How to Stop Time’ album were the list at that noon.

A university as big as UNPAD surely has many talented people within. Surprisingly, not only the students made this event as medium for their musical needs, but their lecturers also have that craving. The Bandos is the proof. It is a band consists of Fakultas Hukum UNPAD’s lecturers and they didn’t want to throw away the opportunity to get along with their students and have fun on stage. Blotymama contains high dose of funk. As they said earlier, “our mission is actually simple. We only want to give you some fun”. Absolutely they already checked that mission. Teddy Adithya  on vocal, Ade Avery on guitar, Rendi Raditya on bass, and Rio Agung on drum are people behind this band with rock and R n’B touch. ‘Bloty Time’ is an album full of creation from the heart. These four fellows, who already spread their marks in many other musicians’ work, a hundred percent stole the night as many people looked for their album right after watching their show.

Babendjo Saung Mang Udjo is what really represents Bandung as a city full of artsy people. This group with a male vocalist wonderfully sang Chrisye’s hits “Untukku” and “Cintaku”, covered “Hey Jude”, and played Sundanese song “Manuk Dadali”.

Then we found the band we always consider as friend, Syaharani and the QueenFireworks a.k.a ESQI:EF. The year 2015 seems to be a good year for the band as the name has been listed in numerous festivals across the nation. We haven’t cross path with each other for quite some times especially since they launched the latest album ‘Disini Ada Cinta’, so for us this was the chance to check what they currently have in store. The core members were all here. The jazz songstress Syaharani, guitar master Donny Suhendra and the creative head and multi-instrumentalist Didit Saad, along with the team mates including. They played Answering some requests from twitter, the songs including “Arisan Hujan” and “Merah Kuning Jingga”, both taken from the third and latest album, “Selalu Ada Cinta”. Not only jazz, she brought blues too as the roots of all modern musics. As a band that stands above genre with personnel that share the same point of view ‘music to share’, once again ESQI:EF brought pleasure and joy to the audience, interactively. No boundaries, no gap, all connected. Other than the ability to make many different arrangements on the songs, the happy way of performing always makes their show loveable.

If we have Tulus in male side, Yura definitely rules the female corner. Her unique gesture while singing is really something. This talented young woman made a sundanese song called “Kataji” and you could taste a spoon of jazz right there. “Berawal dari Tatap”, “Cinta dan Rahasia”, and a covered song from Ellie Goulding’s“Love Me like You Do” were a complete eargasm for us.

It felt like going back to the 60’s, smelling the music scene in England. Yes, the Genuine Pluck loves to play The Beatles; simply called G-Pluck Beatles brought that kind of atmosphere to the youngsters. Awan Garnida (vocals/bass) role as James Paul McCartney, Adnan Sigit (vocals/rhythm) role as John Lennon, Wawan HID on (lead guitar/vocal) role as George Harrison and Beni Pratama (vocals/drums & percussion) role as Ringo Starr not only played the way the original did, but they also dressed themselves alike (hair style, clothing, shoes etc). Mimic, dialects and the gestures really resemblence the Beatles too. For almost an hour they made the audience went crazy rockin’ and rollin’ along the performance with Beatles’ and John Lennon evergreens including “Imagine”, “Hey Jude”, “Ticket to Ride”, “Here Comes the Sun”, and “I Saw Her Standing There”. The Beatles’ music is ageless and amazingly still relevant today. Thanks to G-Pluck Beatles, the youngsters who haven’t born during The Beatles’ golden era could taste how it was.

Kahitna, a lot of woman, couples, and romantic songs, is a whole package every time they go for a gig. So did Kampoeng Jazz. A song list contained of “Biar Cinta”, “Andai Ia Tahu”, “Tentang Diriku”, Chrisye’s “Untukku” and Raisa’s “Mantan Terindah” which also are composed by Yovie Widianto really blew the night.

On the other stage, Endah N Rhesa came up with their hits for instance, “Wish You Were Here”, “Someday”, “No Tears from My Eyes”, and “When You Love Someone”. This couple never lost their love power and that what makes them special. Crowd straightly could feel the love they spread via their lyrics and tunes.

Assembled from artists with various kinds of music background including Dewa Budjana from jazz area, pop-rock band Gigi has been ruling the music scene for more than 10 years. The founding members Armand Maulana and Dewa Budjana then Gusti Hendy and Thomas Ramdhan are the pillars who make this band stand tall today. It’s quite a surprise to see Gigi in a jazz event, especially when they go serious by establishing special project called Gigi Jazz Project. Although this wasn’t the first time they went jazzy (they did it at the Java Jazz Festival 2011), it’s still different, knowing that this time they didn’t go with Ron King Big Band like at the Java Jazz back then. Other than the jazz icon Dewa Budjana who’s currently doing very well in the international scene with MoonJune Records, Gusti Hendy is also the drummer of the dare-devil avant band LIGRO. So the band actually has jazz blood too inside the vein. The songs that we really love so much, such as, “Terbang”, “Nirwana”, “Pintu Sorga” were served with more jazzy arrangement. No one denies the greatness of Gigi in the pop/rock scene. But now all should know that with the kind of talents found inside the band, they can deliver madness in just about any genre. As for jazz, having Gigi’s signature certainly offers more varieties and possibilities.

Jizue is the winner. This solid, neat unit of four has unique sound which is high energy, trance-techno jazz with distortive post rock twist found inside. It is composed of Noriyuki Inoue on guitar, Go Yamada on bass, Shin Kokawa on drums, and Kie Katagi on piano. Mogwai, Envy, Strike Anywhere, Brian Blade, Squarepusher, Aphex Twin, The Mars Volta, Incubus, Robert Glasper, Radiohead, and Shingo02 are some examples of other musicians who influence their work. No doubt their plays are so rich, their performances are so full of energy and really proven they always have great times on stage. The personnel themselves are lively and spirited, they are expressive and explosive. Even when they played standards like “When You Wish upon a Star”, they fit it within their style. Not to mention how they really grabbed our attention when playing “Halo-halo Bandung”. Incredibly neat, one high octane action packed show that made us fresh again during the late hours. Arigatou Jizue, love you! What a dynamic group.

Bondax is an electronic music duo consisting of young talented English musicians, Adam Kaye and George Townsend. Since 2011 until now, the pair continually expands their work in music and many stages already tasted. Now, Indonesia, especially Bandung, was the luckiest one to feel their trance house music alive. Just Us Recordings, their own record label is another thing they do release all the creativity in their minds and shape it to tunes. “You’re So”, “Baby I Got That”, “Gold”, “Giving It All”, “Wet Summer”, “Fires”, and “All I See” were the list made people going crazy moved their hips and shook their head as this duo tremendously closed the event.

So pleased to have this kind of big jazz event once again in Bandung and to see many musicians always want to come back having gigs in Bandung. With this range of success, absolutely the expectation will grow bigger for the next Kampoeng Jazz and hopefully the committee can maintain their hard work to serve this annual event. As a media, we hope to see better treatment for photographers who are doing their work. The committee must realize that medias should be considered as partners who give benefit in sending out the news about this event to public, so making them difficult definitely doesn’t give benefit to both sides. Since the regulation is getting worse , we do hope to see a better system next year.

As for the visitors, all jazz lover out there, keep up your supports toward local gigs, especially jazz, so together we can gradually improve the quality of Indonesian music and its festival. Indeed, it was a lovely night in Paris Van Java city and we’ll see you around upcoming jazz events. Cheers!

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Reporter: Melissa Anastasya, Riandy Kurniawan
Photographer: Titus Firmanto, Septian ‘Lardlles’

After one full month, Braga Jazz Walk was back again. Reaching the number 13, this edition featured variety of styles brought by wide range of talents, from high school to university students, from the new rising star to the name who has achieved respect inside the independent circuit. Two bands, one vocal group and one solo, that was the list in terms of format. Speaking of crowds, we are happy too that we got many visitors, from the jazz lovers, active musicians (some of them enjoyed the jam session), and we even got jamming participants from the audience.

This edition started with a vocal group consists of high school students: Ervita Fauziah, Luis Anastasia S, Astiani Dewi A, and Cynthia Prilly P. and the only boy helping them on music, Marvel Timothy. This group appears as Puelle ft Marvel served pop jazzy vibes with soothing vocal harmony. They are still high school, but this group actually has begun 4 years ago and already bagged many prestigious achievements.

Since the first song, “A Whole New World” from Aladdin OST, these young girls have shown their maturity of singing. They have good control and lovely harmony over any song they choose. And the selection of songs are interesting too, ranging from Kahitna, “Cerita Cinta” and “Cinta Sendiri”  to U2’s “With or Without You”. They did it really good, so good that we felt these were too easy for them. Marvel on piano did very well too in providing sweet melodies to the girls. Nice opening.

There are not so many vocal group today in our music scene, especially in the jazz corner, so Puelle is actually important to stand as the ambassador of jazz vocal group, especially since they are good. The audience seem to love them too, as they attracted many passers-by to watch the whole performance. It won’t be easy since they still have to pursue their formal education, but if they keep going, we believe they have the chance to fly high. You go girls!

From high school to college students. The second round was taken by Frank & Co. The name would remind you of a big jewelery company, but they are not associated in any way. Having said that, their music is as precious as a jewel. Guitarist Frank Navayo led his team consists of Josua Stephen (keyboard), Yeremia Liong (drums), Christopher Andika (flute) and Ken (bass) to drive us into the contemporary, smooth jazz horizon. For half an hour straight we enjoyed good stuff from them under high skill of playing.

