The Jazzuality @ TP began in November 2017 as a community event created by Jazzuality.com in full cooperation with The Papandayan Hotel Bandung. Since then, we have showcased variety of jazz from traditional, modern, ethnic-fused to the most extreme corner, brought by newcomers, young bands, season’s edition, special projects, tribute, single and album promo, and the special appearance of top stars/virtuosos. We are happy to see the fact that we have significant growing number of audience as you might have seen from our documentations in either website or social medias.

Now we have arrived at the seventh edition of Jazzuality @ TP. This edition is special, because there will be a unique trio with rare format paying a tribute to legendary jazz violinist who passed away earlier this year. Then, there will be a soulful lady who is just releasing her new single featuring a jazz sax virtuoso from USA. To complete this edition, we will also feature a project of senior guitar teacher.

The solo project of senior guitar teacher started first. He is Jhonny Sitompul, a guitarist graduated from North Sumatra University who has been working as guitar teacher at Purwa Caraka Music Studio for no less than 18 years. Not just great in playing guitar, he is also a great arranger and composer. Speaking of composing, he has done it since he was still in college around 1986.

We have had him in this event last December when he supported young female singer Luis Anastasia on Christmas carols. This time he is bringing back his own solo project called JHONNY SITOMPUL PROJECT. We have featured this project about two and a half years ago in our other on-going event in Braga CityWalk. We think it’s time to bring it back.

Fusion is what his project is based on. Joining him are his most reliable partners who he has been playing with for ages: Wandi (drums), Donald Tobing (bass) and the guitarist who already has his own album Muhamad Choirul Rifki aka Mbot Irul.

They began by taking a song titled “Jawab Nurani”. Probably you notice this song from SORE, but it originally came from a band existed in early 80’s named Transs, the band consisting of giants like Fariz RM, Erwin Gutawa and the late Uce Haryono in the early stage of their career. None of us expected this choice, so it came out as a pleasant surprise. The vintage sound from that time was kept chilled by them. The chunky guitar sound, the thick groovy rhythm and beat and nice vocal work from this band was like taking us back to the year when this song became a hit.

.Enough with coversong, Jhonny told the audience that he’s ready to bring all his original compositions. The first one, “Let’s Play” appeared as fun musical voyage served in light pop fusion sprinkled with ethnic sounds find in the archipelago. Just like the title says, the song is made playful and fun

The next song was dipped in 70’s disco funk style titled “Yuk”. While the song was written by Jhonny, he told us that Irul contributed in lyrics and music as well. Aside of the retro funky disco, this song got the sound of obscura indonesiana, a little bit noir but at the same time uplifting which made us feel like dancing.

Irul still carried on his role behind the mike along with playing his guitar at the same time for the last one, “Mungkin”. Just like the previous one, it’s him who write the lyrics. This song got thicker noir obscura indonesiana sound. The tight connection between the groovy basslines and sharp on-point drumming from Donald and Wandi provided solid ground for Jhonny and Irul to fly freely. The audience love their music and performance as they bagged loud applause and cheers in the end.

Not only good play and composing, Jhonny Sitompul Project has their own style too, which seems to be rooted in noir indie pop with light fusion. No doubt, Jhonny is a sublime guitarist with good ability in composing and arranging. His original songs tells a beautiful story through music. We know that he is active in teaching, but we hope he realizes the importance of being serious about his solo career as well as a musician, especially since he has a really strong team for his project.

After the nice first round, it’s time for us to present TRIO BIGIBAS who is really unique and highly entertaining. The trio gave a Tribute to the legendary French jazz violinist Didier Lockwood who passed away suddenly at the age of 62 last February 2018. Didier has inspired so many musicians. As a disciple of Stephane Grappelli, Didier never stopped in one place. He kept on trying and inventing sounds using his violin which often far above genre. One of the successful musicians who is inspired by him is the renowned jazz violinist in Indonesia who is also an amazing painter, Ammy Kurniawan. Not long after Didier died, he told us that he would love to make a tribute show honoring Didier. Of course we digged it and prepared a slot right away.

Ammy makes the tribute by having his extraordinary team, using a rare format by combining violin, guitar and contrabass. Interestingly, Didier did make a similiar formation around 7 years ago when he gave tribute to Stephane Grappelli. As you can see, this session contains a lot of history, love and innovation, spontaneous and unpredictable twisted improvisations, and full of jokes. Other than Ammy, the trio has a remarkable fingerstyle guitarist with an old soul Opik Bape and the ‘immortal’ bass virtuoso Rudy ‘Aru’ Zulkarnaen.

The embryo of this format began some years ago by Ammy, named Bandung String Ensemble. Too bad it didn’t go far due to their tight schedule. Rudy was there too as apart of the team, but now as Trio Bigibas, they bring a fresh player, a fantastic fingerstyle guitarist possessed with old soul, Opik Bape. Ammy told us that he wish this trio to have a long life. Not everyone can carry this concept, so if they can keep going, it will give benefit to our music scene with all its variety.

At first we thought Rudy would use his contrabass, but he caught us off guard by having acoustic guitar as his gear instead of the big double bass. They placed three chairs in the center and did their session mostly by sitting. Interestingly, not even chair could hold their madness. Ammy introduced the band and the concept as well as telling about Didier, his mentor Stephane Grappelli and also Jean Luc Ponty, adding jokes here and there.

Yes, Ammy likes to joke around and tease his mates even while they are playing. That makes any show where he is in become highly entertaining. But sound-wise speaking, once the trio started playing, the audience would find that they sound like none other. Feels like they are taking us into a French cafe full of fragrant flowers in spring. Yes, that’s how this session is like. Since this event was held just a day after Indonesia celebrates the birth-date of a heroine who fought for the emancipation and education of women, R.A Kartini, they inserted “Ibu Kita Kartini” as an intro for Didier’s song from 1985, “Martinique”. If the original was served in Latin dance style, this team takes it into another level by playing it with their own flavor. What a magnificent opening, The sound of appreciation from the crowds went above the roof.

Trio Bigibas then took a song Didier liked to play in his concerts, a classic French song “Indifférence”. They built this song upon the French musette waltz which made us felt as if we were watching Django Reinhardt and Grappelli in trio format. The way the improvise is really breathtaking, they flew freely yet still tightly stick to one another.

Ammy called famous drummer and producer Ari ‘Aru’ Renaldi (Rudy’s younger brother) to join them on stage. The formation became unique, because they almost formed the stunning 4Peniti band (Opik is the only player that’s not a member of 4Peniti). A stunning solo violin by Ammy served as the prologue of “Tiny Twins”, a track found in Didier and Uzeb’s collaborative album. Although they had no preparation of having a drummer, Ari’s skill and experience made him able to join without any problem. He even created richer sound texture with his drum beat. .
For the next song, they gave “The Kid”, originally came as a funky, soulful jazz-rock from Didier’s album in 1983. This song’s feel good tunes never fails to give a party mood that’s perfect to create a happy ending. Ammy, Opik, Rudy and Ari poured all of their energy as they being carried away deeper and deeper into the song. Manic and high octane solo runs shone out from this last drop. Ammy teased the players one by one, they played around like bunch of kids in the park. Rudy did his solo expressively since not only his mind and soul but also his facial expression and body got affected as well. The audience gave the best appreciation they could. So loud and long, showing how much they loved what they just saw.

Unique, heartfelt and hillariously entertaining. That’s probably the easiest way to describe this final show in general. High octane acrobatic musical performance, that could be a good way to illustrate it too. If you were watching this life, you’d know that it was far more than that. Instead of mourning, the tribute celebrates the fruitful life of Didier, his music and exploration, also we could feel how much inspiration Ammy and the trio draw from him. In the end, we feel blessed to have a stunning showdown of three ‘jazz jedis’ with all their force creating magic in this edition. It was mad, it was full of action, it was funny, a nutricious entertainment that took us to the edge of our seat. In short: wow!

The third and final session featured GRACE SAHERTIAN with the purpose to promote her newest single, “Beautiful”. This song contains a lot of story. It has a really beautiful music, inspiring lyrics with positive message and also special since it features a living legend, saxophone virtuoso who has been gracing the music scene in wide scope for several decades, the one and only Kirk Whalum. For you who still don’t know him, you would know him right away when you listen to Whitney Houston’s most famous song “I Will Always Love You.” If you remember the ellegant, fine sax solo in the song, that’s Kirk who did it. He toured with Whitney for 7 years, but Whitney is not the only one he’s worked wih because he has also worked with Luther Vandross, Barbra Streisand, Al Jarreau, Quincy Jones, Babyface and Lalah Hathaway, just to mention a very few.

Grace met Kirk at last year’s Java Jazz Festival 2017. It might look like a coincidence, but we do believe that it’s a match made in heaven. Kirk watched Grace’s show and liked what he saw. He offered Grace to take part in his upcoming album. At first Grace thought of making a song for that album titled “Beautiful” but apparently Kirk already fell in love with one of her song, “Fallin'” and have worked on rearranging it. So, since the song which mainly reflects on the quality of human being, power of humanity, faith, love, empathy, compassion, and invites people to feel positive about themselves has already been made, Grace asked Kirk to fill in some part. Kirk happily agreed.

We have heard about this surprise from Grace in November 2017 and felt really happy about it. Grace is like a very close friend, a sister you may say, because we have been watching her growth since 10 years ago. Kirk came to Jakarta in January 2018 to do the recordings. It got substantial support from Kirk’s producer, trumpeter James McMillan in Jakarta.

So, this gig is mainly given to Grace to promote her new single featuring Kirk Whalum. Tonight Grace brought slightly different team than the recording, including Omega Touselak (keys), Faishal M Fasya (synth bass), Rio Al Abror (drums) with Devina Ompusungu and Johanes Fayakun on background vocals.

Just like what Kirk said to Grace about her performance in general, the word ‘spiritual’ might be the best way to describe her song, her vocal quality and the way she sings. Look at how she hypnotized everyone by using the title track of her album “Hela” as the first song. This one gave a stunning imagination of the philosophy of her family name, Sahertian which turned out to be a sailor. The song made us feel like rowing together with her ancestors, facing from smooth waves to thunder storm to reach the safe land. Imagine how a song could bring so many scene, Grace brilliantly did that.

