Same venue, new spot! For the first time the stage of Braga Jazz Walk was moved much forward near the entrance. Since the location is not inside the building anymore, the mall allowed us to use acoustic drum. This new location proved to work better, because then this event could attract those who stroll around the Braga street to come inside to watch them. It’s still a tryout, said the mall, but we do love this new ground zero. All musicians who came stated the same. As a result, Braga Jazz Walk #27 got a lot more crowds and they were happening too! Some were dancing, many of them took their gadget and recorded the peformances of the bands. There were many audience who stayed all the way until the end. We are really happy to see the response from them.

In this edition we celebrated Bandung city’s 206th anniversary which came on September 25th. Jazzuality.com together with our partners Braga CityWalk and KPH Music dedicated this 27th episode to commemmorate the anniversary and placed a special theme: Bandung Jazziversary.

In accordance to that, the featuring bands were selected to fit the occasion as well, without forgetting our main mission to push the regeneration of jazz musicians in Bandung by showcasing young talents that could entertain the public with their music. We invited three bands that we believed relevant to Bandung Jazziversary especially since this event is loated at the historical Braga street in Bandung. Interesting variation of jazz were delivered in each session by them, and what’s also cool is, there were some instruments rarely played in jazz stage being used this time. Speaking of formation, this edition is interestingly unique too.

In front of great crowds, Celline & Ukulele took the first slot. This is mainly a duo consisting of Celline Indrawirawan and her boyfriend Rendy Hardiman who are also the founder of Kayu Tua Ukulele (http://kayutuaukulele.com). Celline has participated twice in our events before, at the Braga Jazz Walk #21 (http://jazzuality.com/jazz-event-report/braga-jazz-walk-21-the-report/) and Bumi Sangkuriang Jazz Night #4 (http://jazzuality.com/jazz-event-report/bumi-sangkuriang-jazz-night-4-the-report/). From these two events we came to know and love her strong vocal character which is perfect to sing jazz, especially jazz standards.

She has found her passion in music since 3 years old by learning piano. About singing, she was involved in school and church choirs since early age. But then due to her study activity her passion in music was on and off, until finally she decided to be more serious in it. Her teacher, Michelle Efferin, founder of M.E Music Centre expresses her feeling of how proud she is for Celline many times, and we can’t see why not. Having such gifted student in music with charming and high likeability factor would surely make any teacher proud.

Instead of performing with standard band formation, she decided to follow her passion by involving her favorite instrument, ukulele. Starting as a duo, Celline and Rendy started with Israel “Iz” Ka’ano’i Kamakawiwo’ole’s famous version of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”. After this sweet opening, they carried on with “All of Me”. Founder of ME Music Centre, Michelle Efferin and Richard Sirait came supporting them, taking the position on piano and cajon. To make their session in sync with the theme, Celline then sang Sundanese folk song, “Bubuy Bulan”. She didn’t just sing it, but worked her voice to sing in Sundanese style which forced the audience to send her much love. Another jazz standard “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore” was delivered nice and smooth by them.

Celline then called Michelle and Richard’s cute little daughter Kezia Alexis to join in. Kezia is still 5 year-old, but she is blessed with music talent. She can already sing in fluent English and in tune, and what amaze us is that she has no problem singing in front of many people. Imagine, a 5 year-old girl sings “Summertime” along with the group, it was really, really beautiful.

Celline & Ukulele went on pinning The Cure’s “Love Song” rearranged in bossa. So, not only jazz standards, ukulele suits perfectly well with bossa tunes too. A cheerful, cute standard “Cheek to Cheek” became the last drop from them.

Ukulele which was originated in Hawaii has been used worldwide for ages also in Indonesia, for example in keroncong music. In jazz, ukulele has shown its charm too like the music of Jake Shimabukuro, Janet Seidel’s album “Moon of Manakoola” and of course the Hawaiian singer mentioned above, yet overall ukulele is not the usual instrument found in jazz. Therefore we are happy that we can have the beauty of ukulele in this edition, showing that ukulele can in fact give another kind of atmosphere when used in jazz. Rendy did very well, Celline as charming as always with her voice and appearance. Michelle Efferin and husband Richard Sirait’s contribution were substantial too in making the session shinier. Very interesting, unique and beautiful. Celline and Ukulele, and Jazz are inseparable. That’s what we think.

Bandung has been called Parijs van Java since the colonial Dutch-era. Therefore we think it’s important to feature a band that could bring the scent of Paris in the old days alive to celebrate the city’s anniversary. Meet BOA which was found just some months ago who is rooted in vintage Jazz Manouche/Gypsy Jazz like the music of Django Reinhardt and also Ragtime. If the first session we got ukulele, in this second round we enjoyed the sound of another ‘unusual’ instrument found in jazz, mandolin, played by Mochamad ‘Boiq’ Iqbal. Two other personnels are on guitar: Opik Bape and Charly ‘Achay’ Septiana ‘Elpuccino’. Speaking of Opik, this group carries on his passion in digging the French Gypsy music the way he did in his previous band, Satura. Other than BOA, he also brings this concept with a bigger ensemble, Madame dan Toean. Opik’s partner in Jane & BO, Jane Doe (Jane Christina) was featured for this event, making them performing under BOA ft Jane Doe.

The strong vintage Parisian gypsy scent quickly filled the air of Braga CityWalk right from the first bar of the first song, “Circus Charlie”. They then pinned the classic composition of legendary Romani guitarist Django Reinhardt, “Swing 42” in perfection, followed by even older song from 1917, “Tiger Rag” which was also played by Django around 30 years later.

Up to this point, we were amazed by how these three musicians cook their music. Like three artistes they collectively paint the canvas to create one solid and authentic sound of swingin’ Gypsy Jazz with ragtime found in the layers. There are three of them, but once they play, they magically merge, blending seamlessly as one. They gradually drag more and more people from around the venue to watch them, enjoying their music which is rare to find in Indonesia. It was all great, but then the session got more beautiful by having a lady with exceptional voice, Jane Doe aka Jane Christina. With Jane, two more songs were delivered: “Lady Be Good” and Thomas Dutronc’s “J’suis Pas D’ici”. Not only sang, she also brought two wooden toys including the ‘musical frog’. Jane added spices to BOA’s unique presentation and sealed their session in triumph.

Two very skillful guitarists, one genius mandolin player, all passionate in delivering their rare music taste presenting strong, distinctive concept, these are the essence that place BOA in a different corner of our current jazz scene. They are unique, bold and absolutely know how to cook up this genre. Not only the music, their appearance can be such an attraction too. Jane Doe’s contribution also helped in sweetening the show. Not many bands carry this concept anymore due to the high level of difficulties and against the mainstream, but we say somebody have to do it for the sake of preserving the legacy and the beauty of jazz. As for the theme, they brought the fragrant scent of Paris into this event. Parijs van Java now speaks not just about the beautiful city but also music. C’est Magnifique BOA and Jane Doe!

What do you have in mind when we ask you to think of the third storey basement? Perhaps you would think of parking lot, warehouse or a big space that holds many unused properties of a mall/building. But would you believe that a good band could even born in it? Well, it happens. The third and final performance came from a big ensemble established on the third basement, P3 and the Gank.

P3 and the Gank came alive in 2015 inside the third basement of Trans Studio Bandung called P3, where some musicians who played regularly at this mall loved to rest. They did well for a while, but then went to hiatus. Luckily they didn’t stay in silence for long, because then Ijo gathered all the personnels again and asked them to commit more seriously. So the band is back on track with complete formation. The personnels are: Muy (vocal), Armin Fauzy Hamid (keyboard), Gilang Perdana (drum), Feby Febian (bass), Achmad Afandi (guitar), Buddy Riswandi (synthesizer), Ijo (trombone), Iwan Hermawan (trumpet), Hendike Yao (tenor/alto saxophone).

This group of 9 took their position on stage, making the small stage crowded. Not only the stage, the audience were crowded too. They directly wowed everyone with the sound of fusion, covering Mezzoforte’s song “Four Corners”. The roaring brass section, the combination of piano and synthesizers along with guitar and the rhythm section simply served an early party.

After the instrumental song, Muy took his position on the mike. Starting with Al Jarreau’s “All I Got”, they carried on with the popular tune “Just the Two of Us” and Utha Likumahuwa’s evergreen “Puncak Asmara. We spotted some ladies danced among the crowds, and the scene of many people recorded the even with their gadgets just made quite a scenery. For the last song they introduced their single “Only Human”. It is a good song that suits the large-piece band. Well done.

There are many smaller formations existed in the recent jazz scene, but some decided to extend their musical presentation by having large ensemble. There’s nothing wrong with that of course, as long as the concept need it and each player knows their exact role. P3 and the Gank brought up a fusionesque party on stage which reminds us of the joy watching bands like Snarky Puppy, Mezzoforte and the likes in big festivals. Jazz can accomodate wide variety of bands’ format. We can enjoy jazz from solo player, duo, trio, quartet, quintet, combo all the way to big band. There is always room for large sized bands in the beautiful world of jazz, especially when the band is as good as the P3 and the Gank. They planned on making a mini album with a single ready to be processed this month, let’s hope the best for them and let’s wish them a long, successful years. As any anniversary celebration needs a happy party, they gave a merry one.

Jam session took place right after. Eki Kamaludin of Little Dutchman, Frank Navayo of 5 Petani, Erick Gabe, Jane Doe and two personnels of P3 and the Gank: Gilang Perdana and Hendike Yao happily took the chance. A mid-tempo funk version of “Route 66” was first, followed by “Just the Two of Us”. Radhita A Ridwan joined in to sing a hit of Maroon 5, “Sunday Morning”. The jam session ended with a song dedicate to Bandung, Ismail Marzuki’s “Halo Halo Bandung.” Many of them just met for the first time,  but this last song was played perfectly in swing and bebop as if they had rehearsed many times before. Huge applause from the audience were given to these jamming participants.

Three bands who we believe would fit our intention of celebrating Bandung’s 206th Anniversary did a very, very good job. From a lady and her boyfriend playing the rarely used instrument in jazz, the ukulele, three gentlemen and a lady presenting vintage French Jazz Manouche and Ragtime to blazing fusion package carried by large ensemble made a perfect painting of the Bandung Jazziversary theme as we imagined. We thank all the performers for giving their best for us to enjoy, we thank everyone behind this event and of course everyone who came.

We will be back again next month with fresh batch of talents. In the end, we wish Bandung city happy 206th annviersary. May there be more great people come from this city, especially in music and jazz.

Watch the highlight on our Youtube channel:

See more pictures:

Repoter and photographer: Riandy Kurniawan
Video editor: Vierna Mariska Kurniawan .

Since January 2016 we began rejuvenating regular jazz event at BP Bumi Sangkuriang. Calling this event Bumi Sangkuriang Jazz Night, we carry the jazz legacy and history of this building which has started in 1957. We keep running, and now, we have reached the 8th edition. In Bumi Sangkuriang Jazz night #8 we featured three set of shows that share something in common: all of them are related to jazz community in their own time. Also, the lineup reflected jazz in Bandung yesterday, today and tomorrow. A stunning group of young lions, a soul sister who is currently stepping in the new chapter of her career and a very respected teacher who has been creating many successful stars for over 20 years, all of them marked their signature in this event in such way.

Performing first was a stunning trio consists of young guns: AFA Trio. AFA Trio was born two years ago in Butterfield Jazz Society. This band  moved fast from playing in many events to landing on prestigious festivals such as Tangsel Jazz Festival and the Java Jazz Festival 2016. They also have a single titled “Dream Again”, written by the guitarist.

AFA Trio appeared with a new formation, with Raka Rizkyandi replacing Athfy. Raka is not a stranger to us since he has been playing in our events with various bands he’s in. Unlike what jazz trio usually bring, these boys surprised everyone right from the first second by throwing jazz-metal bombs.  The first song was intense and thrilling, “Seven Years Tragedy”, telling the story about suicide bombings by terrorist from JW Marriott to Ritz Carlton which occured in 7 years interval. Anjuan and Fabian stood tall and strong in front, while Raka poured powerful beat including a graphic solo drum. This song should push everyone to the edge of their seats.

For the next song, they brought in something unique by placing samba feel inside their edgy jazz-heavy metal pallette on “7+5”. “Dancing the Night Paradise” shows that a having a merry party in paradise at night can be felt through rockin’ mode, and for the last song they gave a medley of original compositions: “Dream Again” and “Move On”.

Despite of their age, AFA Trio is a very good jazz band. Their individual skills are outstanding, and as a team they are really solid. Speaking of music concept, these boys are pushing jazz to the limit. It’s heavy metal, but it’s clearly jazz as well.  The chemistry shared between Anjuan and Fabian reminds us of the early Tohpati and Indro Hardjodikoro soul-connection which started more than 20 years ago. Raka did very well in his role, he knows what to do in this band. Sharp jazz-rock with lots of punches from them is lethal. Mark our word, these young men will be big in the future if they keep playing. And of course, long live AFA Trio. The best is yet to come, keep going!

The second show featured a dear, long time friend of us. She began her career in a band called Palm from Moodytunes around the same time we started this jazz e-mag. Jazz community was where she grew, as she then carried on with other concepts such as a jazz with world music-oriented project Grace and Tesla, the urban neo soul Circle O’Fifth and some other appearances here and there. A breakthrough came in just a couple of months ago with the release of her debut album, “Hela”. This long-awaited album speaks loud of her journey, feeling and other aspects in life, working like a window for us to see and feel what she keeps inside her inner soul. In this multi-genres album she shares her sadness, anger, desperation and contemplation, before she finally motivates the listeners to stand tall and moving on. But as artistic and poetic as she is (fyi, she is also a standout fiber artist and fashion lecturer), she also uses the album as a media to ‘tracing back the roots’, finding her family name ‘Sahertian’s’ history which actually came from Porto, Saparua, Maluku. The title track ‘Hela’ is where the story is written, sung in Yamdena language that is nearly extinct. With the release of this album, she embarks the new chapter of her career, facing a bright future to be one of the names we all can count on if we are looking for a reference of good, artistic music. She is none other than Grace Sahertian.

She launched the album in May 2016 successfully in a sold out, artistic concert. We realized that many might have missed it, so we hope her appearance in this event with her solid team could give a chance for those who didn’t get the chance back then, also give a special treat to her fans.

For this event she brought some of her team mates: Puspallia Panggabean (backing vocal), Omega Touselak (keys & synth bass), Faishal M Fasya (keys & synth bass), Gantira Sena (drums) and Fikri Hadiansyah (guitar). Grace and her band began with a powerful ballad “Picture Me” which allowed us to feel her soul so deep. Then she took us into a journey back in time all the way to Saparua, Maluku with the titletrack “Hela”. Deep contemplation and root-tracing emotion were clearly felt. Puspall created the surrealistic ambience with her voice.

Grace moved to gospel  on “Freedom” to share her feeling of recollection, repression, pain, unfairness, being chained until a shout of hope came out from her spirit. “Da Di De” which in the album got alternative rock and hiphop atmosphere was sung softer without leaving off the essence.

The cool song “Sound of Hope” connected the audience with the nature and universe through fascinating mind-journey into the vast, deep rainforest in Africa. So far she has bagged a lot of applause from everyone inside the ballroom. For the last song she gave a joyful party in Motown sound, “Better to Love”.

A beautiful, heart-felt, artistic performance were brought by Grace Sahertian and the band. For us who have known her and followed her career from the start, we feel really proud of her. Someone like Grace should go big in our music scene based on her soulful voice, cool appearance, creativity, artistry and passion. Let’s wish her the best.

For the final performance we gave a very well respected teacher and musician who has been giving enormous contribution in creating many stars for over two decades. Imam Praseno, better known as Imam Pras. Not only a prominent teacher, he is also a long time experienced great composer, arranger and music director. The injury he suffered on his arms in 2006 forbid him to perform as much as he used to be, but since two years ago he began to feel a lot better which enabled him to slowly grace the stage by occassionally playing here and there.

Playing as Imam Pras Trio, he brought in two of New Equinox boys: Alman Naufal (drum) and Ezra Manuhutu (bass). For your information, the New Equinox is also mentored by Imam Pras himself. The band also plays his arrangements. We have been wishing to have him in this event because he is really familiar with it, so we are happy it could finally happen in this edition.

Imam Pras began with “Turn Out the Stars”, a song recorded live just months before Bill Evans’ death in 1980. This first song directly made us able to see his amazing skill. The second song was Duke Ellington and Juan Tizol’s masterpiece, “Caravan”. Long solo drum of Alman responded by a couple of applause from the audience. If originally this song was made for jazz orchestra, Imam Pras and the boys fit the song into just a trio and dressed it into bebop. Ezra got his turn to demonstrate his ability in “Avance”.

Timeless standard “Autumn Leaves” was painted in ECM-like way along with enough room for the boys to have fun. Herbie Hancock’s song which is based in soul and funk with strong 70’s sound “Tell Me a Bedtime Story” became the last drop from them. Imam Pras Trio kept it light without leaving their love of improvisation.

Among the audience there was a 10 year-old boy with amazing ability in playing jazz piano, Jeremy Hutomo. He came with his parents, aunt and cousin. Right before we did the photo session, the executive board of Bumi Sangkuriang who attended this event wished to see him play. He went straight to the piano and went swinging with “Billie’s Bounce”. He is really talented, no doubt about it. Loud applause and cheers were given to him, naturally.

We are proud to be able to bring in the jazz piano sensei from Bandung who has done so many things in Bandung’s jazz development. Also, we are happy to see the nutricious collaboration with two boys who are mentored by him in a live performance. Many of his (ex)students came to watch him shows how much they respect their humble, down to earth teacher. We hope to see Imam Pras more often on stage, and may there be many, many more skillful jazz musicians in the future coming from him.

We thank everyone who has been supporting us and this event, to all the playing artists and of course to you who came and enjoy it with us. No matter how we make the event, it will be useless without your support. We will be back again next month with another batch of jazz figures from Bandung and beyond who we believe can give you the best of jazztertainment and hopefully give something for you to learn from. Hope to see you again next month!

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Reporter: Riandy Kurniawan
Photographers: Riandy Kurniawan, Mia Damayanti, Luqmanul ‘Umanbott’ Hakim.

The story of Braga Jazz Walk continues on. We still remember when we started this event more two years ago, now we have done the 28th edition. As how we wanted it to be, we keep supporting young talents and new comers and at the same time we provide enough chance to the success ones to participate in it. After the much better result last month in the new spot at the venue, this edition repeated that result. Plenty of passers-by stayed enjoying the performance together with those who came to watch the event.

At this Braga Jazz Walk #28 we showcased a close-harmony duo with interesting golden oldies concept, a new duo, a magical 10 year-old boy with his group and a band with distinctive sound from Universitas Pelita Harapan (UPH) Jakarta. As you can see, this time we brought in four groups due to the high demand from musicians to perform in. Luckily we still managed to spare time for jam session that has been within our concept since day one. Keep reading, we will share the fun brought by each performers with you.

Appearing first was a new duo established just a month ago: Arief & Haris Project. This is a cool pairing between guitarist once existed as a member of Gypsy jazz Satura, Arief Ginanjar and bassist Haris Radian. They decided to establish the project as a home for their creativity after realizing they had chemistry and shared the same jazz passion. The last time we had him on this stage was last year when he joined the crossover jazz-Sundanese ensemble, so we are more than happy to see him back again.

What these men offer is interactive dialogue between guitar and bass. Starting with American contrabassist’s song “Blues in the Closet” , they carried on pinning a very famous standard “All the  Things You Are” and “Bluesette”. While sometimes their eyes connected and we captured smiles on their faces, it was the soul connection which works the concept. Charlie Parker’s bebop composition from 1945 became the last drop from them, served chilled and flawless.

Arief and Haris Project offers something not common in our music industry. Think of it, how many groups dare to play using this concept in Indonesia? Maybe Endah N Rhesa, but not many,especially since they don’t go with vocal. For us, they give a proof that there are uncountable possibilities in jazz, including when we speak about format. Guitar and bass alone? Why not. Beautiful dialogue or conversation between two instruments can be created on stage. Arief and Haris showed us that it works really, really well.

The second session brought in something unique. If you are familiar with the music scene during the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s, you should remember the name of some close-harmony male duos like The Everly Brothers and Simon Garfunkel. Their folk style stood differently which quickly gained attention from music lovers during those eras. Today it’s hard to find duo with this style anymore in our music scene, yet we always thought it would be cool if we can still find it alive.

Two months ago we met two young men who literally based their music inside this concept: : Ganesha Wibisana and A. Malik Endie. Together they establish a duo named Curly & Me. Like The Everly Brothers, they based their music on pop-rock and folk that is sung in close harmony parts. You can clearly feel the 50’s – 60’s vibe when you listen and watch them. But they wish to extend their musical territory even more. Appearing in blues community is the beginning, then they would like to go further to reach jazz stages.

For their appearance they featured saxophonist Fauzan Hakim. Like a time machine, they took us back to the late 50’s atmosphere with Everly Brothers’ famous songs: “All I Have To Do Is Dream” and “Devoted to You”. The vintage ambience continued on with original song “Concordia”, telling the story of Societeit Concordia who stood near to this spot more than 6 decades ago. This societeit actually does still exist, only moving to another location since 1957 and changed its name to Bumi Sangkuriang, the venue of our other regular monthly event.

“The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feeling Groovy)” from Simon & Garfunkel and “Let It Be Me” came right after. A song probably best known as a doo-wop standard “Blue Moon” safely delivered, and for the last song they covered a timeless classic, “Dream A Little Dream of Me” where they demonstrated their attempt in embracing jazz inside the close harmony.

Bandung is one of the cities in Indonesia that keeps having unique new talents. Some of them might not begin in jazz, but sooner or later, when they get connected with this genre, something unique could have happened. This is the case of two young men with old soul. They are good in singing oldies, but once they put themselves in jazz, they create quite an atmosphere that we don’t get to hear often. Curly & Me answered our curiousity of how would it sound had The Everly Brothers sung jazz. It was cool.

For the third session we showcased a boy who we have been trying to feature for more than 2 years. This jazz-spirited boy’s name is Jeremy Hutomo. He just turned 10 around two months ago, but he has been showing how gifted he is in music especially jazz since at least 3 years ago. We met him for the first time in our previous event Terraz Jazz when he surprised us while joining the jam session. Since the event held at night, it might has been difficult for him to attend. Plus, he was kind of out from music for a while to focus more on his formal study in elementary school and for a while he was into chess as well. Fortunately, his parents then chose to support his music career, jazz in particular. By having some good teachers, we could see big progress on his playing skill.

For this event Jeremy performed under a group called Jeremy Hutomo Trio. Joining him were his daddy Hasto Utomo (bass) and Evan Natanael (drum). It didn’t take long for Jeremy to find his grip. The way he played Charlie Parker’s “Billie’s Bounce” directly put a spell on the audience who gave loud applause and cheer at the end. “Autumn Leaves” and “Blue Moon” were the next two songs that let his fingers dance freely and happily above the keys. Papa Hasto and Evan did very well in supporting him. What amazes us even more is that he knows how to play in a team. He has excellent control over tempo, pace and dynamic. He is confident and focus during his play.

John Coltrane’s “Stolen Moment” might not be a choice for kids, but Jeremy totally nailed it. After that, he gave a smooth, wonderous overture which gave us a sign of what the last song would be: Chick Corea’s masterpiece, “Spain”! The arrangement was made simple, but it was more than enough for Jeremy to make whatever manouver he wished to do. As a result, it created a perfect adventurous climax. The crowd popped and awarded him and the trio big round of applause.

We have featured some talented kids with amazing talents in jazz before like Nadine Adrianna, Philip Manfred and Kafin. Some of them have established their existence in the jazz scene big time, like playing in prestigious festivals, television, big concerts or even play abroad. We are happy that this time we featured another very talented boy gifted in jazz. This just shows that Indonesia never runs out of jazz talent. As we are carrying the mission to push the regeneration forward, we feel great to bring him in. Jeremy is special. He is exceptional, a boy wonder. We wish to see his progress as he continues on exploring the jazz world. Keep it all up!

The last performance belong to a group came all the way from Universitas Pelita Harapan (UPH)’s Conservatory of Music, Jakarta: RAY. RAY is a 7 piece band consisting of Juan Alexander (band leader/keyboard), Alice Grace (synth and sequencer), Arief Lorenzo and Adhika ‘Coki’ Himawan (guitars), Wesley Geraldo (bass), David Wilando (drums) and Felicia Yasinta (vocal). The band is mentored by none other than Boby Limijaya, a Berklee College of Music alumnus who made a couple of new ‘inventions’ in our music particularly jazz. He doesn’t only play and teach, he also supervised and even formed interesting groups.

What we see from the band he’s involved in is that they all have strong concept, unique flavor, ellegant and skillful. RAY doesn’t just play fusion, they actually have a strong neo soul feel, that for us becoming their forte. They are still students, but they play neat, clean and tight. Happy vibe is captured too in their appearance.

Unfortunately Alice couldn’t come. Yet the rest of them did great in keeping things in order, we believe no one would notice that they were one player less. The vibrant sound of neo soul quickly filled the air right from the beginning of their first choice, a cover of Robert Glasper Experiment’s hit with Norah Jones, “Let It Ride”. Juan led the team the whole time while releases the modern soulful poison into the air. Chunky melodious rhythmic bites from bass, the solid partnership between two guitars, vocal which works as a part of the instruments and the lively, playful drummer created such dreamy dimension.

For the second song, an original titled “People Change”, RAY decreased its size to four.  The composition of this instrumental song is a beauty. It is rich in texture and very dynamic. Yasinta and Ariel then rejoined their mates to bring us into one last ride, their single “It’s Better If You Try”. From the first time we heard this song on Youtube, we already noticed that this song has a strong charm other than brilliantly written and executed. They all built the song until it reached the peak. It was already late, but there were many audience who enjoyed RAY’s performance stayed and gave them loud applause until the end.

From RAY we got the modern, urban neo soul sound pulsing inside chilled jazz fusion. This band is relatively new, formed exactly a year ago. But they have landed big on Motion Blue, Jakarta among other stages. We are proud to be able to have him in. A good band like this could give more than just entertainment. Young musicians can learn from them, how to play, how to deal with individual role and teamwork in a large ensemble, how to work on the composition for this formation and how to transfer positive, cheerful vibe towards the audience. Thank you for coming to Bandung, RAY and Boby Limijaya! Hope to see you again soon.

Four performances were packed inside this edition, presenting rainbow-like variety of jazz colors to everyone who watched them.  From swing, straightahead, bebop to fusion and neo soul, from jazz standards, top 40s to original songs, all shows how rich this genre actually is. We are proud to see these talented young musicians that make jazz in Indonesia pulse as strong as it is today. The future of our jazz is in their hands, and we feel safe to see it in good hands.

We will be back again next month with other great talents. As a hint: there will be a boy who is currently shining bright in Diatas Rata-Rata (Above Average) team and a three-ladies vocal group with two hit singles, both from Jakarta. Who are they? Stay tuned for more news and follow our social medias: @jazzuality on facebook, twitter, instagram and path. Thank you for keep supporting us, see you again in November!

Watch the highlight of Braga Jazz Walk 28

See more pictures:

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

It feels like yesterday when we started this event. But all of a sudden, we have just done with the 29th edition. The Braga Jazz Walk #29 got long time friends who happily shared their love and passion of jazz in multi-colored soundscapes. We know them since the beginning. Some of them have achieved success, either by playing in prestigious stages, getting wide media exposure, gaining fans and of course, recording. Some are still on the way, but surely we see tremendous progress. Since we wish to push the regeneration of jazz musicians forward as our mission, all of them represent the bright future of jazz in Bandung or Indonesia in general.

Speaking of the musical canvas, the strecthed it up wide to reach the distortive sound of heavy metal. Plus, we also got a phenomenal boy we used to feature before but haven’t been here for quite some times due to his busy schedule along his success.