The sound of flute made their music richer, and Frank in front did really well in leading the show. The rest of them gave stand out contribution too from start to finish. This was like more enhanced Frank & Co. They have risen the bar much higher by playing more complex compositions comparing to the last time they played for us at Terraz Jazz. Al Jarreau’s “Mornin'” got a modern jazz treatment. Then Frank presented his own composition inspired by the early swing years which has some Dixie inside titled “Humble Girl”. From there, even more difficult one came out, still original song titled “Try to Find Someone”. And they went funky on the last song, Jaco Pastorius’ “Chicken”.

We don’t find many pure jazz band in Bandung anymore, so we cherish the moment when we meet one from the new generation. Frank is undoubtedly a fine young guitarist that loves to explore. He told us that he’s into Kurt Rosenwinkel at the moment, and we can see how he’s upgraded himself much higher than before. Having skillful companions make this band sharp in presenting the concept. They play tight and neat too. In the midst of pop jazzy bands, a pure jazz band like Frank & Co should carry the mission to preserve jazz in its true form, along with the tradition and so on. Frank & Co speaks jazz fluently, we like it.

Next is the next big thing. A smiley, cheerful and humble young man who soon will dominate the industry. A man who has bagged more than 200 achievements and graced so many prestigious stages in and out the nation before he even reached 30. He is none other than Pangeran Muda. Recently Panda, his nickname, is working hard in establishing his position stronger than ever by preparing his debut solo album. Last month just a week after the Java Jazz Festival 2015 he released his single carrier titled “Terpaku” as well as launching the Crowdfunding GO PANDA! campaign. If you don’t know what it is, it is a creative move made by him that openly involves the fans and wider society to support local musicians (http://jazzuality.com/jazz-news/pangeran-muda-panda-single-launching-and-crowdfunding-go-panda-campaign/). If this works, this can be a groundbreaking alternative for newcomers who want to make their own album. Believe it or not, Panda wishes for that. “I wish to present a more real forms of art that can be enjoyed at any time. And my dreams won’t stop there. I also wish to motivate young generation in Indonesia to be fruitful. Despite anything they lack of, they should know that they still have the chance to make something according to their calling and gain success.” he said.

We have had him performing in Braga Jazz Walk #5, and since he has made new moves, it’s about time to have him back again. If last time he brought all-star cast to back up his performance at Braga Jazz Walk, this time Panda gave more intimate session, featuring Andi Rustandi, the pianist of a famous band T-Five and his producer, Yabes. Yabes is the bassist of Bams (ex Samsons), but for tonight he played guitar in one song.

Pangeran and Andi greeted everyone with a famous song “Love Me Harder”. He directly demonstrated how high he could climb the scale without problem. He took time to give his single CDs to three lucky people right after he sang “Dibawah Sinar Bulan Purnama”. Then the single carrier “Terpaku” that has all the ingredients to be a big hit, and Yabes joined in to serve one last party with Jessie J, Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj’s song, “Bang Bang” in funky blues style.

Since he’s inspired by wide range of artists; from Soimah (Soimah Pancawati, a presenter, singer, sinden, comedian) to Amy Winehouse, he likes to call his music as ‘complicated pop’. But his songs are not difficult to digest at all. He writes lyrics that speak about what we experience in daily basis and use it to send positive messages. The melodies are made ear-catchy but rich. He’s appeared in television musical series, he’s won some competitions, he’s been everywhere. But now is the time to establish himself as a major force in the music world. By looking at what he has, we have no doubt that he has all the chance to succeed. He has good vibes, the medias seem to love him and of course his works, and the wind is currently perfect for him to sail. It’s certainly fascinating to see a star in the making like this. And we are happy that he has left his marks in Braga Jazz Walk. Pangeran Muda a.k.a Panda can be a good source of inspiration for those who are still working to establish their spot in music.

A manouver happened when the third session began. Galant Yurdian, better known as just Galant took over the stage and performed all by himself. Allow us to tell you more about this cool dude. First of all, this man is no stranger in Bandung, especially in the indie communities, from jazz, folk and blues. He’s originally a bassist, but he plays guitar amazingly well. Plus, he sings just as good.

Speaking of bands, this man has quite colorful sound. He goes deep into blues with 70s Orgasm Club, he embraces folks with Deugalih & Folks that just released an album “Anak Sungai”: https://itunes.apple.com/id/album/anak-sungai/id965589936), and in duo Gallia he shows his jazzy side. Other than that album, he has released his debut “About A” in 2010 and also “Live at Eksperimentasi Akustika 3″. Tell you folks, Galant can play any genre, from jazz, blues, RnB, alternative, rock and so on just as good. You can access his albums and find out more about him by log on to http://inmyroom.us/galant2/ and http://inmyroom.us/galant/.

If in last edition we had him playing as Gallia (http://jazzuality.com/jazz-event-report/braga-jazz-walk-12-the-report/), this time he appeared all by himself, singing some of his songs from his two albums. Some has jazzy vibes, the other got blues, folk even grunge/alternative fashion. A strong start with “(Don’t Let Me Say) Goodbye”, he carried on with his version of “Di Bawah Sinar Bulan Purnama” and his own composition picturing a beautiful site from his homeland, “Tanjung Sopan”. The last song is his new, unrelease song titled “Sing It”.

If you notice, we have featured so many solo performers in our own created events. We believe it will enrich the music scene, especially since not many event would love to have solo players. We are, however, happy to have at least one in every edition if possible, especially when realizing how many talents Bandung has that can carry on the concept of appearing just alone. Proud to have Galant and his artistry, and hope to see him back again in other editions.

At the jam session we got so many young singers. Andi T-Five was kind enough to provide music from piano. First his own student named Diva sang two song, “” and “”, then a young man who apparently enjoyed the show while having dinner with his friends. He sang John Legend’s “All of Me” with good soulful style. Then the attending musicians had their own party, mostly from Owcindful plus Ayu Sara and Ocha in front. They sang Raisa’s “Could This Be Love”. And with this song, the 13th edition was wrapped.

The Braga Jazz Walk #13 was fun. Each session offered different side of jazz, different format and wide age range. Tonight the audience got solo acoustic, vocal group, one instrumental jazz band and one pop jazz artist with full band. The jam session was lively too, thanks to participating musicians.

Watch the highlight of Braga Jazz Walk 13 on our YouTube channel

Next month we will be back with a fresh new batch. There will be male solo artist that will definitely hook you up and a female jazz singer who loves to sing standards. We will let you know more later, in the mean time, keep supporting your local jazz community, because it won’t be able to exist without you guys. See you next month!

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Reporter: Riandy Kurniawan
Photographer: Titus Firmanto
Video Editor: Vierna Mariska

Semarang is a beautiful city that’s famous for many things. Other than many historical sites and cultural gems, this city is also famous for its culinary world. Loenpia, pastries of Chinese origin which is similiar to spring rolls was brought by Chinese imigrants and settled nicely in Semarang more than hundred years ago. Today, Loenpia stands as one of the top ambassadors of Semarang. How cool it is to find out that Loenpia as an icon of Semarang now has a new, important role, moving from culinary to music, especially jazz. Jazz? Yes. The jazz community in Semarang, Jazz Ngisoringin took this pastry to make Semarang as a great jazz city. Ever since 2012 Semarang has its own jazz festival. It grows every year. It’s called Loenpia Jazz. And this year this festival reached a certain height that should make every jazz lovers of the city proud. Five stages stood tall from noon to night time holding hundreds of musicians who served one wonderful party in the name of jazz. Speaking of variety, Loenpia Jazz 2015 gave extra miles. They served all kind of jazz, plus, and including, some ethnic twists from local cultures. This is what we love when we cover an event in a different cities: we can enjoy and learn from local wisdom especially the art and cultural aspects. Loenpia Jazz gave exactly that.

Held at Puri Maerakaca which pictures the miniature of Central Java province (it’s like the Central Java version of Taman Mini Indonesia), the tagline for this year is “Aku Ngejazz Mergo Kowe” which is taken from the ancient wayang story of Maerakaca garden. Translated as “I’m Jazzing Because of You”, the tagline describes that Loenpia Jazz is brought sincerely by Jazz Ngisoringin community to the people of Semarang and beyond.

Due to the condition that we are based quite far from this event, we could only send two photographers. It was difficult for two shooters to cover the whole shows according to the rundown, but we tried our best in covering the event, capturing as much as we can. We were picked late, sadly we had to miss many bands who performed early. Later on when the crowds grew bigger, it was impossible to swing from one stage to another, making us unable to record the moment at some shows.

Loenpia Jazz 2015 started at noon with the official opening ceremony featuring Sayong dance from from house of art and cultural heritage Sobokartti. Not long after that, the other stage began its service. Baitbaru from Tanjungpinang on Stage Ganjel Rel and Semarang Blues Community which was reincarnated in 2010 showed love to the city’s jazz event at the other corner. Other than having regular event, it also has many active members. As blues is the roots of all modern music, it’s nice to see this event actually served blues in the first hours. What’s unique is to find three more communities served their dishes chilled, Komunitas Ska, Komunitas Drummer Semarang (KDS) and Gubug Poci Tegal. Speaking of Ska, it’s a fact that ska actually breathes healthily in Semarang. Earlier in 2015 the city even held its Semarang Ska Festival following the first one 3 years ago by Semarang Ska Foundation. Ska and jazz can go along nicely, the evidence was as clear as a sunny day. Then we found out that Tulungagung, a regency in East Java do jazz too.