For the second song she took us into another journey musically with “Sun of Hope”. She also asked the audience to become a large choir by singing a word in Yamdena language repeatedly. “Be a part of the preservation of nearly extinct language”, she said. Just like the first one, “Sun of Hope” also contains a moving emotion. We imagine running fast into the dense rain forest to find the sun of hope right in the heart of it. Simply breathtakingly beautiful.

Grace then changed the atmosphere with gospel-Motown style on “Better to Love”. Omega gave an awesome gospel piano playing in this one. Faishal created much more color with her synth bass. The miraculous work of Johanes and Devina as the backing vocal is also noted. Just the two of them could create a full choir. And the new drummer, Rio Abror proved that he’s the right one to take that position.

The last song was the latest single, “Beautiful”. Since Kirk Whalum lives in Memphis, USA, of course we couldn’t have him in. But what’s interesting is, instead of playing Kirk’s part or finding a sub, Grace decided to just leave the sax lines out. It turned out to be a good choice since “Beautiful” is still enchantingly beautiful even without it. We also feel proud since this event become the first time for Grace to sing it live in public.

Looking back at the time when we saw Grace as the vocalist of Palm From Moodytunes around 10 years ago, we knew that she got something special within her that would one day make her a star. Amazing quality of singing voice, charismatic and expressive appearance, beautiful smile, smart song writing with positive message, her artistic vibe are just some of the winning factor. But for us, what shines the most is how she is always true to herself, which is reflected throughout her illustrious career up until now.

After her successful debut solo album “Hela” and before her second album, she releases a single “Beautiful” featuring the legendary US saxophonist Kirk Whalum. This is a heavenly match, a blessing that we all can listen to. We hope this single become a success internationally and place Grace higher than ever before. And we do hope that the making process of the second album can go smoothly according to her plan. We feel proud to support her and the new single. You can’t imagine how wonderful it feels to see the ‘evolution’ of a dear friend now reaches this certain height. Really wonderful, it really is.

This event is going to take a break in the next two months for the holy month of Ramadhan and Eid al-Fitr, and still waiting for confirmation whether this event will continue or not. Thinking positively, if this event is carried on, we will bring plenty more great talents with their interesting concept or project. We thank all participating musicians and wish them all the best, we thank The Papandayan, the Howling Channel and everyone who have given us tremendous support, and certainly to you all who come to this event. Keep supporting local jazz community near you!

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Reporter/Photographer: Riandy Kurniawan   .

Indonesia has just suffered its worst terrorist attack at least in a decade. So far the authorities especially the counterterrorism squad are pressing ahead to control the situation and hoping the people to resume activities as usual without being feared. Based on that, we decided to carry on with the special edition we have been planning from several months ago, the SPECIAL RAMADHAN EDITION, especially made for our event in cooperation with Braga CityWalk, the BRAGA JAZZ NIGHT.

As this is different, we invited bands who could spice up the theme. At the same time, we still keep what we always love to do: supporting the young guns, providing jazz-tertainment for everyone and presenting something unique in the name of jazz. Speaking of unique, we didn’t just bring a band with ‘anti mainstream’ formation and concept, the BRAGA JAZZ NIGHT #47: Special Ramadhan Edition also showcased a single promo that was especially made for Ramadhan by a high potential young guitarist from Majalaya city. We also bring back a band that’s no stranger to us after 5 months in absence. As usual, all provided totally free of any charge and open for public.

We started with the young man from Majalaya who has a new single. He is Rian Ahmad Fauzy, better known as RAF – simply taken from his initial. We came to know him last February when he played as one of the Savasika in Jazzphoria Competition by MLD. At that time we found out that this dude has not only quite a skill but also passion and creativity in making songs. As far as we see, he has a tasty fusion style that combines jazz, rock, funk and even ethnics when needed in his play.

In pursuing his solo career, amazingly RAF chooses his path as a one man band. Last year he released two singles. The first one is “Berkebun (in English: Gardening). Then a couple of months later, he attacked again with an intense, fast and furious song titled “Bertarung (Fighting)”.

While preparing this edition, we found out that he just released a new single titled “Bertaubat” (Repenting). This is a song that he made to welcome the holy month of Ramadhan. We are sure that this song came out from his deep contemplation so he could enter Ramadhan with clean soul. Of course it would be perfect for this edition, so we invited him to promote the single.

He sailed as a one man band accompanied only by a laptop. As if he didn’t want to waste any time, he quickly put himself in action, starting with his unreleased track, “Jessica”. Who is Jessica? “That’s a secret”, he said. So we don’t know who she is, but we do know that this song is built upon jazz and rock, and it has many rooms for RAF to improvise freely with his fingers. This song perfectly introduced him, his style, his skill and his playing field.

After introducing himself, he gave one of his singles from last year we have mentioned, “Berkebun”. As the title is “Gardening”, he actually talks about the fun of gardening which won’t happen anymore if people let the global warming continues on. Again, his magic fingers ran up and down the fret fast, this time over the disco beat. So, jazz, rock and disco can get along so very well in his hands.

The third song was “Bersepeda” (“Cycling”). This one is smooth, fresh, relaxing and dreamy, just like how your mind is when you are cycling on the countryside in the morning, the kind of song that you would love to hear to start your day with a smile.

For the final presentation, he played his new single made for Ramadhan, “Bertaubat”. It has a fierceful start, quite chaotic but then he sorted it all out with ear catchy melodies and rhythm in Middle Eastern way, specifically Turkish style. With this single, he wishes to invite his listeners to repent and has a clean heart, the best thing to do in the holy month. A challenging song that’s not easy to execute, he has to tell the story and motivate his listeners while at the same time keep the progression, dynamicity and momentum. For us, this song is epic, something that only come from genius musician.

Yes, he used minus one by using his laptop. But surprisingly, he can make it sound dynamic, lively with free flowing improvisations as if he’s performing with a band. One of the audience told us that his performance is pleasuring and different. “It’s like watching those kind of high-skilled street musicians on the other side of the globe. You know.. they play alone, yet they are able to acreate a fully round atmosphere of anything they want to tell with their songs.” he said. Very well put. For us, RAF proves that nothing can stop him to keep his productivity on high level. He doesn’t have to depend on other people, he simply utilize the technology to help him out. In the hands of musician like RAF, the music doesn’t fall flat, but still round and somehow organic. We think it’s brilliant.

In some ways, he reminds us of the early years of Tohpati. Can RAF follows Tohpati’s footsteps? Most certainly. If he keep on doing what he’s doing right now, if he consistently running his career, if he continues to evolve, we can’t see why not. He’s got the skill, passion and ability to write catchy songs. He is creative and explorative. We wouldn’t be surprise if one day soon he emerges as the force in the music scene, especially in (fusion) jazz. We hope the single to have a success and able to motivate others to be a better person, and we wish RAF the best. One thing for sure, our door will always be open for him.

The next round got a bassist who’s not a stranger to this event. He is Joe Bastian with his band, JOE PROJECT. Joe has been involved in this event since the early stages, appearing with variety of bands like Find Taste, Lala & the Mates and supporting Billy Likumahuwa, when he demonstrated his cool bossa touch using not bass but guitar. Yes, while Joe is majoring bass, actually he can play guitar just as good.

Since last year he’s been pursuing his solo career. His band debuted in our event in July 2017 and then he appeared again last January. It’s been 5 months since then, it’s about time to bring him back again.

Joe Project is made as his vehicle to penetrate the music industry and establish his name. He has his own songs now and seems like working on his debut album, but he also kindly suits himself with whoever he’s playing with. From jazz fusion to RnB and pop, he can fit in nicely with these kinds of style.

Unike the last time he performed for us, this time he brought in different friends such as Ariel Arliyanus (guitar), Abdul Aziz (keyboard), Christian Wahyu (drum), Yoga (saxophone) and a last minute replacement, a lovely girl with lovely voice, Tasya Atalla.

They started with an instrumental number. The beginning of the song sounded familiar, and that’s no wonder because it’s Utha Likumahuwa’s evergreen, “Esok Kan Masih Ada”. But no, they are not covering that song because then suddenly the tune progressed into a different song, one of Indonesian band Fusion Stuffs’ collection written by the founder Krishna Siregar, “Little Briescha”. Little Briescha is a sweet, happy song, but since Briescha, the daughter of Krishna is now in heaven, we are grieving everytime we hear the song. Nonetheless, the band shows that they can do fusion very well. The strong beat by Wahyu, Ariel’s tasty guitar line, Yoga’s sax spicing it up, Joe’s important role in serving the melodious rhytm and his role as the band leader, and also Aziz’s finger-dancing over the keys. Speaking of Aziz, he stepped up the plate when he got the solo run. He is indeed a really good pianist.

Tasya then joined them to sing two song. First, she covered Rossa’s “Tak kan Berpaling Dari-Mu”, a religious song that speaks about giving our thanks to God for every beautiful thing He created and His never ending love and blessings. The second and last one is a hit from around 15 years ago by Tamia, “Officially Missing You”. A beautiful girl with beautiful voice, what’s not to love from her.

Looking back at the time when we met him, Joe surely is much enhanced. Not just in skill, he now enjoys his stage presence more than ever. Dealing as the band leader is not easy. There are many obstacles that could make them quit in no time. But Joe has put up a good fight. Probably it isn’t easy for him to find available friends to back him up, he has to think on what to bring, practice session, gigs and so on, yet he is still doing it until now, keeping up his existance against all odds. This time he brought in mostly different players than the last time, and again, these players are great.

We can’t have him in every month, but for sure we are backing him up and happy to bring him in as much as possible. He is a good musician, he has a big heart, he is passionate and devoted to pursue his dream, whoever he plays with, the music is always enjoyable. We enjoy it and look forward to have him in again in a couple of months from now. Keep it up Joe and the gang!

For the final act we presented a band with unique formation that produces pure jazz in a different texture. If usually a band has one guitarist or two, this one has four or even more. If many people think that a band always needs a drummer, this band decides to have just a bassist. All stringed, nothing more. The band is called 4PEGGIO.

The first jazz school in Bandung (established in 1988) Venche Music School (VMS) is its home. 4Peggio consists of Vetto Christie Frangklin (guitar), Bayu Imam Fauzan (guitar), Felix Sentosa (guitar), Adi Nur Furqon (guitar) and Ezra Manuhutu (bass), plus Romay (guitar/vocalist). All of the guitarists learn from the founder Venche Manuhutu, while the bassist is Venche’s son.