We will let you know more about it, but first let’s get down to the first performance. We decided to start the event lite with exotic, smooth, breezy bossa tunes courtesy of a dynamic duo called Billy & Joe Bossa. As the name says, this duo consists of a former campursari (a mixture between dangdut and other genres especially Javanese) Billy Likumahuwa and Joe Bastian (guitar). Joining them were M Rizqi Pratama, his friend who also plays with them in Fine Taste. So it was like a small reunion of the band in bossanova fashion.

From two to trio, they started with two Jobim’s timeless gems “One Note Samba” and “Corcovado” which Billy demonstrated his new ability, the mouth muted trumpet. Then he did the familiar whistling tune, covering Jamie Foxx’s sweet song featured in RIO OST, “Fly Love”. The guitar connection between Joe and Rizqi served their session well. In this song Billy also included scat-singing. For the last song he came back to another classic from Jobim, “Meditation” which was remarkably sung in the original Portuguese language.

Billy has always been fascinated by the songs of Antonio Carlos Jobim and other bossa legends. Some thought bossanova was easy, but actually it needed skill and heart to be able to do it well. Especially if you decide to sing in the native Portuguese language, Billy wasn’t born with the language. But he did well in memorizing and singing the song in the exact language. Joe once again proved that he is a great guitarist especially in bossa. Rizqi added more colors over their canvas. We hadn’t get bossa in this event for quite some times, thanks to Billy, Joe and Rizqi, we got the charm and beauty again.

The second round offered us to enter the wild ride. It was New Equinox, a jazz trio which has been in the squared circle for about 4 or 5 years. They have gone through some changes, even a moment of hiatus, but since the first month of 2016 they speed up. Not only getting more and more performances but also working on an album. Their debut album titled “Standards” was released a month ago, distributed independently by themselves. The current members are son of Kanggep Kusuma, Alman Naufal (drums) who has become the member since day one, Ezra Manuhutu, son of Venche Manuhutu on bass (formerly a saxophonist) and expressive pianist resides in Singapore, Jason Limanjaya. This formation works like magic.

We haven’t featured them in this event for a while. As they are promoting the album, we spared one spot for them. The wild drive of Alman and Jason directly hit everyone right from the first song, “Inner Urge” originally by Joe Henderson. Ezra tuned in well with his melodical rhythm too. Then they went a little bit smoother with “On Green Dolphin Street”. “You should know the words ‘friend zone’ right? Listen to this next one.” said Jason smiling, which led to “Just Friend”. Alman then told everyone that they still got two more songs, Wes Montgomery’s “4 on 6” and “All the Things You Are”. In both songs they poured every drop of energy they still had left, resulting a joyful wild-ride.

The combination of two expressive musicians on drum and piano plus one calm-looking bassist who is getting more and more braver works like a charm. They go boldly executing complex compositions mostly made by senior composer/pianist Imam Pras, and some by Kanggep and themselves. These boys play freely. Sometimes they throw punches, in other times they work collectively in building fine pieces. As usual, what a ride. They took risks but safely landed at the end of each song. Even those who doesn’t like bebop or straightahead would enjoy the action brought by these boys. Some play jazz sweet and smooth, some goes exploring and explosive. New Equinox shows us that jazz can be edgy yet cool. Ever thought of fasten your seatbelt while listening to pure jazz trio? These boys are capable to bring that on.

The third round got the return of a phenomenal boy who has been enjoying his huge success for quite some times. Yes, Kafin Sulthan was here again after almost two years. We first met him by chance when we visited Venche Music School and he was there learning from Yahya Salam at that time. Realizing the special gift that he had at that time, we invited him to perform in our first-ever regular event. When we moved to this venue, we invited him a couple of times. But then he found his solid grip by becoming one of the 7 amazing children of Di Atas Rata-Rata (Above Average) created by Erwin and Gita Gutawa.

He was already good before that – even joined the Laskar Pelangi team – but he improves a lot in this group. He represents jazz in it with his fingers and vocal, but he is also enhanced in his appearance. No matter how big the stage, he owns it. No matter how many artists or even stars he is sharing the stage with, he still shines bright. Then, one of the things that makes us proud of him is when he became one of the featured singer of David Foster’s show at the Java Jazz Festival 2016 last March.

From there he got more big momentum such as appearing on tv including being interviewed by senior news presenter Desi Anwar for CNN and a memorable performance aired on Metro TV: Voice of Refugees 2016 for United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), singing Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror” then joining the All Stars singing and rapping on “Take Me In, Save The World”. Prambanan Heritage Jazz Festival and Synchronize Fetival were two of the prestigious spots that he recently landed on. He also is AMI Awards 2016 winner. Really amazing boy.

For this time he performed along with a drummer also started from teens, Geby Christian and Arief Rosmadi on drums. They started with jazz standard “All of Me” where Kafin directly demonstrated his ability in finger-dancing on jazz notes and singing at the same time, also leading his team mates. Then he moved to more difficult materials. Starting with Dave Brubeck’s monumental piece “Take Five”, he kept on building the momentum like a genius architect to meet another song of Brubeck which has the unusual rhythm and time signatures inspired by Turkish musicians he once met on the street, “Blue Rondo a la Turk.” If Brubeck switched to swing sections, Kafin got another idea to funk it up. It works really, really well! While the keys and tempo should already give problem to be delivered completely, Kafin somehow still added his vocal work in both songs. What a magical boy. Arief and Geby kept the structure strong and tall.

“Next is the song that actually brought me to join David Foster”, he said. It’s Al Jarreau’s big hit co-written by David Foster and Jay Graydon, “Mornin'”. This song allowed Kafin to show his ability to reach high notes. As much as we enjoyed his performance, he came to the last track which for us should very well be his signature song, Ismail Marzuki’s “Layang-Layang.” We have heard him singing this song many times but we can never get bored with it. Under loud applause from his Bandung-based fans, the audience and mall-goers/passers-by, he said thank you and sealed his gig.

Kafin Sulthan is genius in many ways: in his study (his far exceed the grade of normal children of his age), he is an architect and illustrator, memorizing and of course, music. Since we are connected with him in terms of music, we showcase his prodigy in music. And yes, this boy is phenomenal. Mind you he is still 12 years old, meaning he still has a lot of time to
grow. As now he is also learning from the jazz sensei Imam Pras other than getting gudance from the Gutawas, we know that he still has a lot more things to come. Well, we are happy to have him back. Thank you Kafin for being with us again despite of your busy schedule, and thank you Geby and Arief too. Keep the awesomeness going!

So far we have given a lot of cool moments with some punches found here and there. But wait, we still got one more performer that we believe would give a knock out punch. That’s the AFA Trio! Consisting of three lethal young guns: Anjuan Julio (guitar), Fabian Gifariansyah (bass) and Raka Rizkyandi (drums), this band loves to push the word fusion to the extreme, producing sharp, high voltage jazz rock or even jazz metal. You can call them a rock trio, but no one would argue that they are jazz too. They are not the first in Indonesia who embrace this edgy side of jazz, it’s true. But they do have strong, distinctive concept which should be more than enough to stand as their solid signature.

This band is still around a year in the scene, having its birth in Butterfield Jazz Society, but they have landed big on prestigious stages including this year’s Java Jazz Festival and World Youth Jazz Festival in Malaysia. We have known these boys before the AFA Trio was born and seen them grow. Now that they are together as one, we know that this group will speak loud in our music scene, crossing lines between jazz, rock and everything else in between.

They began with the haunting horror sound made by Anjuan as the intro of “7 Years Tragedy”, a song telling a story of the terrorist bombings which occured in Jakarta, from JW Marriott to Ritz Carlton Hotel which occured in 7 years interval. This song captured the horror and fast-moving thriller with lots of provocative distortion, busy basslines and graphic drum beating. On the next song “7+5” which was far calmer, they placed samba feel inside their jazz-metal canvas. They went joyful with “Unlimited Fun Cool” without throwing away their edgy rockin’ pattern followed by “Dancing the Night Paradise” which redefines the party in paradise mode in heavy rock mode. The medley of “Dream Again” and “Move On” created a climax where the audience became a part of their show through clapping, chanting and cheering.

Anjuan has a strong traditional and modern jazz background, but with this group he is excited in digging more the rockin’ side of it, pushing his territory to the far edge. Fabian is an excellent bassit rooted in jazz with funky punch. As for Raka, he has a deep blues background then later groove. He’s been playing in various formation, but trio seems to be the best habitat for him. No one would believe that he is still in the band for a couple of month since he blends in perfectly with Anjuan and Fabian. As for these last mentioned boys, they remind us of young Tohpati and Indro Hardjodikoro, one of the true soulmates in music. All original song, plus some excerpts of “Amazing Grace” and “We Will Rock You” were just magnificent.

Twistin’, high voltage jazz rock repertoires from them are electrifying. The music should satisfy jazz and non jazz fans, especially the die hard heavy metal and rock lovers. Maybe their music could be too loud for some, but we say, if the music feels too loud, you’re too old! As a straight evidence, they managed to keep most of the audience watching them until the end exceeding the mall’s closing time. These three young men have the chance to make jazz interesting with rock, vice versa. Man, what a band, what a concept. We lost our breath.

We are happy with this edition since we got the chance to see the tremendous progress of young musicians who are connected to us quite from the beginning. Some of them have gotten such momentum which we all can be proud of, some are on the way to be there. One thing’s certain, they all have grown so much from the first time we saw them.

We thank all the musicians, our partners and everyone who came and had fun with us! Since the next edition will be in December, we are preparing a Special Christmas Edition. There will be a cute and very talented 5 year-old girl, the return of an action-packed band, a noir-ish band and, hey, you can enjoy Christmas in rockin’ blues way too! Stay tuned for that, we will see you again then!

Watch the highlight on our Youtube Channel:

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

After a full year of service, we celebrated our last edition of Bumi Sangkuriang Jazz Night for year 2016 grand! By collaborating with the fast growing label and management in Jakarta, Beatluz, we proudly presented the best talents they have so far, featuring the founder Barry Likumahuwa and Adinda Shalahita, along with Dimas Pradipta and Albert Fakdawer.

Since this was planned to be a party, we set a special theme for it: JAZZTRAVAGANZA. Held at the historical building of BP Bumi Sangkuriang, the BUMI SANGKURIANG JAZZ NIGHT : JAZZTRAVAGANZA not only featured the fine artists under Beatluz but also great local talents with assorted flavors of jazz including Jane & BO, Nayra Dharma, New Equinox and the modern day Karimata: 5Petani. As you can see, we doubled up the number of participants and duration for this special edition. The result is more than we expected. Happy to say, it was a success!

Starting earlier in the late afternoon after being posponed for almost an hour due to the heavy rain was a dynamic duo consisting of fingerstyle guitarist with old soul, Opik Bape and fine singer Jane Doe (Jane Christina). Together this duo is called Jane & BO. The group is formed actually not long ago, only few months earlier but they have been moving quite fast by actively playing in between jazz, blues and beyond.

Looking at their tag line “Simply Relaxing”, this duo intends to serve the jazz way of relaxing by featuring jazz standards and the likes. For Opik, this is his one of his new ‘homes’ after his chapters with Satura and Agis Bape were put to rest. For Jane, this is her solid playground after returning from Netherlands where she lived before.

Perhaps not many of jazz lovers remember the song written in 1945 and made popular by The Nat King Cole Trio, “Frim Fram Sauce”. This duo did a beautiful rendition of it. Then they carried on with a cheerful tune from Cole Porter, “Anything Goes”.  A melancholic opening took us to another song of Nat King Cole, “Nature Boy” before the duo sang their first original song, “Could’ve Been My Baby”. This song reflects the golden swing era which we believe could become a standard had it was released during that time. As we are now in December, Jane and Opik sang “Winter Wonderland” as their last presentation.

Just two of them, but as usual their music felt round and full. A very interesting duo like this is always needed in order to show that jazz doesn’t always have to be played with trio, quartet, quintet and so on, but a dynamic duo can also bring jazz in beautiful way. A really nice start for this event, thanks to Jane & BO.

Young girl, still 16 years old and started learning about a year and a half. Doesn’t sound convincing? Wait, this girl is different. Watch and listen to her, you will soon find out that she plays guitar like an experienced pro. We called her female Joe Pass due to her passion in pushing herself to be able to play like the legend. Other than playing guitar, she also sings. She is the daughter of bass legend Pra Budidharma, Nayra Dharma.

For the first song she chose an evergreen bossanova “Desafinado” sang in two languages: Portuguese and English. Then she brought Stevie Wonder’s hit, “Isn’t She Lovely”. From there, Nayra changed his gear to ukulele for “Dream A Little Dream of Me”. This is the song that came into her mind first of all when trying the ukulele.

Time to show her ability in playing more difficult compositions from bebop era. It was a song popularized by Miles Davis and also John Coltrane, “Four”. For the last song she played “My Funny Valentine” nice and smooth.

More than just growing in singing and playing, Nayra actually grows to be a good performer. Even when she is all alone on stage, she doesn’t get intimidated by the size of it. She also knows how to deal with problems that might occur during her performance and understand the importance of being connected to her audience. Her persistency and seriousness in practicing has been fruitful. What’s cool is that she’s just begun. We have high hopes of her, she is a star in the making.

5Petani (5 Farmers) started cultivating and planting this event with good jazz fusion seeds. This band is quite large, consisting of all talented young players such as Gerson Valdo Siahaan (keyboard) Frank Navayo Pattinasarany (guitar), Fauzan Rijal (bass), Yoga Wardana Kusumah (acoustic guitar), Athina Niassrin Muhamad (saxophone) and Arbi Wardani (drum).

For this event, Arbi was replaced by Eggy Ramanda on drums. 5Petani also took in some more friends including Hilmi Ridha (flute and bangsing), Yudha Rahadyan (saophone) and Praga Sabrani Tony (violin). As you can see, a large ensemble appeared on stage that told us they were going to give a party. And yes, they did! Starting with “Pelangi”, they carried on with another original composition “Anak Petani”. If you remember, more than 10 years ago a song written by Elfa Secioria titled “Persahabatan” which was made for Petualangan Sherina OST became a hit. They rejuvenated this song with cool rearrangement which fused modern and traditional music.

At this point we have enjoyed their lively, joyful performance on stage. “Matahari”, also their original reminded us to be thankful for a beautiful morning and then for the last song “Zefania” the boys released every drop of energy they had left, resulting one explosive climax.

The band is still around 2 years old at Butterfieldjazz Society, but like a great farmers, they know how to make their seeds grow fast then produce great fruits. On the surface they play jazz fusion, but if you watch them, you will know that these boys have big passion in doing their music which is transfered on stage into joyful, energetic performance. They plant, cultivate, we harvest the good music together. Like we said earlier, this band of young lions is like the modern day Karimata, a legendary fusion band who made a lot of waves around two decades ago. This band has the same chance to go big, we know it by looking not just their passion and consistency but also their trend. Go at it boys, we are counting on you!

An interesting trio came next, New Equinox. This band is like the home band for this regular event either to support featured star from Jakarta or having their own session. One album has done, now they are working on the second one where they are going to place all original songs. The most recent formation are original member Alman Naufal (drums), Ezra Manuhutu (bass) and Jason Limanjaya (drums).

They dropped jazz bombs right from the start, covering Joe Henderson’s “Inner Urge”. For the first time in our event, these boys presented their original composition titled “Twice a Three”. The song does have their character. Wild, playful and explorative.

Wes Montgomery’s “Four on Six” and “On Green Dolphin Street” was filled with thrilling action. These young jazz ‘stuntmen’ then sealed their gig with another original which they finalized just a night before, “EZ” and Jerome Kern’s “All the Things You Are”.

Twists, turns, manouvers always took place whenever they are in. Explosive solo drums, free-flying key-ploration and great work on bass created an action-packed joyride. Playing straightahead in quite extreme ways can provide such entertainment, and they are up for that. The wild boys marked another good round here in this event.

After the break, we gave the floor to Beatluz. Performing first was a boy really gifted with so many talents, Albert Fakdawer.

You probably remember a very well made movie called “Denias, Senandung Di atas Awan” in 2006. Albert was the leading role of this movie which brought him to receive Best Actor for FFI. He also won for The Best Newcomer for Indonesian Movie Awards and Breakthrough Performance at MTV Music Awards, both in 2007. But interestingly, eventhough he could have succeed in movie career, his heart beats strong for music. He finished as the runnerup of Akademi Fantasi Indonesiar (AFI) Junior in 2004 then released a Christian album. Then he became one of the talented youth ensemble Indonesian Youth Regeneration (IYR) and achieved success. Not only they streamed through many big festivals, they also won the Singapore Performing Arts Championship 5 years ago.

Now he happily works on his solo career under Beatluz. He has released one album titled “Dedication” with one single “Menunggumu”. While his soulful R&B voice sounds lovely, Albert also has good lively stage show. We knew that before, and this time he showed exactly that again.

He came with full team. Other than himself, the band consisted of Stanley Manuhutu (drums), Christ Stanley and Marthin Siahaan (keyboards), Vincent (bass) and the excellent trumpeter using a bent trumpet like Dizzy Gillspie’s, Jordy Waelauruw. Equipped with acoustic guitar, he kicked off big time with Stevie Wonder’s hit “Higher Ground”. His single “Menunggumu” came next in medley with “Astaga”, Israel & New Breed “To Worship You I Live” and Coldplay’s “Paradise”.

He switched to reggae by covering one of Bob Marley’s monumental hit, “Three Little Birds”. The crowds sang along happily with him. Everyone enjoyed this show, but Albert gave one last party which created a blazing ending by pinning another Stevie Wonder’s hit from 1982, “Do I Do”.

Double keyboards by Marthin Siahaan and Christ Stanley was simply amazing. Jordy’s wild trumpet was magic, and the rest of the band did very, very well in creating smooth, dynamic flow. This bombastic performance seemed to surprise many audience especially those who haven’t known Albert Fakdawer and his fabulous band. We heard many praises over him and his performance afterwards. That tells us that he definitely got many new fans from this act. What’s also great is that Albert included many positive messages too to his audience. Way to go, dude! So proud to feature you in our event!

As his album “Dedication” is still getting more and more good response, we have no doubt that this young man will achieve many more great things in his career. He can become a famous actor, but the choice that he made to focus more on music should give him t
he chance to fulfill his calling fully as well as his passion. Soulful jazzy RnB served funky and trendy. It was cool. This boy is really something.

Time to get the new female star in the music industry, Adinda Shalahita Ridanti Ningrum, better known as Adinda Shalahita or just Shalahita.She served the BLP as the backing vocal since 2007, then for Twenty First Night a  year later. She landed on several prestigious stages with her band 7th Sway also Nubica, formed in 2009. Then she co-found Beatluz together with her beau Barry Likumahuwa and pursued her solo career. Single, debut album are considered a part of her success which we are sure to continue along her journey.

We watched her cool performance at the Indonesian Jazz Festival (IJF) 2015 and liked it, so we are happy to be able to feature her in one of our events. Tonight she brought her full band featuring Yuan Mamangkey (guitar), Dwiky (bass), Marthin Siahaan (keyboard) and Agung Munthe (drums).

The soulful party carried on by Shalahita with the first song she also chose to open up her show at IJF, Jill Scott’s “Golden”. Then she sang her second single, “Di Mataku” followed by a sweet cover of Bill Withers’ famous song, “Lovely Day”. A famous song “Inikah Cinta” which became a hit by M.E in 1998 then reappeared again by SABA brought in medium soul groove by Shalahita and the band. She then spread positive vibe by using Ledisi’s song, “Alright”.

After that, she called her beloved boyfriend to ‘jam’ on stage. Under heavy applause Barry Likumahuwa joined them for a unique song, a mash-up between “Spain” and “Relax Your Mind”. Barry was expressive and explosive playing it. Shalahita’s first single, “Jangan Didengar”, reminding us not to hear negative comments that could disturb or even destroy our future. Christ Stanley and Jordy Waelauruw were asked to sing some parts, the audience also involved in this song. For the last song Shalahita sang Coldplay’s “Adventure of a Lifetime”.

Shalahita is a beautiful girl with beautiful voice. Her soulful voice suits singing from Soul, RnB, pop, pop jazz to standards and everything in between. The band did very well in supporting her too. After quite a journey in gaining experience, she is ready to emerge as a star. As she is one of the new sensations in music today, we are happy to have a chance of featuring her in Bumi Sangkuriang Jazz Night.

Never before a CD features two projects led by different musicians, playing in both project but lead according to their turn. Saxophonist Tommy Pratomo who has been playing with the likes of Raisa, HiVi, Adrea, Music for Sale, Extra Large, Soulvibe, Matthew Sayersz, Tompi, Monita Tahalea, Aditya, Calvin Jeremy, Marcell, Martin Denev and DJ Martin Barquis, and all-round drummer Dimas Pradipta who has been recording and performing with Glenn Fredly, Tohpati, Benny & Barry Likumahuwa, Bams, Aminoto Kosin, Indonesia Mahardika, Addie MS, Sheila Majid, Ayushita other than working as a recording engineer and producer actually worked the idea really well. 6 songs each for them packed in one CD. And they called themselves simply by using the first letter of their name: TnD.

At first Tommy was planning to join the team. Unfortunately he got to be somewhere else as the band of Marcell. But we still got Dimas who took the leading role on behalf of TnD for this event alongside Amal (bass), Marthin Siahaan (keyboard) and the sensational trumpet boy Jordy Waelauruw (trumpet).

Being so busy lately made Dimas felt a bit unwell. But he still came and somehow gave a solid performance as if he was perfectly fine. A song from Lettuce’s album in 2002, “Madison Square” directly spread high dose of funk with power beat. Jordy in front once again gave spectacular performance with his Dizzy Gillespie-like bent trumpet. Dimas’ original song which is included in TnD album, “Voiture Noire” came next. This song has everything to love, especially if you are into groovy, funky fusion. Another original song “9 Range Road” came next, his new song that we will find in his next album. “I’m going to play a song from PJ Morton. If you have time, do listen to his album, it is really good”, he said. This song featured the man with magic voice, Ray Monte who took the role of Stevie Wonder in the original version. Dimas’ own composition “Find Your Way” came right after.

Dimas then called Barry Likumahuwa to join the party, presenting two of his songs, from the latest album Octonary titled “Rapid Transitions” and his first solo album GoodSpell, “Walkin’ With the Bass”. Spectacular performance by the team of Dimas Pradipta and Barry Likumahuwa created one magic climax that sealed the whole 6 hours event in triumph.

Smooth to funky jazz fusion flew out from this show. Too bad Tommy couldn’t join the party, but Dimas stepped up to the plate and gave a blazing show. It was a groovy feast where joy and fun found alive. Step aside of his role as a producer and recording engineer, let’s never forget that Dimas is indeed an excellent drummer and leader of a superb team.

Doubling the number of performances and brought in half of them from Jakarta by cooperating with fast-growing label and management Beatluz made this edition special. Like we said in the beginning, we made it this way to end our final show in Bumi Sangkuriang for 2016 big way. We hope those who came enjoyed the show. Also, we want to thank you for all your support. Really, we couldn’t be able to make it without you!

We look forward to continue this event in year 2017 and will happily bring in many, many more legends, iconic figures, today’s top stars who are commited to jazz and its development, the best bands in Bandung that swings their pendulum to jazz and of course, supporting the regeneration by showcasing the young lions and potential newcomers.

Many thanks to our partners Venche Music School (VMS) especially Mr Venche Manuhutu and Kanggep Kusuma and the historical venue Bumi Sangkuriang, all supporters Authenticity, AB Production, Pikiran Rakyat, Perfect Alkaline, Casio, 3 Negeri and Music Gear, and everyone who have been showing the supports by spreading the event and coming, may we can still have it from you guys next year. For you who celebrate Christmas, we wish you a merry one. Happy holiday and soon, happy New Year! See you again in January!

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Reporter: Riandy Kurniawan
Photographer: Riandy Kurniawan, Titus Firmanto, Mia Damayanti, Krisda Komara .

As usual in previous years, we dedicated the December edition of 2016 to celebrate Christmas. Calling this event simply as Braga Jazz Walk : Christmas 2016 Edition, we featured young talents who were happily celebrating it with their own music style. As the result, we got rich variety of music, from swing, straightahead to grunge rockin’ blues. Lots of Christmas carols, original songs and jazz standards were found during the 3 hours plus show. What’s also cool is that the age range were wide too. For the first time we featured a little girl, still 5 year-old but is already able to sing jazz standards in tune. While for many Christmas songs often associated with swingin’ jazz, these musicians showed that Christmas can be celebrated with any kind of music. We are happy to be able to showcase that in this edition.

Many groups to showcase, so the schedule was tight. Performing first was the combination of students/teachers of ME Music Centre, highlighting a gifted little girl who could already sing jazz standards in such young age.

What can you expect coming from a 5 year-old girl in jazz performance? Normally we can’t hope much, but wait, some children are blessed with special gifts including in music, particularly in jazz! Meet Esther Kezia Alexis, the daughter of pianist/music school founder Michelle Efferin and drummer Richard Sirait. According to her mom, Kezia actually already sang before she talked. She got quite access to music and jazz since she is around her mom most of the time. Realizing her talent, her parents decided to put her in singing lesson. How amazing it is knowing that this little girl is really smart. She could already sing some jazz standards, even memorizing the lyrics. We happily provided a slot for her with a hope that she could learn and feel the joy of performing in front of people with confidence. For this event she performed under the name of Kezia ‘KZ’ Alexis and Friends along with some other students from her mommy’s school, M.E Music School.

The band consisted of Michelle on keys, Richard on drums, Ogie Samuel (guitar) and Iwan (bass). This session began with 4 girls from ME: Patricia Angelica, Sydney Gabrielle Dione, Madeline and the girl who we have featured singing with ukulele, Celline Indrawirawan. The opening tune of “Don’t Worry Be Happy” led to “Winter Wonderland”. These girls worked as a fine vocal harmony group which was also shown in the next song, “The Christmas Song”. These girls have landed on our stage before, but this time they did Christmas carols very well.

Then Kezia stood alone in front. She’s still shy to speak, but not when it comes to sing. “Beautiful Day” was the first choice , then she surprised us by singing “Summertime”. She memorized the lyrics and sang in tune. “Happy Birthday Jesus” was the song she chose to fit the theme, well done. For the last solo she pinned even more difficult song, “Take the ‘A’ Train”. A 5 year-old singing this signature tune of Duke Ellington? We don’t find it often. Note, she didn’t only sing, but also did scat-singing on this one. We got one more treat where three of the girls: Celline, Patricia and Sydney joined Kezia to sing the classic nursery rhymes, “Old McDonald Had a Farm.” Again we got lovely harmony from the girls.

Isn’t it amazing to have a 5 year-old girl sing jazz standards in tune, using English language, able to overcome the pressure of singing on stage with full band? Almost impossible, but Kezia did it! That’s something that might be difficult to find even for kids double her age. She set the bar as the youngest performer for this event. If before we have featured children around 7 to 12, this time the number reaches 5! “God is good.. just want her to have fun making music”, said proud mommy Michelle to us. We want the same, and happy to give small contribution towards her growth. Definitely she got talent, and it’s great to see her growing in the perfect family.

She is still like other children, being shy and all, but her gifts enables her to step forward singing live in front of real audience. As she is currently learning piano and just did her first exam with great result, we hope to see more of her in the future. Kezia, you are awe-inspiring! Remember this event as your own home, we can’t wait to welcome you back again!

Then it’s time to check out Christmas celebration in rocking Blues way from Green Dolphin Street. The name should remind you of a popular jazz standards made famous by Miles Davis in the late 50’s. What’s funny is, this band doesn’t swing or bop. Instead, they embrace blues in funky rock  The band now consists of three musicians: Yosia Herdian Widianto (drums), David Alexander Manullang (guitar) and Okapatria Christie Adryan (bass).

The band has released an EP earlier this year and then performed in this event as a part of their promo tour. Before that, they also released a Christmas album which offers the celebration in blues. Now they already have a new album and working on a single projected to release in the next couple of months.

According to Dave, the band is heavily inspired by the 60’s music, but they do listen to today’s rock and blues. The amalgam can be traced in their music. They kicked off hard with Stevie Wonder’s “Superstitious” in heavy rockin’ fashion. The second song showcased their ability to rearrange any song to fit their style, “Silent Night” in dark rock tone. Green Dolphin Street then delivered the song from the new album, “Yesterday I’m in Love” that perfectly reflected the 60’s vintage rhythm and blues nuance. They sealed up their performance with the upcoming single intended to spread positive message through music, “I Live My Life”. In this song they released all the energy they had left in such attractive body moving.