Fellow musicians from well established jazz community in Malang city, Rompok Bolong was the third act on Stage Ganjel Rel. Since 2012 they have made jazz accessible in Malang. This community does have good players too, as shown in their session. While the Classic Guitar community of Semarang took place at Nivea stage, considerably new jazz movement, Etawa Jazz made everyone comfortable with their presentation. In case if you wonder what an etawa goat has to do with a jazz community, actually the movement was born through regular jam session every Wednesday night at Kedai Susu Kambing (goat milk store) located at the North Ring Road street, Yogyakarta. If blues and ska had contributed in the first hours, now it’s time for rock to send some love, courtesy of SCOR: Semarang Community of Rock.

A strong and solid jazz community from Yogyakarta, Jazz Mben Senen entertained the audience on Mie Kopyok stage at Banyumas pavilion. Jazz Mben Senen is made as an open space for everyone; from jazz lovers, musicians to supporters/fans; to interact. Jam session is on every Monday night at Bentara Budaya Yogyakarta and filled not only by local players but also national stars even internationals. Another important achievement to mention is that they have released many compilation albums.

Some local bands really did well in this festival. Jazz fusion sounded nice from Delight, a band formerly built as an acoustic project but then settled with Fauz (bass), Putra (sax), Alex (guitar), Yoga (drum) and Dimas (keyboard). The players are still young, but they have been inside the business for quite a while now. They also helped in shaping up Loenpia Jazz from the beginning, as told by the festival’s official twitter a couple of days before the event.

The good ol’ jazz community KJK (Komunitas Jazz Kemayoran) took over the stage from SCOR. Led by the founder himself, the one and only Beben Jazz, this community offers jazz edutainment wherever they land. And they have done it for hundreds of times since they were established 11 years ago. As usual, Beben wasn’t only performing with his guitar, he also shared some interesting facts and knowledge about jazz. With them jazz appeared fun and friendly as if it was easy to play. Another good round from the community after the last time we watched them at Kampoeng Jazz in Bandung (http://jazzuality.com/jazz-event-report/the-7th-international-kampoeng-jazz-dont-stop-till-you-jazz-enough-report/). The talent manager of Loenpia Jazz 2015, Baruch Jethroobe gave a special treat with his seductive sax attax. Man, what a talent.

Acoustic modern pop jazz brought nicely by Coffee Freeze. This band is definitely not new since they was born 5 years ago and has 3 members including Zenna Sabrinna (vocal), Sebastianus Yoga (guitar/backing vocal) and Yusuf Rizal (bass/backing vocal). On the other side of the venue, Endah N Rhesa put happy smile on the face of their audience by presenting intimate, connected performance. The way they told the story, the way they execute each song, the sweet loving chemistry between this real life couple, all felt perfect especially under the sun heat in the afternoon.

On the other side ran another great jazz community from Solo city, the Solo Jazz Society (SoJazz Society). This community was established in February 2007 with a wish to develop the potency of jazz, both musicians and the music itself in Solo city. Various activities have been made for that such as learning and sharing both in theory and practice, jam sessions and creating events such as the monthly Parkiran Jazz (Carpark Jazz) and the annual Jazzin Lebaran that celebrates Eid Al-Fitr with jazz. We have covered the SoJazz Society bands several times and always love the happy vibes from their show.

More interesting local heroes in action. Baroqah continued their good appearance last year with another catchy set of pop jazz delight. Meanwhile, Absurdnation gave something different by serving smooth, sweet jazz but groovy and danceable. Nanda Goeltom (vocal), Yusuf Saputra (piano/synth), Fauz Hibatul Haqqi (bass) and Fanny Wardoyo (drums/percussion) gave a tight performance and creative concept, two of the things that have brought them performing all over the nation and even able to make their name heard in Italy.

It’s not usual to find a math term like Algebra in jazz, but actually Semarang has a group with that name. This group is unique since they have their own ingredients in fusing jazz with hiphop. MG (vocal and guitar), Fajar (MC/rapper), Mirza (bass) and Koko (keys, loop, synth) knows exactly what they are doing. Why not? They have been doing it for at least 5 years and they all have gained experienced from their previous bands. It’s just cool to find out a jazz hiphop band in Semarang.

So many communities found in Java island, and they are all healthy. Even Jombang, a regency found in East Java located on the southwest of Surabaya has a jazz community. It’s simply called Jombang Jazz Community. From what we saw, they can really do this. “Stolen Moment” was one of their selections. Komunitas Alat Tiup Semarang demonstrated their skills in playing wind instruments. Representing Sumatra was Threesong, a spectacular family band with the ability of playing like a pro. Abraham Song (guitar), Samuel Song (bass), Josafat Song (drum) ,Dodo mikha (piano). Not only in local circuit, they have gained recognition too abroad. Two months ago they impressed Leonardo Pavkovic, the man behind MoonJune Records on his visit to Indonesia. With Threesong’s existance, it’s positive that jazz is alive and kicking in Lampung, the province located on the southern tip of Sumatra island.

We still remember a jazz lady made a big wave twelve years ago with a nice, easy listening, smooth jazz standard album which soon followed by more until the next three years. This young lady is great both in singing and playing piano. Speaking of piano, she was once a student of the late maestro Bubi Chen. She was everywhere for some years, but then we lost track of her. She is Peppi Kamadhatu.

Where has she been? We don’t know, we failed to meet her after her show. But for certain, we are happy to see her again. Collaborating with a band from Jazz Ngisoringin community named Rencang, Peppi is as good as ever. She still has that strong character in her voice that perfectly suits the famous standards like “God Bless the Child” and “A Girl From Ipanema”. We hope to see her active again, gracing one festival to another, because ageless songs coming out from a beautiful voice, who could resist it?

Coming from Jakarta, Blotymama took the audience into an intoxicating funky vibes right from the start. Teddy Aditya (vocal), Ade Avery (guitar), Rendi Raditya (bass) and Rio Agung (drums) are the people behind this band that combines jazz, funk with rock and RnB touch. It was a party. On the other spot we found a swingin’ fusion group from Jazz Ngisoringin named 5th Floor ft Madra taking the road of fusion, as what’s written on their t-shirt, “In Fusion We Trust.” John Coltrane’s “Giant Step” was done nicely by them.

Things got hotter after the praying break. The Gambang Semarang Art Company (GSAC) gave a strong traditional color in this fest. It’s a good move, because the traditional gambang Semarang can be promoted internationally through a big event like this. Next, a legendary band from the 80s originally from Semarang, DAC Band. DAC stands for Dynamic Action of Chord. This is like a statement, showing how they want to bring their music as. Formed long time ago in 1987, they managed to bag some noticable achievements and released an album in 1989 by having some other players in the formation. They also participated in Band Explosion 1987 and 1988. After being hiatus for long time, suddenly they back again in 2010 on Fusion Nite 80’s at Jajan Jazz Teras Kota BSD City. The formation consists of the golden players from several formations such as Momo (guitar), Dudut (bass), Aditya (drums), Iga and Atok (keyboards) and an additional vocalist Shanty. Just like we expected, we got 80’s fusion style from their stage while showing some fresh, more modern style too along the way.

Move to another stage, we got probably the furthest participant from Borneo, YK Samarinda. This quartet has played in many big festivals including Jazz Goes to Campus, Jazz Gunung, Ngayogjazz, and outside reaching Sarawak for Borneo Jazz Festival. This band clearly plays jazz, but they proudly include traditional musics too especially from the place they come from. Swara Nusantara combined gamelan, kendang and bonang with modern, western instruments, resulting rich, cross cultural sound. Theater Kaplink ran on Nivea Stage.

The collaboration between Indonesian Idol 2014 finalist Ubay Idol and a sweet pop, acoustic light jazz band from Semarang named Coffee Break ran on different stage. An exist band from Semarang, 26 Akustik played not long after that. Then an important ceremony took place at the Tahu Gimbal Stage. The Jazz Ngisoringin officially launched its compilation album for this 2015 edition. 26 Akustik played not long after that and Wayang Tenda Nandang Wuyung gave a folkish acoustic presentation at the Nivea stage.

Many people doubt that a minimalist group would work in a festival. For those who have this in mind, they have to change the perception because there are duos who could bang louder than a full set band. Bubugiri can be one of the best representative in this matter. Coming from Bandung, this dynamic duo offers a musical alternative to music fans in Jakarta and beyond. Bubu, a soulful lady with bluesy, jazzy vocal vibe together with Giri, a fantastic all-round guitarist with strong groove has been stealing the heart of their audience wherever they land. For Semarang audience they sang both original songs and covers. Some original songs including “Copycat”, the feel good tune “Get the Music Started”, “What About Us” and a Sundanese influenced “Kagagas”. They also sang some of Michael Jackson songs in medley. They are perfect in a small space, they surprisingly suit the large stage. They are spontaneous, both musically and in performance. The joke, the interaction, all feels natural. Great show.

Tohpati Bertiga dropped their mega rockin’ bomb. This is a trio consists of long-time partners/buddies Tohpati (guitar) and Indro Hardjodikoro (bass) and Gugun Blues Shelter’s drummer, Aditya Wibowo better known as Bowie (drums). Playing songs like “Rocket”, “My Dream” and a very loud version of “Smooth Criminal” as a part of Michael Jackson medley, the freedom of playing from this three guys is captivating. Cool heavy rockin’ time surely boosted the energy of everyone in this event. Brutal play by Bowie, he even jumped over the drums. Absolutely crazy. The Indonesia Bass Family showed what can be done by having bass straight in front.