The band was formed just a few months ago. According to Venche, these are his diligent students who found out that they have met their perfect team mates. Each of them has their own unique style, but rather than making them difficult to blend in, they become one in harmony, with rich variety to offer. Venche knows that they practice together very often because they just like doing it together as a unit. And what’s great is that their skill enhance much faster afterwards. They have landed big on the TP Jazz’s stage and a couple of appearances in Klab Jazz’s events. Now it’s time to bring him in this event.

They started with the core members. From left to right: Felix, Bayu, Adi, Vetto and Ezra, swinging wih Charlie Parker’s bebop standard, “Confirmation”. Although this song was made by an alto saxophonist in the 40’s, we have heard it being played with other instruments including guitar. But we have never seen this song played by four guitarists and a bassist before. So it’s very interesting and new.

Then they moved back even further to the late 30’s in Paris. 4Peggio took Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli’s gem “Minor Swing”. Imagine four guitarists played French Gypsy Swing at once. It was sensational! Exactly like what their teacher Venche said, each of them has their own way of improvise, that creates a new horizon in executing the song.

For the third song, Adi began with a Middle Eastern style all by himself. We wonder what song this intro was for, surprisingly it was for “Blue Bossa”. So after moving from from American Bebop to French Gypsy, they flew over the Brazilian sky by swingin’ with Bossa. A smart move that gives a perfect portrait of who they are, that’s what we think.

Then they called up Romay to be with them on stage. With the appearance of Romay, all the guitarists stood up and then went pop by taking John Mayer’s hit, “Gravity”. Romay has a vocal character like Mayer, but that’s not all because he can play guitar too. We never hear this song being played by a format like this, and we have to tell that it works fine. They sealed their debut in this event with one of Chrisye’s all-time favs, “Kala Cinta Menggoda”.

Pleasuring free-flowing jazz 4Peggio created is really pleasuring and entertaining. They go swingin’ and boppin’ above rainbow colored jazz sky, they present something beautiful and ellegant, but also never hesitate to go into challenging battle. 5 guitars and one bass as a band, that’s rare and difficult to do. But in a very short time, the band members are able to execute the concept really, really well. A groundbreaking format like this would contribute towards the jazz development big time and certainly will give us chance to enjoy a new, alternative way of enjoying jazz. Long live 4Peggio! With your passion and creativity, there are still many areas to explore. We look forward to have you again in other events in the near future.

As we still got time, we directly opened the stage for the jam session. Among the audience we saw the reunion of two members of Chakraborty: Jerry Gates and Adya Amru, both guitarists. They haven’t met for at least 3 years, so we invited them to be on stage. Joining them were the boys of Joe Project, Joe Bastian (bass), Christian Wahyu (drum) and Abdul Aziz (keyboard). They took 12 bar blues and had fun with it. FYI, Amru and now gym personal trainer Jerry have never met before, yet they played solid.

Joe, Wahyu and Aziz stayed, but the guitarists of Chakraborty were replaced by Vetto of 4Peggio and a remarkable bluesman, Eki Johan who played with Red Zone in the previous January 2018 edition. The combination of Eki’s rockin’ blues and Vetto’s jazz licks provided action that made them bagged applauses from friends and the audience. Just like the first batch, Vetto just met the rest of the players but they mingled well and played tight. We invited everyone to take a group photo and that became the end of this edition.

We are proud to see the talents who played for this edition. Not only they all gave their best shot in delivering variety of jazz but also in suiting the Ramadhan theme. We thank everyone who came and involved in any way. Still many 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. Happy Ramadhan.

Watch the highlights of Braga Jazz Night #47

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Reporter: Riandy Kurniawan
Video Editor: Vierna Mariska

The Braga Jazz Night #48 stands out differently due to the wide variety of sub-genres presented in it. For the first time we held not one but two tributes to big names that gave huge contribution to shape the history of music. Uniquely they came from the same era, but their music is totally different, yet both influence many musicians up to this day forward. How wide? Well, how about from traditional Swing to Bossa Nova to Psychedelic Rock? Aside of the tributes, we also featured the debut of young girl, still 12 year-old, but has a unique singing voice.

We started with the little girl who’s just graduated from the elementary school. Her name is Fatima Favel Fauziah. You can refer to her as just Favel Fatima. We heard her name since the first month of 2018 recommended by some friends. When we checked her Youtube channel, clearly this girl is into jazz as we found out she sings mostly jazz standards.

Favel has the kind of voice that’s more mature than her age. Recently she’s at the early stage of her career by establishing a duo with a boy she met by chance, Luqmanul Hakim. We have featured this boy last year playing as a guitar duo with his teacher, Hardi Suryana. This time, since Luqmanul couldn’t join, Favel was heavily reinforced by Hardi. Luckily Hardi has back to Bandung after working in a drilling project in another city due to his role as a geologist. If Hardi has had a duo with Putri Rahel named Ael/Hardi, now he has a new, much younger girl to mentor. Having an experienced mentor would give Favel a chance to grow fast. The name of this new dynamic duo is FAVEL/HARDI.

Favel and Hardi received big applause right from the first song, a classic composed by George Gershwin in mid 30’s, “Summertime”. Watching a young girl singing this song in today’s time is really something. Interestingly, instead of making it a ballad, Hardi made it groovy. We think it’s a smart move, because then Favel could sing an old song without having to loose today’s music trend, especially to kids around the same age as her. They moved on to the second song, “Cry Me A River”, an evergreen popularized for the first time by Julie London.

Favel has a vocal tone like today’s female Brit Pop singer, much older than her real age. When singing jazz standards like these, she brings something different. Not a normal song choice for kids, yet somehow these songs suit her perfectly.

Favel/Hardi then took a song from more modern era, Radiohead’s “Creep”. Surprisingly, this one works very well with her too. Then they went current by taking on a popular song from Labrinth, “Jealous”. The way they both received applauses shows the crowds’ approval of their choices. For the last tune Favel sang another classic from The Sound Of Music, “My Favorite Things”.

What we heard from others and her Youtube channel are true. She got talent in singing, she has good control and able to sing with full feelings, which all are perfect for jazz. Hardi as always gave an essential assist in providing music for her. She still has some homeworks to do, but as she’s just begun, she still has plenty of time to enhance herself. We feel happy to find her fast and definitely will keep our eyes on her. A wonderful debut of Favel is done. Will you see her again in this event? Most definitely.

It’s hard, or should we say, impossible to imagine how the music would be without Bossa Nova. This music appeared from Brazil in the 60’s and then soon after took the world by storm. Today, Bossa Nova (in English: New Wave) is widely known as one of best-known Brazilian music genres abroad. When talking about Bossa Nova, one of the names that you should be thankful to is definitely ANTÔNIO CARLOS JOBIM.

Jobim is one of the founding-fathers of Bossa-Nova. The first Bossa single “Chega de Saudade”, sang by João Gilberto was written by him. He’s responsible for so many timeless Bossa hits; many of them even became jazz standards. He revolutionized the festive rhythms of Samba into a cool, intimate, soothing, breezing and exotic music we all know as Bossa. It was him who internationalized bossa, and it was also him who made bossa as a family member of jazz.

A few years back, we have made a tribute to ‘Tom’ Jobim, brought by now-retired young singer, Billy Likumahuwa. At that time, Billy was accompanied by his friend, Joe Bastian. Joe is a bassist, but he surprised us by playing bossa with guitar so well. So well that we still remember even until now. After that, Joe has been focusing on his own project named JOE PROJECT, made under our advice to help establishing his name in Indonesia’s music industry. In his project he mostly takes jazz fusion, RnB and Pop, but then when we offered him and his project to play Bossa for all times’ sake, he joyfully agreed.

To our surprise, Joe featured an amazing young girl whom he’s been wishing to play with for so long: Nayra Dharma. Nayra is a fast rising star in our jazz scene. Imagine, she hatched only in around a year after she decided to have a career in music like his father, the maestro who co-found the legendary fusion band Krakatau, Pra Budidharma.

She is special. She plays guitar like a pro, with enhanced skill and technique. We called her female Joe Pass due to the way she plays. What’s amazing is, she also sings, most of the time along with playing guitar. To be able to do so, this girl has been working extra miles. She practices around 6 hours a day, and often still stubbornly does it while her hand’s injured or not feeling well. Another interesting thing about Nayra and her music is, while she is indeed an amazing jazz guitarist with a passion of digging Sundanese ethnic in her group/band (she has been doing it for more than a year), she is a fine and natural bossa artist. She sparks magic whenever she does it, as if she lives in Brazil and has been doing it for many more years than her age, which is just turned 18. She even sings in Portuguese, that’s unbelievable. Nayra has a deep, true bossa soul.

For this gig Joe brought in two friends: Steven on drums and Surya on saxophone. If before we saw Joe and his project digged mostly Jazz Fusion and RnB/Pop, this time as JOE PROJECT ft NAYRA DHARMA they got to boldly explore complex and tricky chord progressions in Bossanova world, something Nayra’s highly capable of. Look at how ellegant and stylish they played a song considered to be the first ever recorded Bossa song, “Chega de Saudade”. It wasn’t an easy version at all, but amazingly it appeared as an ‘ear-friendly’ product, even to the non jazz listeners.

A prove of brilliant composition came up in the second song, “So Danço Samba”. This song appeared much complex in melody and rhythm, but still feels cute and smooth. There were a lot of twists found in this one, so tricky yet pleasantful, which let us enjoy a fresh approach over a very well known song. As Steven worked the Brazilian rhythm with having happy smiley face, Joe sticked up tight to Nayra, following her wicked chord progressive every step of the way. Meanwhile, Surya did his best to add more flavor with his saxophone sound.

The third song is not from Jobim but written by Michael Legrand and made famous by Sergio Mendes and his Brazil ’66, “Watch What Happens”. Again, Nayra made it fully hers, much different than the way Lani Hall of Brazil ’66 sing it. They both have silky soprano vocal, but the outcome appears new. Although this song wasn’t made by Jobim, this song gives a warm, graceful tribute to him. For the last song they pinned Jobim’s masterpiece “One Note Samba”, originally named “Samba de Uma Nota Só”. Just like “Chega de Saudade” and “So Danço Samba”, Nayra sang fluently in Portuguese like a native while exploring her guitar fret at the same time.