This band has done a lot of gigs in Bandung, Jakarta and beyond. We consider them as a successful band that penetrates more than any specific genre. While Christmas songs are often related to swing, Green Dolphin Street shows that it could sound just as cool in sharp rockin’ way. Captivating performance by this rockin’ jumpin’ trio.

We enjoy jazz from bands in various formations. From Trio, Quartet, Quintet, Combo to Big Band, All is fine, but let’s not forget that jazz can also appear in its true beauty from groups that mainly use the ‘ultimate instrument’, human voice. There are vocal harmony groups, there are also acapella which push the use of instruments aside. We have invited Pitupella to show it before, for this edition we proudly presented a considerably new acapella group from Jakarta who remarkably reached the semi final of NET TV’s Go Show not long after it was formed. This group of seven called themselves Inner G.

We found one of currently inactive acapella group Pitupella members inside the Inner G: Siska Napitupulu, taking the role of mezzo sopran. The rest are Lona Cindy (alto), Dicky William (beatbox), Deasy Amalia (sopran), Ion Prayogo (bass), Derry Aksera (tenor) and Nadya Neema (mezzo sopran). Formed on August 1st 2016, Inner G based itself on bringing the concept of acapella with unique arrangement. As you can see, beatbox and bass are involved too, but fully using voice instead of the respective instruments.

They were already attractive even before the show when they did soundcheck even gained some applauses. When they finally got the stage, the number of people increased quite dramatically. The harmony was great from the start, so did the entertaining factor. “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” directly showcased their awesomeness. Vocal party with some dancing brought the festive mood up high. Two more Christmas carols came in right after, “White Christmas” and “Jingle Bell Rock”, both in really unique and playful arrangements. Between here and there, they threw jokes which made the venue warmer.

Then they presented one of their most recent uploads on Youtube video, “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”. You can check the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaEE6BV9SGc, but we were lucky to be able to listen to it in live performance. Not only upbeat, happy songs, Inner G is also good in heart-warming ballads, such as when they sang “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”. They included some Sundanese touches in “Jingle Bells”. The audience loved it as we saw smile upon their faces.

The Inner G has a fun way in introducing the members, they even added some more songs in this occasion. Isyana Sarasvati’s big hit “Tetap Dalam Jiwa” redressed to fit the acapella. As much as we loved the show, they came to the last drop. Not one song, but a cool medley involving some ethnic nuances. “Gloria in Excelcis Deo” got some Batak-tribe beat and tor-tor dance, then “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” then the keroncong mode on “Go Tell It On the Mountain” , all in Indonesian language. Huge applause and cheers were given to these 7 vocal masters.

Gaining popularity from a TV show which brought them to the big four should give them benefit. But by looking at their gifts and creativity, we think that’s a certain thing. It’s not easy to bring this concept alive, yet the Inner G proved that they could bring it clean and solid.

The final band was ready to go. But before that, we gave a little featurette, divided into two groups. One, 6 girls from GKI Pagarsih singing “The Lord’s Prayer” then two sisters Jovita and Jocelyn singing “O Holy Night”. Spontaneously, they were reinforced by the final band of the night, Out of 7, except the keyboard position was taken by their vocal mentor, Erick Gabe. These little/teenage girls successfully made their first ever stage debut.

A band that once was promising in bringing modern jazz with cool twists. We are talking about the next performing band, Out of 7. Established about 3 years ago, this band ran quite fast from communities to big festivals and famous jazz venues. The name refers to their mission to bring unlimited varieties out of 7 notes. They released one single “Kita Indonesia”, but then they hybernated due to some personal problems. For this Christmas edition, they decided to come back in full team.

The squad still consists of key-wiz/arranger/band leader Widiyanto Sutanto, cute but powerhouse, hyperactive drummer Marissa  Wiguna, fusion guitarist Herman Yulianto and bassist Abet Darmaji, plus the vocalist who loves to do more than just sing, Erick Gabe. They haven’t been here for more than a year, so it’s good to have their reunion in this special Christmas celebration.

Out of 7 went swinging right away with “Winter Wonderland” followed by “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”. After these two songs, they increased the game with “Silent Night”. Different than the rock version from Green Dolphin Street, they opened up the song with cool solo drum by Marissa Wiguna. More information about this lethal young girl drummer, she currently serves as the drummer of senior rock guitarist from Singapore, Moliano Rasmadi for Moliano in Rock. Since she got power, she perfectly fit to play rock, but when it’s about jazz, this girl can bop and swing just as good. Back to the coverage, this song was served in full traditional swing where we got some tradings between the female drummer and the rest of the band.

Two years ago Out of 7 released their first single titled “Kita Indonesia” (“We are Indonesia”), right before they went on hiatus. Looking at the current condition of this nation today, this song became relevant. Unlike the original version back then, this time they put different concept on this song. More upbeat, more lively and richer in variation, including some reggae beat and disco. Good message from the song, reminding the listeners that eventhough there are differences, in the end we are all united as one. For the last song they turned to rock, It was like a mash-up between Linkin’ Park’s “In the End” and  “Gloria in Excelsis Deo”. This song created a climax not only for them but also for this 30th edition.

The manic finger dancing on keys, rich beat from drum, melodious rhythm from bass, fusionesque guitar sound and the top-notch vocal combined altogether, plus the creative arrangements always make this band interesting to hear and watch. Looking at a young girl on drum, cute but has the power like a strong man gives a different sensation in watching their performance. What we hope is that the band finds its way to start running again. Why? Because we think this band is promising and can contribute something in the current jazz scene.

For this edition we brought in jazz or music in wider horizon. Not only swing, bebop and straightahead were captured, but also rockin’ blues, all to bring the celebration to the audience, mall-goers and passers-by. From a very talented 5 year-old girl to young adult, from a debut, rebirth to a semifinalist of talent search program from Jakarta, all made this special Christmas edition full of joy.

We will be back again in January 2017 with more bands to feature which we believe will open up your perspective of how rich jazz really is, and that this nation does have unlimited creative musicians. On behalf of us all, we wish you who celebrate Merry Christmas 2016 and Happy New Year 2017. May peace, love and happiness always be upon you, may you have better and more prosperous year ahead! See you again soon in the new year, God bless you all!

Watch the highlight of Braga Jazz Walk Special Christmas 2016 Edition

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

There are so many ways to celebrate the Christmas season. You can have a family dinner or party, exchange gifts among friends, go to your favorite locations for a holiday, and yes, you can feel the joy through music. There are so many Christmas Carols you can enjoy in variety of styles, and jazz has been one of the most favorite ways to bring it. Now, what if the connection between jazz and Christmas brought grand, not only audibly, not only in small event but in the scale of a festival? That would be something right?

Medan, the capital of North Sumatra has made it happen. The team of M.O.G (Musician of God) initiated the first annual Medan Jazz Christmas this year. Perhaps it’s quite risky since Indonesia is currently facing some instability/intolerance issues, but we are happy to inform you that this new festival made a very successful start. This event took a big step by presenting iconic names in jazz, including legends, new sensation, today’s popular and important figures in Indonesian jazz development today. Held at the Ballroom of Grand Aston Hotel located at the heart of the city, the 1st Annual Medan Jazz Christmas 2016 spread the message of love, peace, unity and happiness through jazz to the audience.

The event opened up with the youngsters’ idol once labelled ‘The John Mayer of Asia’ by Channel [V] and Philippines: Calvin Jeremy. Having Batak ancestry from his father: Dash Sihombing, this young Indonesian singer that started his career around 6 years ago said that he felt like going home to perform at the show. Singing some of his hits like ‘Berdua’, the song-sequel ‘Tak Berdua’ and the upcoming single ‘Kita’, Calvin also delivered the Christmas classics “The Christmas Song” and the medley of “Jingle Bells”, ?White Christmas” and “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”.

Calvin wowed the audience with interactive and energetic performance, and as a heartthrob, he successfully stole the girls’ hearts and made everyone ready to enjoy the rest of the performances.

The next performer showcased a showdown between two amazing funkin’ jazz talents: the bass sensation, producer, Beatluz founder and the man behind the famous BLP, Barry Likumahuwa and the saxman who can bring seducing mood as well as boppin’ groove, saxman Ricad Hutapea.

Playing classic Christmas song from 1941 “Little Drummer Boy” they carried on with the medley of “Seorang Anak T’lah Lahir (Penasihat Ajaib)”, “O Holy Night’ and selected Church songs also in medley in each solo runs, they lit up the show like a glorious praise and worship. Barry and Ricad closed their performance with the gospel classic ‘Go Tell it on the Mountain’ in stunning jazz duet.

Imagine the heat created from the encounter of two funky musicians. Sharp, exploring bass lines and free-flowing groovy sax attacks were served chilled, while at other times they sent love soft and smooth. Just two of them, yet these young men are highly capable in delivering expressive, captivating performance.

The show continued on with the Berklee College of Music alumnus, pianist Boby Limijaya and young Indonesian drummer Yesaya ‘Echa’ Wilander Soemantri joined forces as the Boby Limijaya and Echa Soemantri Project, This is a project consisting of three members of his new band N.E.W.B. Other than Boby and Echa, its bassist Wesley Geraldo (who also plays for RAY) was with them. On guitar was Austin Ong, and on vocal was one of Eunomia, Cassia Agata.

This group started by playing Boby’s composition “The A Song” and “SBNF” written by Echa, their duet song “Pelangi-Pelangi” came right after. This solid unit ended their performance with Echa’s Christian song “Kasih yang Tak Pernah Gagal.”

The collaboration between Boby Limijaya and Echa Soemantri has been going on for some times now. They have blessed many people from one stage to another. These two lethal musicians lately has extended their collaboration in a group called N.E.W.Bwhich has been going on for at least more than a year now, yet when needed, they can appear with the project like this two by getting full support by some fellows. Just like Barry and Ricad, they represent the force of jazz from young generation today in Indonesia.

It’s almost midnight, but then came the highlight of the night, one that the audience have been waiting for. The jazz maestro Indra Lesmana came up on stage with his most recent group, the Indra Lesmana Keytar Trio. This group consists of Indra on keyboard, Sandy Winarta on drum and Indra Gupta on contrabass. With this trio, Indra has released an album dedicated to his lae dad, the father of Idonesian jazz, Jack Lesmana. It’s simply titled “About Jack”.

First song was a composition written for Jack titled “Mountain Pass”. If the trio should already do, Indra’s daughter who is now having a huge success as a singer and actress Eva Celia then joined them singing “The Christmas Song” also known as “Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire”.

After introducing his compatriotes, high skilled young guitarist Gerald Situmorang made the stage merrier by playing a lovely version of ‘Silent Night’ with Eva Celia on vocal. Leaving Gerald playing solo guitar with his composition titled “Solitude”, the show went on with “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” brought by them altogether. Two of Indra’s instrumental composition; “Long Journey” and the epic “Bulan di Atas Asia” then played by the trio plus Gerald on stage, followed by the upbeat Christmas classic, Donny Hathaway’s “This Christmas”. It became a perfect finale to wrap up the event.

Indonesia has had many annual jazz festivals throughout the archipelago, but of course there is still plenty of rooms for new ones to take place. Medan, once known as a city of rock has been showing its jazz pulse which is getting stronger for the past several years. It already has its annual jazz festival, but now a new one has come, ready to spread the combination of jazz and Christmas in December.

We hope this event to keep going for years to come. If this kind of event still kind of difficult to be made in most of the cities, we hope Medan can become a role model of high tolerance, peace an harmony, something this nation was built upon. Congratulations and thanks to M.O.G and all participating artists. Wish you all a Merry, Jazzy Christmas! God bless you all!

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

The year 2016 wraps up in fine style with a series of jazz and fusion performances at Bangalore venues such as The B-Flat Bar, Blue Frog, Windmill Craftworks, and Humming Tree, along with other locations such as Alliance Francaise and Pragrup! The featured bands included a number of local and international artistes, covering a range of styles: Indo-jazz, blues, blues-rock, ambient jazz and electro-jazz.

In our regular annual deep dive, we look at some of the groups who delighted jazz fans this year in Bangalore. See my earlier articles for a roundup of 2015  (http://jazzuality.com/jazz-event-report/2015-roundup-indo-jazz-and-latin-jazz-delight-bangalore-fans/)and 2014 (http://jazzuality.com/jazz-event-report/2014-roundup-indo-jazz-and-blues-rock-delight-bangalore-fans/).

Triveni Sangama kicked off the year’s concert series in Bangalore with a terrific fusion of Carnatic, Hindustani and Western classical music. The lineup included M. Mysore Manjunath on Carnatic violin, Pravin Godkindi on Hindustani flute, Ned McGowan on the western flute, and Italian guitarist Giuliano Modarelli. They were accompanied by Pramath Kiran on tabla, Giridhar Udupa on ghatam and B. C. Manjunath on mridangam. The musicians crossed continents, genres and styles with ease, taking turns on brilliant solos and outstanding duets.

Another international collaboration at the B-Flat Bar was the Amithias Project, with musicians from India, Ukraine and Germany. The Indian lineup featured Aman Mahajan on keynoards, Amith Nadig on flute and Muthu Kumar on percussion. They were joined by vocalist Tamara Lukasheva from Ukraine and Matthias Schriefl from Germany on trumpet and flugelhorn. Matthias blew the audience away in one set by playing the trumpet and flugelhorn simultaneously!

Young bass sensation Mohini Dey – all of 19 years old – took the stage at The Blue Frog for a scorching performance of contemporary jazz with drummer Ranjit Barot and keyboardist-drummer Gary Husband. The trio were aptly called ‘Uncommon’ and played a range of original compositions.

More international fusion was in store for jazz fans with the group Aspada, featuring George Brooks (saxophone), V. Selvaganesh (percussion), Ravichandra Kulur (flute), Osam Ezzeldin (keys) and Mishko M’Ba (bass). “The kanjira can sound like a helicopter or train, and sing a birthday song!,” said additional percussionist, Swaminathan Selvaganesh, who wowed the audience with the wide range of sound on the humble hand-handheld kanjira.

Bangalore also hosted a range of Indian classical music concerts in 2016 featuring legends such as Shubha Mudgal with Aneesh Pradhan; Ustad Shahid Parvez and Hindole Majumdar; sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan with his talented sons Amaan and Ayaan Ali Khan. Other performances featured the Gundecha Brothers, Hariprasad Chaurasia and Anoushka Shankar.
Flamenco-folk fusion dazzled the audience at Alliance Francaise with Mathias Duplessy (flamenco guitar), Mukhtiyar Ali (Rajasthan folk) and Sabir Khan (sarangi). “Musicians receive and transmit the divine music,” said Mathias Duplessy in an interview before the set. “Note, beat and heart – that’s all you need for musical collaboration,” explained Mukhtiyar Ali.

The Udupa Foundation also organised a fusion festival featuring legendary percussionist Trilok Gurtu along with Sivamani, Stephen Devassy (keyboards) and Ronu Majumdar (flute). Trilok dazzled the audience with his wide range of instruments and rhythms, and also took a dig at India’s frequent bickering between political parties. “Don’t be like BJP and Congress, fighting with each other – you will only pull India down!” he joked. “You will get a job – just be unique!” he added.

Guitarist Amit Heri had two fabulous gigs at The BFlat Bar. The first, in February, featured Gino Banks (drums), Keith Peters  (bass) and Matt Littlewood (saxophone). The second, in December, featured Ravi Kulur (flute), Mohini Dey (bass) and Ranjit Barot (drums). Western jazz and Indian classical music blended fluidly in both high-energy sets, with many tracks drawn from Amit’s recent albums, Elephant Walk and I Love India.

International Women’s Day was celebrated in unique style at The BFlat Bar on March 8 with a lineup of eight women jazz vocalists, including Arathi Rao and Mathangi. The instrumental backing was provided by male musicians who also received a round of applause for their support!

New frontiers in musical collaboration were explored by the band SMAKMahadev, with musicians from India and Iran. Shaheem Mustapha, Mehdi Dehbandi and Varun Lulla, along with a guest violinist from the US, blended chants with jazz. “The morseng looks like a bottle opener, a key – to another world,” explained Varun Lulla.

Many Western musicians tour through India on jazz collaborations, and some even stay on in the country for a few months or years. This includes Italians Gianni Denitto (saxophone) and Matteo Fraboni (drums), who played in trio format with Prakash K.N (bass). Gianni also has a free album for download on his website.

Fusion in world music style from Africa was featured at Windmill Craft Works with Grammy Award winner Cheick Hamala Diabate (ngoni, banjo), Rob Coltun (guitar), Sanoussy Diallo (bass), Susannah Elizabeth Harris (vocals), Michael Kweku Owusu (percussion) and Stewart Bernard (drums). Diabate has collaborated with blues guitarists as well as other West African griots.

Auroville-Bangalore Indo-jazz collaboration delighted the audience again with a performance by Mystik Vibes, featuring Muthu Kumar (percussion), Mishko M’ba (bass), Amith Nadig (flute) and Aman Mahajan (keyboards). Their debut CD ‘The Shadow Tree’ was released in 2012.

India’s leading blues band Soulmate from Shillong scorched the floor at the BFlat Bar with a sizzling set of classics and originals, featuring Rudy Wallang on guitar and the soaring vocals of Tipriti Kharbangar. The sets with Wang Dang Doodle, Voodoo Woman, Still Loving You, Everyday I Got the Blues, and Got my Mojo Working had the audience screaming for more, and Tipriti screamed back even more loudly!

Carnatic violinist Jyotsna Srikanth, currently based in London, performed brilliant sets in two different venues with her new project, Nordic Raga. Carnatic violin and Swedish folk music may seem like strange bedfellows – but the talented Indo-Western lineup showed otherwise! Par Moberg played unusual sounds on what looked like a long pipe. “While you can carry your didgeridoo on your travels, a vacuum cleaner pipe can also do!” Moberg joked.

Percussionist-composed Karsh Kale performed at UB City for the launch of the Art Bangalore Festival. The British-born, New York City-raised instrumentalist of Indian heritage delivered a superb outdoor set, a dizzy mix of tabla loops, vocals, Carnatic flute, percussion and electric guitar.

Another set of outdoor performances was showcased at the fourth annual Indigo Jazz & Blues Festival, at the Royal Orchid Hotel. The lineup included Thailand’s Passakorn Morasilpin quintet, Jazz Junction (Hungarian violinist and singer Helga Sedli, with Marina Xavier and Matteo), and Indian artistes Radha Thomas and Moonarra. Jazz and blues live on in other festivals elsewhere in India as well, such as the Mahindra Blues Festival in Mumbai; the 2016 lineup featured Soulmate, Keb Mo, Malina Moye and Josstone.

Smaller music venues such as Social@Koramangala featured Bruno Belissimo on bass and DJ set. Other featured bands in 2016 included guitarist Amyt Datta, and a collaborative set by the Berklee College of Music professors (with Mash, Webber, Turnbull, Philip).

Jazz-blues guitar legend Scott Henderson was one of the star attractions of the year, at Blue Frog. He played along with Romain Labaye on bass and Archibald Ligonnière on drums.

In 1991, Scott was named by Guitar World as the #1 Jazz Guitarist. His set included some of his classics along with interpretations of Weather Report tracks. Scott regaled the audience with his humour as well. “The more you drink, the better we sound!” he joked.

One of the final outstanding Indo-jazz collaborations of the year was Trimukhia, who performed at the Pragrup Centre. It featured R. A. Ramamani (Carnatic vocals), Mike Herting (piano), Karthik Mani (percussion), Adarsh Shenoy (tabla), and Prakash Sontakke (Indian slide guitar). The set featured a brilliant vocal-piano duet, and some sizzling percussion and ‘vocal percussion’ (konnakol) by the youthful Karthik, who also showcased a range of instruments including kanjira, cajon, ghatam and SizzleBoard from Belgium.

I picked up a range of CDs from the artistes for review over the year, and look forward to another inspiring year of jazz and fusion ahead in 2017! See also my app Oktav (‘Music Quotes & Proverbs’) available on iTunes (https://appsto.re/in/ah1u4.i) and on Android (free version: https://goo.gl/FTFOt5).

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

Starting 2017, one of our events is freshened up with a new name. After two and a half years using Braga Jazz Walk, from now on the name has changed to BRAGA JAZZ NIGHT. This edition was our first event in 2017, the first under the new name, and number 31 of all editions we have been serving at the Braga CityWalk.

As we are getting closer to the Lunar New Year, in sync with the mall’s programme “Night at Old Shanghai”, we made this edition to celerate it. Braga Jazz Night : Night at Old Shanghai featured artists from local sources and also a guest star coming all the way from Sydney, Australia, reunited with her college friend after 11 years. The lineup this time consisted of active musicians, experienced ones, teachers and amazing young talents. Speaking of variety, this edition got wide range of styles from swing, bop, jazz-rock-soul-funk fusion to the Sundanese ethno-jazz where traditional instruments met the modern, western ones.

Performing first was a new band, The BFG. BFG is an abbreviation of Best For Groove, consisting of gifted kids in jazz with age ranging from 10 to 19. Eventhough the band is considerably new, the personnels are certainly not. Look at its pianist, Nadine Adrianna. She debuted at the age of 8 right here in this event. From time to time she continued to surprise us with her fast grow. She is also the only talent who has performed in three different religion-based special editions of this event: Christmas, Ramadhan and Lunar New Year. From a shy little girl to an excellent band leader, she has been showing her ability to write songs too. She already has 6 original songs at this current moment, something that not many children could do especially in jazz.

Then, there is Vico Wibowo, also a genius singing multi-instrumentalist. For this band he mostly serves as the guitarist, but when needed he could go to piano. Two other personnels are also great young talents: Raihan Ardisoma (drums) and Sean Zuffar (bass). They both have played alongside Nadine uner the name of Nadine Adrianna and Friends in this event before (http://jazzuality.com/jazz-event-report/braga-jazz-walk-24-special-ramadhan-edition-2-the-report/). Now they become a quartet as a brainchild of Angga Wardana of Butterfield Jazz Society who also formed 5Petani and AFA Trio among other interesting new bands from Bandung.

They began sailing with a new song by Nadine, “Alley Blues”, portraying the alley near her home. Vico roared wild with her guitar along with Nadine’s explorative bluesy piano playing. Strong beat and rhythm were provided by Sean and Raihan. Nadine’s first ever composition “Wayne Street” which is inspired by Wayne Shorter’s pieces then appeared in new quartet arrangement. As we are all still mourning the passing of an influential jazz musician Riza Arshad, Nadine dedicated a song that she actually wrote to honor him. The song is titled “Harewos Bulan”. “I made this song because I remember uncle Riza loved to play pentatonic scales”, she said sadly. This song was played in deep respect as well as showing us that this 10 year-old girl can already bring a pentatonic-based composition inside her jazzy soul. Also for this song, Vico demonstrated his awesome ability to stream with keyboard.

They carried on with the only cover, Indro Hardjodikoro’s “Up and Down” from his latest album “Get Closer”. Sean shone in this song by showcasing how fast he could walk the bass without hitting wrong notes. “The next song was Vico’s. It’s called “Thoughts”, telling us how he see music as the representation of heart (feels), mind (thoughts) and soul. This is quite a complex composition involving intense connection between keyboard and piano, superbly done by Vico and Nadine. The bass and drum role are not easy, yet the boys did very well too. For the last song The BFG played another new composition by Nadine, “Kimba Dancing” that visualized Nadine’s playful cat, Kimba. Vico’s manic finger-dancing over the keyboard really brought the feeling of jumping, dancing playful cat. This song has a lethal dose of groove which reminded us of the funky post bop era as if it came from Herbie Hancock around his “Maiden Voyage” years.

It’s amazing to see young talents could play this good. The BFG may be the proof of how Indonesia is blessed with early-born talents where many of them actually hatched from Bandung. While we have been keeping our eyes on the awesomeness and vast progress of the genious Nadine and Vico, Raihan and Sean are much upgraded too in every aspect. Beside of being individually good, they has a good control over the tempo, dynamics and connection. The BFG is currently working on their debut album and aiming Java Jazz Festival this year. We do hope these magical kids will make it and shout loud of their existance and awesomeness to the world.

The second session featured a fusion group that has been keeping its existance for almost 8 years, the 5th Avenue. This band is certainly not new for us since they have been featured quite many times before in various formations. Today the band consists of founders Chris Alfeus (guitar) and Stella Inke (piano) plus renowned bassist Ilham Septia Inda Nugraha. To complete the lineup, they brought in fellow Ryan Napoleon (the drummer of Cakra Khan) to fill up the drum position.

5th Avenue plays fusion with their own signature. Chris in front is an excellent leader who can go further than just being skillful. He can scat-singing following the stream of notes he plays on guitar the way George Benson does. His ability got well noticed by the juries of Jazz Goes to Campus 2014 Band Competition which brought him to be the Best Guitarist as well as placing the band as one of the winners. Their music got richer with the beautiful melody from Stella’s piano playing and sharp groovy rhythm from the Ilham’s bass. As for the drum, while they are still looking for permanent new member, Ryan completed every round for this event.

Composition and arrangement as one of the things that for us stand as their forte quickly appeared on the first song, Fatima Rainey’s “Hey” in pleasuring smooth jazz rearrangement. Chris showed his scat-singing over the notes he played from guitar in this song. Then they played their original which we have been familiar with and loved for at least the past two years, the cheerful “Found You”. A song from 1980 which is mainly associated with Teddy Pandergrass, “Love T.K.O” was made nicely as if it was their own.

An evergreen made for The Jackson 5, “Never Can Say Goodbye” became their fourth presentation. They rearranged this song into sweet, smooth jazz which worked really, really well. Their version could become a hit had it was made into the recording. For the last song, the 5th Avenue gave a fine execution on a delightful jazz fusion from Brian Culbertson, “Another Love”.

From smooth jazz to funky light jazz fusion over the combination of original songs and cool covers, 5th Avenue once again brought joy to this event. Other than keeping their success as Divo Music Management, we do think it’s important too for them to establish the band in the jazz squared circle. The combination of ellegant jazz-rock guitar playing with scat singing, beautiful stream of notes from the piano, rich melodic rhythm from the bassist and power drumming over fine arrangements should spoil the fusion fans who watched them. A good band like this should be able to find a solid stand, have some albums and fly high. One thing we always know is, whenever we need a good band, 5th Avenue is always an excellent choice.

In the third session, a lovely reunion took place. It was between two friends who haven’t met each other for 11 years since they both pursued their formal education in Australia, Michelle Efferin and Jessica Kung. After they graduated, Michelle went back home to Bandung, opening her music school ME Music Centre and establishing her career as a jazz pianist, while Jessica became a successful singer including joining a well-respected jazz gospel vocal ensemble in Australia led by Joy Yates and David McRae: Jubilation. We heard about the reunion plan a couple of months ago from Michelle, we are glad to be able to provide them place and chance to do so. For us, not only the reunion is important, but for the first time we feature renowned artist from the Land Down Under.

For you who haven’t heard of Jessica, she is indeed a carming and captivating vocalist of the highest degree. With such gifted voice and experience, she is shining in any kind of performances, from fronting a large band to an intimate duo. Speaking of music style, she is versatile in an array of genres ranging from Jazz to Latin, Pop, Soul, Gospel and RnB, bringing charisma and finesse to all her performances.

She studied vocal technique and approach with Bob Tasman-Smith in her teens then continued her study with some of Australia’s finest musicians including Sean and Greg Coffin, David MacRae, Mark and Tracy Costa at the Australian Institute of Music (AIM) in Sydney. In 2007 Jessica graduated from AIM with a Bachelor of Music (Hons). Not long after that she joined the Jubilation, one of the most respected and revered vocal groups featured in the Woolworth’s Carols of the Domain. As part of Jubilation Jessica has worked with many stars such as Jimmy Barnes, Jessica Mauboy, Paulini (Australian Idol), Samantha Jade (X-Factor), Delta Goodrem, Leo Sayer, Deni Hines just to mention a few.