Then on Stage Wingko came a captivating band. Bonita & the Hus Band. Intense, fun, joy, that’s how the band describes their concept. For this event the band appeared full team including Bonita’s husband Adoy (guitar), Barata (percussion) and Jimmy (saxophone).  Starting with “Bangun”, they carried on with “Do What You Gotta Do” and “Ain’t Gonna Fall”. The combination of soul power house and all out performance of Bonita and the tight rhythm from Adoy actually worked perfectly. They created a stunning formula with acoustic approach. As the daughter of legendary Koes Hendratmo and sister of Anda Perdana, Bonita possesses all aspects needed to be a star. She is charismatic and multi talent. Intense, fun, joy, yes! Bonita rocks.

Barry Likumahuwa participated not with his BLP but this time with his new project called Barry Likumahuwa Experiments. In this project Barry brought 4 friends. Jordy Waelauruw on trumpet gave an infectious funky lines along with Barry. Funky, cheerful and skillful, Barry Likumahuwa and his gang gave cool entertainment to everyone.

Yura and Syaharani and the QueenFireWorks sealed this year’s edition. Syaharani and the QueenFireworks (ESQI:EF) also made a warm closing show. Eventhough Syaharani has the kind of smoky voice that’s just like wine, getting better with age, she is more than just a singer. She is also a true entertainer and has more than enough experience in doing so. Together with her partner in crime, senior guitarist Donny Suhendra and multi instrumentalist/creative brain Didit Saat she formed ESQI:EF, presenting wide variety of music. For tonight the team consisted of Syaharani (vocal), Donny Suhendra (guitar), Eddy Syakroni (drums), Bekti (bass) and Andy Gomez (keyboard). Syaharani made everyone feel relax by sitting on the edge of the stage while singing her first song. The song choice ranging from standards (Syaharani’s version of “Misty” deserved 5 stars by the way, the cover of “Route 66″ was fun), their own songs including “Anytime”, “Arisan Hujan” and “Morning Coffee” and a Javanese song titled “Jangkrik Genggong”.

Yura. Who doesn’t know her today? She rises fast like a comet and now stands as one of the most wanted names for music festivals. We saw her show involving a clown on stage at the Java Jazz Festival, we saw her overcrowded show at Kampoeng Jazz 2015. She got even more people on her stage in Loenpia Jazz. Performing with a pack of talented young musicians from Bandung including Khrisna Alda (bass) and Iwan Popo (keys),  Billy Ramdani (saxophone), Rully Parulian (drums) and Rizky Eka Putra (guitar),Yura sang many of her popular own songs like “Balada Sirkus”, “Kataji”, “Jester Suit”, “Berawal dari Tatap”, “Super Lunar”, “Cinta dan Rahasia” and covering famous songs like “Hip Hip Hura” and “Bang Bang”. Yura and the band made the Loenpia Jazz became much sweeter, and that should made the audience went back home with smile. So, ESQI:EF on one corner, Yura on another, Loenpia Jazz 2015 reached the end with great climax.

Held earthy just like a people party under a lovely, cozy surroundings and friendly sunshine, Loenpia Jazz successfully created a miniature of wonderful world where ats from different corners of the world could live side by side in lovely harmony. The headline is jazz, it’s true, but Jazz Ngisoringin and everyone behind this event made a brilliant effort by presenting fine composition of talents that involved national artists, jazz communities from several regions and good local talents in good balance. And in terms of music variety, we got many sides of jazz, also the mixture with other Western genre and traditional elements. This is what we always love when covering an event in another region, we can learn about so many things and see how beautiful and rich our culture really is. An event like this is beneficial in many aspects. It can promote the region, it can promote the local arts, and it will definitely show the openness of jazz towards different musical patterns and styles. Kudos to you guys, and congratulation Semarang for having a very good annual jazz festival. We look forward to see  you again next year. Keep jazzin’ folks!

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Reporter & Photographer: Mia Damayanti Sjahir , Septian

Another interesting edition was scored. Rising stars, the professionals, experienced musicians and potential young talents burned the stage, altogether making Braga Jazz Walk #14 stands as a fun, enjoyable and entertaining show with good quality. The showcases were tight, the jam session was hot. While guitar played a vital role in this installment, the other instruments ranging from bass, drums, piano to trumpet added richer textures for 3 hours straight.

We dedicate this edition to a friend, an awesome artist that had been playing in this event many times who passed away at such young age (21 years old). His name is Guntur Satria. Also, there’s a movement to respect Guntur made by fellow musicians called #100PanggungBuatGuntur (100 Stages for Guntur), we submitted this one to the initiators so this would count. Following the announcement we made earlier in our social medias, there were fellow musicians came, plus the lineup are also his friends. We dedicate this edition to him.

From the lineup, first in action was a collaboration between a man with excellent singing skill and an all round guitarist: Fearman and TNT. Fearman is known as the vocalist of successful acoustic band Poinkustik that currently also works hard in establishing his solo career. Fearman is a complete vocalist who could sing just about anything, from a high pitch rocker voice to jazz crooning, from Western style to all kind of traditional singing styles. As for Tinto Arief Anugrah – the real name of TNT, this rockin’ and rollin’ guitarist is a total package. He can go groovy, bluesy and jazzy just as good as his rockin’ mode. The last time we invited them was on the 8th edition (http://jazzuality.com/jazz-event-report/braga-jazz-walk-08-the-report/). It’s time to bring them back again and check what they have in store at present time.

We thought they were going to perform as a duo, but actually they featured a skillful bassist we knew from EIP, Muhammad Ilham. From two to three, they kicked off with Titiek Puspa’s “Bimbi.” Then Fearman dedicated one song for Guntur, a classic from Queen, “Love of My Life”.

Then they gave a surprise by taking the hard rock way, delivering Extreme’s “Cupid’s Dead” by using a pre-recorded drums. It’s not everyday to have a full rockin’ performance on our stage, so we think it’s cool. TNT was on fire, roaring wild freely throughout this song. Oh yeah, he played both acoustic and electric guitar which added more attractions to this gig.

Fearman and TNT are friends. Perhaps that makes them easier to build such strong chemistry. Ilham blended with them nicely too. These lads are skillful. Edgy, bold and daring approach, unique song selection, what a start.

The second round was taken by a real-life couple: wife Misty (real name: Tuti Iskandar) and husband YD Nafis. YD Nafis is a respected pianist who plays in several bands, including the mindbending West Java Syndicate and Prog Jazz with Balinese twist, Tesla Manaf ft Mahagotra Ganesha. Perhaps not many people know that his wife actually has a lovely singing voice which is perfect to sing jazz standards and Latins. We knew it and arranged the schedule, which actually already planned since almost a year ago. Now finally we could invite them to express love on stage, and they really did that.

This time piano became the backbone of the whole thing. Nafis guarded it perfectly so Misty could fly freely following her soul throughout the performance. Misty began by singing “Bluesette” and then went bossa with “No More Blues”, originally titled “Chega de Saudade”, a monumental song since it is onsidered to be the first recorded bossa song. The sweet, intimate moment continued on with Lalah Hathaway and Snarky Puppy’s “Something” and “Meant to Be”, originally by Melissa Polinar. As the last song, she chose a famous jazz blues ballad from the 50’s which was popularized by artists like Julie London or Ella Fitzgerald, “Cry Me A River.” Nafis provided essential melodies for his beloved wife, supporting her fully without any intention to share the spotlight.

Misty works as a teacher. But singing is also her favorite thing, which we think should be continued due to sweet, satin smooth vocal that she’s gifted with. What we love is her simplicity.  No show off, no overdo, just sing the song as it is. That way we could listen to the sweetness of each songs, which works perfectly in presenting this kind of songs. Another inspiring thing from this session is how a real musical couple could support each other and how they could transfer love that they share to the audience. Following the jam session that she was in before, we are happy that finally we could bring her in one full slot.

The third session belong to a handsome young man that would remind you of John Mayer. He is great in playing guitar, he sings just as good too, including his efortless falsetto. This expressive and talented young man’s name is Rizky Ahmad Mudzakir, better known as Izky Mudza. Since he loves blues and blues is the roots of all modern music, it’s not difficult for him to go embracing different genres from rock, alternative to jazz. We knew him when he came and sang two songs in Braga Jazz Walk #8 and love him ever since.

For Braga Jazz Walk #14, Izky performed with some friends: Praditio (acoustic guitar), Agustinus (of Salamander Big Band; drums) and Roni Okta (bass). Cool stuffs were all over right from the start by taking an Eric Clapton’s signature, “Change the World”. He then sang his single “Ini Cinta”, a song that we believe has the potential to be a hit. It’s groovy, catchy melody and has the kind of lyrics which tells stories not far from what we experience and feel daily. John Mayer’s famous song “Gravity” sounded perfect from him and the boys. He once again demonstrated how good he is in blues rock. His original song “Buatku Gila” became the very last meal, where once again the catchy melody, lyrics and groovy blues rock shone from this team.

Izky currently is busy with preparing his debut album. His first single “Ini Cinta” is going to come out soon. A talent like Izky won’t have any problem to shine. He’s gifted with more than enough talent and his music is relevant with today’s trend. He can appear alone and with band just as good, he’s charming on stage. And here’s anothe key point, this man has a strong character. It’s always cool to meet a talent like him, let’s wish him the best in pursuing his solo career.

Fabian was the final act for this edition. He is a rising star and the next big thing, currently just made his debut in the recording field by releasing his selftitled album a month ago under Demajors. The album which is available in our online store is produced by the man behind Tulus, Yura and many other successful artists/bands, Ari ‘Aru’ Renaldi. Ari is also in charge of the arrangement for the album.