A new collaboration is always nice to see. Both Joe and Nayra is passionate and serious in building their career. Both of them know how to deliver it ellegantly to the audience. We think this collaboration is promising. For Joe and his team, this would surely enhance their musical horizon, and Nayra could have team to play with when she needs one. We haven’t brought bossa in this event for quite some times, so glad that it’s back in an ellegant way from Joe Project and Nayra Dharma. Sparkling, graceful and vibrant, smooth, sweet and pleasuring, like breezing through the exotic paradises.

The last segment was out of the box. We presented a special tribute by THE HEDGEHOG to a legendary Psychedelic Rock band from the past, a band that’s highly influental for the generations after them even until today. A band that made musical breakthrough with their sound. It’s THE DOORS.

Why Rock? You might ask that. Well, perhaps we should explain a bit of the idea. True, The Doors is a rock giant, fronted by the charismatic vocalist who is gone too soon, Jim Morrison, who was like singing poems rather than lyrics. Eventhough the band was active only for 8 years (from 1965 to 1973), the band made a big impact in music history even until today. The band has sold over 100 million records worldwide, received 8 consecutive gold and platinum LP’s. All true. But let’s not forget the contribution of its keyboardist, Ray Manzarek in infusing some jazz into The Doors’ distinct sound. For example, listen to the long piano solo by Manzarek on one of their most popular songs, “Light My Fire” for example, which goes on for more than 2 minutes. The improvisation, the dynamic and progressions, all are the magic essence that we usually find in jazz, only this time amazinglyn printed in rockin’ frame. Another solid example is of course their song “Queen Of The Highway” which is clearly built within jazz.

In his life time, Manzarek was really into jazz. In an interview he admitted that in the band he was operating in an area that combines rock AND jazz. Not OR, but AND. He said that he always liked jazz but he expanded his musical territory by learning the Southside Chicago Blues. Post The Doors, he kept digging jazz until his life in this world reached the end of the line in 2013.

As far as we see, Manzarek’s jazz contribution in their music is still rarely digged. We have had the idea of highlighting this for some years, finally now it happened since we found a band that’s rooted in vintage avant-funk jazz-rock sound. The band has four personnels: Rinomulat Sembhada (drum), Mikhael Martin (guitar), Leo Hansen (bass) and Ditra Prasista (keys). They built the band to accomodate their wish to have an avant funk band like John Scofield’s Überjam Band, MMW (Medeski Martin and Wood) also the famous old school funk band Lettuce. They are still considerably young, but these dudes are full with passion and skill that can make their music appear differently in such class. Looking at their ability and music style, we offered them to play The Doors in loving spirit of Ray Manzarek (and respect to Jim Morrison, Robby Krieger and John Densmore), luckily they agreed.

“This Tribute to The Doors actually covers some of our vision of making up this band.” said co-founder Rinomulat. He told us that they have wide musical horizon, without border. Instead of going towards chord progressions and melody, they explore more of the rhythmical aspect of each song. Time signature, syncopation, groove, modal, each personnel is given big space to express their taste. “That, without neglecting the importance of communication to one another.” Rino added. As a result, we got ‘simple’ re-interpretation of The Doors but with intense dynamics. If other bands try to craft neat, they go bezerk in dark tone, compact and naughty.

It became apparent right from the start. Look at how they reinterprate The Doors’ most famous song, “Light My Fire”. If this song has a memorable solo runs from Manzarek and also Krieger and Densmore, The Hedgehog made the solo part even more open by using 7/8 time signature. Really an out-of-the-box approach none of us would have predicted. Rino was like banging the heaven’s gate with his twisted drumming, Ditra explored his keys uniquely, while Mikhael pushed rock to edges and the bassman Leo came handy in providing them the noir tonal color. In their hands, the song got a new psychedelic outfit. Dark, mysteriously quiet at times but intensely challenging everything we remember from this gem.

A super-big space is provided for Ditra in their second choice. He played his own special solo piano arrangement of “People Are Strange” and used it as an intro to “Riders On The Storm”. It’s simply surprising to hear his solo part which is likely made in 5/4 spiced with some Middle Eastern touch but then seamlessly turned to 3/4 when the second of the medley arrived. This song got deeper jazz components. Swingin’ with 12 bar minor blues. Just like the first one, this one also served chilled and dark.

The Doors’ first UK big hit written by Jim Morrison and released in 1968, “Hello, I Love You” came next. If the original feels flirty, The Hedgehog made it rushy and chaotic. Plenty of goodies were found in this one, from half-feel groove to explosive rockin’ solo guitar by Mikhael. He used the wah-wah effect which perfectly resonates the glorious sound from the 70’s.

For the last song Rino announced that they were going to play a less popular song from The Doors’ debut album in 1967 titled “Twentieth Century Fox”. This seems to be the sweetest and the most ear-catchy arrangement from them for tonight, which is perfect to be the last drop. Catchy guitar riffs were found almost throughout the song, while the drum and the cheeky bass licks were like inviting everyone who watched them to groove. A cool antidote after series of murky songs.

Far exceeding our prediction, The Hedgehog delivered a very interesting, out-of-the -box reinterpretation of The Doors. They were not just playing covers, they didn’t just rearrange the songs jazzy, they infused their own style that somehow opened a new dimension for The Doors’ music. It’s not easy to cover songs from a band who has highly charismatic (and poetic) figure on vocal without using any, yet The Hedgehog’s reinterpretation worked brilliantly. If this is an album, it could very well be a cult classic. We will definitely keep our eyes on this band and put big hopes in them. Not everyday we see a band of really talented young lions with such deranged, dangerous brains and visionary. Never stop exploring guys. Break on through, to the other side!

Rino, Leo and Ditra stayed on stage for a jam session. The 12 year-old girl Favel came back to join the jam for the very first time. Hardi also joined the gang, positioned himself near Ditra. A bluesman who came almost regularly to our event Eki Johan gave punchy rockin’ blues color into it. This batch played “Fly Me To The Moon” nicely. It was neat, so neat that some audience thought they have reheased beforehand. The fact is, some of them were just met in this event. Next, they took Herbie Hancock’s masterpiece “Cantaloupe Island.” It’s unique to have a bluesman roared wild over this hard bop classic. Hardi then being replaced by Favel’s music partner, Luqmanul Hakim. John Coltrane’s “Mr PC” was their choice. Again, eye contacts and communication between players on stage made this song appeared chilled. Too bad we ran out of time, so we had to end this edition right here with a group photo session.

Two tributes and one debut painted the Braga Jazz Night #48 with unique colors. We thanks every participating musicians, all supporters and the audience for coming. We hope everyone enjoyed this episode and keep supporting local talents and our community. We will be back again in July with another interesting batch. Thank you once again, see you again next month.

Watch the highlights of Braga Jazz Night #48

Reporter : Riandy Kurniawan
Video Editor : Vierna Mariska
Photographers: Ditto Birawa, Kherisna Irawan    .

It feels like yesterday when we gave birth to this event. All of a sudden, we have held almost 50 editions with so many succcess stories of those we featured. For us, being able to run this long with endless number of bands/singers/musicians to participate is simply a blessing that motivates us to keep going.

For BRAGA JAZZ NIGHT #49 we featured a young boy from the Indonesian Idol Junior to promote his new pop jazz single, a contemporary Sundanese ethnic fusion and a band of high skilled young guns coming all the way from the capital Jakarta. As you see, once again we manage to got a unique combination in an edition that hopefully would send the message of how colorful jazz is to the society.

Performing first was an ethnic oriented fusion group, Sundanese to be exact, SUJALI. If you wonder what’s the meaning of the name, it’s an abbreviation of Suara Jiwa Alam Indonesia. In English: The Sound of Indonesia’s Nature Soul. The band was established in Bandung on 21 April 2016, exactly on Indonesian heroine Kartini’s day. At first the band consisted of 6 persons: Zahra Azizzah (vocal), Surya Ashari (violin), Adam Puspo Prasetyo (keyboard), Ivandi (guitar), Arya (bass) and Rully Adietya Anggara (drum). Then they went through some changes.Habibi Nauval Haqi is now on guitar, plus a new player Jemie Rizki on bamboo flute.

Although the band is considerably new, they have got some shiny achievements, including winning the Jazzphoria band competition. If you ever watch them, you would notice that they have quite a distinctive concept in music, an independent music, as they called it. Latin, Rock, Gothic other than Jazz and Rock are to be found in their crafts, which seems to be natural since the personnels came from different backgrounds and characters.

This band went blazing from the start with Guruh Soekarnoputra’s classic from 1976 “Zamrud Khatulistiwa”. Sujali made it much more ‘Indonesian’ by injecting heavy dose of pentatonics. The vocalist Zahra stole the show with her lively movement, extending her coverage of the area much more than the stage. She demonstrated how easy it is for her to switch from contemporary to Sundanese way of singing, also how high and wide her vocal range really is. A surprising opening no one would ever predicted, as they became a magnet dragging passers-by and mall visitors to stand and record their blazing appearance.

They slowed down embracing the beauty of ethnic fusion with their own song, “Tiang Rindu”. Different than the first one, this song made us feel like floating relaxingly. Aziza utilized her haunting voice even more, creating a deep, mystical nuance along with the way she dance. The sound of flute and violin made their music sounds unique, the keyboardist produced multi-colored music style, complimenting the neat contribution from the bass, guitar and drum players. Speaking of concept, this band really knows who they are, what to make and how to play. This first single has a strong, sharp and clear character that could describe them perfectly.

Then they gave the cover of The Chainsmokers & Coldplay’s hit, “Superhero”, interestingly rearranged to fit their style. For the last song, they presented their second single that has the exact same name with the band, “Sujali”. This song is perfect for a climax and speaks loud of their music, concept and true-self. Starting with glittery classical piano sound, they streamed into the magical traditional Sundanese music but yet still served contemporary. The whole personnels worked as a tight unit in full energy. Not just music, not just singing, but chants, twist and turns were found everywhere. Zahra once again expanded the performing area by swaying towards the crowds. This song is their anthem that has the strongest statement.

From time to time we invited ethnic-oriented bands who could offer something different to the jazz scene. Sujali has all young musicians who has it. Not only the unique musicality but also the stage appearance, especially the energetic, free spirited vocalist with mad voice that can attract passers-by easily. We do hope this first performance will be followed by more later on, and certainly we hope it will give help them to establish stronger grip in the music business. Sundanese traditional in contemporary scene? Ask Sujali, they will tell you many things about it.