Aside of an artist, Jessica also has the calling to educate and share, which brought her to be a teacher. She is passionate about sharing her knowledge and experience in hopes to mentor, teach and equip young singers and musicians with the necessary tools they need flourish in their own musical journey; whether that be for leisure or for a future in the music industry. That’s why while she is visiting Bandung, not only she was featured in this event, she also gave Vocal Masterclass on Wednesday, 11 January 2017 at ME Music Centre.

For this event she was fully supported by ME Music Centre. Her dear friend Michelle Efferin herself was on piano, Michelle’s husband Richard Sirait on drums, Ogie Samuel on guitar and Iwan on bass. The school’s senior vocal coach Yosep ‘Othep’ Asrom was a part of the team, along with some students of ME Music School including Patricia Angelica, Madeline and the ‘ukulele girl’ Celline Indrawirawan.

Jessica, Michelle and the whole team kicked off with Tania Maria’s classic, “Come With Me”. While Jessica and Michelle were complementing each other, Richard, Iwan and Ogie gave substantial contribution to this song. The three ladies and their vocal coach really spiced things up. It was beautiful, so beautiful that a tourist who happened to be there couldn’t help herself not to dance. She danced happily throughout the song. That created quite lively scene.

Jessica then sang the first hit of Frank Sinatra, “Polka Dots and Moonbeams”. We don’t get to hear this song being sung often anymore, so it was great to have her reminding us of this gem in such beautiful way. Then she carried on with “Georgia On My Mind”, again by placing her heart into this sentimental evergreen. Enough with ballads,our mood became cheerful again with Antonio Carlos Jobim’s masterpiece, “One Note Samba”.

Othep took over the mike and sang “Moody’s Mood For Love”. Not an easy song to sing, yet he nailed it like a champ. Jessica invited all singers to join her for one last song, this time presenting the urban sound of neo soul by covering Jill Scott’s hit “A Long Walk”. A very nice choice to seal their lovely session.

For the first time we featured an international artist as a part of the show which turns out really, really good, thanks to Michelle Efferin who introduced and provided us the chance. A superb quality of jazz singing from a charming, warm-hearted lady from Sydney has added a wonderful story of this event. Jessica is a remarkable singer who has it all. She doesn’t need to show off. She sings from her heart, get totally into each song and keep the beauty of the melody, resulting a heartfelt performance. Her collaboration with Michelle Efferin and the band, plus the bright students of ME Music Centre worked really well too. A small regular community event like this are held within the limitations, so, we send big thanks and respect to Jessica Kung for be willing to come and join us. We wish you all the best in your career both in entertainment and education, and we certainly hope to be able to (re)unite you again with Michelle in the future.

Jazz and traditional Sundanese music come from different place and era. But since jazz is able to absorb influences from diverse local music or culture wherever it lands, the combination of jazz and the mystical, enchanting Sundanese music could open up a different realm of a dimension. Especially when it was formed by a great band or ensemble, we would be able to feel this kind of realm in such unforgettable way.

Meet a great cross jazz-ethno ensemble from Bandung, the West Java Syndicate. Formed in 2010 as the brainchild of drummer Zahar Mustilaq, this band is getting better and better in fearlessly combining two spheres: the progressive, modern Western Jazz with the mystical, traditional, ancient Sundanese music. Their music often fuses with other influences. Complex, yet friendly to even the most common ears. What’s cool is that they often demonstrate ‘dialogues’ between instruments both in live performance and recordings. That makes their music feels alive and full of spirit. Other than Zahar, today this band consists of Dede SP (bass), YD Nafis (keyboard), Randy Gevenk (traditional bamboo-made woodwinds) and the newest member IpinZbet on kendang. They have released one EP titled “Album Leutik” (in English: Mini Album) in 2013 and currently is working on their second album at one of the best studios in Bandung, the Studio 8.

Randy Gevenk started with karinding to open up the surrealistic musical dimension before moving on to bamboo flute. The Sundanese pentatonic pattern with the combination of traditional and modern beat from them was breathtaking. One of the new song “Child’s Play” took us deeper into this different world where they demonstrated their ability to play this quite complex concept along with joking and laughing at the same time. “We are not musicians, we are jokers”, said Zahar in teasing us with their concept.

YD Nafis’ composition “Tembang Katresna” (in English: “Love Song”) offered us to enjoy ballad in another unique way. The blending between kendang and drum, the piano playing which basically was built within pentatonic scales yet could fly wide to reach jazz, third stream or even new age, the sound of traditional woodwinds and the rock-titude bassist created something we don’t get to hear often. Then they played another new song, so far titled “One Night”. This groovy beat and the uplifting song invited the listeners to dance or at least tapping their feet. Since it was already way past the closing hour of the mall, they had to come to an end. But wait, not before one last song, which turned out to be a big blast. The song is called “Gending Rame Ku Kendang”, listed in their first EP. This song served a perfect climax: intense, loud, loads of action. The tarompet sound, the mind-bending drum and kendang attack, the ferocious piano playing and unpredictable bass lines which is served interestingly with wild stage act caught everyone off-guard. Eventhough Zahar already warned the audience that this song could ‘make your ears bleed’, there were so many elements of surprise blasted everywhere, making this song should stand as a masterpiece.

West Java Syndicate demonstated how unique the sound is when modern jazz meets the traditional Sundanese ethnic music. More than just letting us feel the harmonious combination of two worlds, the way they perform was highly entertaining, humorous and interactive too. We haven’t got the chance to bring them for more than a year, but since they are going to release a new album, the timing was actually perfect.

We hope their appearance in this event could become a good promo towards the society. And of course, we wish them all the best with the album. West Java Syndicate is not the only band that has the Sundanese elements in the music concept, but these dudes certainly has a strong character in their music. We say, being different is actually awesome. And, these guys proves that music and comedy can go hand in hand to give the best of entertainment. Lively, funny, creative, attractive and genuine, always great to have them on our stage.

As the Lunar New Year for 2017 is on January 28, we dedicated this event to celebrate it. We hope our attempt of bridging Sydney, Shanghai and Bandung would be enough to let you feel the joy of this Chinese New Year. We will be back again next month for Valentine Edition. On behalf of us all, we wish you a Happy and Prosperous life in the upcoming year of the rooster. Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Watch the highlight at our Youtube channel:

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

For the second time Braga Jazz Night (previously known as Braga Jazz Walk) held a special Ramadhan edition. If last year we focused on making up the concept to celebrate the holy month, this year we decided to use it for better purpose. Since we found out that a dear friend of ours who had been laid low for about a year suddenly announced a big break through with a new single around the corner.

Then, a mind-bending group who play cool cross progressive Sundanese ethno-jazz also made a very interesting move by widening their musical territories, expanding their path passing the java island to reach the western part of Sumatra. Then, we haven’t invited a jazz couple since two years ago. So, instead of just making up an event to fit the theme, we thought it would be better to use it for good cause. Having that in mind, the Braga Jazz Night #36 : Special Ramadhan Edition presented an official single launching album, a unique collaboration involving the traditional musics of two different tribes packed in progressive jazz and an intimate moment in jazz by loving husband and wife.

Unlike before, this time the event was moved earlier to the afternoon, so we could entertain jazz lovers and mall-goers who decided to go somewhere cool while waiting for open fast. Also, by making it earlier, we don’t have to disturb any audience to do the special Taraweeh praying during the fasting month which starts around our normal time.

This edition started with Misty, accompanied by her husband YD Nafis and the hyperactive drummer Alman Naufal. Tuti Iskandar, that’s her real name. But since her students called her Misty, shortened for Miss Tuti, she used it as a stage name which for us is perfect inside the jazz scene. Being a mother of two, a wife and teacher should take most of her time. But she surely can sing good jazz. Her smooth and calming voice suits jazz and bossa standards. Other than her voice, we love her maturity in singing. She loves to keep it simple, no overdo. Other than singing, she can write songs too. With her husband, a well respected pianist who also shares passion in jazz, they extend their romance to stage performance.

YD Nafis and Alman Naufal started first as a duo, playing an interesting version of “All the Things You Are” which certainly fit the month of Ramadhan. Misty came in and sang “Waltz for Debby” as her first shot. Then she sang her own song, written by her and husband titled “Kau Tak Sendiri (You’re Not alone)”, made to encourage victims of the chronic autoimmune disease called Lupus. As the song was meant to be encouraging, Misty didn’t make it as a ballad but a smooth groove pop jazz. A really good song and meaningful this one is.

Her other original song followed right after. This time the song is religious, “Jagalah Aku (Take Care of Me)” dedicated to her beloved husband. A hit of Krakatau from the 1992 album, “Sekitar Kita” made some of the audience sang along with her. In the end she surprised us by singing a soundrack of cult anime television series Cowboy Bebop titled “Flying Teapot”, composed by Yoko Kanno. This song is not easy to sing, but she nailed it.

A real couple on stage always brings something different. It’s like they share the connection and romance to the audience through music. We could clearly feel how they love each other and share the same passion in jazz. It’s still clear in our mind when they gave a beautiful show 2 years ago, now they brought it back again onto this stage. Misty gave a smooth, relaxing start that made us all felt at ease. What’s sweet is their 5 month cute daughter Alifa was there sleeping in front of the stage throughout the performance as seen in the picture.

With all her activities as wife, mother, school teacher, it’s probably difficult for her to build a singing career, but Misty does have a beautiful voice with jazz vibes. Now we also know that she can write and compose songs as well. She may have a good chance to pursue a music career, but anyhow, We’re glad to have her back again.

In the second session we’re proud to support a soul diva for her single launching. Being blessed with such gift in singing, we dare to say that she is a force to reckon with in the Indonesian music scene, most particularly soul, jazz and blues. She is Agis Kania.

We got to know her by her quite often appearances in Klab Jazz’s events. This lady has a thick, flawless wide ranged soulful voice, that would make one think as if she was born there in the motherland of Soul and has been singing for many decades. We recognized her top-notch vocal quality, singing skill and charisma when she was with the gypsy swing duo Satura and then, a dynamic duo Agis Bape which managed to release some successful singles before they parted ways. With these two groups Agis flew high in establishing her career, but speaking of career, it has been going on for a very long time, since she was still in the kindergarten, that’s when she wrote a Pop Sundanese song about her hometown, Sukabumi that became the icon of the city.

Entering the college, she moved on with variety of genres, from Keroncong (with PHK, she made her way to be on air often in national radio station, the RRI), Soul/RnB (with Brown Sugar, T-Five) also Blues and Jazz. In Blues she has been appearing very often too like in Monday Blues at Ruang Putih, BBS, Blues in Art and so on. She is also featured as the vocalist of Trias Acoustica and Blues Libre.

Back to jazz, she was growing with this music, thanks to her mother who introduced it to her. She later learnt it all by herself. When she came to Bandung, she digged it deeper with the legendary singer, Tula Samjoen since she was still in her late teens. She admits that jazz is very special to her. “I could have sung anything, but jazz always feels different to me.” she says.

But then, when she laid low after her duo ended, she was contacted by Tabriz Muhajir Effendy a.k.a Ajier T-Five who composed a song but got no lyrics and singer just yet. She took the offer and worked on the lyrics, recorded the material and amazingly, all done in just 2 hours. From there, everything has been flowing smoothly, as if the path was already prepared for her. A video clip, photographs, solid team, even establishing her own label AK Music Concept. Speaking of the song, it was made in thick Neo Soul where jazz lives on, plus a splashes of EDM which carries the song into the current trend. The song’s titled “Baby You”. Exactly on this date (15 June), her song was released internationally on all major digital platforms. We are proud that it took place right here at the Braga Jazz Night.

Ajier was supposed to be here, unfortunately he had to perform with T-Five at the same day. So Agis brought in her friends within her circle including Aria Nugraha (keyboard), Dimas ‘Ror’ Setiawan (bass), Reza Bachtiar (guitar) and Iir Danur (of Anima band, drum). A strong team of young but experienced players like this gave a solid support to her big day.

Agis started with Lauryn Hill’s “Nothing Even Matters” which directly put us all in neo soul atmosphere. Agis seems to be improved in stage appearance as she now shows deep emotions and body gestures like swaying in smooth rhythm. Then she took two of Stevie Wonder’s hits from his 1972 “Talking Book” album, “Superstition” and “You and I (We Can Conquer the World)”. In “Superstition” she demonstrated her ultimate force in singing soul with her 5-star vocal quality. Then in “You and I” which got popular again around 10 years ago through the crooning voice of Michael Buble she showed how good she could build a song to reach the ultimate climax.

She was generous to bring not only one but two singles. First, the breakup song “Erase My Number” is also built upon the current sound of neo soul. We think this song has the same chance as the single she just launched to succeed. Cool groove, cool rhythm, catchy melody and the lyrics which reflects what we might have experienced before. Put all this in Agis, it becomes an ace. Then, she finally came to the single which was officially launched in the same day of this event: “Baby You”. This song has all the ingredients to become a hit in the global nu soul scene. The rich arrangement which has splashes of EDM inside the current nu soul style should have no problem to penetrate music lovers out there. Agis’ vocal character perfectly clicks with the concept. Her voice breathes life into this song in reflecting love, lust and longing to appear deep, sexy and sensual. As a breakthrough single, this song is brilliant.

Not so many female singers now dig this side of music, so we feel happy that finally a singer with pure soulful voice takes her journey inside this scene. We are even happier that it’s Agis Kania.  “Baby You” is a single that could bring her career more than she ever thought of. This song has everything. It’s trendy, it’s packed in style, the Neo Soul sound feels rich, the melody, the arrangement, the lyrics, the storyline, the way she sings it, the amount of emotions being poured inside, all fall into places. Soon when the videoclip’s released, you will see that the it’s very well made too. It feels great to see that Agis is up and running again, even faster than ever by taking the genre that truly represents her true-self. With everything she has, she should be able to fly high among the stars. May this single be the new promising dawn for her.

Congratulations for the single launching Agis! We are proud that it took place right in this event. Hail to the new soul diva!

Indonesia is blessed to have so many different tribes with their own fascinating cultures and arts, including the traditional music found in each tribe. Each of them has its own trademark whether in sound or rhythm that could easily be distinguished. Now, as a music genre has been showing a unique ‘habit’. As it spread around the world, it drew on different regional, national and local music cultures wherever it’s landed which gave birth to many distinctive new breeds. Imagine what would happen when jazz lands everywhere in a nation that has almost one and a half thousand tribes like Indonesia. And true, we have seen many differend kinds of ethnic jazz created from coast to coast. The next question: what if two traditional music blends in, sewn in progressive jazz? How would it sound? For the first time in Braga Jazz Night’s log, it happened. The combination is between the mystical sound of Sundanese (West Java) and the rhytmic music of Minangkabau (West Sumatra), brought by the WEST JAVA SYNDICATE COLLABORATION.

We were lucky to see the birth of this crazy gang back in 2010 as the brainchild of its drummer Zahar Mustilaq. YD Nafis (piano) and Dede SP (bass) are the co-founders who are still with the band. The recent formation including IpinZbet (kendang) and Randy Gevenk (traditional woodwinds) who unfortunately couldn’t be with us because he’s still finishing his study in China. This band boldly explore the multi-dimensional world of music where the traditional Sundanese and modern, western progressive jazz live in harmony. They are unique, challenging and fun to watch since they love to joke and has cool stage act.

From Zahar we heard that the syndicate recently expanded their musical territory by merging their music with the Minang music. They brought in an expert of this traditional music from West Sumatra, founder of Palanta Line Art who graduated from ASKI (Indonesia Art Institute) of Padang Panjang and STSI Surakarta: Maspon Herizal. This native West Sumatra musician (originally from Payakumbuh) plays woodwinds like Gevenk. The different is, if Gevenk plays woodwinds from West Java, Maspon digs the traditional instruments of Minang. He brought some of those in this event including Saluang, Bansi, Sampelong, Tanduak, Serunai and also did Beluk Padang (voice humming).

With this ‘enhanced’ formation, they were featured in the Asian African Parade last month (13 May 2017). But what’s interesting is, for this event they expanded the concept even further by bringing in another player from Palanta Line Art, Kiki Septian to play talempong, a small kettle gong known as a famous traditional instrument/muic of Minangkabau people of West Sumatra. Amazingly, this formation performed in public for the first time in this event.

For tonight, two of the West Java Syndicate’s mates couldn’t play. Randy is still studying in China, and the ‘rockin’ bassist Dede SP have flown back to his hometown for Ied. To replace him on bass, the band brought in a cool substitute, Luqman Hertanto Herman, bassist of successful rock band Sylvia. He has a different style of playing, but we have to say it works very well. Not only he did great in guarding the bass lines and gave strong punches over the rhythm, Luqman actually added up a new color into the Syndicate’s canvas.

The magical, mystical nuance was felt directly from the first presentation, “Bubuka”. If usually this song was made in Sundanese feel, now they take it into a noir, surrealistic nature. Maspon did cool ethnic voice humming, Tanduak (kind of ancient flute made from bamboo and the real buffalo horn) and the thick bamboo flute Sampelong. According to Maspon, the voice humming, tanduak and sampelong were used in performing mantra and blackmagic in the ancient time. Nowadays people no longer do that, but still the using of these instruments create a whole different ambience.

The next two songs were already familiar to everyone’s ears since both are famous folk songs. First, “Panon Hideung” (West Java) then “Gundul-Gundul Pacul” (Central Java). It’s indeed interesting to see how they deliver these both songs by involving West Sumatra’s traditional instruments which has a big difference than the Javanese’s typical music pattern, like the rhythm and scale-wise where Javanese mostly uses pentatonic while West Sumatra is more into diatonic. Amazingly these musicians found its grip and shape something unique we never heard before. “The key is tolerance. We have to know when to do this and that, when to let the Minang musical pattern take over and when to let the Sundanese do the work.” said Maspon to us after the show.

For the last song, West Java Syndicate played Maspon’s composition from a couple of years ago titled “Andalas Raya” (The Great Andalas). This song is epic. It began with pure Minang traditional music led by Maspon, then it went wild, switching to swing, bebop and even rock n’ roll. That said, with the Minang and Sundanese traditional music were still very well kept. For you who are curious to know what Andalas is, it’s the kind of tree found in Sumatra areas that has been used as the mascot/symbol of West Sumatra. This song takes us up on a spiritual and adventurous voyage throughout the beautiful land of Minang. A true masterpiece brought in spectacular treatment by these out-of-the-world geniuses. All of them released every drop of energy they still had left and sealed it triumphantly.

A new musical dimension in a new horizon is created by the West Java Syndicate Collaboration. They prove what we always believe, that music has no border, no boundaries and that there are still so many terrains to explore. Sundanese and Minangkabau have their own distinctive style. Both are traditionally strong in art including music, both are different in many ways, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t go hand in hand creating magic.

And the fact that it all happen inside a progressive jazz shows one of the role of jazz people seldom realize, that’s the role of being an universal language. The openess and freedom of exploration jazz has once again open up something we never heard before. Magical concept brought alive by a syndicate filled by genius musicians. Words can’t describe how proud we are to see this formation came alive for the very first time in our event. Kudos to you all guys! May this collaborative project be continued on. Keep boldly exploring the archipelago with this awe-inspiring, mind-bending concept!

What an edition this is. Three sessions with totally different stories in different genres created an episode that we won’t forget easily. We hope our idea in cooking up this edition would make it more than just a party and celebration. And we do hope those who came and watched the event could see the colorful world of jazz which resonates peace, love and freedom. Jazz was originated from USA, but now it belongs to the world. There are so many breeds of jazz created by the way it drew on the local music cultures wherever it’s landed, and it will never stop doing so. That makes the world of jazz is always exciting.

Still a couple of days left to fast, we hope everything goes well for our Muslim friends and readers. May this holy month brings you lots and lots of blessings. Next month we will back to our normal time again with fresh batch of talents. Thank you for keep supporting us and the artists. See you again on the 37th edition in July!

Watch the highlight of Braga Jazz Night 36 Special Ramadhan Edition

See more pictures:

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

If a big band ‘dares’ to hold two regular events every year for about a decade, that big band should have quite a reputation. Since it involves plenty of players, the preparation should never be easy. So if one manages to do that kind of effort, they should be something. Bandung should be proud to have such big band. The name is Salamander Big Band.

The Salamander Big Band was founded on September 17, 2006 at Bumi Sangkuriang Bandung by Devy Ferdianto. It started by utilizing young jazz talents from Bandung and very well kept with continuous regeneration process. They have even had the junior big band consisting of all young players since 2010. They have entertained us jazz-gulpers for 11 years, offering us a chance to experience the real swingin’ sensation as if we were there in the glorious ballroom around 80 years ago.

Yes, they are capable to bring the authentic sound from that golden era back again at present time. Not only they adopt the formation of Cole Porter or Duke Ellington and the likes, they preserve the sound and feelings too. But what you have to know is that they often take us visiting later eras. This big band is also capable to bring the sound of 60’s to more modern eras up to this day, even know how to funk and rock hard. They can capture the American jazz but also great in presenting the European scene. When needed, they can embrace the traditional (ethnic) music to fit the big band concept.

The harmonious collision of brasses and rhythm section from them are indiscribable. Talk about the harmony of brass section consisting of saxophones, trumpets, trombones along with guitar, keyboards, bass, drums and percussions – can you imagine? A musical instrument of more than 20 parts which if played in harmony creates a sound that’ll turn everyone’s ears to the source of it, especially when it’s presented by a big band as good as this. The fact that the Salamander Big Band is blessed with amazing lines of vocals make them shine even brighter. A singing pianist Imelda Rosalin, the crooner Gail Satiawaki, the Diane Schuur of Indonesia Nenden Shintawati and the vocal harmony group Salamander Voices consisting of Lia Amalia Ramdhan, Sekar Teja Inten, Devi Remondi and Addi Sigera are the force that complete their power.

The Salamander Big Band held the 2017 Mid Year Concert on July 13, 2017 at the artistic, monumental amphitheatre of Selasar Sunaryo Art Space located at the upper side of Bandung. Other than developing fine arts and performances through selective programs, the Selasar Sunaryo Art Space (SSAS) has been showing its support towards the music development, especially jazz. One of the fruits is a program called JazzSphere @ Art Space in cooperation with many performers and jazz musicians both local and international. Do note that this is not the first time for Salamander Big Band to perform here. They have done it a couple of times for example in 2012 (featuring Iwan Abdie: http://jazzuality.com/jazz-event-report/jazzsphereartspace-salamander-big-band-mid-year-concert-2012-buble-night/) and 2013 (http://jazzuality.com/jazz-events/salamander-big-band-mid-year-concert-2013-love-above-all/). This year SSAS is proud to be the host again for the big band’s Mid Year Concert. And for us, watching theim performing inside the amphitheatre of Selasar Sunaryo always gives a different feeling. It’s certainly magic to see their soul blends with the mystical atmosphere of the venue.

For this concert, the Salamander Big Band featured a very well-respected pianist/composer/arranger and music director who has produced so many great pianists and musicians: Imam Pras. Imam Praseno, that’s his real name has started his professional career since the early 80’s. He was a proud member of Combo ’83, Wachdach Band and Patria, also Bambang Nugroho and Friends, and many projects in various formats. His quartet was included in the legendary album “Jazz Masa Kini” released in 2006. Not long after that unfortunately he suffered vascular hand injury around 2006 which forced him to decreased his career as an active musician drastically. But since a couple of years ago his hand has been getting better, which allowed him to occasionally re-appeared again on the surface. Joining the Salamander Big Band was only about a matter of time, which finally happened in this Mid Year concert.

With Imam Pras on board, the composition of rhythm section expanded uniquely. How often do you see a big band with three keyboards? Before Imam Pras joined in, Salamander Big Band already equipped themselves with two, Imelda Rosalin and Rika Andriyani. These two ladies do each of their part superbly and never collides once so ever. Imam Pras added more color, making the music even richer. They all have their own moment to shine. Thus, the connection between keyboardists is one of the highlights for us. The bassist Roy Bimantoro played both electric and double bass depending on the song. Then the drum works of Augustinus and percussions by Adya Dhivara as usual locked the whole sound in solid rhythm. The brass section which usually serve in front painted a full-rounded sound. Add lines of magnificent vocalists, this concert shone every second, even brighter than the moon above them.

This time the concert wasn’t free. Yet, Salamander Big Band managed to keep the number of attendance like the previous concerts. We still remember the last time they held the concert here they could drag no less than 600 people to watch them, this time it appeared they got around the same, if not more. And just like before, the audience were dominated by youngsters. That’s an amazing scene to see in a traditional big band in a country where jazz wasn’t originated in.

This time they gave tribute to the ageless living legend Titiek Puspa as the center of the theme. Titiek Puspa is an Indonesian singer, songwriter, entertainer, operette director and actress whose career spans for more than 60 years and still counting. She has written hundreds of songs, many of them stand as evergreen and are still sung until now. In 2009 she was diagnosed with cervical cancer, but after several months of treatment, she was declared free of it. Today she is still active in good health. “We have been wanting to do this for quite some times, now we finally did.” said Devy. No less than 6 golden hits of Titiek Puspa were played in this Mid Year concert.

The concert began shortly after 7:30 pm. After a very short opening speech by the owner of the place, a senior contemporary artist Mr Sunaryo, the Salamander Big Band directly took us into the majestic swing mood with one of Sonny Rollins’ greatest hits (beside “St Thomas” and “Oleo”) which says Nigeria but spelled backwards, “Airegin”. Not an easy one to play, but they nailed it well. The guest star Imam Pras was already there joining them from the start.

The founder/conductor Devy Salamander then greeted everyone and called the Salamander Voices in. This vocal harmony group first appeared in Salamander’s 7th Anniversary Concert back in 4 years ago. Now they are standing tall as one of the lethal force of Salamander Big Band. They were kind of switched the mood by presenting much modern groovy track covering Incognito’s “Pieces of A Dream”. Donny Koeswinarno who especially came from Jakarta to join the big band did a cool solo run with his sax.

The man with clear, bright crooning voice Gail Satiawaki came in to sing Titiek Puspa’s song from 1978 made especially for a movie with same title, “Gadis”. Interestingly, they kept the old school pop rockin’ mood for this one in which guitarist Bramania had fun streaming his solo run.

The singing pianist (also a standout architect) Imelda Rosalin got her turn, singing another gem from Titiek Puspa, “Bimbi”. Imelda said that this song was sent to Japan and stands as one of their most favorite repertoires. As this is an evergreen, we saw many audience sang and hummed it along with Imelda. One of two ladies from Salamander Voices, Lia Amalia Ramdhan was next, singing a song popularized by Cannonball Adderley and also Carmen McRae, “If You Never Fall in Love With Me (Del Sasser)”. It’s certainly lovely to hear a standard that’s not often selected by musicians and singers anymore today. Lia Amalia did it great.

The blind lady with fantastic voice which always reminds us of Diane Schuur, Nenden Syintawati took over the center stage. Wearing white gown she sang another classic written by Surni Warkiman for Titiek Puspa circa 1962 titled “Esok Malam Kan Kujelang.” Her powerful voice breathed soul into this gem.

Then we were entertained again by the wonderful Salamander Voices, this time pinning cute, sweet song again from Titiek Puspa, “Jatuh Cinta”. It’s not often to hear this song brought by vocal harmony group, the Salamander Voices and the big band proved it perfectly works. Then the first session ended with Imelda Rosalin singing “Volare”. Unlike most of the versions we have heard, this time they redressed it into relax swing. Eventhough this song was short, it was more than enough to make the audience patiently wanting for more.

After 20 minutes break, the Salamander Big Band took their position again and put us all in the passenger’s seats with Duke Ellington’s ‘eternal’ hit “Take the ‘A’ Train”. A great opening for the second round continued on with Salamander Voices sang Stevie Wonder’s song from Motown era, “My Cherie Amour”. Like the rest of the songs, this one was beautifully made into big band arrangements and executed very well by them.

The Diane Schuur of Indonesia, Nenden Syintawati was back singing the song which they arranged especially for her upon request, Barbra Streisand’s “People”. It gave us wonderful feeling to see Nenden poured her heart out to sing this deep Broadway Musical ballad, keeping all the beauty essence in their own way.