We are proud to have him making some waves at Braga Jazz Walk. Having full support by an all-star cast including Krisna Alda Radiansyah (bass), Iwan Popo (keyboard), Billy Ramdhani (saxophone), Rully Parulian (drums) and Salamander’s trumpeter, Brury Effendi enabled him to run freely in exploring the musical terrain. Clearly this young man has jazz inside his concept, but jazz isn’t the only genre because he also embraces others like blues, funk, pop and so on in his crafts. He’s eclectic, deriving ideas, style and taste from diverse range of sources and know how to make his own sound from it.

Fabian and the band played no less than 7 songs. The first four songs were taken from his album: the cheerful, groovy “Showtime”, eclectic “Sturara”, “Mengapa” and “Senyum Untukmu”. Then he dipped himself fully in heavy funk with Stevie Wonder’s “Superstitious.” He also used this song to introduce the band member along with action-packed solo runs. Fabian sealed his performance by singing his single, “Mimpi”, dedicated to Guntur. “He’s a friend of mine, I know that he liked to dream. But what’s cool is, his dreams inspire people,” said Fabian. This song has the power to be a hit. It’s light, melodious and groovy. Everyone won’t have any difficulties to love it.

If you listen to the album, you will get something fresh directly from the first track. Fabian is great in playing guitar, the instrument that has been with him since he was still a kid. He has a great vocal too. He has released a single titled “Mimpi” (Dream) that currently climbs the charts in many top radio stations (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRUyJWDCWOA). As for the performance, he looks cool and confident in owning the stage. He is smiley and has good, friendly vibes in and out the stage.  And, he has great team too. This young man is the next big thing, no doubt.

Before the jam session began, Andre Arizky stepped up and sang “”Here Without You” in medley with :Lemar’s “What About Love” He tried hard to hold his tears while singing this song for Guntur. By the passing of Guntur, we lost one very special talent with big heart. It’s a big loss for us, it’s a big loss to for our music industry. He was on his way to reach his dreams, but actually God has a different plan for him. Rest in peace Guntur, you will never be forgotten. Andre Arizky, thank you for a very touching rendition.

.Jam session took place right after. Fearman and TNT were back, but both were with guitar now. Our photographer Titus Firmanto on drums, Omega on piano and a friend of Fearman and his Poinkustik band, Dadan on vocal. This batch sang Bad English’s “When I See You Smile”.

Danto, a singing blues guitarist then joined the stage. Together this group played Jimi Hendrix’s “Little Wing” and gave it to Guntur. Erick and Andre Arizky joined as they went on with “Route 66″. Since it was already late, that became the last song for the 14th edition.

Bandung actually has so many talents that have big chance to success. We are proud to be able to show them in our event and coverage. In every edition we try our best to make a reliable spot to enjoy jazz, to perform, to jam and to learn. We make careful selection that can show the rich variety of jazz, the distribution of players/bands and so on. We believe this edition reflects our intention too.

The Braga Jazz Walk will be back next month with a special edition of Ramadhan. We will bring many more great talents within our reach. This wraps our coverage, thank you for your support, see you in the next edition!

Watch the video highlight of Braga Jazz Walk #14 on our Youtube channel:

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Reporter: Riandy Kurniawan
Photographer: Titus Firmanto, Mia Damayanti, Umanbott
Video Editor: Vierna Mariska

Paris van Java, the most happening shopping centre in Bandung went jazzy last Sunday, June 14, 2015. Right at the last weekend before the fasting month of Ramadhan, Javana Bistro and us, Jazzuality.com held the premiere of JAVANA JAZZ BISTRO, an event sponsored by MLD Spot that intends to announce and welcome jazz as an integrated part of this trendy Indo-Western eatery. To make it work, we invited wo groups with strong characters and awesome skills. Plus, we provide open mic and jam session. We thought, how cool it would be if musicians could jam in Paris van Java. Don’t you think so? Well, it’d definitely make a strong statement that both parties are serious of bringing jazz accessible here in the ground floor of Paris van Java.

The first one performing was an all ladies jazz band, Jazzy Juice. Dyah Sekar on piano, Adisty Zulkarnaen on drums and Arnie Christanty on bass, Only three in numbers, but these girls are more than able to bring a party in well-arranged flow. “Night in Tunisia” gave a strong introduction of this event.  They quickly switched to Jobim’s “One Note Samba”. Jokes, cheerful smile and showcase of skills were shown by these three ladies.

We already saw their potential since they were formed in 2012. Why not? Three cute, stylish and trendy girls with more than enough skill. Good chemistry and strong teamwork. They are fun to watch and nice to listen to. What else would one need? But interestingly, these girls aren’t easy to satisfy. They keep improving, expanding and growing. Now, three years later, they are better than ever. They already have original songs, single, and already found the exact character needed in live appearance. They have reached Malaysia and look forward to land on many other soils abroad.

They added more flames on the next songs. It was Adisty’s turn to sing, and surprisingly she took Van Halen’s “Jump”, twisted in vintage jazz style with a little folkish touch by Dyah. They even included some nursery rhymes inside. Then some of the guests demanded Arnie to sing. She chose today’s hit from Ed Sheeran, “Think Out Loud” . Due to our request, they played their original single that we think is their masterpiece so far. The song’s called “Pohaci” (Goddess of Beauty). This Sundanese-coated song is dynamic, not easy to play and somehow mystical and mysterious. “Aqua de Beber” brought everyone back to the joyful mood, and for the last song, they played the medley of their original song “Happy Selalu” and “Blue Rondo ala Turk”.

We mentioned them as the Jazzy Charlie’s Angels not for nothing. These girls are sweet and trendy, but when they are in action, they can flip you upside down. It was again a very fun session with them. Everybody happy, not only the audience and they should too.

After the ladies done their thing, the crazy gang of lads took over the center point of the Javana Bistro’s outdoor side. This second show belong to a man who stands above genre, from reggae, jazz, blues, pop, folk, indie and so on. He’s famous with his hit, a funny song “Sumitro Rojali” released in 2011 but is still played here and there until today. And now, he’s just released a new album titled “Uye is Back”. The single “Mana Kopinya” (“Where is the Coffee”) is doing very well in top radio stations and gains popularity more and more. He is Erwin Saz, a very cool entertainer, multi instrumentalist and natural artist.

What a joy to be able to have him along with heavy artillery, an all-star cast for this first installment. Along with him were great musicians who share the same perspective in playing music: the one and only Nissan Fortz, a guitar genius who’s known as one of the blues movement frontmen in Bandung, also half of the famous Sarah N Soul, one of The Trias and currently busy establishing his solo career. Then Dede, a rockin’ bassist most likely will be there too and Dani Irjayana, the drummer of Tesla Manaf ft Mahagotra Ganesha among others. With a players like this, only God knows what could happen. Yes, just like our prediction, Erwin Saz and the gang made their show like a joyride in a theme park. Many guest stars involved in his session which pretty much opened for everyone to join in. Spontaneous twists with lots of surprises, some cool manouvers in a split second, unpredictable, and great, great fun.

How generous for them to perform not only one but two hours straight! All the way until near midnight, Erwin Saz and friends delivered lively crossover, borderless music where sky is the limit. Imagine, the attendance which varied from jazz lovers, the guests of the bistro and mall-goers who then chose to join us could enjoy mixture of genres, from reggae, rock, blues, jazz, folk, pop and everything else in between. Even ethnics when these mad guys felt like it.

Erwin Saz led Nissan, Dede and Dani to sing Bob Marley’s “Waiting in Vain”.  Erwin sang and played trumpet in this one. Right from this first song, we could already feel their incredible spontaneity. He carried on with his own song, “Cuma  Teman Biasa”.

As the size of the crowds grew more, Erwin Saz then delivered his big hit, “Sumitro Rojali”. Joining them on stage was Fearman, the vocalist and founder of Poinkustik. This is cool, since Fearman used to sing this song in his gigs, even recorded it, posted it in Youtube and showed it to Erwin. Now they sang together which also started the jam session right at Erwin Saz’ session.

What’s cool is that Sarah Saputri was there too and ready to jam. Erwin called her and quickly we got Sarah N Soul in front. Two third of Jazzy Juice, Dyah Sekar and Arnie Christanti were back again in action. They chose Eddie Brickell’s classic, “Good Times”. If you think they just sang it plain, you’re absolutely wrong, because they actually used this song as an even bigger playground. Imagine, in the middle they made a Sundanese twist which lead to a traditional song, “Cingcangkeling”. Sarah showed she’s an excellent blues harp player also amazing singer too. It was a blast, the applause were above the roof.

Erwin kept the intensity by playing his new hit single, “Mana Kopinya” which began with dynamic guitar collaboration between Erwin and Nissan. “Love Me Do”, a song from Erwin’s “Uye is Back” album once again reflected this man’s free spirit in writing and composing. No specific genre, we even got the traditional keroncong style in the middle.

Singing multi instrumentalist Felix Andre replaced Dani on drums for Benyamin S’ “Nonton Bioskop”. Then they embraced Jimi Hendrix’ gem “Little Wing” in deep blues tone. An ageless Johnny Nash song which is popularized again by Jimmy Cliff one decade later titled “I Can See Clearly Now” was the next song. Felix now served as a singer along with Erwin.

A guitarst with character, Izky Mudza was in front with Nissan, Dede and Dani. John Mayer’s “Gravitiy” felt so much alive from him. For the last song, Sarah and Arnie were brought in again, and they sealed the whole show with The Beatles’ “Come Together.” Oh yeah, Arnie sang again in this song.