The second part featured a band of young lions from Jakarta, LUCOV. Lucov stands for LUCENT OBLIVION, showing how optimist they are to shine one day no matter how tough the road is for them at this very moment. Nicholas Dheo (bass), Ersandy Nasharizky (saxophone), Gearda Dewantara (guitar) and Oddy (drum) are the young lions who live inside the Lucov’s den. These boys have dedicated their lives to jazz from the beginning, and by saying this, we know they are really serious about it. Most of them are no stranger to us, in fact they have landed on this event’s stage before with different band or project: Dheo with Nayra Dharma Group and Salamaata while Gearda and Ersandy with J/E/G Trio.

We know how talented they are, we know how skillful they are, and how much they improve from time to time. These boys are different than most of others, in fact they are unique individuals too to one another. But they do share the same vision and passion ; in Dheo’s word: the same frequency ; which makes them able to keep supporting each other, either as brothers or band.

After a blazing ethnic crossover presentation, this quartet created a totally different scene, placing us in the Blue Note Jazz Club scene in the 50s. Ellegant, classy free flowing pure jazz, cozy, smooth and relaxing, that’s our impression when they started playing the first song composed by Dheo, “Moonless Night”. It’s not the first time we heard the song, yet it felt like new in the hands of Lucov dudes. Sandy used his soprano saxophone in this one, sharing the front line with Gearda’s low profile yet rich guitar playing. But they didn’t dominate the whole scene because there were plenty of room left for Dheo and Oddy to pour their heart out. The composer Dheo even got his turn to scat singing everything he played on bass the way George Benson loves to do.

After smooth swingin’ composition, Lucov turned to Bossa Novawith Gearda’s “If”. This song is made based on Bossa but built upon jazz, reminding us of the time when Jobim arrived in America and made/played his songs by getting deeply influenced by jazz. For this song, Sandy changed his gear into flute that created a different hue on their musical pallette.

Another song written by Dheo was next, “Hope”. This song placed us back to the classy Blue Note scene, executed beautifully by them. Sandy took his sax again for this one. Then it’s time for us to enjoy a piece from Sandy titled “Kembali Pulang”. If you remember, this song was actually played for the first time in this event a year ago, the song even got the name here. This song is dedicated to Sandy’s father who passed away just a while before he performed back then. For this one Sandy took his flute again. Sandy didn’t make this song to grief, instead he made beautiful tunes which reflects all the sweet memories he shared with his dad.

The last song came surprising. They took John Coltrane’s “Giant Steps”. It was a surprise because they didn’t go Boppin’ like the original or most of covers, but re-arranged it in smooth Bossa. Giant Steps in Bossa. Does it work? Actually yes, it works really well. What’s unique is how creative they play it in pure jazz by using Bossa Nova canvas. Near the end, they did tradings with Oddy’s dynamic beating. It was made simple yet brilliant, something that could only come from smart brains.

Building a career in jazz isn’t easy, especially in a country where jazz is not the mainstream. But looking at their skill, passion and ability to speak jazz the right way, and their creativity too, we know that it’s only a matter of time for them to stand on top. They may have to fight against all odds, they may have to struggle to prove their choice right, but at the end of the day they will make it. A good, solid and funky pure jazz band of youngsters like Lucov is rare nowadays, so we hope the band to last long. Keep it up guys! The future of jazz is in your hands.

For the final session we got the second appearance of Indonesian Idol Junior 2017 alumni on this event. He finished as the big 10 in that talent search competition, but that doesn’t mean he’s less good than the winner, because from what we see and know, this boy is really gifted. He’s just turned 14 years old, but his singing skill and his ability to connect his heart to anything he sings exceeds his age. He is charming and looks good on stage. He is Akbar Herliansyah, better known as AKBAR IDOL JR.

At the competition he didn’t get the chance to go with jazz, so at first we didn’t know that he was into this genre in the beginning. But later when we met him competing in Jazzphoria 2018, we found out that he actually loves jazz and wished to build his career in it. Any of our event is made to help young talents like this to find their own style. We are happy if any musician or singer use it to start their jazzy career, and we are happier if they can have a successful career from us.Therefore we offered Akbar to come into our community, and the rest is history.

Just like a couple of months ago, Akbar is supported by a strong band with some changes. The band now consists of Rizal (keyboard), Rommy Hendrawan (guitar), Rimba (bass) and Rivandi (drum). They are still young, although not as young as Akbar, but they are all fine players.

Different than last time, in this edition Akbar came to promote his new single “Cinta Membuatku Bahagia” (Love Makes Me Happy). This is not the first song he wrote, but it’s the first one that’s built upon pop jazz. We love the song and proud of him, so naturally we should have him promoting the single in our event.

Akbar began with a jazz version of Michael Jackson’s later hit, “Man In The Mirror”. They made it more upbeat and groovy, it works fine as the opening. Then Akbar introduced his first ever original song made in jazz, “Cinta Membuatku Bahagia”. We have listened to the recording, but for the first time we watched it live. “At first I got the melody when playing around with guitar. Then shortly after I came up with the lyrics, and it’s complete.” said Akbar. This single resonates pop jazzy, groovy and feel good. We won’t be surprise if this song would become a hit due to its friendly, ear catchy nature, also the lyrics that speaks about love that we all experience in life.

A classic from Chrisye’s 1978 album “Sabda Alam” titled “Anak Jalanan” was next. Most of younger generation probably remember this song from Sandhy Sondoro who made the song a big hit again more than 30 years later. This song is the right one for him, as it suits the vocal range and funky spirit of this talented teenager. He continued on with an evergreen from 1967 that uniquely has been covered by so many artists from variety of genres, “Can’t Take My Eyes of You”. Executing it in pop groovy is a good decision that accomodates his age and the current music trend.

For the last song Akbar and his band made a smart move by covering a more recent tune, a Gabrielle Walter Clay & Common Thread song titled “That Groove”. Not an easy song to sing or play, plus originally it was sung by a lady. But Akbar successfully nailed it. The band did their part nicely too. A good way to seal their performance.

Akbar told us that he wasn’t feeling well, and the songlist was finalized only 3 days beforehand. It might become a big trouble for some, but not to them. They still able to bring out the best in them to make another impressive appearance in this event.

Imagine a 14 year-old boy is able to make a pop jazz song that potentially could become a big hit in the music scene, as if it came from established band, imagine a boy that has just gone through vocal change due to puberty but know exactly how to deal with it and even use it as a major force. About the calm stage presence, he probably got it from his experience in the Indonesian Idol Junior and his own charisma. Not only he enjoys every moment on stage which is very obvious, he also has all the charm needed to become a crowd magnet. Akbar Herliansyah aka Akbar Idol Junior is rebooting his career and choose jazz as his centerpoint. Looking at the way he is doing it, jazz is a perfect habitat for him as we always believe. Let’s keep our eyes on him and support him in his journey climbing up to the top.

Interesting edition that has amazingly talented young guns presenting wide variety of jazz, that’s how we see the Braga Jazz Night #49. These youngsters is the main reason of why we exist. We hope our contribution give benefit for them, and we certainly hope we can keep supporting them, in any which way we can, all the way until they successfully fulfill their calling. We will be back again next month with another fresh batch. Thank you folks! See you again then.

Watch Braga Jazz Night #49 Highlights :

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Reporter/Photographer: Riandy Kurniawan
Video Editor: Vierna Mariska

After 5 successful years, the 6th Ubud Village Jazz Festival has finally started! Once again this annual jazz festival paints Bali in vibrant jazz color, spreading out from its homeground, the Arma Museum and Gallery in Ubud, Bali. We have been covering this event since 2014, watching how it grows in every aspect. It was started upon a dream to make Bali has a classy, ellegant jazz festival with strong character. The founders Yuri Mahatma and A.A Anom Wijaya Darsana wanted the event to be modest but full of quality. They wanted it to be enjoyable and familiar. Not only the audience could enjoy each and every presentation with ease, meaning that no one has to be hectic running far away to catch any performance, but they could just walk to access any stage easily while breathing fresh air provided by the green, eco-friendly and artistic nature Arma has offered.

Impressive line up once again makes this year’s edition shine, and like before, the committee did a great job on keeping the schedule on time. All the artists are spread into three stages, there are about 11 shows each day, the audience can enjoy jazz for 8 straight hours, for 2 days. This event provided jazz from all around the world, brought by legends, the highly skilled and experienced artists. Amazingly they still have rooms for newcomers to take part in the fest.

Day 1 of Ubud Village Jazz Festival kicked off around 3:30 pm in the afternoon with a cool Australia-Indonesia connection courtesy of Melbourne based jazz vocalist Emilia Schnall and Bali-based drummer/producer’s band, Panji Baskoro Trio. Emilia has successfully built her career around Melbourne and beyond since age 18. Known for being ‘Sugar Mama’ in Australian popular band The Mamas is not the only role of her, because she is also a band leader, composer, teacher and pianist, the way she shows with her own band The Emilia Quartet and Emilia Band.

She made a very warm start with her smooth, sweet and heartfelt swing. Her singing voice reflects jazz naturally breathtaking. She took some of her originals along with some standards and covers. “Don’t Wait Too Long” was one of our favorites from her show, as she demonstrated how she connected her heart and voice to let everyone feel the love of jazz. A fast swing on Johnny Cash’s “You Are My Sunshine” became a delightful finale. Emilia doesn’t just have big hair, but she has big voice too. Panji Baskoro Trio did very well in providing the music for her. What a wonderful opening for the UVJF 2018.

Meanwhile, just some minutes after that first show, the Subak stage at the back side of Arma began its service with Komunitas Jazz Jombang. Like the name says, this community comes from a regency/town situated to the southwest of Surabaya, East Java. This community was established in 2014 by Shoni Alkava and friends who love listening to jazz. From there, the community moved fast in spreading jazz in Jombang, including regular two-weekly community event and also provides the education for those who wish to learn jazz.

We always wish to check out how jazz is doing in other cities of Indonesia. It’s good that this festival invited the jazz community from Jombang. If any of you still wonder whether jazz infects other than big cities, we can say, hey, Jombang is jazzy too now.

It’s time for the biggest stage to run. The first band to start this stage is Insula. Insula is a trio from France that brings something different than what you normally find in a jazz trio by playing a fine blend between Arab-Andalusian music, jazz improvisation and Carribean groove. The band is the fruit of friendship between pianist Maher Beauroy and French-Algerian oud player Redha Benabdallah who met for the first time in 2006 at Paris Sorbonne University. With percussionist Adriano Tenorio, the trio debuted in 2015, drawing inspiration from Martinican philosopher Frantz Fanon’s writings.