If you remember, there’s a movie titled “Down With Love” in 2003 starring Ewan McGregor and Renée Zellweger. There’s a beautiful duet in the soundtrack sung by Michael Bublé and Holly Palmer with the same title and it became a big hit. Actually this song was written way before that in 1937, but this duet is what we have in mind when the Salamander Big Band put Gail and Imelda in front to sing it. They effortlessly delivered the song in cheerful and sweet mode.

In case you don’t know, one of the Salamander Voices, the youngest of them all named Sekar Teja Inten was the runner up of The Voice Indonesia season 2 in 2016. She was also the finalist of NEZacademy 3 years earlier. Many of you probably notice her too as one of Tulus’ backing vocalists. This time she got the chance to stand in front taking on the song she sang at the grand final of The Voice, Billy Joel’s “New York State of Mind”. What a way to make it into a big band! As much as we love the version in The Voice, this swingin’ blues big band version made the song appear soulfully grand and ellegant. Inten’s powerful soul vocal is spectacular, this song was like made for her. Dicky Ampouw got his turn to run his solo part in this song.

Then Devy Ferdianto took us back way back to the roaring 20’s or 30’s era where ragtime was still clearly felt after the world got into swing. No, they didn’t take any standards from those years, instead they made a cute rearrangement of Titiek Puspa’s “Rindu Setengah Mati” which resonated the jolly ragtime. Lia Amalia Ramdhan was the one who’s in charge, and just like before, she did it great.

The singing pianist Imelda Rosalin was back again in front with George/Ira Gershwin’s masterpiece, “S’Wonderful”. This is one of Imelda’s favorite picks which actually suits her voice and cheerful personality perfectly. As much as we loved the presentation, we came to the end of the concert. Gail and Salamander Voices stood in front with one last swingin’ party, taking a song popularized by Frank Sinatra, “That’s Life”. Loud cheers and applause were given to them. Some even gave standing ovations in full admiration.

It was supposed to be the end, but the audience still asking for more. Not wanting to dissapoint them, Devy led the Salamander Big Band for an encore, a classic from Titiek Puspa’s later hit in the 80’s, “Apanya Dong”. This song served a rock n’ roll party with smiling faces captured all around, from the players to the audience. With this song, the concert reached the end.

In the midst of electro-oriented music, it’s certainly refreshing to hear the harmony of multi instruments from a big band, especially when it’s as good as this. The unique ambience found in the amphitheatre of Selasar Sunaryo created something different when collides with the traditional swing spirit brought by the authentic sound of big band, the feeling we still remember from 2012 and 2013 when Salamander Big Band performed as a part of Jazzsphere@Artspace. We are lucky to be able to feel that again.

Great selection of songs, beautiful tribute to the ageless living legend Titiek Puspa, lovely arrangement, neat execution by these skillful players and of course the finesse line of voices the big band really hit the spot. It’s like riding the time tunnel going through the multi eras from 30’s to 80’s, enjoying every scene not in the ballroom but under the moon inside a mystical space of an amphitheatre. We can say that actually an amphitheatre like this is ideal for musical performances including, or maybe especially big band. It surely gives a different sensation we normally don’t find in other places.

We expect the 11th Anniversary Concert of Salamander Big Band will come some times in November, so we can have our mind and imagination blown away again by them. Realizing that we are living in a country where jazz was not originated, isn’t the current trend, yet we could have a show like this brought by a world-caliber big band based in Bandung, it’s indeed a blessing. Congratulations for another beautiful concert, Salamander Big Band! We salute you. Keep up the awesomeness!

Salamander Big Band
Mid Year Concert 2017

Saxophone:
1. Dicky Ampouw (alto)
2. Joseph Sinaga (alto)
3. Donny Koeswinarno (tenor)
4. Erik N. Chandra (tenor)
5. Bonny Buntoro (baritone)

Trumpet:
1. Oki Dirgualam
2. Andri Hadiyono
3. Ujung Sitorus
4. Diana Saralely

Trombone:
1. Andriyanto Haryanto
2. Agus Suherman
3. Afdhal Zickri
4. Recky Darmawan
5. Arief Budhiyana

Rhythm section:
1. Imelda Rosalin (Keyboard/vocal)
2. Rika Andriyani (Keyboard)
3. Bramania (Guitar)
4. Roy Bimantoro (Bass)
5. Augustinus (Drums)
6. Adya Dhivara (Percussion)

Vocal:
1. Nenden Syintawati
2. Gail Satiawaki
3. Amalia Ramdhan
4. Sekar Teja Inten
5. Devi Remondi
6. Addi Sigera

Guest Star:
Imam Praseno (Imam Pras)

Conductor:
Devy Ferdianto

See more pictures:

Reporter & Photographer: Riandy Kurniawan

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After a special edition to celebrate the holy month of Ramadhan in June, the Braga Jazz Night went back again working on its mission. That is, to focus on showcasing young musicians as a part of our effort in pushing up the regeneration process. Yes, that’s our core, something that we had in mind when we started creating our regular community event 4 years ago. We realize that there are so many talented kids who still got not enough playground to prove themselves. Therefore, we welcome them and hope they can grow much faster from our stage.

That idea turned right. There are many young musicians then found their grip after that. Some have gone to festivals, some have shared the stage with big cats, some have even gone international. We are happy to see this fact, and that motivates us to do more. On the other hand, we also welcome the successful ones both local and international to share the stage with these youngsters, so they can become an inspiration to learn from. Occasionally, we also support the artists when they just launched album, single or making any wave in their career. That’s been our formula since day one.

In this Braga Jazz Night #37, we give a special theme: “Young Guns”. Why? Because here we showcased all young talents. What’s unique is that all bands has a person’s name in it, whether as the band leader or the one we are highlighting. Some of them are still teens, while some are young adult. Speaking of flavors, they all have different taste and texture. In this episode we found swing, straightahead, bebop, fusion and bossa, even ethnic music was there. They all gave their best and made us proud.

Starting first was a duo consisting of student and teacher: Luqmanul Hakim & Sang Guru, Hardi Suryana. Luqmanul, we usually called him Umanbott has been with us since his age was still one digit. He used to help us in providing the photos for our coverage around 6-7 years ago, which made him as the youngest stage photographer for us. He is now in his mid-teens. This boy is restless, he doesn’t like to sit down without doing something. He went studying martial arts, active in organizations and so on. Until one day, he told his mom that he wanted to learn jazz guitar. Digging the music he’s been familiar with since a toddler would let him feel the vibe from different angle. If before he shot the stage with a camera, this time he face the audience from the stage. His mom, licensed photographer and event organizer Mia Damayanti Sjahir quickly put him under the guidance of fine jazz guitarist Hardi Suryana. According to his teacher, he learnt real fast. He has started performing since the late 2016 on Klab Jazz’s soil. We intended to invite him since then, but it wasn’t easy because he’s still busy with his formal study. Now that the school day has just started, we quickly took him in.

Not wanting to waste time, the student-teacher duo immidiately launched a jazz standard written by Errol Garner, “Misty” and then carried on with another standard from 1934, “Blue Moon” which has been covered by hundreds or maybe even thousands of musicians from Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra to the Supremes, Elvis Presley and even Rod Stewart in his jazz years. Like two builders, they both worked well in building each songs rock solid. If you got a partner and wish to dance, this duo could provide you the music in the most romantic way possible.

A cornerstone of post bop from Milt ‘Bags’ Jackson, “Bag’s Groove” was their third choice. Here Luqmanul demonstrated how good he could chew bop by having substantial assist from his teacher Hardi. The last song was his personal pick, “You Make Me Feel So Young.” He took this one since he loves Sinatra’s collection of songs. Originally this song was introduced in the movie ‘Three Little Girls in Blue’, around a decade before Sinatra recorded it. Many audience must have loved this act as they gained loud applause and cheers especially in the end.

He’s much improved since the last time we saw him play on October 2016 at Jazz et Alia. Now he can tackle bebop and has strengthened his swing. He could fully enjoy his moment now, letting the swingin’ notes flow smoothly with fun. His jazz statement is now clear. Having valuable assist from his teacher enabled him to demonstrate how much he has digged this genre.

We are happy and proud watching him. He was once a smart boy who loved to take picture from ‘weird’ angle, he helped us a lot back then in our coverages, now it’s our turn to take picture of him. Keep it up kiddo!

The second session showcased a young bassist Joe Bastian who introduced his brand new band, Joe Bass Project. He is no stranger since he has played here a couple of times, either as the bassist of Fine Taste, as a bossa duo with Billy Likumahuwa and most recently, just a couple of months ago with Lala & The Mates. He plays guitar and bass just as good, but his main gear is actually bass, both electric and acoustic. He learns from one of the best, Rudy Zulkarnaen, the bassist of simakDialog, 4 Peniti, Rudy and Band Listrik and Tesla Manaf, just to mention a few.

Just last month we heard that he was working on his own project where he could show his true-self, musically speaking. A band that, according to him, can answer his idealism and passion also a solid proof of his ability and existance as a musician. “I have to prove I’m able to do this. This is me, this is my yard.” he told us. He is looking for a chance to succeed in music. If that’s what he want, he needs to establish himself better, making himself heard. Therefore a project like this is very important for young musician like him.

For Joe Bass Project, he brings in some of his close friends such as Fadhilla ‘Lala’ KP (vocal), Dony Manurung (keyboard), Haider Castiela (drum) and two guitarists: M Rizqi Pratama and Swain Samuel. Joe told us that he draws inspiration from the modern fusion band Snarky Puppy, which actually led also by a bassist, Michael League. But what we found on stage was actually a crossover between fusion and nu soul which they worked really, really well.

Joe stood in front and did a bass lead in his own song made for his recital examination a few months ago. This jazz-rock fusion song has no titled just yet, but it has a strong structure where Joe shows he could lead in front. If he ever thought of making an album later, he should include this one. Rizqi, Swain, Haider and Dony stood tall with him.

Then Lala joined the boys. With Lala, they infused some nu soul moods in their music especially on the keys sound of Dony. Lala’s vocal vibe does suit this genre perfectly. Beginning with Ledisi’s “It’s Alright”, she carried on with “In My Eyes” which included the solo runs from the boys as she introduced each of them. Lala was in the X Factor and The Voice. She wasn’t lucky just yet, but it’s undeniable that she has a really good, mature quality of singing voice. They ended their show with Incognito’s “Still a Friend of Mine”. Again, it’s a perfect song choice for her and the band. Nice groove from Joe was best captured in this one.

Tasty, groovy fusion roared out from Joe Bass Project. It’s a tight collective unit led by a bassist who prefer to blend in with his fellows rather than showing himself off. Having said that, Joe managed to show his ability to lead the song and spread the love of groove with his bass. The rocking guitar of Rizqi, the nice rhythm from Swain, the solid drumming from Haider and Dony’s tasty soul jazz sound created a vigorous musical painting. It’s always great to see the young guns like them, they make us proud.

What’s important for this kind of project is to be able to capture the soul and spirit, heart and mind of the one who owns it. Joe Bastian and his band members has done it very well. We know Joe is a good player, we know he is passionate and serious. We also know that he has a great circle of friends who are always willing to support him. Well, for any band out there who happen to read this, if one day you are looking for a bassist, you can give Joe a try. With Joe Bass Project, he has proved that’s he is worthy to play among the higher league. The same also goes to his band mates.

In the third session we placed a young girl named Nayra Dharma. She’s still 17 year old and started seriously learning guitar a bit more than 2 years ago but already able to take difficult compositions under her wings. True, she inherits the DNA from her father, the maestro with a lot of inventions in the field of ethnic jazz, co-founder of supergroup Krakatau, Pra Budidharma. But if she can do it that fast, it’s because her passion and decision to go extra mile. While most of the girls her age hangout in the mall or anywhere else, she practices no less than 6 hours a day. We often found that she hurted her fingers for playing too much, yet it didn’t stop her to keep doing it. She doesn’t just play guitar, she sings too. She hatched fast and quickly gained experiences from playing with much older musicians including the legends. Quite remarkable girl isn’t she?

What’s even more amazing is that she also shows her hunger in exploring the musical terrain as wide as possible. We have featured her in the beginning of her career when she was still playing solo, then she established her own trio with drum and bass player. From there, she made a change in her group by replacing drummer with keyboardist. This formula worked very well as she gained more and more appearances.

But later on, she has been thinking of infusing some ethnic into her jazz canvas like how her father often does. Adding up a kendang player seems to be relevant in this case. She already has it in mind, but she is still looking for the best way in actualizing the idea.

In the mean time, she promised us something different. Changing the name from Nayra Dharma Trio to Nayra Dharma Group is one of the important change that will allow her to appear in bigger format. The current formation consists of Jason Limanjaya (keys) and the proud member of Salamander Big Band, Roy Bimantoro (contrabass), replacing Nicholas Dheo who has to focus on building his own bands. We had some ideas in mind, but when we finally saw it, they caught us off guard with their creative moves. Simply put, this new chapter stands off and probably will lead to the next one. But even if it’s not really corellated, this chapter is highly interesting .

As Nayra is preparing her debut album, they now have some original songs in their shelf. “Kasih Bersinar” was the first song, which directly took us into their playful, cheerful music style. Nayra was as charming as always. She could attracted people passing by to stop and watched her performance. Jason is of course, remarkable in having his fingers danced over the keys. This dude is always unpredictable. No one could guess his progression during the play, but it’s always tasty. As for the newest member Roy, his skill and experience makes him a very reliable companion, especially in a group with no drum like this. He safely guard the base, letting Nayra and Jason float freely on the surface.

Then they presented another original, written by Jason Limanjaya titled “Jive Life”. This song has a very comical, hillarious lyrics with ‘slapstick’ music where swing, ragtime and blues are packed inside loads of improvisations. “They actually wrote the song at (my) home.. it was funny to see how much they giggled during writing up the lyrics”, said Nayra’s mom to us. Well, we haven’t heard jazz song with ‘joking around’ lyrics and melody for quite a long time, so for us, this song shows a side of music (jazz) that’s probably getting more and more forgotten, and that is to let loose and just go out, have fun.

Nayra Dharma Group changed their tone after that to bossa, playing a song of Milton Nascimento and Márcio Borges that’s said to inspire Pat Metheny, “Vera Cruz”. Nayra played and sang this song comfortably as if she was a native from Milton’s origin. For us, this song proved that bossa is always one of her forte. Her clear, soft pure voice does fit in singing bossa, and her ability to play guitar makes it even better. This song was like a magnet dragging all eyes on her. Jason changed his gear to guitar for this song.

For the last song the group sang about unity which has becoming an issue lately in Indonesia. The song’s called “Semua Dalam Satu”, written by Pra Budidharma and Agus Basuki and rearranged by Jason. It’s an ellegant way to send a message through a song with lovely melody like this.

In this chapter we got to see the group’s ability to tell stories. All songs, from the serious theme to madly playful were narrative. Just three of players found inside for this time, but they all have character that are interesting to watch. Oh yeah, in this performance Nayra also shows her ability to scat-singing from normal to fast while still playing guitar flawlessly. Jason always gives such attractive and expressive appearance behind the keyboard, and Roy with his double bass may look calm, but he’s done a substantial work in providing the strong baselines.

According to them, next they are going to sail into the world where her father rules for around three decades, the mystical, magical Sundanese jazz. We know who the kendang player is, but they prefer not to mention the name first. We can’t wait for the next to come.

Although we have our own guess of how the ethnic jazz would sound, we know they will craft something new. The continuation of Nayravolution can never be predicted. This girl is eager to try anything. She loves challenges. That makes everything interesting about her. Plus, she has the genius mates with her. As long as she’s willing to present her chapter in this event, we will certainly welcome her with open arms. She is still sailing, let’s see where she lands next.

For the last session we featured a band we first saw at the Kampoeng Jazz 2017 just a few months ago: Albert Dragtan Quintet. This band is led by our friend, drummer Albert Shadrach Dragtan. Anyone who see him for the first time would think he’s a rockstar, which is not wrong because he was in a popular Oldschool Hardcore Punk band a decade ago, Komplete Kontrol. He found success in it, but for whatever reason, he turned around to jazz. He became friends with Ilham Septia Inda Nugraha since 2005 and locked in a jazz trio along with keyboardist Christ Stanley.

We met him around 7-8 years ago in the jazz scene and liked his unique style and power punch on jazz. This decision of him to switch to jazz proved to be right, because throughout his jazz period he has played among the greatest including Maurice Brown, Tony Monaco, Joe Rosenberg, Indra Lesmana, the late Riza Arshad, Aksan Sjuman, Professor Tjut Nyak Deviana Daudsyah, Indro Hardjodikoro just to mention a few.

Now he established a combo simply called Albert Dragtan Quintet. In this band he plays alongside his long time friend Ilham Septia Inda Nugraha (bass), Christian Jati (guitar, who he met in a jam session at Ray-Mate Community), Gafie Garcia (saxophone, met at the Atmosphere resto) and a female vocalist Vica Fithri Noer Azizah. About this girl, Albert specifically told us that he finds many things in common between them. That including their past, growing up in a Hardcore Punk and Rock environment. What’s also similiar is that Vica is willing to sing jazz standards and loves the challenge to sing the ones who are not normally sung by jazz singers. That’s what we saw on their stage at Kampoeng Jazz. A band clearly rooted in jazz with their own vibe. Several months have passed, finally we could bring them here on our ground.

The band started with a bossa song from the 60’s that’s rarely played in Indonesia, “Batida Diferente” written by Durval Ferreira. This is one of the songs that hooked us up in their Kampoeng Jazz performance. Vica did great in this song, but the quintet also got more than enough rooms to present the lovely melody with their instruments. The next song was an original reflective song by Albert, “Seperti Kata Ibuku”.

The next one was a medley of two Thelonious Monk’s gems: “I Mean You” (1946) and his favorite composition which he recorded often, “Blue Monk” (1954). Vica admited that this song really challenged her to the limit due the high difficulties nature both song have, but we could see she gave her best in finishing the song. For the musicians, as these are famous jazz (bebop) standards, they enjoyed every moment of it. Solid jazz drumming by Albert walked side by side with Ilham’s contrabass. These two old friends have worked together numerous times through the years, no wonder they got strong chemistry to each other. Christian Jati is a jazz-fluent guitarist who knows how to execute this song by using guitar. And Gafie enhanced the colors, making the sound much richer with his saxophone.

As one of the top news lately is about a boy who has special needs being bullied by three college students at one university in Jakarta, Vica asked the audience to stand up together against bullying. For the last presentation, Albert Dragtan Quintet played an ageless jazz standard from Walt Disney’s Snow White, “Someday My Prince Will Come.” Near the end, Vica came down from the stage and sealed her appearance by standing close to the audience.

Albert was a great hardcore punk back then. With his band Komplete Kontrol he actually reached huge success, but his eagerness to be a great drummer then brought him to encounter jazz, which now becomes his field. We have known him for many years. We know his passion and spirit. He is a fighter. Life isn’t easy for him, yet he keeps fighting hard that brings him to be who he is today. Now he has his own combo consisting of good players who share the same passion with him. And certainly, these four fellows know how to bring out Albert’s musical character alive.

Albert leads the band to enjoy the vast terrain of jazz and bring us too into it. His straight-forward style makes us easy to enjoy their music. Looking at their capability and Albert’s past which he shares with the vocalist, we have some ideas that may suit them, something that would excite them. And if they agree, that will be for the next appearance in this event. Albert Dragtan Quintet has taken a solid start. Their future is promising as long as they wish to keep exploring the wide world of jazz. These four dudes and a lady more than enough time to do so. By staying true to their own color and character, we have no doubt they will have an interesting journey. It feels great to have a new solid quintet in Bandung’s jazz scene.

So that’s how this 37th edition of Braga Jazz Night goes. As the theme “Young Guns” implies, in this edition we highlighted some of the musicians from today’s generation where some of them step much forward by being able to lead a band. We are really happy with the result. Variety of styles made this edition full of vibrant colors. What make us happier is that these are just some of the good and potential talents we can find in Indonesian jazz scene today. By looking at this fact, we don’t have to worry about the jazz future in our nation. We can rely on these young guns to continue what’s left by the great ones throughout generations.

Oh yeah, in this edition we got a special visit from a friend, a jazz guitarist from Batam city in Riau’s archipelago, Tchepy Wijaya Soekardy (he’s the one on the far left of the group photo above). We first met him at the 5th Asean Jazz Festival in his hometown 5 years ago. He is still highly active until now with his trio. We hope to be able to feature him in one of the next editions. Having a skillful musician from a far away city located in an island between Sumatra and Singapore, that would be really great! Thank you for coming Tchepy, look forward to have you again soon, not as an audience but a featured artist!

Next month we will be back with another special edition to celebrate Indonesia’s Independence Day which will come exactly on our schedule, the third Thursday of each month. To celebrate it, we are going to bring the next batch of young guns, but this time there will be two bands from Jakarta, one is the winner of Jazz Goes to Campus 2016. And there will be an ethnic jazz band from Bandung that uses violin as one of their weapons. We will keep you updated. Thank you for always supporting us, see you again in August.

Watch the highlight of Braga Jazz Night #37

See more pictures:

Reporter & Photographer: Riandy Kurniawan
Video Editor: Vierna Mariska

PS: Special thanks to Gita Bawana, Zahar Mustilaq for the drum, and especially Ditra Prasista who saved this event by lending his keyboard at the critical moment

My summer travels this year took me again to Canada for one of the premier jazz events in the world, the Montreal International Jazz Festival (MIJF)! See my write-up from previous editions of MIJF (2016, 2015); fans of jazz can also check out my app ‘Oktav,’ a collection of witty quotes about music – available on Apple iTunes and Android.

In addition to legends like Stanley Clarke, Buddy Guy, and Charlie Musselwhite, I also caught superb performances by acoustic guitarist Jack Broadbent, multi-instrumentalist Jacob Collier, ‘heavyweight champion of the blues’ Sugaray Rayford, electro-funk maestros Shobaleader One, saxophonist-academic Rudresh Mahantappa, and Canadian harp wiz Guy Belanger. There were also touches of Africa (Soul Jazz Orchestra) and South Korea (Youn Sun Nah).

For 10 gloriously summer days, from early afternoon to late night, close to two million visitors heard dozens of bands perform across 15 concert halls and 10 outdoor stages. As usual, two-thirds of the performances were free in outdoor venues, the rest in ticketed indoor events.

Join us in this photo tour of MIJF 2017, and make sure you put the 2018 edition on your must-attend list for next year!

Stanley Clarke is right up there among the legends of jazz bass such as Jaco Pastorius and Alain Caron. The co-founder of Return to Forever (with Chick Corea) played with a lineup of younger musicians at MIJF 2017, with spectacular solos on acoustic and electric bass.

Charlie Musselwhite shot to prominence as an ace blues harmonica player in the 1960s, and is very much around on the concert circuit. He has been a contemporary of Mike Bloomfield and Paul Butterfield. Canadian acoustic duo Steve Hill and Matt Andersen opened for Musselwhite in a humorous set.

Buddy Guy is living legend of the blues, and has influenced everyone from Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton to Jimmy Page and Stevie Ray Vaughan. He delivered a spectacular set at MIJF 2017, and even walked off the stage and played among the audience during his last number, to everyone’s delight.

Guy Bélanger played a terrific role at MIJF 2017, anchoring a range of late night sets where he jammed on harmonica with a number of Canadian blues artists. He has collaborated with the likes of Bob Walsh and Muddy Waters, and played an important storytelling role by educating the audience on the rise of jazz and blues in Canada.

Roberto Fonseca is a talented Cuban pianist and composer, who accompanied the Orquestra de Ibrahim Ferrer (Buena Vista Social Club) on tour in the early 2000s. His music is rooted in the Cuban tradition while also integrating jazz and funk. His set featured some tracks from his latest album ABUC (2016), and he politely responded to a heckler in the audience who asked him to speak in English and not French!

Jack Broadbent, the British singer/songwriter, showcased brilliant acoustic style and technique on slide guitar. He draws inspiration from John Lee Hooker and Jimi Hendrix, but has added layers of his own songwriting sensibility. Jack played with his father Micky on bass.

Souljazz Orchestra from Ottawa combines funk, soul, Afro, jazz and Latin. Their outdoor set had the audience swaying and dancing as they sampled the music of legends such as Femi Kuti, Erik Truffaz and Etta James.

Sugaray Rayford, the aptly-named ‘heavyweight champion of the blues,’ towered on stage belting out the blues, urging everyone to dance along since this was a “party and not a concert!” He connected superbly with the fans in a one-hour set of blues and soul. “The blues is the roots, everything else is the fruits,” Rayford shouted out, to loud applause.

Selwyn Birchwood played a superb set of blues and funk, standing out on stage with his large Afro hairdo. The young guitarist-singer’s influences include B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Elmore James and Howlin’ Wolf.

Théo Lawrence is a young French-Canadian bluesman, who draws on influences from Otis Redding and Son House. His elegant set of blues and soul showed that these traditions will be preserved and interpreted for decades more to come.

Fuel Junkie is a Montreal-based jazz and blues band with a wide range of instruments including guitar and saxophone. Their set featured a number of tracks from their most recent album, Injected.

The Ghost Town Blues Band played two one-hour sets of authentic blues from Memphis. Their powerful horn section is often supplemented by unusual instruments, including an electric broom!

Johnny Max showed the rich heritage of the blues, with influences spanning New Orleans, Memphis and Chicago. His latest album is Roadhouse Soul, with award-winning track Daddy’s Little Girl.

Jacob Collier wowed the crowd with a spectacular set where he played and mixed all the instruments himself – bass, keyboards, drums and percussion! The young musician has previously opened shows for Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea. He played a number of tracks from his album My Room (2016). While music technology is great, Collier showed that it works best in the hands of a master.

Pokey LaFarge showed the audience a flavour of music from Missouri, with early jazz, ragtime, blues and swing. His latest album is Manic Revelations, with a mix of storytelling and diverse musical blends.

Quinn Bachand is a Canadian musician blending jazz with euro-gypsy music. He has been nominated for the TD Grand Jazz Award and the Stingray Rising Star Award. Their evening set at the outdoor Club Jazz Casino set the stage for a nice night of jazz.

The Jeremy Pelt Quintet is anchored by trumpeter-composer Jeremy Pelt. At MIJF 2017, he played the opening set for Stanley Clarke. The lineup included Victor Gould (piano), Vicente Archer (bass), Jonathan Barber (drums), and Jacquelene Acevedo (percussion). Their energy and chemistry drew loud applause for the solos and call-and-response interchanges.

Betty Bonifassi delivered a powerful vocal set, drawing on the work of American ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax. Her current project is a contemporary interpretation of slave songs from the turn of the 20th century.

Cecile Doo-Kingue showed off her deep voice and catchy lyrics along with deft acoustic guitar. Her music blends blues, rock, jazz, folk and soul, and she has often been compared with Tracy Chapman.

Jowee Omicil is a mutli-instrumentalist based in Montreal. He is of Haitian descent, and his jazz music reflected Caribbean, African, and Latin influences. He has collaborated with Pharoah Sanders, Brandford Marsalis and Kenny Garrett.

The Marc LeClerc Quartet featured Mark Leclerc (saxophone), Andrei Dinu (guitar), Steve Bergeron (piano), Édouard Brasseur (bass) and Antoine Forest -Michaud (drums). They performed two sets at MIJF 2017.

Puma Blue is a guitarist-poet who blends jazz, funk and even punk. His indoor set was a nice closing act in the indoor Métropolis venue.

Royal Pickles brought back the flavours of the swing era with a festive set. The Montreal band played instruments like the banjo, and transported the audience to the spirit of New Orleans.

The Pull-Up Selecta collective blended reggae with a heavy dose of electronica. The DJs and saxophonist delivered a great closing set on Day Four of MIJF 2017.

The Bad Plus played a number of indoor sets including one with saxophonist Rudresh Mahantappa. The Minneapolis trio showcased their diverse skills, along with Mahanthappa who also happens to be jazz director at Princeton University.  His other projects fuse jazz with Indian classical music.