No plan, no rehearse, just flowing down the river of notes freely. Erwin Saz and friends were generous enough to add extra one hour for this event. Erwin Saz is indeed a true artist and entertainer.  Tonight he played trumpet, guitar, harp and sing. Nissan Fortz is a guitar wiz since he brings magic by using guitar as his magic wand. Dani and Dede were solid in providing the rhythm. The special appearance of Sarah Saputri added more vibrant colors into this edition. Huge applause and loud cheers from pretty number of audience were given to these music wizards many times. So many passers-by stopped to watch these mad boys. For us it’s a joyful scene. We are happy to be able to bring jazz to Paris van Java, and proud to have Javana Bistro as our partner in crime.

As a pilot project of the availability of jazz regularly at the Javana Bistro, we believe we nailed it. Two featured bands were fun-tastic, they all are master in doing their thing. Jam session was taken by many participants The flame was on and well kept up until the end. We are happy and satisfied with the result, we hope Javana Bistro and MLD Spot as the sponsor too. If this event continues to run, we are going to bring more amazing jazz bands in rich variety. But if it’s not, let’s say that we’ve tried to bring jazz into this happening mall, and it suits perfectly with the atmosphere and surroundings. Thanks to all the performers for painting a vibrant jazz colors tonight, thanks to the guests who came. Hope to see and jazz with you again.

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Reporter: Riandy Kurniawan
Photographer: Titus Firmanto
Video Editor: Vierna Mariska Kurniawan

None of us know how much time we have on earth. Whoever we are, our final moment will surely come. Yet we’re always shocked when we heard the news of someone’s passing. We grieve when we lose someone close and dear to us, we’re sad when those we loved aren’t here with us anymore. In the afternoon of May 28, 2015, we got saddened and shocked by a phone call, telling us that a very talented young man with a big, beautiful heart named Guntur satria passed away at the age of just 21 years old. No sign of serious illness, no sign of health problems, suddenly he’s not here among us anymore. We didn’t want him to go, his success was just around the corner, and for a very nice man that he was, we still need his presence. But God actually got another plan for him. He’s not with us anymore, but we want to remember him and his music. We want to keep it alive in our heart. And we want to pay our best respect to him, through the media that he really loved, music. Together with his family and friends (especially Srikandi Herbatari, Ovilya Shara, Farhan Faikar, Raka Rizkyandi and Asti Nurjanah who were intensively connected with us during the preparation), we made this Tribute to Guntur Satria, a special edition of our regular Braga Jazz Walk, July edition.

It was unfortunate to see him passed too soon. He was on his way to achieve his dreams with an EP titled “Pergi Keluar”. Just a couple of days before his passing, he did a photo session to support his launching. Other than this debut EP, he’s made some materials with his GFRtrio and a couple of other projects. With all these and the support he got from medias and friends, he could actually gain good momentum to rise. But sadly God called and decided to bring him back home before all of these happened. “It was difficult for us to make songs, it could take days without any promising result, but Guntur could just do one or even two in just a day.” said Farhan Faikar, his buddy and band mate in GFRtrio. Guntur was indeed a very talented young man. He was a natural born bluesman, but he played folkish pop and jazz just as good. He played guitar and sang, that way he was able to perform as a one man band. He offered something fresh to our music scene and no doubt he would be doing great had he still alive. He could be famous, but he once told us that he wasn’t looking for fame. “All I want is for people to enjoy and be entertained with my music.” he said. With the release of this EP, at least his wish came true. We could listen to his music and let him entertain us, eventhough he’s not around anymore. One thing’s true, he’s loved by many. In relatively short time this event could be created by his friends since they got many positive response from fellow musicians. As for us, we feel happy to be able to dedicate one edition of Braga Jazz Walk to honour him.

Unlike before, this tribute started earlier at 5:00 pm with a brief story about Guntur Satria, followed by a little ceremonial and performance to Guntur’s mother, sister, brother and family from his close friends. Then the event reached the break for praying and Iftar (break-fasting). There was slide photo and video of Guntur ran throughout the break. It was so touching, many cried during the video.

The live performance sessions began, starting with The Alibi. This is one of the last bands that he was in. The Alibi embraces blues up high, and that’s no surprise since the personnels have their steady existance in Bandung Blues Society.

For tonight they performed under The Alibi and Friends. On stage were Ijay Irawan (guitar), Setiadi Almas (bass) and Sandy Po (drums).They started with Srikandi of Mahesvara on vocal, singing “Englishman In New York”.  Dera and Panca of Ders Music replaced Srikandi for Slank’s “Terlalu Manis”. For the last song they sang Ed Sheeran’s big hit, “Thinking Out Loud.” Yaman and Tantri first, but then all the vocalists joined on stage. This song is actually the last song Guntur covered, an important song for him and for us in remembering him.

All songs related to their memory with Guntur. Therefore it was an emotional session. What’s even sadder is that the band told us that this would be the final show for them as The Alibi. A good band like this, we hope they think it over. What a cool start with The Alibi.

The second show was Afterisya. This is the band that Guntur played with many times. Afterisya is considered as unique since the band has many guitarists inside. Other than Guntur’s former manager Tama Randy (guitar), there are Cakil Tachibana, Bang Achiiws and Andre Agris (also on guitar), Maizar Hafiz Rachman (bass) and Junii (drums). What they served was a sentimental acoustic session where guitar shows its supremacy.

Afterisya rolled with their own song, “Harapan” before singing Guntur’s song from the EP, “Theater 5”. Wiz Khalifa ft Charlie Puth “See You Again” as one of the last songs Guntur covered became the last song.  The acoustic approach made it even more touching. A narrative reading about Guntur Satria and a video clip followed right after.

Then came the time to hear what Guntur’s family wanted to say.. His mother, Mrs.Yuyun Yuliantini told us her memory of how good Guntur was a son. Along with Guntur’s friends, we gave her photos of Guntur. Representing the Braga Jazz Walk, we gave a photo when Guntur performed for us, and his friends gave the last photo session Guntur did, two weeks before he passed away.

Things got hotter with the next performance. A pack of blues brothers from Bandung Blues Society got their turn to give respect. Guntur was active inside this blues community and clearly he got many friends, as shown by the number of Bandung Blues Society members came tonight. This 7 year-old blues community sent some of his best troops including Edo (vocal, lead guitar), Kibul (guitar), Ijay irawan (bass), Allan (drums), Ari (harmonica) and Kang Woko (vocal, harmonica). A spontaneous blues jam was directly served on stage from the first minute. “All songs we play tonight were Guntur’s favorite during the jam”, said Edo. Jimi Hendrix’s “Voodoo Child”, “Red House” and BB King’s “The Thrill is Gone”. What a show it was, blues fire was burning, heating up everyone coming to the event.

Then, a session that we would remember for a long time. The band was GFRtrio, GFR stands for Guntur, Farhan and Raka, a band that played attractive naughty blues. Guntur’s role was replaced by Rayhan Murtaza, the guitarist of N.E.A.T, plus a violinist Pangestu Hning Bhawana. Erick Gabe was on vocal for two songs: “I Feel Good” and “Englishman in New York”. The jamming mood was felt so strong.

Then came a surprise: Guntur Satria himself was involved in this! How could that be possible? Well, by using the technology, Farhan brought his voice and guitar playing back alive on stage, as if he was there playing with the rest of the team. Suddenly we remember the magic moment created whenever he stood tall on stage. The song called “All You Need is Love”, a song that was projected to be the single carrier for GFRtrio album. Guntur’s sister Anggie Ranggani sang “Kala Rindu” as the last song.

Since Rayhan did really well in replacing Guntur for the band, we do hope this band to keep going. The intense fire is still burning from them, and it does sound cool. Let’s hope so. We know this band when Guntur was still in it, so this one felt emotional for us. Thank you guys for bringing back the memory.

We got a surprise visit from Risa Sarasvati, a singer/writer/ghosthunter, and of course, a cousin of Guntur. Knowing that she is busy with tons of activities, it was a fortune that she could spend time with us at the Braga Jazz Walk special edition. Accompanied by his pianist Kevin, Sarasvati sang “Perjalanan” and then “Lembaran Baru” together with Guntur’s siblings. The haunting “Story Of Peter” became one beautiful ending for Sarasvati’s special performance. A unique talent with unique gift she really is, we wish her the best in every fields that she’s in.

The last show was a highly successful artist with 66K active followers in twitter, Fiersa Besari. As a musician he has released 3 successful albums, but that’s not all since he also owns a clothing company, active photographer, owner of a recording studio and a writer. Guntur worked with him intensively during the making of the EP, that fact makes Fiersa a very important person in the last days of Guntur. Fiersa appeared with his band, playing 3 songs in acoustic mode.

Unbelievable amount of people gathered in front of the stage, ready for an intimate session. “Can’t Take My Eyes Of You” was the opening, soon followed by Guntur Satria’s “lembaran Baru” in a very groovy, cheerful version. “Lembayung” took the audience to romantic mood What a coincidence that the event actually ended exactly at 10:00 pm. As much as we wanted to let some more musicians participated in, the event has to end due to the time limit.

So many people came to send respect and remember the beautiful memory of Guntur. It shows how much Guntur inspired us on many things. He’s very talented, yet he’s humble, friendly and has a big heart. His perspective of life was simple, he knew his calling and willing to work extra miles to do it. And certainly, it shows how many people love him. We still miss him and will always miss him. Words are never adequate in moments like these. We will say though, that our hearts go out to the you, and we will always remember the joyous memories that we are privileged to have in knowing you as a wonderful person. We extend our deepest sympathies to the family. We send prayers to him, may his soul find rest in perfect peace. You’re gone but will never, ever forgotten, your spirit will always be alive inside us. Keep bluesin’ in heaven, we love you.