For this time Adriano unfortunately couldn’t come, so he’s replaced by a local percussionist Affan Latanete . They gave us a dreamy voyage through the multi dimensional sound, not just through the combination of oud, piano and percussions but also by Redha’s voice.

Unique, mind-bending and innovative, the Insula Trio opens up a new horizon in music. They shows how far can jazz accomodate new invention, musically and creatively speaking. Music has no boundary, it’s dynamic and progressive. Only with three players this band shows that jazz connects Arab-Andalusian music and Carribean groove so seamlessly in the hands of creative brains with skills. Amazing showcase, surprisingly fascinating.

Since 2015 there is a jazz talent search competition created by MLD called MLDare2Perform. They selected musicians from all around Indonesia in 6 categories, and then the winners bond together as a band. In 2017, the third season got no less than 1000 participants and almost 600 videos sent online. The winners are Windy Hariyadi (vocal), Hezky Joe (guitar), Hansen Arif (drum), Yoshua (piano), Muhammad Rizki Abdulllah (bass) and Erick Giri (sax). Simply called as MLD Jazz Project Season 3, these 6 winners has performed at the Java Jazz Festival 2018 and now landed big on another prestigious fest, this time in Bali.

Although this band was formed from the winners,  they played tight with a strong chemistry. They even got original songs that successfully made them bagged loud applauss from the crowds. Windy sang some songs, including a cool jazz version of Vina Panduwinata’s “Di Dadaku Ada Kamu” and a bossa standard “Tristeza”. A good band with highly skilled young guns, it gave us chance to see great talents who will surely be on top in the future of jazz in Indonesia.

Back to Subak stage we got one of the frontliners of today’s jazz scene in Indonesia from the younger generation. Not only he’s skilled and experienced, he also plays an important part in the educational aspect. He is none other than Satrio W Alibasjah, better known as Tiyo Alibasjah.

Tiyo is no stranger to us. We have covered many of his appearance either as a sideman or his own project/band, and nowadays we are connected with his students that make us able to see how good he is in producing new talents. Speaking of his solo project, it’s been going on for a while now. At least we have heard it some years ago. Now he brought that in this 6th edition.

After the first few songs, Tiyo presented his original composition called “Illusion”, a fine piece that began with charming solo from him before the rest of the trio contributing their part in making the song full rounded. Joining him in the trio were Kevin Yosua (bass) and Dezca Anugrah (drum). He also featured the gifted pianist from Bandung, David Manuhutu who joined the trio near the end of their show.

From Tiyo you can learn that being a jazz player doesn’t mean that you have to always play everything complex. You don’t need to overdo your part just to look or sound cool, or jumping high and low to get the attention. You don’t even have to think too much. What you need is a tight connection with your heart, feel whatever you play, equip yourself with proper skill and technique, and share your feeling and story to the audience. Just as how Tiyo is in person, it’s always nice to enjoy his apperance and music on stage. He never fails to add more flavor as a sideman, but it’s great to see that he is stepping up with his own band.

On the Giri stage, the official opening ceremony took place. The founders and the core team stood there, welcoming and thanking everyone who came, also the lineup for this year. Directly after that, Vienna-based trio, Triple Ace – Colours in Jazz took their position.

It’s certainly fascinating to have the trio of Oliver Kent (piano), Uli Langthaler (bass) and Dusan Novakov (drum) bring something fresh and energetically exiting. You could see that each player has special ability, then imagine when they join forces. After travelling around the world from USA to Israel, from Russia to Cuba and Mexico, from South Africa to Thailand, Vietnam and Mongolia, now they have arrived in Indonesia, particularly in Bali.

Jazz speaks loud right from the start as the band locked into action, including wicked solo and tradings. Then they waltz in straightahead seamlessly, letting us feel the fine blend between American and European jazz. They also featured the founder, Yuri Mahatma who gave even more dramatic sound with his ellegant guitar playing.

Yes, all of them are strongly related to jazz tradition, you could see that clearly, at least by the way they improvise. You can also see that they are open minded in creating their compositions. Elegant but playful, sticking to jazz tradition but somehow still feels contemporary. The name says it right. Triple Ace – that’s they are, and Colours in Jazz – that’s what they do.

From Vienna we moved to Germany, watching one of contrabassist Sebastian Gramss’ trio, Fossile 3. In this trio, Gramss plays alongside Rudi Mahall (bass clarinet) and Etienne Nillesen (drums). This trio celebrates the inexhaustible energy in a cunning, new frame. As their motto says “Short and Sweet”, Fossile 3 keeps their head upon compact topics, small variations and compromised solos.

After reaching half of their performance, the rain suddenly poured hard. But that didn’t stop them performing, and the audience also didn’t care about that. They even climbed the stage, rounding the trio and that created such magical scene that you could only find on jazz stage. Truly high octane show, great play, great crowds. Amazing scene.

Every note is important with Fossile 3. They don’t like to waste anything, rather they shot everything on target. Even so, they still have many surprising twist and turn, along with their blazing, killing free jazz.

If you think South Korea’s music scene is only about K-Pop , you should think again, because they also have other than that in their music industry, including jazz. We have known or seen some of them, and now in this year’s edition of UVJF we got a female fusion band, A Fuzz.

A Fuzz consists of Jinny Kim on guitar, Seulki Song on keys, Sunmi Shin on drums and Hyemin Lim on bass. This band won the 2015 Hello Rookie competition aired on EBS Space. They were also one of 6 bands competed in K Rookie competition made by Korea Creative Culture Agency (KOCCA) and finished third. In 2015 they released their first EP “Fading Light”.

This ladies are great in playing jazz. They know how to swing, they can rock it up. Challenging and fascinating. Even when the heavy rain poured during their performance, the crowds stood with them. Some used umbrella, some didn’t care of getting wet. They still enjoy the performance all the way to the end. Again like what we captured at Fossile 3 show, the Subak Stage where A Fuzz performed gave a sweet scene of jazz which involved players and their fans.

The ladies of A-Fuzz have great control over their songs. The way they funk the jazz is awesomely moving. Even without vocalist, the band has no problem to convey their feeling. Other than the fascinating rhythms and melodies they create, their boppin’ heads and blazing appearance said it all. There were some vocoder and keyboard elements that simulate a vocal inflection that helped a lot to built a dynamic intensity in their appearance.

Back to Padi Stage we got a trio representing Bali’s local jazz talent named after its guitarist: The Ichang Rahimy Trio. Joining Icang are Helmy Agustrian on contrabass and drummer Gustu Brahmanta. If before Icang mostly performed as a quartet, since 2017 he founded this trio. This act featured Qee Qee on vocal.

A free flowing jazz with some sprinkles of ethnic were found on the stage. Gustu also used karinding along with his sharp steady drumming. In the promo material, UVJF described this act like this: The music they create, with the sweet voice of Qee Qee, exhibits rich interplay and sheer allure of sound, is one of the most organic, engaging and involving band you’re likely to hear. Rich interplay, sheer allure of sound, organic, engaging and involving, that could very well be the keywords of Ichang Rahimy Trio. This show alone has already spoken out loud of how great the development in Bali is today.

This year UVJF made an important move in terms of supporting the jazz development and regeneration. Not just the two days fest, this time UVJF held a Youth Band Competition as part of International Jazz Day Celebration. From this competition they got the winner: JODA Band, surprisingly consisting of 6 teenagers with range of age of 12-17 years old. They are Gavriel Baruch Azanya, Ezra Briant Azanya, Aaron Juan Pradana, Adam Juan Pratama , Keisha Claudia Indrianto, JeromeGABE. As the winner they earned the chance to perform plus recording session provided by Antida Music Studio.

If usually the winner of competition created by a festival would be placed as the starter, UVJF honored the winner by placing them near the final show. We could see why they won  the competition, as these teenagers played flawlessly and fearlessly, taking difficult songs like “Moody’s Mood For Love”, also a cool reinterpretation of “Someday My Prince Will Come” and Stevie Wonder’s “Superstitious”.

Playing on Subak Stage, we could see why this band stole the heart of judges Balawan, Koko Harsoe and Bogie Prasetyo. Their confidence made them able to go boldly making twists and turns when improvise. They are solid as a unit, great teamwork with lovely harmony. We hope they continue building their career together, because if they do, we have no doubt that one day they will stand among the tops.

A senior guitarist originally from Malang but live and build his career in Bali took his moment on the main 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 and 2017, Koko Harsoe embraced the modern jazz fully along with a strong team in quartet formation. Joining him were Gustu Brahmanta (drum), Made Ignatius (bass) and Kuba Skowronski (sax).

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.
But when he gets to play pure jazz, he would embrace it 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.

For this time he brought naturally dynamic jazz, intensely sharing stories through music which wasn’t only his but also Kuba’s own composition. Long solo from each players were given which got huge appreciation from the crowds.

Koko Harsoe wrapped the first day and make us wait unpatiently for the second day. There will be many more interesting performances to highlight on Day 2. For you who couldn’t be with us, you still have one day of jazz fun if you are in Bali. But if you live somewhere else and can’t be a part of it, 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  Benny Weyara Praditya Nova .

adeAfter the interesting first day (read the report here: http://jazzuality.com/jazz-event-report/ubud-village-jazz-festival-2018-day-1-report/), we are going to let you know what’s happening on the second and final day of the 6th Ubud Village Jazz Festival 2018.

As a special early treat, senior bassist who have been gaining experience by playing wide across genre Ito Kurdhi was the first to sail. He’s been building his career in Bali for long time and has been playing alongside many accomplished names both from Indonesia and abroad. Last year he launched his album “Terbang Melayang” in trio format with a singer, and certainly not a stranger for this event.

For this gig he took a very strong team consisting of amazing young musicians such as David Manuhutu (piano), Kevin Suwandhi (synth) and Grady Boanerges (drum).

Since the first song, “Softly As The Morning Sunrise”, bass clearly ruled on stage. But the contribution of Ito’s team mates were felt strong, they even got their own moment of glory. Not only the standards, Ito also introduced his own songs, including our favorite, the joyful-walk-in-the-park “Beautiful Day”. Ito kept on teasing each of his mates to explode. Groovy, modern but rely fully on jazz, this team transfered energy that would make the early-coming audience ready to absorb the  rest performances of the day.