The sisters Christine and Ingrid Jensen, on saxophone and trumpet, were accompanied by Ben Monder on guitar. Their new album of contemporary jazz is titled Infinitude. Ingrid Jensen graduated from Berklee College of Music, taught in Europe, and is based in New York. Ingrid and her sister Christine (based in Montreal) are also part of the group Nordic Connect, with pianist Maggi Olin. The Christine Jensen Jazz Orchestra’s two albums, Treelines and Habitat, have won the Juno Award.

The Liquor Store is a Montreal jazz/funk sextet founded in 2011, and the musicians showed off their energy and skills in a late night set. Their EPs are titled Hooked, and Room for Everyone.

Lysandre Champagne, the youthful quintet headed by the charismatic Misses Satchmo on vocals and trumpet, delivered a pleasing set of jazzy-swing cabaret-style music. Their latest album is titled Is That All There Is.

Daniel Clarke is a young pianist who has already made a mark by playing with the likes of Gregory Charles, Molly Johnson and the Montreal Jubilation Gospel Choir. At the tender age of 13 he recorded an album with Oliver Jones.

Youn Sun Nah from South Korea showed more of the international face of jazz at MIJF 2017. Her voice effortlessly plumbed low notes and high peaks, and her debut album is eagerly awaited.

Franky Selector cranked up a groovy party sound, perfect for a closing set on Day 7 of MIJF 2017. Keyboards, brass, bass, vocals and dance blended perfectly late into the night at the Metropolis venue.

Xenia Rubinos drew on her Cuban and Puerto Rican roots and showcased her unique voice and singing style. Jazz, R&B and funk seamlessly weaved together in her indoor set at the Astral venue.

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

For the fourth time in a row we come to witness the big jazz fest in Bali, the Ubud Village Jazz Festival. It’s always special for us, because then we can enjoy the swingin’ and boppin’ atmosphere in a tranquil, peaceful side of Bali under a cool weather which creates totally different vibe we don’t find elsewhere. Other than that, this event is unique because of some reasons.

First, it’s a local community-based yet has been built as an international jazz festival. This fest now stands as a ‘must-see’ new attraction of Bali’s tourism agenda. But what’s really interesting is that the co-founder and active musician Yuri Mahatma manages to display jazz in a different way. Year after year he carefully selects, invites and introduces great talents from Bali, the capital and some other cities including our hometown Bandung, also from various different parts of the hemisphere. We have heard some of the names, there are new names too for us. But we know that whoever he invites is worth to check because usually they have more than just good skill or voice.

This Ubud Village Jazz Festival 2017 once again presents great artists from our own nation and no less than 6 other countries in the world. Separated in three different stages, this festival serves party for 2 days, around 8 hours each day. As usual, this festival is not the one that would make you tired running far to reach the stage. You can just enjoy all shows pleasantly thanks to the good, on time schedule and the easy access to all three stages. What’s also cool is that the venue, ARMA Museum can still offer the chance to feel the local wisdom through the sophisticated, artistic lay out design combines with the nature beauty. You can see people lying or sitting on the pillows in front of one stage, sitting nicely in others, or even, enjoying food and beverages the fest offers while tasting the sweet sound of jazz brought by selected performers. So, an international jazz festival served homey presenting some of the skillful players with their own signatures over variety of styles who have dedicated their life to this music, that’s how Ubud Village Jazz Festival is.

The festival’s international scale roared loud even before it was officially opened. Julian Banks, a saxophonist from the land down under (Australia) already had his moment on Padi stage in the afternoon. This man is more than just a good player. He performs regularly with groups around his hometown Melbourne but also leads his own project consisting stellar musicians from Indonesia and Australia resulting a new album titled “Agung” (in English: Grant), recorded at the co-founder of this fest’s studio, the Antida Studios in Denpasar during his 2016 tour to Indonesia. This album is inspired by a photo taken when approaching the crater rim of Gunung Agung, the 3000 m high volcano mountain in Bali which they climbed. In this album Julian ‘Jules’ Banks brought his buddies James Hauptmann (drum/percussion), James Gilligan (bass/pedal steel guitar) and Cepi Kusmiadi, a double headed Sundanese kendang and percussion player.

Julian Banks continued what he left from the previous edition, presenting his admiration for both modern jazz and traditional Indonesian ethnic music. In his hands, both elements are blended perfectly as one.  Julian is a remarkable saxophonist with unique musical soul. He can craft modern jazz over Indonesian ethnic music, showing how he values both modern and traditional music equally inside him. Always love his music and show.

There will be plenty of album launching shows that he will do after this, you can go to his website http://julianbanksmusic.com and find the schedule. We wish him good luck for the new “Agung” album, and certainly, we hope to see him again next year.

On the other stage, the most demanded saxophonist in Bali, Pramono Abdi Pamungkas delivered funky sax bites. We have seen him around this event supporting the featured stars (including with Koko Harsoe in 2015), but this year he moves further by having his own show.

Performing with guitarist Jonathan Dangawa, pianist Kevin Suwandhi, bassist Helmi Agustrian and nomadic trumpeter who has regular performances across Europe, Australia and New Zealand, Eamon Dilworth.

How interesting it is to see this year’s edition opened up with two sax-driven shows led by remarkable players from different nationalities. After enjoying his participation as a sideman in previous edition, this time we see that he can take the role as the band leader successfully.

Back to Padi stage, we found a unique show. It was the ‘electrocoustic’ duo endorsed by the Austrian embassy, b.good vogel. Consisting of Marc Vogel (saxes, keys, voice, realtime audio manipulation) and Lukas Schiemer aka Barry Good (drums/sampling pad), this duo combines contemporary acoustic jazz with splashes of electronic elements and grooves. The way they provide music is unorthodox, is almost like doing a fine art over the musical pallette. Experimentative, narrative and artistic.

So, mainly they use only minimalist acoustic setup involving merely two main instruments, yet with their way of playing they open up a whole new terrain. Synths, voice samples and loops that the technology is now able to bring via master keyboard, sample pad and computer make them able to bring something somewhat unique, amazingly without loosing the charm and authenticity of how a live performance should be.

In each songs they shared conversations to the audience through rhytmic experimental jazz. That including our favorite one from their collection, “Hipocrisy”. In the middle of their performance, Barry Good told everyone that the background sound he captured while playing, which was the sound of frogs from the paddyfield right beside his stage actually gave him something. “It creates the real peace which suits our concept, you don’t have this in Austria” he said laughing.

From these Austrian guys we got the impression that jazz actually can be used in open up new territories that’s probably still unexplored. There are still many ways to play instruments to create new musical invention, and this gentlemen of b.good vogel did it amazingly.

Meanwhile, coming from the land down under Australia, Emily & Siwei took their flight on the green, relaxing Subak stage. Emily Wilson is a jazz singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist passionate in the art of improvisation as a part of her love to jazz. As for Siwei, she is a pianist with open mindset to many forms of music including jazz as her current developmental focus. In bands she performs as a pianist, harpist and also vocalist. What’s unique is that Siwei also has her own original compositions which has spoken lyrics and free improvisations. Both of these ladies are currently studying the Bachelor of Music at the Victorian College of Arts, Australia.

At this festival, Wilson (voice) and Siwei (piano) joined forces together pleasuring us with famous standards, contemporary tunes and original compositions. Two Indonesian musicians were helping them: Jonathan Dangawa (drum) and Dimas (bass).

Deeply clinging to the freedom of playing jazz, these ladies flew freely like birds on the clear blue sky. Look at how they hooked the audience with an interesting version of “Tenderly” and then also “Darn that Dream” among other songs. Emily clearly has a lovely singing voice with strong jazz vibe. She also has a strong charisma when standing on stage. Siwei is a pianist who can paint a perfect layer for the singer, but when she has his moment, she knows how to shine in an exact portion. As a team they are really fine.

Through this event we have seen many great artists from Australia with their own style and creativity. Among cool lineups from Oz, we got Emily and Siwei pouring lovely jazz in early hours of day 1.

The official opening ceremony took place at the main stage, Giri. Right after that, Aussie Steve Barry launched his act. Thanks to the Australian Embassy, this year the Ubud Village Jazz Festival could have Steve Barry and the group for a tour to Bali. He is a pianist, organist, composer and improviser based in Sydney and a current PhD candidate in composition at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. This man won the 2013 Bell Award for Young Australian Jazz Artist of the Year and became the runner-up of the 2013 National Jazz Awards. He has released 3 albums (one is a collaboration with Japan Orbiturtle’s “Sakura”).

Steve Barry played in quartet formation with Nischal Manjunath (sax), Dave Goodman (drums) and Max Farrell (bass). They swung the audience artistically, building each song and embrace each momentum like a team of architects. Barry even played a new song that’s still untitled. “If you have any idea of what the title should be, feel free to message me in facebook. The winner will get a free CD”, he said on stage.

A cool, melodic adventurous music with sharp rhythm was captured from his show. Like an architect he builds each songs by embracing every momentum found in it. If that sounds scientific, let us say that he does it with heart. A very nice treat which reflects the true soul of this festival.

Up to this point, we’re still half way through the first day. On Padi stage we found a big band coming all the way from Germany, the Glen Buschmann Jazz Academy (Glen Buschmann Jazzakademie) Big Band. The musicians came from Dortmund and named after the legendary clarinetist/ saxophonist Glen Buschmann. This big band was empowered by the jazz lady Dian Pratiwi and saxophonist Uwe Plath who certainly are no stranger to this event,  standing as the conductor of this big band.

The roaring sound of the glorious 20’s era blasted high from them. It was a huge party where the instrumental songs and the powerhouse vocal of Dian Pratiwi wowed the audience right from the start. Plenty of songs, beautiful arrangements and sharp execution made everything perfect. Some audience on the right side of the stage even danced throughout this show. What’s cool is that Dian wasn’t the only singer, because this big band also featured a beautiful songstress Sithara Schimaniak and pianist Astrid Sulaiman.

The sound of a big band is always fascinating to hear. It doesn’t just majestic and grand, it also creates a reflection to the golden swing era back in 30’s and 40’s. It was mostly presented in big ballroom accompanying couples dancing back then, but the music actually is perfect to grace a jazz festival in modern days. The Glen Buschmann Jazzakademie Big Band significantly added a strong swing color to this festival. Tomorrow they will have their second show, can’t wait to have all the fun again.

Sitting behind the drum on Subak Street was a proud Bali son, a vertile drummer who now stands as one of the best this nation has, Sandy Winarta. He graduated from Australian Institute of Music in Sydney and quickly gained his place among big cats right after he came home. Not long ago he continued his study further in New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in Manhattan with a scolarship. There he got the chance to play with many giants. And now, he’s back to Indonesia, mostly based in Bali and ready to make more breakthroughs.

Like last year Sandy Winarta chose to go with trio. Joining him were Indra Gupta (bass), Kevin Suwandhi (piano) and his buddy came all the way from New York, Jorge Roldan. This formation reminded us of his show right here two years ago, only this time they took most of the songs from Sandy Winarta’s new album “Chronicles” which was released just a couple of weeks ago.

Sandy Winarta went speeding like a bullet from the start. He demonstrated his  musical perception of Thelonious Monk’s “Rhythm-A-Ning” in such speed exceeding normal. This song can be found in the new album. Then “Train Song” took us into even more thrilling ride. “A Ziv’s Thing” still kept everyone in the blazing mood and that stayed all the way. “Jorge isn’t feel very well right now, but still he played crazy sax”, said Sandy. Standout performance of Indra Gupta too, which in a way reminds us of the amazing Charles Mingus’ bass walking. And Kevin is just getting better and better on the piano. Yes, this team nailed it, letting everyone who watched them feel the historical events of Sandy’s illustrious career and life in a fastlane.

As Sandy is just releasing his album, we wish him the best with it. There are not many jazz albums where a drummer takes the lead, so Sandy Winarta’s album will definitely contribute big deal to our jazz scene.

Not long after Sandy Winarta ruled the Subak stage, a genius young man from Bandung made his debut big in this festival, Tesla Manaf. We knew him right from the day he started his career as a duo with keyboardist Bayu back then in 2008, even got an interview with them back then: http://jazzuality.com/interview/exclusive-interview-with-bayu-tesla/. It was when he just decided to establish the duo around 3-4 months earlier, but looking at his talent, we knew it’s just a matter of time for him to reach his dream.

When Bayu left the music scene, Tesla kept pushing on with everything he got, from Ivan & Tesla, Grace & Tesla and a trio named G.E.T . Then he found his first big breakthrough when he brilliantly fused his progressive jazz with a Balinese gamelan ensemble, plus a Barong dancer and called it Tesla Manaf ft Mahagotra Ganesha. This album was produced and sold independently and got amazing response from the jazz fans. Not only the album got sold out, he caught the attention of Leonardo Pavkovic of USA-based label MoonJune Records who then signed him and released his album internationally. His self-titled album which according to him was built upon progressive acoustic experimental music surprised the world. He got many praises from critics all over the world which established him as a world class act.

Then, he locked up with a girl who shares many things in common with him. Both of them are the genius people that see the world in different perspective, both of them love to tell stories in symbolic way using different but related mediums: film and music. This unique girl is Gracia Tobing, a girl possesses with so many gifts in art. We have mentioned one: she is a film maker. But she is also talented in writings, poems, performance, costume, beauty, movement, music, sound and experimentation.

However, for tonight Tesla performed solo. But wait, even when he played alone, that doesn’t mean that he has no collaboration. This time he collaborates with Yoka Sara, the maestro of modern art and architect from Bali that wants to create the visual and lightings concept artisticly for his performance.

Looking at his background, the way he sees everything around them and how he loves to tell stories using totally different perspective and point of view, placing art on top, this performance appears haunting and chilling. Tesla unlocks an artistic, ‘surrealistic’ world that’s never been opened before. It’s hypnotizing.

Back to Subak stage, the last show belong to young man with groovy, boppin’, tasty sax lines, Ricad Hutapea. Not many probably know that he began with piano but then found his heart in saxophone and locked with it ever since. He has played together with several top musicians as Indra Lesmana, Tohpati, Indro Hardjodikoro, Yance Manusama, Monita Tahalea, DJ Andezzz with whom he produced two singles, and just a couple of months ago he got a showcase with live recording together with Jody Espina, world-renowned jazz saxophonist also the founder, president and designer of JodyJazz Saxophone and Clarinet Mouthpieces. He has so far released one album “Jalan Pertama” consisting of mostly his own compositions and just a couple of weeks ago helped her wife Renata Tobing launching her debut single, “Untuk Sahabat”, a song featuring Tohpati which was written and composed by Ricad.

Pianist Kevin Suwandhi and drummer Grady Boanerges were with him. A classic jazz standard “All The Things You Are” was first, followed with Norah Jones’ “Don’t Know Why”. Then Renata got her chance to entertain the audience with her heart-warming voice. Interestingly, she sang a cover of Justin Beiber’s “Sorry” rearranged fully in jazz. In the end, she sang her debut single we have mentioned above.

This man can funk anyone up mercilessly with his sax attack, but can be deeply seductive when playing sweet romantic tunes. For us, he is one of the most interesting and fast-progressing jazz musicians today coming from the new generation that we love to keep our eyes on. Just like Tesla, this man is still young and have a bright future ahead. He surely warmed us under a cool Ubud weather.

The last performance that sealed the Giri stage as well as the day 1 of the UVJF was German trumpeter Benny Brown. Born in Münster, Germany 34 years ago, Benny already started playing in the German Air-Force Band just 4 years after learning from Achim Böder. He joined other jazz orchestras and enhanced his skill by having more mentors. Today he’s keeping himself busy as a member of Ed Partyka Jazz Orchestra, Moritz Sembritzki Band, Stefan Schultze Large Ensemble, International Big Band, Matthias Schriefl Big Band and the European Movement Jazz Orchestra other than his own band and actively being a sessionist. He has played with many big cats and legends, including Ack van Rooyen, Nils Landgren and Peter Herbolzheimer and Till Brönner.

Benny appeared in large formation, featuring musicians who have been supporting this event for years including saxophonist Uwe Plath, vocalist Dian Pratiwi, pianist Gregory Gaynair and drummer Rolf Behet and young bassist born in 1986, Reza Askari.

This final band brought easy listening jazz that should be easy to love by even the most common listeners, amazingly without losing the technique and quality of a great jazz band. “The Island” and Michael Franks’ “Monkey See Monkey Do” served very well as the last drop, but due to the request of the audience, they gave one last song which served a big party. The song is Dian Pratiwi’s favorite: Tania Maria’s “Come With Me”, played much faster as a climax. Many people were dancing in front of the stage creating one super cool view. That marked a perfect finale for Day 1.

There will be many more interesting performances to highlight on the Ubud Village Jazz Festival 2017 Day 2. For you who can’t come and feel the amazing jazzmosphere created by this event, we will keep you updated in the next article. Stay tuned for our upcoming coverage!

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Reporter: Riandy Kurniawan
Photographer: Dendy Adhyatma Purnama, Riandy Kurniawan   .

After a cool, colorful Day 1 of the 5th ubud Village Jazz Festival (http://jazzuality.com/jazz-event-report/ubud-village-jazz-festival-2017-day-1/), here’s our coverage of the 2nd and final day for 2017 edition. This 2nd day got 11 shows separated over 3 stages: the biggest one in the center Giri Stage, the one near the entrance Padi Stage and the cozy, green one at the back, Subak Stage. Lots of attraction, variety of colors were presented by well selected musicians from many different nationalities. Combine it with the tranquil, peaceful nature of Ubud, the atmosphere created is indeed one of a kind.

Opening the second day was Bonny Trio. This trio led by Bonny Man, a senior musician and teacher who has been active for no less than 2 decades. He was once the piano teacher of the phenomenal kid who already announced as Grammy nominee for two years in a row, Joey Alexander when he was still in Bali. Although you might not heard his name often most probably because he hasn’t appear much in the national music scene, Bonny actually has released 5 albums independently from 1997 to 2002. One thing you should also know is that other than teaching piano, he is also a Japanese teacher.

Bonny took in drummer Panji Baskoro and bassist Ucok in his trio. Bonny played 2 standards, The Sound of Music’s “My Favorite Things” and “Moment’s Notice”, but what’s important is that he played 4 of his originals: “The Last Train from Shanghai”, “Samba Man”, “Waltz for Mariko” and “I Love You So Much”.

Bonny effortlessly served good opening. He kept it simple, enjoyable and ellegant. He is a prominent figure in Balinese jazz scene who has contributed in producing good talents for 20 years. But aside from that, we think it’s also important for him to establish his name as an active player. He has regular gigs in Bali, and hopefully after this he will get more appearances in bigger events like this one. Not only it will be good for him, the students can also learn on how to play jazz good by watching him live. Such a good opening for day two.

For many years, the French cultural institution, the Institut Français d’Indonésie has been giving much effort in establishing solid relationship between France and Indonesia through jazz. They have endorsed many great jazz musicians and artistes from France to have a concert here, which often enables musicians from both nations to exchange culture and knowledge that will improve their scope. For Ubud Village Jazz Festival this year, the insitution proudly endorsed a unique saxman Samy Thiebault under his most recent album ‘Rebirth’ touring.

Samy appeared under a trio with his ‘Rebirth’ team mates Sylvain Romano (double bass) and Philippe Soirat (drums). Listening to his music either in his album or live performance, we can’t help but amazed by his way to take us into his kaleidoscopic journey which spans from Africa (ranging from Ivory Coast to Mali), Venezuela to the music and rhythm of the Persian Gulf, all resonate through his tasty modern jazz. We say it’s a tour de force, and certainly we would love to see him again someday if not soon. Really interesting show here, c’est magnifique!

Then it’s time to check out the other stage near the entrance. Performing there was the co-founder of yours truly festival and the brain of Underground Jazz Movement, Yuri Mahatma. This man has a deep, recolective way of playing jazz that can always touch your soul. Playing with him were his dear wife also the Vice Chairman and Marketing Communication of the fest Astrid Sulaiman (piano), Iman Najib (drum) and Helmi Agustian (bass). This time he featured two brass players from The Glen Buschmann Jazz Academy: Mathias Bergmann on trumpet and a saxophonist from Czech Republic, Petr Kalfus and also a great female jazz vocalist from Jakarta, one of the best from today’s generation, Nesia Ardi.

Nesia is one of a kind. She doesn’t just sing but also a real entertainer who is good in bridging the stage with the audience. Speaking of style, she would remind you of the great female jazz and blue singers from the golden era, which makes every jazz standard she sings feel alive. Other than that, for us she is someone who could always create something surprising. For example, she established Nona Ria Trio that is cored in ragtime and swing, taking on old Indonesian songs from 30’s to 40’s. In there, she also plays snare drum while singing. Then she was found in Lantun Orchestra which combines jazz with Indonesian traditional keroncong, followed with Orkes Gembira and the most recent one a quartet named K/N/I/T.

Yuri led the team to deliver bossa evergreen “One Note Samba” for a start, followed by Wes Montgomery’s “Fried Pies” and “The Night Has a Thousand Eyes” and Monk’s “In Walked Bud”. Nesia joined the crowds on stage and threw three songs: “Don’t Put Sugar in My Coffee”, “Honeysuckle Rose” and another classic from 1930 “On the Sunny Side of the Street”.

We always know that this festival is a perfect ‘habitat’ for her. Nesia is a full package jazz artist. She can sound a lot of instruments with her mouth which often boosting up the entertainment factor. Having her singing alongside jazz guitarist Yuri Mahatma should be like heaven for pure jazz lovers because then they can feel the inner beauty of jazz in a natural way.

The brainchild of Yuri, the Underground Jazz Movement got their own show at the Subak Stage. This jazz community has the mission to introduce jazz to young musicians, especially those who live in Bali. They gather mostly on Sunday afternoon until night and fill it with open discussion, talk and have fun playing together. They went boppin’ with plenty of tradings and improvisations found in each turn.

As a quartet with Ade Surya Firdaus (piano), Dede Indra Putra (guitar), Fendy (bass) and Wisnu Priambodo (drum) represented the spirit of this festival as they were focusing on how to serve pure jazz delight by playing it the right way. It’s always nice to see the continuation the jazz movement in Bali. A community always plays an important role in developing something. As we are also commited in pushing up the regeneration of jazz in our hometown, it’s wonderful to see a fellow community in Bali is doing very, very well.

On the biggest side at the center of the venue, we got an exceptional jazz nightingale from Netherlands, Maaike den Dunnen. This lady is talented in many areas more than just sing. Let’s see. She can compose, writelyrics and play piano. Then from the appearance side, she is charming and warm. She reflects her musical personality through the combination between beatiful voice with strong jazz vibe, soul-connected singing, humor, lyricism and intelligence. As Maaike has been doing great in establishing her name in the jazz scene, it’s about time to have her in this land of Goddess.

Maaike directly bagged loud applause right from the start with her original song from her debut album, “The City Lights”. From there, she kept wowing the audience with more than just her beautiful jazzy vocal. That includes using megaphone and singing a famous house song from the 90s, “Show Me Love” in totally swing arrangement. We also love her charming appearance on stage.

She came here right after having her moment at the North Sea Jazz 2017. Thanks to Ubud Village Jazz Festival, we don’t have to go far away to reach the North Sea Jazz to watch Maaike. Year after year this festival in Ubud presents great selection of female vocalists from abroad from Laura Brunner to Deborah Carter. This year it belongs to Maaike den Dunnen. Een mooi concert van Maaike. Dank u wel!

Then it’s time to check the performance of a living legend who has been having such illustrious career for more than half a century. He’s none other than Benny Likumahuwa. Living inside the jazz scene for almost all his life made him listed in many cornerstones of Indonesian jazz (music) history. He was in many legendary bands like Cresendo, rock band The Rollies, The Jazz Riders, Ireng Maulana All Stars just to mention a few. Other than that, he has his own band Benny Likumahuwa Jazz Connection where his son, famous bassist and founder of BLP Barry Likumahuwa joins in, and of course, the band of him and Barry called Like Father Like Son. He is a multi-instrumentalist. He was once a bassist but then switched to brasses and woodwinds. Trombone is his main gear, but he often plays flute too. Simply put, you can place him in any position, he will breath some pure jazz.

Other than bringing Barry, joining him were pianist Christ Stanley, saxophonist Geraldo ‘Bass G’ Bhaskara Putra and drummer Dimas Pradipta. This team directly blasted the atmosphere with lethal dose of funk. Bites, chops, twists, all served interconnectedly with a good flow of a story. Barry kept on teasing and provoking Christ and Bass G with both his bass and expression. Meanwhile, Dimas Pradipta was kept busy serving nonstop beat with his drums. Benny Likumahuwa on the other hand showed that age is just a number, because he can still funk like his much younger mates. Nesia Ardi later joined them, singing 3 songs .

When they reached the end, Yuri Mahatma and Antida Darsana, both founders of the festival handed Benny Likumahuwa a Lifetime Achievement Award. Looking at Benny’s illustrious career spanning for more than half a century, all his achievements and contributions, he really deserves it.

This show gave us many things to admire. The pure spontaneous performance, the reflection of more than 50 years jazz journey, the love between father and son shared using jazz language, the joyful and connected show, all these we captured from this gig. May God bless Benny with good health, so we can see him playing for many more years to come.

Around the same time of Benny Likumahuwa, a senior guitarist originally from Malang but live and build his career in Bali took his moment on Subak stage. He is Koko Harsoe. This man fell in love with jazz very early, so early that he has established his own jazz band at the age of 14. He is a proud member of a great band of friends, Jiwa Band which has spread madness here a couple of years ago.

Like his performance in 2015, Koko Harsoe embraced the modern jazz fully along with a strong team such as Sandy Winarta (drum), Indra Gupta (double bass) featuring a Spanish flutist who has been studying, researching and performing in many corners of the globe from Canada, New York, Norway to Cambodia and Indonesia, Rodrigo Porejo. Speding his life in so many countries has shaped him to be a versatile musician and improviser. Other than mastering the jazz, classical and contemporary-avant garde and rock, he is also influenced by wide spectrum of house music, from Brazilian, Cuban, Arabic, Flamenco and so on.

As expected, Koko Harsoe’s show gave us chance to enjoy jazz at its most natural state. He kept his music chill and gave enough room for his compatriotes to have their moments. The connection between Indra Gupta and Sandy Winarta were solid, and Rodrigo Porejo just made their canvas appear with much more colors.

Koko Harsoe is a versatile musician who loves to explore. He has collaborated with exotic traditional instruments, from tabla, djembe to digeridoo, the Aborigin instrument.
Some ethnics are reflected smoothly here and there along with his down to earth music. Koko embraces his music with his soul, ‘painting’ and ‘sculpting’ the jazz like a fine art artiste, which in the end allowing us to feel the beauty of it. Having a strong team with distinctive format made his show appeared simple yet grand.

Then it’s time for us to see one of the main attractions in this 5th installment, the great Gerald Clayton Trio, consisting of Gerald William Clayton (piano), Joe Sanders (bass) and Gregory Hutchinson (drums). In his young age, Clayton has already had remarkable achievements. This man has been nominated four times with Grammy Awards: 2010 Grammy nomination for Best Improvised Jazz Solo for his arrangement of Cole Porter’s “All of You”, Best Jazz Instrumental Composition on 2011 for “Battle Circle”, his composition featured on The Clayton Brothers’ recording “The New Song and Dance” (ArtistShare) and nominated in 2012 and 2013 for Best Jazz Instrumental Album for “Bond: The Paris Sessions” (Concord) and “Life Forum” (Concord), his second and third album releases.

Before all these nominations, he finished at second place in 2006 Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Piano Competition. He has performed and made recordings with variety of stellar artists including Dianne Reeves, Diana Krall, Roy Hargrove, John Scofield, Avishai Cohen, Peter Bernstein and Kendrick Scott just to mention a few, also with Clayton Brothers Quintet which includes his father and uncle. That shows that this man doesn’t only have the skill but also deep sensibilities too in presenting music. Just a couple of months ago he just released his latest album “Tributary Tales”

His two partners are special too. Joe Sanders is, without doubt, one of the most sought-after young bass players of this era. Recently he placed 2nd in the finals of both the International Society of Bassists Jazz Bass Competition and the Thelonious Monk Institute’s International Jazz Bass Competition. Gregory Hutchinson is an American drummer of modern jazz . He got praises from Martin Kunzler, saying that his highly differentiated, “lively” game is reminiscent of Roy Haynes and Philly Joe Jones, while according to Jazz Magazine, he is “the drummer of his generation”.