Watch the highlight of BRAGA JAZZ WALK : TRIBUTE TO GUNTUR SATRIA

“Ijinkanlah saya Pergi Keluar untuk mengisi Lembaran Baru” (“Allow me to go, to write a new chapter”) – Guntur Satria

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Reporter: Riandy Kurniawan
Photographer: Mia Damayanti Sjahir Luqmanul ‘Umanbott’ Hakim
Video Editor: Vierna Mariska Kurniawan

After a long (way too long!) gap, I was back in Canada in June and July for one of the premier jazz events in the world, the Montreal International Jazz Festival! See my earlier articles and interviews from other festivals like the Borneo International Jazz Festival (Malaysia), Mosaic Festival (Singapore), and Forde Festival (Norway).

One of last year’s highlights at the Montreal festival was the late great blues legend B.B. King (see my compilation of his inspiring quotes). Fans of jazz and world music can also check out the app ‘Oktav,’ a collection of witty quotes about music (available on Apple iTunes and Android).

The 35th edition of MIJF featured legends Al Di Meola, Stanley Jordan, Stanley Clarke, Wayne Shorter, Bebel Gilberto, Bill Frisell, John Scofield, Vijay Iyer, Eliane Elias and Alain Caron. There were also a number of Canadian stars and other emerging artistes from around the world: Nigeria, South Africa, Cameroon, India, Mexico, India and Peru. Indonesian superkid Joey Alexander was among the lineup as well.

For 10 gloriously long summer days, from early evening to late night, dozens of bands performed across 15 concert halls and eight outdoor stages in the city. Join us in this photo tour of the Montreal JazzFest 2015, and make sure you put the 2016 edition on your must-attend list for next year!

Afro-Peruvian fusion by NovaLima

Anwar Khurshid on sitar

Canadian harmonica wizard Guy Belanger

Erykah Badu, neo-soul queen

Freshly Ground, South Africa – vocalist Zolani Mahola

Gabriela, Mexico (of duo Rodrigo y Gabriela)

Haitian-born Montreal singer-pianist Marie Christine

Jordan Officer, Montreal

Just Woan, Cameroon-Canada

MIJF posters in town

MIJF venue – downtown Montreal!

Paul des Lauriers, Quebec

Photo collage of MIJF

Album launched by Nigerian singer Somi

Poster salute to the jazz greats

Rodrigo, Mexico (of duo Rodrigo y Gabriela)

Youngblood Brass Band

Article and photos are provided by Madanmohan Rao
Editor & DJ, World Music and Jazz; Bangalore
Global Correspondent for Jazzuality.com

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.

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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

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

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 .

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!

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

The Braga Jazz Walk #26 was held last Thursday. The venue Braga CityWalk gave a theme “Independence Jazz” in conjuction with their Braganesia program in celebrating the Indonesian Independence Day. For us, this edition is interesting because there were three bands presenting different jazz stories, but all linked to one word: New. All of them have something new to share. There were familiar faces found in here, but they performed with new bands/projects/team mates. All new groups in one episode like this shows a healthy and progressing process. Bandung currently has many new jazz-related bands. For us who made this event to support and push the regeneration of jazz musicians, we are happy with the situation.

The first season featured a very young jazz genius. Still 13 year-old, this boy has been showing his talent in jazz through two instruments: piano and saxophone. His name is Philip Manfred. We have invited him some months ago where he played alongside his piano teacher, Yahya Salam who have been equipping him for 3 years, not only with the basic skill but also in how to do complex bebop improvisations and play it right. Yahya Salam is a senior piano teacher who has planted solid basic for so many successful pianists/musicians. He teaches at Venche Music School and Bandung Conservatory of Music. But Yahya isn’t the only ‘jazz’ mentor, because he also has Dicky Ampouw as his saxophone teacher.

Since a couple of months ago, Yahya took him one step higher, as a band leader. It’s time for him to learn more especially in playing collective as a part of a team and of course as a leader. Luckily he got great partners that he can learn from, two players that know exactly how to support, it’s the double A, Alman Naufal (drums) and Aries Ardiansyah (bass). So the band is set, it’s called Philip Manfred Trio.

Philip began with saxophone, blazing with the bebop mainstay by Dizzie Gillespie, “Groovin’ High”. He patiently waited for his compatriotes doing the solo run in some parts and controlled the dynamic of the song.  Joshua Redman’s “Jazz Crimes” became the next playground for these boys to have fun, followed by John Coltrane’s “Giant Step”. According to his father, Philip joined the Bali Jazz Summer School program, the educational program of Ubud Village Jazz Festival where he took master class with Michael Varekamp and Ben van den Dungen. As an evidence, clearly his level of playing rises up from the last time we  saw him in early 2016.

Philip then moved to piano, playing his original composition titled “Sunny Days”. This proves that he is capable to write and compose too For the last song, he led his mates to play Herbie Hancock’s song from mid 60’s, “Dolphin Dance”.

We have invited and seen the progress of some amazing kids in our events. After Kafin and Nadine Adrianna, we have to say Philip Manfred is also specially gifted in jazz. He plays difficult compositions on piano, he is soulful and dynamic with saxophone. He already has original composition too and a new role as band leader. He is much improved in everything. One thing for sure, we will invite him again to get updates. And we will keep on getting in touch with music/jazz teachers to see more potential kids to support. Philip, we are very, very proud of you!

In the second round we presented the band who literally use the word ‘new’ as the name: Baru. This is a five-piece band that was built as the continuation of the musical journey of three friends: Farhan Faikar (bass), Raka Rizkyandi (drum) and Wahyu Andrian (guitar). Farhan and Raka have been buddies since high school and proved to be soulmate in music. They have been together in various bands such as the naughty blues GFRtrio, MotionVibe and Rizka Adlina. Wahyu was with them in MotionVibe from the start until the band got disbanded about a year ago. The three of them wish to find a fresh new start and a solid base, so they established this band.

For this appearance the band featured two more players: Fauzan Hakim (saxophone) and Omega Touselak (piano). Nick Jonas’ hit “Jealous” was a start before they sang their own song, “Jadi Milikku”. It’s great to see a new band already think of having original song this soon, and it’s a good one too. Keith Martin’s “Because of You” was another good choice that fit Drastian’s heavy RnB voice tone and then sealed their performance with Charlie Puth’s “We Don’t Talk Anymore”.

The smooth, funky soulful RnB and pop jazz served by Baru made a fresh start for this event. They carried on what’s left from MotionVibe with new concept especially by using smaller band size and when needed, they can always expand their size with additional players.  It’s good to see this new playground of three friends and their new team mate on vocal. We hope this band can last long and keep growing, because we see the potential and creativity, also the joy of playing among the members.

The final performance for the night came from a new acoustic jazz duo, Jane & DO. This duo is built upon two amazing artists: singer Jane Doe (Jane Christina) and guitarist Opik Bape. We believe Jane & BO is a group born by fate, or at least at the right time, because both of them were looking for partner. Jane needed someone to play with after coming home from Netherlands, while Opik wished to build a new project after his groups Satura and Agis Bape no longer existed. It didn’t take long for them to settle in as Jane & BO. If any of you wonder what their name refer to, at first BO was meant to be Bojangles. But then Opik twisted it to be the initial of his name, reversed.

It’s interesting to see their selection of songs. They started with a famous nursery rhyme from the late 19th century which brought famous by young Ella Fitzgerald in 1938, “A-Tisket, A-Tasket”. Not many singers/bands in Indonesia sing this anymore, so we are happy to hear it again from a duo as good as them. “Next, I’m going to sing The Beatles’ hit with our own style”, said Jane. And it was the swingin’ version of “Can’t Buy Me Love”. A song popularized by Marylin Monroe “I’m Through With Love” is a perfect choice for Jane & BO. Jane nailed it perfectly with Opik’s ellegant swinging guitar playing.

Jane called a unique duo to join them on stage. It’s Curly & Me. This is the home of two best-friend and songwriting partners: Ganesha Wibisana and Aris Malik. Speaking of the concept, this duo (re)introduced duet singing with close harmony parts the way The Everly Brothers, Simon & Garfunkel and the likes did in the 50’s and 60’s era. They also draw influences from The Beatles and The Beach Boys among others. We don’t see the vocal harmony duet like this so often anymore, therefore we are delighted to be in touch with this cool dudes.

They formed a vocal harmony trio with Jane who stood in between them. As Indonesia celebrates the 71st Independence Day, they sang “Padamu Negeri”. From two to four, the collaboration created more colors in singing two more songs. The classic song from almost a century ago, “I’ll Be With You in Apple Blossom Time” was made as if it was The Everly Brothers who sang in The Andrews Sisters’ way. And then, the ever-cool “Java Jive” transformed The Manhattan Transfer into trio.

Jane & BO gave a really fine performance in taking us back to the swing golden era, not only to the 50’s but all the way to the 20’s, even to the late 1800’s. Interestingly, they don’t sound outdated but somehow still relevant to today’s ears, just like the good presentation they delivered in our other event a week ago. Jane’s beautiful vocal tone which is perfect in singing jazz standards somehow felt modern too. Opik is brilliant as usual, like a one man band. As for Curly & Me, if before they only sang pop rock/folk, they are currently working on extending their musical canvas with jazz. We will feature them soon.

Erick Gabe stopped Jane & BO from leavng the stage that triggered the jam session. The three of them immidiately presented the swingin’ version of “Indonesia Pusaka” which set the jam session to special patriotic theme. Omega Touselak joined on piano, also Alman (drums), Aries (bass) and Philip (saxophone) making the stage now crowded. This batch played “Tanah Airku” and “Hari Merdeka”.