If most of the festival in this nation tend to start with youngsters or newcomers, not UVJF. Since day 1 the UVJF presented experienced artists, even the international stars to begin with. We agree with this decision, so every band would get equal chance to get the crowds and the festival itself could gain good number of crowds early.

Moving to the main stage we got a unique vocal group from the land of rising sun Japan that has the intention not just to entertain but also to spread the gospel, the YA! Voices. YA  Voices has spread its wings for years across Asia and other continents. The group consists of 6 ladies: Atsuko Kawahara (vocal), Yuko Shirota (pf, vocal), Kaorin (trumpet, vocal), Satoko (vocal) and Yuuka Motoshida (percussion, vocal). They are individually skillful and experienced, somestarted their career since the 80’s, some learned jazz in Harlem, USA, there’s also one of them who is contributing towards the Asian Jazz development.

Simon Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” directly showed us something different. Only with trumpet, drums and percussions, the ladies demonstrated their vocal harmony beautifullly. They demonstrated the beauty of voices and their ability to play more instruments as one of the lady moved to piano for “How High The Moon”. It became more unique when they included shamisen, the three stringed traditional Japanese instrument and sang in Japanese before the song turned to “Take Five”. The ladies shouted “Don’t be afraid, hey you!”, which became the opening of The Beatles’ “Hey Jude”. Some traditional Japanese singing and tradings were found in their show too. An excerpt of “Amazing Grace” on trumpet sealed their high-spirited show.

Standing in between jazz and gospel with splashes of RnB and traditional, the YA! Voices brought peace through lovely harmony and lively appearance. From them we can see the evidence of how jazz can  be used to bless others and spread positive vibes. Keep on spreading the message of love and peace, ladies! Arigatou, God bless you all.

On the front side another beautiful show took place. After a wonderful collaboration with Jean Sebastien in 2016, the great Nita Aartsen is back, this time with another project and collaboration, the Nita Aartsen Eurasian Project with the naturally gifted and exotic jazz diva with 5-star singing voice, Dian Pratiwi. Both of these ladies have successfully built their career in Europe and landed everywhere around the world. They both also live in about the same musical horizon, from jazz to Brazilian and everything in between.

As the name suggested, Nita invited the combination of Indonesia and European musicians to join her. From Indonesia she brought the sensational bassist from Singaraja, Indra Gupta and young guitarist Brandon Julio. And then from Europe there were Dutch trumpeter Gerard Kleijn and drummer Olaf Keus.

High-energy, free spirited show started the fire right from the start. Kleijn’s composition “New Amsterdam” is captivating, following Nita’s cool rendition of “Spain” which didn’t only take us to voyage but also included splashes of Sundanese.

Nita carried on with some of her favorites  including “Night in Tunisia” and “The Shadow of Your Smile” before Dian Pratiwi stood in front and led them all to play the famous Ambonese song “Rame-Rame”. The party reached climax as some audience couldn’t help themselves any longer not to dance. They moved closer and dance right in front of the band, making another lovely scene for this event.

From the Nita Aartsen Eurasian Project ft Dian Pratiwi we got heartfelt jazz overflowing naturally. This is the collaboration between some of the most accomplished jazz artistes where jazz appears beautifully like a garden or roses in spring time.

The cozy stage at the back of ARMA Museum, Subak Stage began with young cats representing the fruitful community founded by Yuri Mahatma, the Underground Jazz Movement.

Since the first time we arrived in this event 4 years ago we have been seing tremendous progress that clearly shows how fruitful this community is and how this festival helps equipping them to be ready in the wonderful real world of jazz. This year the community was represented by Fendy Rizk (contrabass), Benny Irawan (guitar) and Wisnu Priambodo (drum). Appearing as a trio, they delivered jazz standards, including Thelonious Monk’s composition in 1947 “In Walked Bud”. Really fluent-jazz speaking trio these guys really are.

The main stage were alive again, this time with the amazing prodigy, native Indonesian who successfully built his career in USA with his band, Ade Irawan “Good Fellas”. Being blind never become an obstacle for him because God gives him an amazing gift that millions of people would dream of having. Ade Irawan can be a prove of God’s existance and how He can bless His children with miracle. Ade never learned formally when in his childhood. Yet, having a great hearing could be a powerful beginning for him to find out his true talent and calling. He has been invited to jam and perform in USA many times, including at the World Stage Community in Los Angeles.

This year the prodigy arrived in the Ubud Village Jazz Festival under Ade Irawan “Good Fellas”. Found in his project are big names with illustrious career that has been spanning much longer than his age. They are Gerard Kleijn, one of the finest trumpeter/composer from Holland, Polish saxophonist Kuba Skowronski, American sax/flute/clarinet player based in Thailand Norman King, our own saxophonist from Bali, Pramono Abdi Pamungkas. Pieregiorgio Marchesini (drum), Helmi Agustrian (bass) and the co-founder of the fest, Yuri Mahatma (guitar).

Three saxophonists and one trumpeter created a killer horn section to fly along with Ade Irawan’s magical jazz touch. The show exploded right from the start, making the crowds popped big time many, many times. Ade led the octet along with his magical touch over the keys, plus some hummings that added richer flavors. He let us feel the classic New York jazz scene with some cool blues flew around. While the horn section were captivating, Pieregiorgio’s wild drumming became one of the attraction. This mad, mad gang sealed their show with a triumphant reinterpretation of “A Night in Tunisia”.

After the show, Ade Irawan received the Inspirational Musician Award from the Ubud Village Jazz Festival.

We have covered and watched his miraculous jazz playing since around 8 years ago when he was still a teen. Now as he becomes an adult, his piano playing brings even more magic. As we said before, we could feel God’s blessings and existance through Ade Irawan. A marvelous show where jazz shines in every aspect.

On Padi Stage a prominent jazz singer from Netherlands, Judith Nijland presented her latest album tributing the Sweden’s legendary super group, “Jazz Tribute to ABBA”. For this event, the Vice Chairman of UVJF, Astrid Sulaiman who is also the beloved wife of fest founder Yuri Mahatma was backing her up in a trio format.

Famous for their tasty disco tunes, ABBA is rarely pinned in jazz. Some might think it’s too far, but Judith dared to think outside the box. She told us that she grew up listening ABBA songs, and then found out that they are all so beautiful. And because of that, she thought of doing something different with it. She also learnt the lyrics, because lyrics is important for her. “Some songs don’t fit me, some do.” she said. She digged the vast repertoire of this super group, highlighting their evergreen which mostly became hits in the 70’s and swing them up. As the result, the songs remain intact, only this time they have the swingin’ jazz outfit.

Astrid Sulaiman Trio (Astrid on piano, Gustu Brahmanta on drum and Ignatius Made on contrabass) provided a solid layers as Judith re-addressed the well known songs of ABBA into jazz. No, this is not just a cover, but for us it’s a truly state of art. Look at how she made songs like “I Have A Dream”, “One of Us”, “Lay All Your Love On Me”, “Thank You For The Music”, the 1974 winning song of Eurovision Song Contest “Waterloo” (she surprisingly changed it into a melancholic style and amazingly works well), and “Money, Money, Money” appeared in totally different perspective. Still has all the beauty, but now come in a whole new way. The musical canvas of Judith got even wider with a special appearance of Gerard Kleijn and his smooth, sharp trumpeting.

Why couldn’t today’s jazz revert the 70’s music scene, and more particularly, how about listening to ABBA’s ageless gems in swing? That’s what Judith thought. We have been wishing for someone to do this, finally the prominent jazz singer does it more than we ever expected. Lovely jazz reinterpretation based on love and respect, we can clearly feel it. You know the songs, you’ve heard it million of times, yet surprisingly they feel like new. With Judith Nijland, ABBA’s songs will never sound quite the same again.

Moving to Subak Stage we got a new invention in formation and sound. It’s born from the creative mind of pianist Kevin Suwandhi, who actually was introduced to jazz by Yuri Mahatma. It’s a new invention because it places Kevin at the center where he shaped two trios at once. In other words, it’s like two bands with trio formation merge by having the pianist melt into one. It’s called Kevin Suwandhi Double Trio.

Originally he has two drummers (Sandy Winarta and Grady Boanerges) and two bassists (Indra Gupta and Barry Likumahuwa). But for this event, Sandy is replaced by Elfa Zulham and Barry’s position is taken by a Balinese bassist, Tito Jonathan.

What makes it more unique is that these two trios are different. Indra Gupta uses acoustic bass, while Tito is on electric bass. According to Kevin, it represents two sides of his life: one as a teenager who still like pop and RnB with boosting electrifying bass sound, while the other one reflects his educational side on traditional jazz. If normally a musician would have one at a time, Kevin decided to bring both sides at once.

A very diffferent approach of jazz playing was served by this unique formation right from the start. Many of us would think it’s impossible to have two drummers at once without ever getting crashed, or puzzled in combining acoustic-electric bass at the same time. But not to Kevin, because he even made original songs for  his double trio. He made a surprise by pinning today’s Top 40s like Justin Bieber’s “Sorry”, he made the crowds stunned with his original song, “Dance Floor.” It’s unbelievable to see that he put the 4 on the floor Disco style into jazz by using this odd format. The audience didn’t want to let them go and forced them to bring one more. As an encore, the double trio took Coltrane’s “Giant Steps” in a surprising version. Kevin made it as if the song was in slow motion, yet it’s given stronger, modern groove. Simply brilliant!

Kevin Suwandhi shows that there are still many unexplored sides of jazz that one can dig or invent. It could be difficult to do it, he might need two hemispheres of his brain to function equally together to be able to bring the concept alive, but it can be done. In fact, it creates a whole new dimension of jazz that we never heard before. One thing that you should know, Indonesia doesn’t only have Joy Alexander as the prodigy. There are Ade Irawan who also plays in this edition, Philip Manfred who plays jazz on piano and sax equally good, Jeremy Hutomo who miraculously plays like a pro since 6-7 years old, Nadine Adrianna who has also been a prodigy before her age even reaches two digit, and certainly there is Kevin Suwandhi. Like a band playing in front of a mirror, but the reflection is different yet connected, with one person in the center acting like a control room, making sure that both sides function at best. The photo may help you in understanding what we are trying to describe, but if it’s still confusing, let’s just say that Kevin Suwandhi has invented something new that opens up another horizon in the jazz world. An amazing, surprising and mind-bending breakthrough.