This trio is like a strong magnet, dragging everyone around the venue to come watching. They showcasd a wide, colorful jazz spectrum in tight connectivity to one another. Clayton is a remarkable musician that can adapt to any musical environment without any problem. He can play romantic jazz standards with Diana Krall, but he can groove alongside Roy Hargrove. Tonight we got the chance to see his true-self in music. He played tasty, toe-tapping modern, funky post bop while at other times he can touch our hearts with his smooth ballads. Both Gregory and Joe surf on the same length of wave with him.

Tight unit, sharp and shiny. They built the whole session like telling stories, effectively but adventurous and imaginative. Serious, yet playful. Complex, yet enjoyable. Full of action, lots of fun. The trio’s solid 5-star performance made the audience rewarded them long standing ovation in the end. We are lucky to be able to watch this tour-de-force of this awe-inspiring trio.

The guitar wiz, I Wayan Balawan returned to this event with his stunning cross Jazz-ethnic Balinese ensemble Balawan & Batuan Ethnic Fusion. This is the ensemble he established long time ago in 1997 right after he came back from his study at the Australian Institute of Music. With this ensemble he released an album GloBALIsm. Balawan then continued on making many projects and appearances throughout the years, but this mind-bending ensemble is still kept very much alive. Occassionally when the time is right, he emerged on the surface with it.

Accompanying him in the ensemble were I Nyoman Suarsana, Ketut Tarmadi, Krishna Kanhaiya, I Wayan Yogi Eko Martika, Anggis Devaki, Raditya Yudistra and I Made Subandi.

No one would argue that Balawan is like a guitar wiz possessed with jazz spirit. This man’s skill is beyond believe. He could play guitar with such speed that we can’t see his fingers anymore. He could easily sing the notes he played on his two-fret guitar. In his ensemble we found some very young players, like the 16 year-old boy on drum and also on keyboard. All of these players are above average in technique.

Balawan and his ensemble created madness right from the beginning. He gave a tribute to Al Jarreau by singing and playing Jarreau’s version of “Spain”, but amazingly served by involving traditional Balinese instrument. Then, he surprised the audience by showing their ability to go speeding, playing around 17-20 notes per second. All of these were found in his show. In the end, it’s like watching a bunch of magicians using each of their ‘wands’ to put a spell on the audience. This show of Balawan was highly entertaining.

We don’t get to see the Balawan & Batuan Ethnic Fusion often, so we are glad that we could watch and cover the show this time. This group which was established in Balawan’s village Batuan (Sukawati, Gianyar, Bali) doesn’t only fuse the music but also the authentic mystical Balinese soundscape and feel with modern jazz. Balawan & Batuan Ethnic Fusion’s opens up a whole different dimension where two really different musics appear as a single entity. Simply outstanding, full of magic, they gave a perfect climax to Padi stage.

On the other stage, a young man David Manuhutu launched his jazz ship. We have been with him since he started appearing in public when he was still around 15 years of age. After series of participation in groups and projects, he went to Berklee College of Music in Boston, USA. In there he quickly made quite an achievement by receiving Dean’s list award every semester for having GPA above 3.4. He learnt and played with many giants while studying in there. At the end of last year he released his first album titled “Journey” featuring Adam Rogers and Peter Bernstein.

As he is now seriously building his career in Indonesia mostly between Jakarta and his hometown Bandung, he took one step further to reach Bali. David came with interesting lineup, featuring singing guitarist originally from Manggarai regency in East Nusa Tenggara province on the island of Flores, Debora Jemadu, former kid drummer Rafi Muhammad and bassist Odi Purba. Rafi Muhammad made a big surprise back in 2006 by releasing an album full of stars including Bob James, Nathan East, Paul Jackson, Tom Scott, Michael Paulo titled “Can’t Stop the Beat”. Later in his teenage years he formed Rafi & the Beat, joining Indra Lesmana’s LLW then not long ago, the Art of Tree and a trio Her Coat of Arms. A couple of months ago he promoted his single ‘carrier’ “Break the Rules” from his upcoming solo album.

To begin with, David took his composition “A Journey” and invited us to sail with him. Then he played his cool re-arrangement of West Java’s folk song, “Bubuy Bulan”, which for us felt like watching a glittery reflection of moon on the ocean. In the end, they were safely landed with “Mengejar Mimpi”.

This quartet is like a miniature of Indonesian jazzchipelago since it features young players from west to east, from Sumatra, Java, Flores and Ambon islands. All of them are still very young but really gifted and share strong chemistry to one another. A warm performance by David Manuhutu and friends that also shows the force of young generation in Indonesian jazz at present time. This became the last show for Subak stage.

One final show left on the main stage. It was the Glen Buschmann Jazz Academy (Glen Buschmann Jazzakademie) from Germany. This big band is named after the legendary late clarinetist/saxophonist Glen Buschmann, consisting of more than 20 players inside. If last night Dian Pratiwi,  Uwe Plath (standing as the conductor)  and Sithara Chimaniak were found inside this band, for this second show they invited more featured stars from guitarist/co-founder of the fest Yuri Mahatma to trumpeter Benny Brown.

Grand, grand opening made some audience danced right away. In the old days, a big band was also called a dance band due to its nature. The Glen Buschmann Jazz Academy Big Band successfully made it happen again in today’s time with their own way. One of the songs they played was a soul evergreen of Marvin Gaye, “What’s Going On”. What’s interesting is how they presented the soulful Motown style from the 70’s era in a big band format. Both Dian Pratiwi and the young jazz lady originally from Srilanka but now resides in Germany, Sithara Schimaniak who tonight looks beautiful wearing saree dress stood in front of their mikes.

Like on day 1, the last song was Tania Maria’s “Come With Me”, but this time it was an extended, much longer version. This song forced so many people dancing from the front row to back, creating a spectacular view which we will remember for a long time to come.

The Ubud Village Festival has done it again. The committee featured balanced portion of local Balinese musicians, from Jakarta, Bandung and other cities and international artists ranging from Australia, Austria, Germany, USA, Netherlands to France and so on. We found  Indian and Srilanka too among the lineups this year. The composition of young players, seniors and legends are good, the rundowns are well managed, and from the variety, this festival once again showcased the united multi colors of jazz. Just by watching this event for two days, anyone would find out how rich jazz really is in sound, technique and style. Not only swing and bebop, this year we got post bop and fusion of jazz with ethnic. All served in the cool, tranquil and peaceful side of Bali.

This festival has successfully built a strong concept that is different than anywhere else. Eventhough the event has three stages with so many attractions, the situation inside the venue is far from hectic. Everyone can enjoy their time without having to rush here and there. Some even chose to watch the show by lying down on the pillows provided by the committee. How more cozy can you be in enjoying jazz performance? The food stalls are located nearby, and yes, the green surroundings and simple yet artistic decorations do help in making everyone feel at ease.

Put it simple, this is a jazz festival where the word ‘enjoy’can be felt for real, at max. This has been one of our most favorite destinations every year. 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 & Photographer: Riandy Kurniawan
Photographer : Dendy Adhyatma Purnama , Riandy Kurniawan   .

The annual Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF) in Kuching, Sarawak (Malaysia), celebrated its 20th anniversary this year with a terrific lineup of musicians from around the world! One of the unique programming features is the afternoon workshops and jam sessions, which bring together musicians from the various groups by category – such as instrumentals (all strings, or all percussion), vocals (eg. traditional) or dance (mixed or by genre).

The 45-minute music workshops in parallel across three venues in three daily slots made for a good nine sessions a day, or 27 sessions in all – but also a tough problem in deciding which one to attend! Due to their spontaneous nature, the jams and workshops reveal new aspects of creativity and connection, 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 earlier articles on the music jams from the 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013 editions of RWMF: Demonstrations, Dialogues and Jams http://jazzuality.com/jazz-event-report/rainforest-world-music-festival-2016-workshops-demonstrations-dialogues-and-jams/, The Joy of Jamming: http://jazzuality.com/jazz-event-report/rainforest-world-music-festival-2015-workshops-the-joy-of-jamming, 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 2017 lineup of 22 international and 5 local groups included Abavuki (South Africa), Achanak (UK/India), Ba Cissoko (Guinea), Belem (Belgium), Bitori (Cape Verde), Calan (Wales), Cimarron (Colombia), Dom Flemons (US), Hanggai (China), Huw Williams (Wales), Kelele (South Africa), O Tahiti E (Tahiti), Okra Playground (Finland), Pareaso (Korea), Radio Cos (Spain), Romengo (Hungary), Saing Waing Orchestra (Myanmar), Spiro (UK), Svara Samsara (Indonesia), Taiwu Ancient Ballads Troupe (Taiwan), The Chipolatas (UK/Australia), and The Paradise Bangkok Molam International Band (Thailand). The Malaysian lineup featured At Adau, Ilu Leto, Lan E Tuyang and Sekolah Seni Malaysia Sarawak from Sarawak, as well as Maliao Maliao Dance Troupe from Malacca.

The afternoon workshops are held in three venues: the smaller intimate Iban Longhouse, the larger Bidayuh Longhouse, and the largest hall, Dewan Lagenda. The evening performances are held outdoors in two parallel stages: Jungle Stage and Tree Stage. All venues are in the picturesque rainforests of the Sarawak Cultural Village, between Mount Santubong and the South China Morning Sea.

The ‘Dialogue of the Drums’ jam session kicked off Day One with a lineup of percussionists from India/UK (Achanak), Guinea (Ba Cissoko), South Africa (Abavuki) and Indonesia (Svara Samsara). Anchored by Ninder Johal on tabla, the other artistes showed that the djembe, talking drum, kendang sunda and tamani may be from different continents but can still communicate with one another.

The vocal workshop filled the stage: with Dom Flemons (US), Chando Graciosa (Cape Verde), Alena Murang (Malaysia), Bethan William-Jones (Wales), Camake Valaule (Taiwan) and others. Each showcased some of the unique stories from their cultures, which were performed as a poem or song.

Another melodious jam session featured accordions from around the world – Spain, Finland, Cape Verde, Wales, Belgium and Scotland. Tristan Glover from UK/Australia troupe Chipolatas lead the musicians through a round of introductions and brief musical snippets, and kicked off two segments of improvised foot-tapping music.

Each day ended with a terrific one-hour drum circle conducted outdoors by Drum1.org. Audience members formed layers of concentric circles and took part in many rounds of coordinated percussion, a perfect sedgeway to the subsequent night-time performances.

The jam sessions on Day Two afternoon kicked off with violins and ‘other instruments that have a stick of some kind.’ Musicians from China, Wales, Scotland, South Africa, Spain, Finland and Hungary joined in. Some similarities between the folk traditions of Europe clearly emerged as the workshop progressed, with Asia adding a new twist to the melodies and emotions.

Some of the most popular dance workshops were conducted by O Tahiti E. Founded in 1986, it is one of the oldest dancing troops in French Polynesia and has a mix of seasoned percussionists and talented young dancers. For two workshops, they led the audience through rounds of sensuous dance moves for men and women, and even chose winners from the audience in the second round.

Another packed workshop on African dance was conducted by members of Abavuki, with Siyabulela Jiyana and Thulani Mtyi leading the crowd through a whole hour of pan-African dance steps. The same venue hosted a bhangra workshop earlier by three members of Achanak, featuring the folk dance from Punjab. Other dance workshops at the festival featured samba, gypsy dance, and Welsh clog dance.

The indoor halls of the Sarawak Cultural Village featured a number of workshops on weaving techniques as well as playing the sape, the traditional instrument of many of the tribes of Sarawak. There were also collections of string and percussion instruments from around the world on display.

One of the final jams on Day Two featured Hadrah Drums (frame drums) from Southeast Asia, with percussionists from Malaysia (Sarawak Cultural Village) and Indonesia (Svara Samsara). Each group showcased some of their regional rhythms, followed by a high-energy jam, aptly titled ‘Wild Beats.’

Day Three had some of the most eye-opening workshops. It kicked off with a superb jam session called ‘Fingers and Thumbs,’ with instruments such as harp, saung (Burmese harp), mbira (Africa), gayageum (Korea), kantele (Finland) and kora (Guinea). The range of instruments blew the audience away, many of whom had never before seen such instruments. Despite the diversity, the musicians also found common ground in the collective improvisation following their round of introductory segments.

A dozen musicians on wind instruments from different bands took the stage for the next session. Anchored by Patrick Rimes from Calan, artistes from nine nations showcased bagpipes, flutes, pigborn (made from cow horn; Scotland), selingut (Malaysia), khaen (Thailand), and gaita (Spain). While the instrumental variety and musical introductions were great, the jam session didn’t quite take off partly due to the very wide volume differences between instruments like the delicate nose-flute and high-powered bagpipes, but the audience applauded loudly anyway.

Another strings workshop featured plucked instruments: this time with geomungo (Korea), harp (Venezuela), sape (Malaysia), tobshuur (inner Mongolia), mandolin (Spain), phin (Thailand) and banjo. The sheer musical diversity again won the day, along with two memorable improvisational rounds with cumulative instrumental build-up over an initial melody.

The last jam was the most spectacular, with almost 20 percussionists on stage from around the world: Spain, Malaysia, Venezuela, Korea, Hungary, Myanmar, Indonesia, and Cape Verde. The instruments ranged from the deceptively simple ferrinho (iron scraper) to the larger jangu drum from Korea. The lead percussionist from the Sarawak Cultural Village troupe superbly anchored the jam, from low rumble to thunderous crescendo in successive waves, drawing the audience to their feet clamouring for another hypnotic encore.

Many of the featured bands drew loud applause for their 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 for the jam sessions. Even though many of them did not speak a common language, music showed its universal nature as these artistes jammed with joy with others from around the world in the afternoon workshops. We look forward to the 2018 edition of RWMF already, and its unbeatable combination of workshops and jams!

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

Jazz was born in the early 20th century in America. It’s true. But today, jazz has become more than a central element of American culture or music, it now belongs to the world. This genre spread around the world after being originated in New Orleans, assimilating with different social musical cultures wherever it’s landed, which interestingly gave birth to many distinctive styles. You can really differ the African jazz with Indian for example and so on. And we are still talking regionally.

Indonesia has more than 300 ethnic groups who have their own culture, tradition, art and music. If jazz lands on these ethnic groups, imagine how many unique jazz breed would appear only from Indonesia. There are the widely known Pentatonic scale, then Diatonic, and many other scales, modes or sound that are not yet exposed or even still undiscovered. On the other hand, we have to think of how to preserve the traditional music and introduce them to the world, if we don’t want to see them extinct. And jazz can be useful for that. It’s important to learn how to play jazz the right way, how to swing, bop and so on, but have we thought about using jazz as the universal language to introduce the richness of our arts and cultures to the world?

Through generation we have seen bands living and breathing in this particular area. Some embarked quite a journey which not only established their career in higher ground but also opened up such dimension we might never think existed. Today, there are some supergroups who are still keeping their existance, but also the younger players who could offer something new, innovatively in this field. One of the sensational group is found 7 years ago in Bandung, the West Java Syndicate.

This combo consists of 5 mad-men with enough power to overcome the odds: founder/band leader Zahar Mustilaq on drums, Yopi D Nafis on keyboard, Dede SP on bass, Randy Gevenk on variety of traditional Sundanese and Chinese woodwinds/humming and karinding (traditional instrument made of bamboo and midribs of palm trees) and the youngest of them all, Ipin Zbet on kendangs/tatabeuhan. After quite a long process, the thugs launch their album titled “Bubuka” (in English: “The Opening”) following their EP also released independently a few years earlier, “Album Leutik” (in English: “Small Album”). The album launching served quite grand through a live performance on Saturday, 19 August 2017 at Eiger Store, Bandung.

Before we get down to this album launching ceremony, let us see the story behind the making of this album. The idea and preparation began around 3 years ago. At that time, they already had some materials to go into the album. Some were taken from the EP, some were made after that. Luckily they got supported by Andry Mandera, the owner of Studio 8 which is known for its high quality of recording and processing that makes them a favorite place for national artists to do their recordings. Having Andry is a big advantage, because the modern and traditional instruments that they are using have different frequencies. It’s certainly tricky, therefore they need someone who understands about this matter to bring out the best quality of sound for the album. Andry Mandera and his Studio 8 is not just a place where they were working at but also became an integrated team of this movement. The ceremonial feast was held in this studio too on 27 July 2017. They let us hear the whole album and let us know the story behind each song.

Speaking of musical concept, this 5-piece combo is one of a kind. First of all, they found a perfect chemistry between kendang and drum, producing simultaneously cohesive beat as if it comes from one soul. It’s not easy because both drum and kendang have their own style and pattern, but Zahar and Ipin know how to fuse it perfectly. “The key is, you got to know and understand both worlds”, says Zahar. It’s certainly inspiring to see how Zahar plays the drum unorthodoxly, synchronizing himself with the kendang pattern without totally leaving the principal of modern drum playing.

Then, Yopi Nafis on piano brings the beautiful melody in natural mixture between jazz, classical and traditional. Dede SP serves provocative bass playing with rockin’ approach. Not only great in doing his role, his appearance and attraction often catch people’s attention. Last but not least, Randy Gevenk has a substantial part in making their sound mystical. This young man is a wiz of traditional woodwinds. He plays Sundanese trumpet, flute and karinding, also a master of some traditional Chinese woodwinds, which he picks up while studying there on scholarship. The using of many woodwinds creates a landscapic multi-dimensional sound for their music. And when he uses his vocal to do a high pitch humming, he adds even more mystical nuance.

Speaking of performance, these mobs do it like a bunch of kids playing in the park. They make it full with laughters. They throw joke even chit chating with one another. That transfers joyful energy to everyone who watch them, which will make everyone enjoy the performance even better.

The “Bubuka” album consists of 8 songs, including one prelude to the romantic ballad written by YD Nafis, “Tembang Katresna”. While the album showcases their forte in presenting the mystical Sundanese musical realm in progressive multi-dimensional soundscape through different moods – from grand, majestic, playful to high-octane action packed, there’s a song tributing Riza Arshad too titled “Like Brother Like Teacher”, showing how they look up to the late key-wiz who also was commited in digging this side of music for more than 25 years with his Simakdialog.

The album launching was made official with a live performance taking place at Eiger Store, Bandung on Saturday, 19 August 2017. Other than Andry Mandera of Studio 8, also attending Galih Sedayu, the founder of Air Foto Network and Ruang Kolaborasa. Acting as the opening was another amazing modern-traditional ensemble Palanta Line Art. If West Java Syndicate serves the Sundanese musical realm, Palanta is focusing on the West Sumatra (Minangkabau) music. They keep the traditional principal and feature of it, but in much wider and modern scope.

Look at what they gave as the first song: Chick Corea’s “Spain”! Never before we heard anyone play this song in diatonic scale, with Minangkabau taste/style by using an acrobatic talempong (Minangkabau’s instrument: a set of small kettle gongs) playing. But yes, they quickly grabbed the attention which made them bagged a loud applause from the crowds.

The founder of Palanta Line Art, Maspon Herizal personally led the much younger team with his mind-blowing variety of woodwinds presentation, using tanduak (kind of ancient flute made from bamboo and the real buffalo horn) and the thick bamboo flute Sampelong. His voice humming created haunting atmosphere without making the song felt scary. As we said much younger team, the rest of the band consisted of all very young musicians: Arts Fiaris (guitar), Regi Permadi (drum), Shendy Susanto (bass), Qorry Restu Qodirullah (keyboard) and Kiky Septian (talempong). This ‘junior’ team surprised us with their performance. What they dig is far from easy, yet they are doing it very, very well.

If jazz with pentatonic might probably already be familiar to you, do listen to this group’s way of showing how magical the sound is when jazz and diatonic traditional music collide. That’s what this sensational Palanta Line Art did on the next two songs, “Djanger Bali” and Maspon’s epic masterpiece “Andalas Raya”.

After a blazing opening, the main event came in. West Java Syndicate took over the stage and began with the majestic and title track, “Bubuka”. This song directly gave a clear portrait of what this band and what their music is all about. The bamboo flute and karinding sound from Gevenk was simply irresistible. And of course, his high-pitched humming built even more dramatic spirit. “Child’s Play” let us feel how playful they could go, just like a bunch of kids having lots of fun in a park. The commander Zahar were attractive behind the drum with his funny acts.

The next song was the glittery, bright “City of Light”. This song was made by YD Nafis and Randy Gevenk instantly at the studio during the recording. Then they played the song written by Nafis when he proposed his wife back then, “Tembang Katresna” (“Love Song”). The sweet, sentimental prelude came beautifully from him, and then the rest of the dudes joined in and built this song to reach its peak without losing the romantic grip even for a moment. The song tributing the late Riza Arshad, “Like Brother Like Teacher” followed right after.

Ipin then surprised us with his ability to do beatbox while hitting the kendang in full force for “Kendang Madness”. This young man did it superbly before they all having a blast on the most happening track, the high-octane action packed “Gending Rame Ku Kendang”, written by Zahar Mustilaq. This song became the playground where all the energy left inside them let loose. Dede SP did a stunning rockin’ solo bass and the tarumpet sound from Gevenk made a fantastic climax. After the show, they all took a photo session and meet and greet session. They also placed their signatures on the CDs bought by some of the audience.

A very interesting album with inspiring concept has finally launched in a simple but cool way. “Bubuka” brings the Sundanese music appears modern, showing that there are still many ways to present the traditional music to fit today’s generation, and to make it understandable to the international listeners. What’s great is that they make it with lots of fun, eye and ear catchy, easy to understand even by the most common listeners. All streams naturally from them. The other thing that grabs our attention is how they bring out music like having a dialogue on stage which also involves the audience.

West Java Syndicate is unique. They are creative, skillful and different. They should get more chance to be heard wide, out loud. An album like “Bubuka” should be able to open up that chance, and for you who love music, you should spend some time to listen to them. We congratulate West Java Syndicate for the album, we wish you the best of luck with it. May this become the new dawn to take a higher step in your career. The next challenge is how to top this album in your next work. It won’t be easy, but we have no doubt you will find the way to do so. A band like this is important not only because they are going to add more variety and color to the music industry but al.so to preserve the traditional (Sundanese) music and to spread the knowledge about it to diverse audience around the globe.

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Reporter and photographer: Riandy Kurniawan

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Indonesia has just celebrated its 72th Anniversary last Thursday, August 17th, 2017. Coincidentally, that date fell exactly on our regular schedule for Braga Jazz Night, which comes every third Thursday of the month. We dedicated this 38th episode to this occassion and called it Special Independence Day Edition.

For this Braga Jazz Night #38 : Special Independence Day Edition we continued what’s left from the previous episode, showcasing and supporting only interesting, potential and talented youngsters who are deeply passionate in jazz. Many of them have gained shiny achievements, making breakthroughs in such an early age, some has creatively took brave explorations into the wild jazz terrain. Amazingly, all of them have to make good arrangement of their time since they still have to do their formal study. So, all young, all talented, all skillful, all creative and innovative, all passionate. We are really proud of them and feel blessed to be able to give our support to each and everyone of them. We could give the tagline “Young Guns II” as the theme, but we decided to just go with Special Independence Day while still carrying the same idea. To fit the theme, we asked these boys to include any patriotic anthem or folk song within their repertoires.

This edition kicked off big with the winner of the 39th Jazz Goes to Campus (2016) and third place holder of MLD Jazz Band Wanted in Surabaya, the Hareguna. This band formerly has Anugerah as its name, showing how they take the band as a blessing from Above. That was their name when they won the Jazz Goes to Campus against so many great finalists. This band only needed 4 times of practices to win. In the final they took away the hearts of the judges Indro Hardjodikoro, Adra Karim and Andre Dinuth by genius rearrangement over well known standards and executed them in free/modal jazz fashion. They played clean, sharp and neat, including or especially in the tutti parts, a passage intended to be executed by everyone simultaneously.

Hareguna was a trio consisting of Trinanda Imawan Wibisono (piano), Brian Abraham Pangondian Napitupulu (bass) and Pefiri Ari Wibowo (drum). Now the band becomes a quartet, adding up a vocalist Nydia Ekalistha Hermawan. As a note, Wibi the pianist also won the Jazz Goes to Campus band competition two years earlier with his then-band from Surabaya, 4/4. He won the competition with the band and also as the best pianist. Pefiri and Brian were in the competition too back then.

The crowds filled up the space in front of them as they started with Amalur’s “Tortuga y Cronopio”. Right from the start they demonstrated such ultimate freedom in playing by playing outside notes with interesting chord progressions. Amazingly, their solid connection made them able to perfectly executed the song. Since they love to play outside notes, it’s certainly not easy for Nydia to keep singing on track, but she did her part really well.

On the second song Hareguna pinned a patriotic anthem written by Ismail Marzuki, “Halo Halo Bandung”. They rearranged this song totally and surprised many audience. Again, it was made with high difficulty but they nailed it tight and clean. It soon followed by Stevie Wonder’s classic “Isn’t She Lovely” also in an interesting modal jazz way. We could imagine how difficult it would be for Nydia to sing what these dudes play, but somehow she always sails safely until the end. The hit of a young newcomer in Indonesian music scene originally from Brunei Darussalam, Jaz (Aziz Hayat) titled “Dari Mata”.

And as the last song, they covered a song written by the late Franky Sahilatua, “Pancasila Rumah Kita”. This song is perfect to choose for this special Indonesia’s Independence Day. As this song has been covered by many today’s artists from Glenn Fredly, Trio Lestari, Edo Kondologit to Isyana Sarasvati, the version of Hareguna was made by staying true to the heart and soul of their concept.

Hareguna knows how to make complex compositions in spicing up anything they play, and also knows how to serve them chilled to everyone. For the musicians and people who understand technique, they would know what these three young men and a lady do is far from easy. Plenty of manic improvisations that requires immidiate, spontaneous response from team mates. They all locked up during the play which made them able to play solid, tight and clean. In order to do so, they have to know one another’s character very well and certainly, it needs skill and takes a lot of courage to execute. From Hareguna we got many things, from jazz-pedition, killer punches, sharp bites to the smart way of composing.

For the next session we welcomed a newborn group from Jakarta, also comprised of teenagers. They may still in their teens, but speaking of skill, these boys play like a pro, as if they have been active twice or third their age. The name of the band itself is interestingly using an African language, Salaamata, means Peace, referring to their wish to bring peace through music.

Salaamata is built on three pillars: Nicholas Dheo (bass), Nathan Gulo (drum) and Kasyfi Kalyasena (piano/sax). Nicholas Dheo is a 15 year-old bassist who is currently growing very fast. We know him for the first time as the bassist of Bandung-based Nayra Dharma Trio. Since Dheo lives not in Bandung, it took a big effort for him to go back and forth from Jakarta to Bandung. Not easy, but he happily did it. Now he established several groups in his hometown like D.R.T and this new one Salaamata, also supports Natasya and Friends.

Together with Kasyfi, he recently made a breakthrough by using the technology to collaborate with saxman from Dallas, Spenser Liszt. Speaking of Kasify, this young dude called himself saxo-pianist, showing his passion to play music by utilizing both saxophone and pianist. He is now 15 year-old with quite experience on performing including his regular at Ritz-Carlton Jakarta with Chroma-ticz and some valuable activities around jazz communities in Bandung and Jakarta. He is certainly among interesting young guns today in our jazz scene.

As for the drummer Nathan Gulo, this boy made huge wave 7 years ago when he stood as the bandleader among the lineup of prestigious festivals like Java Jazz Festival, Bekasi Jazz Festival, JakJazz and Jazz Goes to Campus when he was still 6 year-old. Imagine how a 6 year-old boy could do that, locking with complex jazz standards and nailed each one with perfection. Sounds quite impossible, but he did it. If you wonder when he started learning drum, it was when he was still a toddler, 3 year-old. He then made some more moves including sharing the stage with father-son Benny and Barry Likumahuwa. We didn’t hear him much after that, but recently we found out that he’s been active mainly playing at church. We feel glad to get an update of him, picking up what’s left from 7 years ago by having him in our own yard.