Raka replaced Alman and Farhan took over the bass from Aries. Fauzan added more sax on stage. “Halo-Halo Bandung” came from this second formation.  One more song from Baru personnels based only on eye- contact among them, creating a very cool smooth jazz tune. Group photo session became the very last drop for this edition.

New bands, new projects, fresh concept became the highlights of this 26th edition. But more than that, they became the miniature of the positive jazz scene in Bandung today. We will keep on supporting the local musicians and do our best to provide reliable and friendly playground for them.

We will be back again next month with different batch. You can also show your support to us and the musicians by simply come and enjoy the show. See you again in September!

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Reporter & Photographer: Riandy Kurniawan
Video Editor: Vierna Mariska Kurniawan

The Bumi Sangkuriang building was built in 1957 and has been running variety of jazz concerts ever since. There were two community jazz events took place in this place, the first one was in 1981 followed by the next one almost two decades later. So, when the third regular monthly jazz community event was given to us and our partner Venche Music School, we take this as something important to continue the legacy by providing good quality of jazz gigs in this building. With the help and support from our partners and the venue, we manage to bring each edition free of charge, fully without any hidden charge. Hence, the Bumi Sangkuriang Jazz Night was born. We started in the first month of 2016, and now we have done with the 7th episode.

In Bumi Sangkuriang Jazz Night #07, as usual we presented the combination of talented musicians from Jakarta and local Bandung. They were all still considerably young but important to mention in today’s jazz development in Indonesia. What’s important to mention is, not only they have performed on many stages including the big ones, they have left traces inside the recording studios too. It turned out to be a fantastic show! All performers gave the best in them, most of them even went far beyond limit and a stunner was found at the end of each session. What an edition this was!

Performing first is a multi-talented young man from Bandung, Fabian Winandi. He built his career fast by releasing an album distributed by Demajors more than a year ago which is clearly rooted in jazz.

At first, just like the majority of newcomers, he got a full band behind him which mostly consisted of Yura’s team mates. But then he decided to change his move, embracing the technology by using a Loop Station. This equipment enables him to perform solo without needing to worry of having too ‘quiet’ sound. Following his single last year “Bisakah Kuhentikan Waktu”, he just released his new single using Loop Station entitled “Sturara”. Just like the first one, he entered the chart over many radio stations and got more than 350.000 viewers on his Youtube channel.

As a way for us to support his new single, we invited him to promote it and himself to the audience of Bumi Sangkuriang Jazz Night, especially to those who haven’t got the chance to see him. The last time we invited him in our other event, he was still playing with full band. So this was the first time to see his new way.

Fabian brought in two friends on his show: Ditra Prasista on piano and Athina Niassrin on saxophone. They opened up joyfully with Frank Sinatra’s hit “Come Fly With Me” which for us shows how good Fabian can croon and swing. Then he switched to folk, taking on Phillip Phillips debut single and coronation song from American Idol season 11, “Home”. His most recent single “Sturara” served chilled, then he continued with his previous single, a heartfelt ballad “Bisakah Kuhentikan Waktu.”

For the last song he demonstrated how the loop station actually works. Singing his first song in the album “Showtime”, he wowed everyone by his ability to do it while giving up a shining, fired-up performance. He also managed to make everyone sing along with him. Simply put, he really, really nailed it.

It’s never easy to perform all alone. The size of the stage comparing to one person often intimidates the player especially when they have to play for one full session. But Fabian doesn’t take it as a problem. He is a singing multi-instrumentalist who can also write and compose song. Using Loop Station seems to be a perfect choice for someone like him. As he is gaining more and more fans and look forward to land on more than 100 stages for 2016, we are happy that this event is included. A talented young man is on the run, a grand, successful future lies ahead of him. As for his performance, it was indeed awesome.

The second show featured a band formed in Bandung 7 years ago which had its birth and grew up in Klab Jazz’s events, the Half Whole Project. Comprises of pianist/keyboardist Christ Stanley, bassist Gallang Perdhana Dalimunthe and drummer Edward Manurung, this band still keeps its existance eventhough each of them have their own activities including supporting top stars. The band was established as a media for them to fulfill their passion in jazz. It seems simple, but the fact shows that the band is still strong and kicking all the way until now. They began with a quartet, but the saxophonist Kenneth Timotius Djaja had to focus on his study back then. From a quartet became trio, they moved on not only keeping the pulse of the band but also managed to make one album titled “Yes, We Meet Again” presenting 7 original compositions.

It wasn’t easy to bring them due to their activities mostly in the capital, but luckily we could have them in this episode. Surprise, surprise, they didn’t come as a trio but actually quintet. Joining them were two of proud Salamander Big Band members: Matt Ashworth (saxophone) and Brury Effendy (trumpet). We knew how good the trio is, as also shared by the founder of Klab Jazz, Dwi Cahya Yuniman who we invited to the stage before their show. But with quintet, we didn’t dare to predict what comes next. Sky is the limit.

And it became an evidence. They dropped multiple bombs from the first song, “Con Alma” written by Dizzy Gillespie in the early 50’s. They kept rising the bar on the next two songs tributing John Coltrane’s legendary “Love Supreme” album, “Part 1: Acknowledgement” and “Part 2: “Resolution”. Brury and Matt were dynamic in taking their turn respectively, and when they got the part together, they threw sharp punches while Stanley like a shark bit everyone inside the ballroom. Gallang with his contrabass and Edward’s drumbeat didn’t just provide the rhythm, they also pushed and teased the frontliners to boldly go further. Their version of Roy Hargrove’s “Strasbourg-St Denis” took us to the brighter mood while still enjoying their ferocious attack.

Just when we thought they have driven us back safe and secure, suddenly they took us back to one last ride that we won’t ever forget, this time to the 30’s. It was one of Christ Stanley’s favorite songs, “Viper Mad” from Sidney Bechet. Stanley made the audience pop by singing while punching his piano more cruel than before. The scent of Dixie was strong this time. After playing for more than half an hour, we thought they would be tired, but they actually had their energy increased. An epic ending after an epic performance awarded them loud applauses and cheers in the end.

We knew them many years ago and have been following their progress. We are happy to see where they stand today individually, but above all, we are proud to see how this band is doing today. Half Whole Project can be a good example of how a jazz band could achieve big success starting from a local jazz community. Skillful and tight both individually and collective, this band should be able to talk louder in the future. Let’s hope they can find time to keep the band running. Because not only this band play pure jazz delightfully, it’s also important in term of the future of jazz in Indonesia. Magnificent!

For the final performance we presented the all-round guitarist who has been building his solo career these past several years, Andre Dinuth. He’s previously known as a top sessionist and arranger for many big stars, name some like Glenn Fredly, Rossa, Afgan, Sandhy Sondoro, Andi Rianto, Rio Febrian, Marcell, Trio Lestari, Erwin Gutawa and Once among others.

Due to this movement, he released his debut solo album in mid 2014, also distributed by Demajors. This selftitled album reflects his true-self, idealism and the track of his journey in multi-colored style including the genre he’s into most of all, jazz, blues and rock, also involving traditional instrument coming from the eastern part of Indonesia. Just a while ago he released the second album “Here With You” which he got enormous support by many big cats. He also involved in a very interesting project Six Strings alongside 5 other famous guitarists from multiple backgrounds.

For the very first time we featured this very talented young man in this event. Accompanying him was a band of youngsters that is just finished with their debut album, New Equinox. This band is a trio consists of Singapore-based pianist Jason Limanjaya (piano), drummer Alman Naufal and bassist Ezra Manuhutu.

New Equinox opened up with the first track in their album, a cover of Joe Henderson’s “Inner Urge”. Then Andre Dinuth joined them. Before he played, he told us that he takes himself as “a rocker that happens to love jazz”. That’s exactly what he delivered. The first song came from the collaboration was “All Blues”. Interestingly they played it in an unusual time, 11/8. Dinuth approached Jason and pushed him to the limit. The duel between them was explosive. Dinuth then demonstrated his bluesy soul on “Georgia on My Mind” which included singing. Rockin’ blues was felt so deep. He inserted a little “Amazing Grace” during his solo run.

As the time already late, close to 11 pm, he had to come to the last song: Herbie Hancock’s gem titled “Chameleon”. Together with the boys of New Equinox, he injected high dose of funk in a totally playful mode. He approaced Alman and teased him, forcing him to go beyond limit. The already-wild drummer got even wilder in answering the challenge. Just like the previous two sessions, Andre Dinuth and New Equinox knocked everyone out with a blazing ending, as well as wrapping the event and made this one a triumph.

After watching him performing on prestigious stages like Java Jazz Festival for instance, we are happy that he has now added his signature on the Bumi Sangkuriang Jazz Night. Expressive, sometimes agressive gesture clearly shows how big his passion is in playing music. He’s equipped with skill and ability to play and write/compose, he is also cool to watch. His collaboration with New Equinox’s boys worked amazingly well too since they share the same wild soul within them, and Dinuth really knows how to push these boys to the limit.

A lot of unforgettable moment and multiple jazz-gasm were found all over the rounds. Moreover, the fact that all of them are still young shows a good progress of jazz development as well as bright future of jazz in Indonesia. Since we think of jazz regeneration as one of our agendas in any of our event, this edition satisfied us in many ways. Thank you all participating musicians, our partners, everyone behind this event and of course, all of you guys who support us by coming to this event and expressively showed love to the players. Until we meet again on the next episode with fresh batch of talented musicians.

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Reporter : Riandy Kurniawan
Photographer: Riandy Kurniawan and Mia Damayanti