They promised to bring out their fullest force to this event in order to make their debut gig meaningful. And yes, that’s exactly what they did. What’s amazing is that they already have some original songs, and began with one of them, titled “Change”. This song has a rapid drumbeat and smooth, uplifting melodies which made us feel like watching the changes they have throughout their growing process as musicians and how they look at their future positively. Then they carried on with a national song written by Ismail Marzuki, “Indonesia Pusaka”. They made a smooth groovy jazz rearrangement which gave the impression as if this song was made as a jazz song.

After that, they took a famous song of Chick Corea, “Morning Sprite”. Like other Corea’s songs, this one ain’t easy to play and shone from Corea’s trio with the caliber of Dave Weckl and John Patitucci. Knowing that they are still teenagers and able to nail this song perfectly is simply awe-inspiring. For this song, Dheo replaced his gear to contrabass.

After a morning tune, Salaamata embraced the night by presenting another original song titled “Moonless Night”. This song amazed us the most, due to its ‘grand-voyage’ nature. It’s like watching a movie or reading a book consisting some chapters, adventurous, glittery and landscapic. Such an epic which should stand as their masterpiece, a winning song that gives an excellent portrait of these highly gifted boys in writing, composing and playing. Two more songs came from them, the classy and stylish “Joy Spring” and Fourplay’s “3rd Degree” from the album “Let’s Touch the Sky”. As the jazz world is still mourning the passing of Chuck Loeb just a couple of weeks ago, this song in a way gave deep respect to him. They took this song and made it a playground where they unleashed every drop of energy they had left inside and reached the end in such style.

Dheo told us that to him this is a family band. Meaning, he takes his fellows just like his own brothers. “We grow together, if we fail, we fail together. But hey, we are going to succeed together!” he said. Looking at the skill, passion and efforts, we have no doubt that this trio will achieve success, if they keep going together. They are still young, but they are blessed and know what they are doing. They are on the right track, so we hope they will keep going. One day, these boys and hopefully the trio will stand among the tops. What a magnificent performance dudes!

For the final act, we presented a multi-faceted band that can easily suit appear in different genre but clearly has jazz as one of it roots: Sasadana. This band was formed 4 years ago by a group of friends who were still in high school and junior high school. Eventhough they were still in their teens at that time, these boys were really brave in crafting their music.

They combined both modern and traditional instruments in making wide exploration in sound. They used to be five, but now the band is settled as a quartet. The founders Pangestu Hning Bhawana (violin), Rifky Adam Rahman (bass) and Digun Guntara Barnas (drum/tatabeuhan) are still in, plus a cute young lady positioned on keys: Ratih Putria who has been joining the team for some times now.

Based on the unique combination they are using and the wide musical backgrounds these musicians have, they can play jazz/blues standards in different ways, or traditional/ethnic songs in progressive fusion. They have graced many stages from Margo Friday Jazz, Klab Jazz events to Blues events and others.

This band has a lot of friends and fans. Look at the fact: eventhough they have been in hiatus for about a year, they brought in many supporters for this show. Under thunderous applause, they started big by combining Indonesian (Minahasa) folk song, “O Ina Ni Keke” with the epic song of Java Jazz, “Bulan di Atas Asia” aka “Moon Over Asia”, featuring Tiara Putri Effendy on vocal. Estu joked that this one should be titled “O Ina Ni Keke Di Atas Asia”. None of us would imagine to combine these songs, but they proves that it works amazingly well. Estu in front gave a brilliant, wide exploration of sound which got strong support from Ratih, Digun and Rifky. They played joyfully with lots of smile and laughters. What a way to start. Blazing and fun from start to finish.

Estu threw couples of jokes to engage even stronger connection with the audience and then played a song that has the same title of their name: “Sasadana”. Of course they name the song that way, since this song represents them perfectly. The east meets west, the modern, progressive jazz with delightful, mystical Sundanese taste in this song is so irresistable. And as we said, all flew naturally. Huge pops from the audience showed how much they loved it. Then, Sasadana gave another song which let them explored freely. Found inside it was another folk song from West Sumatra, “Ayam Den Lapeh”. Plenty of theatrical acts and solo runs were found in both of these songs which attracted many passers-by and mall-goers to stay watching them. Again, loud applause were given. Again, loud applause were given.

For the last song, Tiara came back to sing “Janger Bali”. Estu was triumphant with his violin, bringing the mystical Balinese feel to life. Tiara put her voice on top of everyone which captured the Balinese spirit even stronger. Ratih’s fingers worked like a Balinese dancer above the keys. Strong groovy rhythm on bass and the cool, playful drum beating from Rifky and Digun were also hypnotizing. Besides the main theme, it’s incredible to see how they run freely in the middle of each song, having fun with improvisation as much as they like. Imagine playing the authentic sound of Bali in Sundanese style, they did it as if it was something normal and easy. The audience asked for more, but since the time was already close to 10:00 pm, the event had to reach the end.

Mind-bending, unpredictable and sharp, Sasadana surprised everyone with their wide musical scope. These young explorers boldly penetrated the world of music more than what musicians their age normally do. We have been wanting to bring them in for years, finally they landed on our stage. The freedom and fun of playing music is what they have in mind, and with their skill and braveness, the Sasadana presented progressive jazz fusion that’s not only interesting but also entertaining. Full of action, full of twist. What a blazing climax it was, thanks to Sasadana!

The Braga Jazz Night #38: Special Independence Day Edition turns out to be a very interesting event where the young guns spread madness within their trailblazing works. You see, these musicians are still in their teens or just turning into young adult, but they are already deadly and venomous in playing music. These young lads turn their instruments into lethal weapons and stunned us out throughout the show.

Also in this edition we got a special guest. Not human, but a ball python named Ongol aka Ongi, a pet belong to Nayra Dharma and her family. Since this beautiful snake lives in a jazz family, he seemed comfortable with the atmosphere and music. We think it’s cool to have different kind of visitor like this, we hope Ongi will come again in the next edition, and who knows, probably he will have his own appeareance too someday. Why not? Anything can happen on jazz stage, especially ours.

We thanks Sasadana, Salaamata and Hareguna for making this edition special, especially to the two last mentioned bands who put up big efforts by coming all the way from Jakarta. We are really proud of you guys! Also thanks to the soundman, Gita Bawana who has helped us with the instruments and of course, to everyone who came to watch it. We hope you enjoy the performance and continue your support to our small community jazz event.

We will be back again in September with another fresh batch. We have some interesting plans for the upcoming 39th edition, including the runner up of The Voice Indonesia 2016, a newcomer with unique obscura style and a mind-bending ensemble. We will let you know more details soon.

In the end, let’s pray for Indonesia. 72 years ago our foundingfathers proclaimed the independence day of Indonesia. The problem wasn’t over right away, because then we had to fight against military agressions. Today, we are still facing a lot of troubles. Multi-dimensional problems, financial crisis and disintegrations are just some of the things that need extra attention. Let’s become a good citizen, let’s spread peace and friendship to others. Say no to hatred and let’s do our best in the field of work we are in so we can give contribution towards a better Indonesia.

Watch the highlight:

See more pictures:

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

One of the unique things of jazz is its ‘habit’ to absorb social musical cultures wherever it’s landed. The freedom and openness of jazz has helped to give birth to so many distinctive styles. Since Indonesia has so many different musical styles and patterns owned by thousands of tribes found throughout the archipelago, there are unlimited possibilities of finding new jazz hybrids in it. If the pentatonic Javanese or Sundanese has been widely explored, there are still many other traditional musics of Indonesia waiting to have its moment in jazz. One of them is the West Sumatra’s Minangkabau music which has a very strong pattern and character. It’s mainly built upon the diatonic scales with distinctive rhythm. Let’s leave it there for now.

Next topic is, how jazz is doing in today’s pop culture? As jazz is not the mainstream in Indonesian music scene, we might not find it too often on tv or radio. But that doesn’t mean that jazz has no existence at all. We can still find it here and there, including in talent search competitions. Then, how about finding jazz inside the indie pop scene? As the word ‘indie’ or independent usually reflects the wide musical spectrum and genre, jazz is found too in this particular corner in its own portion. And hey, how about duo that can resonate the beauty of jazz in simple and intimate way? These topics are the ‘bones’ of the Braga Jazz Night #39. A progressive Minangkabau ethnic jazz fusion, the sensational newcomer in Indie Pop and a new acoustic jazz duo were inside this edition.

If you saw our e-flyer and info event, you should notice that one act is missing. Yes, actually the runner up of The Voice Indonesia Deason 2 (2016), Sekar Teja Inten was supposed to be featured too in this edition. But unfortunately since last week she’s been sick and in no condition to perform. We will reschedule her appearance for the Braga Jazz Night to any upcoming edition(s). We wish Sekar Teja Inten a speedy and full recovery.

The smooth, pleasuring classy new acoustic jazz duo started first. It’s Ael/Hardi, consisting of young female singer Rahel Putri and guitarist Hardi Suryana. Rahel actually came from classical background. She was one of the ITB Student Choir who did really well at d’Arezzo International Polyphonic Competition in Italy 4 years ago.

Classical was her thing, but then came a time when she wished to continue her journey to jazz based on her love towards Disney songs and Jane Monheit. There, she met Hardi Suryana, a senior jazz guitarist in Bandung who gladly showed her the direction. Hardi is no stranger to us. He has performed in this event a couple of times either with his friends or students. Other than being an active musician, he is also a recommended jazz guitar teacher. So, Rahel has been in good hands. According to Hardi, Rahel has been showing vast improvement. “She adapts easily to (jazz) standards”, says Hardi to us. After making her debut on jazz stage at Klab Jazz’s event, now it’s time to have her in this edition.

Such talent shouldn’t be wasted. That’s probably what Hardi had in mind. Realizing that Ael has a very beautiful, rare vintage voice which resonates jazz in every note, he offered her jazz standards from the golden era, also some of the finest bossa tunes which became their first choice: “So Nice (Summer Samba)”. This classic from 1964 sounded really sweet from them. Then, Louis Armstrong’s gem from the 60’s, “Hello, Dolly” served as a fine tribute to the jazz legend. We don’t get to hear this song on jazz stage in Indonesia too often, so we enjoyed every moment of it. Again, a perfect song choice for her.

Ael/Hardi went far back to the 1930, presenting a song firstly introduced in the Broadway show, “Exactly Like You”. This song has been sung and recorded by so many legends throughout the years, but once again, this song isn’t really popular in Indonesian jazz anymore. Her crisp, high-pitched, thin but solid vocal character gave a nice reinterpretation of it.

Hardi then led Ael to move to the Great Britain, singing a famous song from 1939, “A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square”. They decided to seal their wonderful performance with an everlasting tune that has been sang by legendary names from Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Washington to Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole just to name a few, “On the Sunny Side of the Street”. “If I never had a cent, I’d be rich as Rockefeller, Gold dust at my feet, On the sunny side of the street”, that’s a part of the lyrics she beautifully sang.

The combination of really rare, old soul jazz vocal and pure delightful jazz from a guitar like this would make anyone fall in love easily to jazz. For those who have been living with jazz, it could be a sweet reminder of why they love this genre in first place. Ael/Hardi is a new duo, but they do have strong chemistry and good technique. We wish the duo to keep going, and if you ask, would we invite them again later? We say, absolutely. Who can’t resist a beautiful jazz from a duo, especially the one as good as this. We would love to hear more gems from them.

For the second session, we featured a young man debuting on his solo career. We first met him as the vocalist (and co-founder) of a blues, rock, funk, jazz band Green Dolphin Street where he showcased a ‘hyperactive’ appearance, but since he quitted the band last year, he directly built his solo career. He worked fast, releasing the album just a while ago with one carrier single dedicated to his mother titled “Thanks To You” (you can watch the video clip here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BK3abda-1SI). The album “The End of the Beginning” is now available on digital platforms such as iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, Amazong Music, Deezer, Shazam and many more. As he is promoting the album, we are more than happy to have him in. He is Antoni Sidjabat.

He must have gotten his gift in music from her mother who had a very short career with one album in 1985. Singing is his forte, but he does play a couple of instruments too like piano and guitar. If we knew him before as a rebelious, rockin’ singer, it’s a surprise to see the whole new, much softer side of him in this solo debut, which actually works really well if not even better. The road he is taking, according to him, is Indie Pop. Not just an ordinary indie pop, because other than he keeps the ‘obscura’ feels inside some of his song especially his single, he also reflects all the music he has encountered over the years, from blues, rock, folk pop to jazz.

For this gig he performed with some of his closest friends. They are Arif Rahman (guitar), Marlon Fridolin (backing vocal, acoustic guitar), Boyke Nainggolan (bass) and Alman Naufal (drums). Not wasting any time, Antoni immidiately offered a song we all know so well from a decade ago, James Morrison’s “You Give Me Something”, followed by Tom Odell’s “Jealousy”. Both of these songs suits him, his stage personality and style.

After that, Antoni and his mates introduced two songs from his debut album. First, “Song About You” where Antoni didn’t just sing but also played guitar. This smooth, soothing folk-pop based song should have no problem in reaching the taste of common listeners including the youngsters. The last song was his carrier single, “Thanks To You”. If in the videoclip he involved piano, this time he relied fully on guitars. This version works very well too and served nicely as the final song.

A very interesting solo debut which shows not only his talents on writing, composing and singing the songs, but also his charm. Looking at his music style which is relevant to today’s music taste of the youngsters, we believe his solo debut will be successful. Ear catchy melody, pop- based but rich, lyrics that tell story of our daily lives, all can become the force to carry him up. The journey of Antoni Sidjabat is just started. It’s the end of the beginning, and he is ready to march on to the next chapter. You can show your support by listening and purchasing his songs on the digital platforms we mentioned above and follow his social medias to get his next appearance. We are proud to support him and wish him luck for his debut solo album.

For the final session we featured something really different. It wasn’t just ethnic jazz fusion, but it embraced the beautiful, distinctive traditional sound of West Sumatra (Minangkabau) in modern, progressive way, brought by an ensemble named Palanta Line Art.

Established in mid 2012 as the brainchild of senior maestro Maspon Herizal, this group has been existing in traditional Minang wedding, but what they are capable of is actually much more than just that. They have senior and junior team who have the same quality. They clearly stick to the traditional sound of Minang, using traditional/ancient instruments like talempong (set of small bronze or brass kettle gongs) and woodwinds such as saluang (an oblique bamboo flute), bansi (a small end-blown bamboo block flute), sarunai (bamboo pipe), tanduak (ancient flute made from bull’s horn which was used in black magic rituals in the old days) and so on, but they fuse it with modern, western music and instruments. They play jazz songs in diatonic scales, they play traditional songs in stunning cross-dimensional way. Technically speaking, we amaze of how they tuned the gongs chromatically, accomodating both major and minor scales resonating the harmony of basic ‘western’ chord progressions, especially jazz. All these creating harmonious borderless music, it sounds mystical yet contemporary, fun, attractive and captivating at the same time.

We met Maspon for the first time when he collaborated with the West Java Syndicate in our Ramadhan edition a couple of months ago which involved West Sumatra’s woodwinds and talempong in Sundanese music (http://jazzuality.com/jazz-event-report/braga-jazz-night-36-ramadhan-edition-the-report/). Then, we captured their magnificent performance as the opening band for West Java Syndicate’s “Bubuka” album launching (http://jazzuality.com/jazz-event-report/west-java-syndicate-bubuka-album-launching/). We invited the exact team, the junior ones led by Maspon Herizal himself, consisting of Arts Fiaris (guitar), Regi Permadi (drum), Shendy Susanto (bass), Qorry Restu Qodirullah (keyboard) and two talempong players stationed left and right, Sandy Ndung and Kiky Septian. However, since Regi couldn’t be in this gig, he was replaced by West Java Syndicate’s drummer/founder Zahar Mustilaq. So, the combination of senior and junior team was what we got, they created madness right from the very first drop.

This showcase began interestingly not on stage, but from the left side of the stage. Almost all members took two gongs with the captain, Maspon blowing a very tiny woodwind and made their way to the stage. The only player left, Zahar spread the beat until they all reunited on stage, which soon escalating into a grand Minangkabau rhytmical pattern and melody, an epic composition written by Maspon himself titled “Andalas Raya” (“The Great Andalas”). Andalas is the name of a certain tree which has been used as the mascot of West Sumatra. This act quickly caught the attention of mall goers as many of them came over to see what’s going on. Many of them took their mobile phone and recorded the performance, enjoying being taken to the landscapic, wonderous journey through the beautiful land of Minangkabau.

Then they took a famous Minang song, “Sansaro” and redressed it like never before. As the song is about misery, Maspon’s traditional flute painted a heart-tearing feel. Then, surprisingly they went swinging. Zahar demonstrated his swinging style, even doubled it up in the middle. The boys did well to catch up, and the result is very interesting. Far different than the original, the Palanta Line Art delivered it fusioned with jazz.

From there, they took us to Bali by playing “Djanger Bali”. It’s a wonder to see how the Palanta Line Art takes this traditional Balinese song into their chromatic style. While the Kiki and Sandy delivered perfect harmony and tight connection with their talempong sets, Zahar and Shendy provided lethal beat and rhythm. Arts in front was given plenty of room to explore, which complimented the sounds of talempong and tasty keyboard melodies from Qorry. The captain Maspon didn’t just use his woodwinds (including the eerie ‘tanduak’), but he created a deep, mystical and haunting scene with his hummings. The combination of Minangkabau, Balinese, Javanese and Sundanese from this ensemble was simply magnificent. Brilliant.

For the last song they presented something nobody probably ever thought of listening. It’s Chick Corea’s most famous tune, “Spain”. They played around with the notes to make it as if it was made in Minangkabau. They executed the tutti clean and tight, they made risky manouvers and had a lot of fun with the song. Have you ever thought of having this song in Minangkabau music’s way? Have you ever imagined playing this song with talempong, traditional woodwinds that go hand in hand with western instruments simultaneously? Fitting it into diatonic and chromatic? And, they twisted it by pouring some pentatonic Sundanese scale here and there? It was sensational and mind-bending. Huge applause and cheers were given to them in the end.

A unique multi-dimensional music presented by the Palanta Line Art was simply unbelievable. They played the authentic Minangkabau music by using traditional instruments, but progressively fused with modern western music styles including, or especially jazz. We don’t get to hear jazz in diatonic scales too often, it’s even rarer to have it go alongside some remarkable chromatic tunings. The melody, the rhythm, the harmony, the mystical nuance, the fun but surrealistic atmosphere, all were served spectacular by the Palanta Line Art. What they play is technically challenging, but surprisingly their music is fun and entertaining. It’s a work of art at its best, it’s an adventurous exploration, a genius creation that give us a new borderless, multi-dimensional experience.

Since we still got time, the jam session was launched immidiately. Here’s what unique: for the very first time our jam session got two talempong players also traditional Minangkabau woodwinds! The guitarist, bassist and keyboardist of Palanta Line Art also stayed. Joining them were drummer Alman Naufal who played with Antoni Sidjabat and guitarist Fahmi Al Falaq. After a simple 12 bar blues, Erick Gabe took the mike and then they delivered “Route 66”. Kiki and Sandy worked the talempong very well, breathing unique spirit into it. Boyke Nainggolan took the bass position from Shendy and this formation took Sting’s “Englishman in New York”.

Because we got closer to the closing time of the mall, the jam session eventually has to come to the last song. This time Antoni Sidjabat and Marlon Fridolin took the vocal lines and sang The Beatles’ “Come Together”. Fahmi showed his ability to scat sing what he played on guitar like what George Benson loves to do. The group photo session wrapped this 39th edition.

We feel blessed to find them through the West Java Syndicate especially its drummer Zahar Mustilaq. It might be difficult for them to penetrate the music industry since the industry always has its own boundaries, but in our world, we always proudly welcome them with huge respect. We do hope that performing for our Braga Jazz Night can become a gateway for them to establish their existance in today’s music scene.

We always know that there are still many possibilities can be done in jazz, there are still doors yet unopened or fields untouched. Tonight, one of those ‘doors’ was unlocked by this music explorers. It feels amazing to be able to bring them into this edition. What the Palanta Line Art brings is like none other. It’s genius, it’s incredibly genius.

Another unique edition’s added into our account. Pure swingin’ jazz, the ‘obscura’ indie pop and progressive ethnic (West Sumatra-Minangkabau) jazz fusion created such different tones. Also, we are glad to be able to present the multi colors of jazz to everyone.

We thank every participating musicians, those who generously support us and this event, our partners, and of course everyone who came to watch and enjoy it with us. We will be back again next month with another fresh batch, styles and theme. We hope you keep your support to our movement, to this regeneration process of jazz musicians and also, we hope we are able to keep you entertained. See you again next month!

Watch the highlight of Braga Jazz Night #39

See more pictures:

Reporter/Photographer: Riandy Kurniawan
Video Editor: Vierna Mariska Kurniawan .

Based on our experience in covering jazz events, we learn that consistency is the one of the most important key to have a successful one. It’s not easy, definitely. It takes strength, persistency, or even sacrifice to make things work especially when the event’s just started. But one day you will find it’s all worth it. Usually, a regular jazz event contributes a great deal to jazz development in local area, which in the end gives benefit to bigger scene, even globally. As the habit of jazz is absorbing any local traditional music, it can even give birth to new jazz breed.

For a multi-ethnic province like North Sumatra, a regular jazz event can open up a big opportunity to introduce the richness of the cultures living in it to the global world, including the traditional music. We are proud that this province already has its own annual jazz event which has been running for 7 years in a row. This international-scaled jazz event is growing bigger and better each year. It serves variety of jazz from the traditional to modern, but it has been involving or introducing local ethnic musics too in each edition. Taking place in Medan, the capital of the province, the event’s called NORTH SUMATRA JAZZ FESTIVAL.

In previous editions they have presented many great bands/artists from Indonesia, even some superbands and legends from the chairman’s band Erucakra & C Man, Sherly O, Fusion Stuff, Bintang Indrianto Trio++, Rieka Roslan, Yovie Widianto Fusion, Ligro, Donny Suhendra Project, Balawan, Iwanouz, Agam Hamzah with Rafli Wa Saja, Reza Artamevia, Bertha, Teza Sumendra, Barry Likumahuwa, Echa Soemantri, Ricad Hutapea to Keenan Nasution, Emerald BEX and Krakatau Reunion. From the international source, this event has invited shining international musicians from around the world such as from Norway: Espen Eriksen Trio, from Malaysia: Steve Thornton and Suhu, from Korea: Phil Yoon Group and from USA: native Lebanese Jamal Mohamed, Jonathan Jones and Jeff Lorber.

This year the 7th North Sumatra Jazz Festival has just done successfully. Like before, this edition presented the combination of the top stars and experienced musicians from national and international scene without leaving the local musicians and the ethnic music found in it. This year they invited one of the most shining artists in Indonesia today coming from Bandung, Tulus. Then, a classical maestro who has been living in Medan for many years, Ed van Ness, continuing his magical work together with the founder of the festival, Erucakra Mahameru. Erucakra also acted as the homeband with his phenomenal band, Erucakra & C Man. There were also Indonesian Idol’s alumnus from Medan, Chelsea Hadi who managed to reach the top 20 in this competition in 2014 and a special project Mahasora which involved a singing an rapping DJ also from Medan, Steven Aldo representing the EDM Jazz Jamming with Indian instrument.

Just like the previous editions, the Grand Ballroom of JW Marriott’s lobby was already full of crowds from all ages long before the show started.

The show started with classical music veteran Ed Van Ness feat Erucakra C Man. Spent most of his age being a violinist, conductor, writer and teacher in Medan than New Jersey where he’s originally came from, Van Ness continued his project with Erucakra on jazz and Indian classical music living legend Terrence Mitchell ‘Terry’ Riley’s famous composition from 1964: “In C”. They have launched “Terry Riley ‘In C’ part I a while ago, now the audience got a golden chance to enjoy the Pat II of this project.

It’s really nice to see the violin-guitar duet performed by van Ness and Erucakra, two maestros from different world. It takes guts, courage and creativity to pin a monumental work like this, but both Erucakra and van Ness surprisingly did a marvelous job. Not only they delivered the masterpiece in full respect, they managed to breath fresh air into it by combining their skill, ability and experience. They showed that when jazz and classical collides, it can create a whole different soundscape especially when it comes from the hands of maestros like them.

The evergreen “Summertime” was the next delightful treat from this unique collaboration.

Erucakra & C Man then got its turn. Before we carry on with their performance, let’s take a closer look on this band. The C Man band was established in 2011 by Erucakra following his success with “Aranti’s Code” and the album “Marathon Journey C Man” over major digital outlets. They have landed on the Java Jazz Festival in 2011 and proudly participated in Yongin Global Jazz Festival (2015) and Daegu International Jazz Festival (2016). How many jazz band from Medan could achieve such greatness? This band did it. That’s why we say this band is phenomenal.

Though we’ve seen their performance every year in this event, there are always new things we got from this great Neo Progressive band. This year, in two of his own composition “Question of the Moment” and “Hold On”, Erucakra also showed his diverse talent as a lead vocalist.

Chelsea Hadi then joined the party. As we mentioned earlier, this girl reached the top 40 in Indonesian Idol 2014. She might have been famous with this shining achievement, but she also became the finalist of Indonesia Mencari Bakat and Bintang Asik Global TV and has sung with the likes of Titi DJ, Krisdayanti and Petra Sihombing. With Erucakra & C Man, Chelsea lit up the stage with Stevie Wonder’s medley “I Wish” and “Isn’t She Lovely”.

Then came Erucakra’s new arrangement “Wak Uteh”, sang by Tito. This song was made playful with thick North Sumatra – especially the Medan’s Malay tribe ethnic music. Erucakra ended his performance with one of his finest, “Balap Liar”. Brian Harefa was on fire with his saxophone, resulting a superb performance, the best we have seen from him so far.

After an appearance of the Governor of North Sumatra, the audience got histerical. Why? Because the most awaited artist, one of the most popular superstars in today’s time, Tulus finally came onto the stage! His satin-smooth, thick soulful crooning voice is like no one else. He makes songs with ear-catchy melody and poetic lyrics. He has a really familiar and connected stage appearance and a tremendous team. These are the keys of his success that makes him stands as who he is today.

Tulus gave his fans a moment to remember by singing his greatest hits from all his albums such as “Gajah”, “Batu”, “Monokrom”, “Ruang Sendiri”, “Tukar Jiwa”, “Sepatu”, “Cahaya”, “Teman Hidup”, and the song that made him a superstar, “Sewindu”. Not only singing, Tulus also took three lucky fans up on stage and going to the audience’s seats.

Many audience started leaving the ballroom probably because they already felt satisfy with Tulus’ show. Actually, the 7th North Sumatra Jazz Festival still got one final performance: Mahasora. Appearing with three personnels; Steven Aldo, Devin Giovani and Wisnu Bangun, this unique band might be the first group to blend Karo ethnic music – one of the most popular genres in North Sumatra that mostly needs only one keyboard in ethnic events and wedding ceremonies –, Indian music with the touch of Tabla (Indian/South Asian membranophone percussion instrument and EDM. The music they created was really different. We say, this unique concept of jazz-jamming played by Mahasora really needs to be explored more to enrich the local North Sumatra music scene and can be used to introduce the diversity of cultures found in this province to the world. With this stunning show, this year’s edition reached the end.

The North Sumatra Jazz Festival 2017 continued what has been built since 7 years ago. True, this event has presented some of the best local and international artists, but let’s not forget that this event has highlighted the traditional musics from tribes living in its land. We think it’s very important because not only it will create new style, jazz as the universal language can bring the traditional musics to be accepted by the modern societies and be promoted widely throughout the world. We congratulate Erucakra and everyone behind this event. Thanks to them, we can hope for a bright future of jazz in North Sumatra and the capital city Medan. Keep up the good work, hope to see you again next year!

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Reporter and photographer: Daniel Irawan
Editor: Riandy Kurniawan   .

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