The legend who claims’ jazz is his life’ has finally landed. He is none other than American hard bop jazz pianist, Benny Green. This member of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers has the history of jazz at his fingertips. He developed his mastery of the keyboard with decades of real-world experience in the star-making bands of three of the most masterful musicians of the last half century. Other than Art Blakey, he’s been sharing the light with singer Betty Carter and bassist Ray Brown just to mention a very few. More recently, Green took the stage and recorded with artists like Christian McBride and Diana Krall. Band leader himself for over 20 years, Benny’s recording career began with two albums for the Dutch label Criss Cross. Since 1990 he has recorded 7 albums for the legendary Blue Note label. According to many, nobody plays straight-ahead modern jazz piano with more swinging joy and finesse than Benny Green.

For UVJF 2018 Benny Green appeared in trio formation. Two other players accompanying him are Aaron Kimmel (drum) and Mike Gurolla (bass). This trio took us into a nonstop ‘A’ Train, riding from coast to coast in a lightning speed but steady slide. From one song to another, Benny Green led his fellows to reflects every aspects of jazz that make us fall in love in first place. Truly a master play, simply unforgettable.

It’s a big privilege for us to be able to watch the jazz master who has appeared in more than 100 albums. This would surely strengthen this festival to be the one to come to for those who want to enjoy great quality of jazz from luminary musicians. From Benny Green Trio we were treated with heartfelt jazz that’s full of sensitivity, flowing naturally and ellegant, challenging but fun, energetic and relaxing at the same time.

Directly after that the Padi Stage near the entrance started sounding with Jeko Fauzy Nusatiga. Jeko Fauzy is a unique guitarist. He is indeed a prominent jazz guitarist but trained as a classical musician. This background makes his music resonates an intriguing combination of both spheres. He’s been residing and building his career in Bali for quite some times, giving his fans and music lovers a chance to explore the cool, classically inspired progessive fusion.

The combination of two guitars (with Icang Rahimy) and contrabassist Helmy Agustrian gave us a chance to enjoy an intimate concert, subtle, smooth and peaceful. A nice refreshing show for sure.

Representing the Castlemaine Jazz Festival, the partner of this event was none other than Ade Ishs Trio. Ade is a native Indonesian but he builds his career in Melbourne, Australia, existed as a successful pianist, composer and band leader.

Unlike many jazz pianists, Ade has a distinctive style which revolves around contemporary jazz, classical, folk/country and meditational. So far this unique way of playing has been documented in no less than eight albums.

In this fest Ade Ish brought great female drummer Alex Roper and contrabassist Rory Brown. Like we have said above, he presented the combination of all those styles, creating one mesmerizing beauty through flowery melodies and fine execution. You could feel classical, folk and all over his jazz touch, so beautiful that you would never feel his music as complex and difficult to enjoy. “It’s more like comforting,” said one of the audience who watched his show until the end. While “Summer Breeze” brought joyful mood in upbeat, Ade told the audience that one of his favorite songs actually failed to make it into the album. When he played it tonight, he made all the audience silence in awe. He also went oriental in one of the song, picturing perfect painting over the sakura flower.

Simply lovely feel-good show from Ade Ishs Trio, we hope to see him here again some other times.

Speaking of jazz veteran who also carries the mission to push the regeneration of musicians in Indonesia, the name of Idang Rasjidi should always be mentioned. With his Idang Rasjidi Syndicate he brings in young players and let them grow along with him from one stage to another. When we talk about his appearance, this man has piano as his ultimate weapon, but he actually is a multi-instrumentalist and can go much further by using his voice to imitate the sound of trumpet, trombone or even percussions, which makes him a man-chestra. If that’s already awe-inspiring, he is also a true entertainer. His show is always engaging. The way he smiles, the way he communicates in between songs, his calmness and leadership make his gig loveable.

As how he likes to do, he promotes a message of peace and harmony, unity in diversity through what he does best: jazz. Then, he combines that with showcasing young talents, bringing them into the big pond and let them jump above the bar. How amazing it is to see Idang makes these kids ready to perform on big stage, in a prestigious festival without feeling nervous at all. In fact, they are lethal and dangerous with their instruments.

Every song was used as a pallette to jam. Idang led everyone by himself, giving them a moment to shine one after another. That includes a big party using Quincy Jones’ classic “Soul Bossa Nova”, a song that you might know better as the Austin Powers’ theme song. In this song some of the musicians joined him, including Norman King, Kuba Skowronski and the lady of the festival, Astrid Sulaiman. The festival reached the climax with this amazing, spontaneous act.

The legendary jazz man, down to earth, and knows exactly how to make us know that jazz stage is the happiest habitat for him to be by transfering all the joy to his audience through fun way of playing. We always have a big respect to Idang Rasjidi for who he is and what he does. One day in the distant future, people will still thank him for all his contribution towards the Indonesian jazz in his life time. What a way to seal this year’s edition.

It’s a big privilege for us to be able to see the growth of this festival. Year after year they have been succeed in keeping up the tradition, vision and mission by presenting class acts. The number of stage might be the same, but whoever stand above it promises quality and radiates the magic of pure jazz while still holding the variety alive. The curtain of 2018 edition has closed, but we know when it’s open again, there will be another batch of showcases that will carry the heart of UVJF and bring something that can enrich its color. We can’t wait for that! Thank you for tremendous treat for two days, Ubud Village Jazz Festival! Thank you for the amazing lineup, and thank you for your hospitality. Hope to see you again next year!

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

Our jazz community event at the TP Stage of the Papandayan Hotel called JAZZUALIY @ TP hits the final chapter after being paused by the management due to the holy month of Ramadhan and re-evaluation process. For this last edition we featured all young musicians/singer who has stepped forward in their career by having their own original songs. Each of them has something special to offer, and we are proud to feature them.

Performing first was a project of a young bassist Joe Bastian simply called JOE PROJECT. Joe is no stranger since he has participated in our events for more than 3 years. We saw a strong will, passion and good skill in him, therefore we suggested him to establish his own band so he could strengthen his position as a musician. Since last year he has been showing progress as shown in each of his appearance on our stage.

Joe is quite an all rounder. While he is into fusion, we have seen him playing pop, RnB, soul just as good. He can do Bossa nova really well too, using both bass and guitar. Just a couple of days after this, Joe is going to dig Blues in our other event. That shows how wide his musical pallette really is. We wonder what he would bring to this gig, it turned out to be the genre that represents him the most: Jazz Fusion.

Joe is surrounded by friends who also share the same passion as him. This time he brought three of them, including his long time friend M Rizqi Pratama (guitar), Erchy Tarnanto (drum) and the keyboardist of Chakraborty and Owcindful, Nicodemus Horisson.

Joe and his friends started with smooth jazz composition of Agung Munthe titled “Afternoon Stroll”, giving everyone a warm, pleasuring and relaxing vibe just like the feeling when we go on a short leisurely walk in a beautiful afternoon. After that, Joe led his mates to play Fusion Stuff’s song written by its founder Krishna Siregar titled “Little Briescha”. This song was made by Krishna for his baby daughter, Briescha. It was made sweet, unfortunately Briescha sadly passed away too soon. Because of that, we mourn everytime we hear the song. Joe Project took the song and kept all the sweet essence, we could feel them sending the prayers by playing it but at the same time they let us go through a sweet memories Krishna and family have from the time when Briescha was still around.

After that, Joe took Barry Likumahuwa’s “Walking With The Bass”. As Barry is a bassist who successfully stands as a band leader, this song gave Joe to be more in front, walking and grooving his bass. This toe tapping, funky track suits Joe Project really well. While Joe showcased his funky side, Rizqi got his best moment through sharp rockin’ solo run.

Then Joe called her friend to join the crowds. She is the Big 7 of the singing contest reality television show Mamamia: Agnes Olivia Gunawan, who’s existed as a regular singer in several places after the competition. Her heavy, smokey vocal fitted on covering another Barry Likumahuwa and his BLP song, “Cinta Abadi”. With this song, Joe Project sealed their TP Stage moment.

After playing for us quite many times, we believe that it’s time for him to taste the atmosphere of the jazz club The Papandayan Hotel provided. It turns out we are right, Joe and his band gave a strong, solid performance that clearly shows how much they enjoyed the moment. A really nice start for this edition, thanks to Joe Project.

For the second session we featured a young girl with amazing talent who is making a big step when she just turned 18. She started her career not long ago, but she rose fast as she began to appear not only in community events but also big festivals. She plays guitar like a pro, working her fingers like magic the way Joe Pass did. But that’s not all, because she often sings at the same time. She’s charming and glowing on stage. She is NAYRA DHARMA.

This girl is indeed one of a kind. If you wonder how she could be ready that fast, we can tell you some of the reason. First, she is talented, inheriting the DNA from her daddy, co-founder of Krakatau, Pra Budidharma. But that’s not all, because she is really dilligent, or militant could be a better way to describe her seriousness. If usually girl her age would go hang out with friends to malls, theatres, cafes and so, she chose more to practice, which could take around 8 hours a day. We often found that her hands injured, but she never surrender. She still practice and perform under any circumstances. She doesn’t just play and sing, she can also write songs, and speaking of singing, she can do other language than English and Indonesia. So it’s a no brainer for us to see her grow so fast.

After sailing as solo, duo and then trio (using drum and then switched to kendang to explore more ethnic Sundanese sounds), just last month Nayra released her first single titled “In A Blur”. This classy and heartfelt Bossa Nova song speaks (represents) one of the problems faced by teenagers everywhere. That’s when you are facing a crossroad, unsure and confuse which road to take next. Wondering restless not knowing where and why. Even when all seems lost, the song speaks her soul that knows that there’s always hope at the end of the line. You can read more details about the song here: http://jazzuality.com/jazz-events/jazzuality-tp-08/.

For tonight Nayra got an essential support from her buddy, a genius keyboardist Jason Limanjaya who has been supporting her since the early stage of her career. Before playing, Nayra told us that other than promoting her newest single, she also brought a special theme for this gig, and that’s “Broken Heart”.

As we said before, any song she plays is outstanding, but when she plays/sings bossa, it’s magic. She directly put a spell on everyone by single handedly crying her heart out with Rosa Passos’ “Juras”. She already bagged loud applause right from the first verse, and that’s no wonder since not only her charm took the whole room by storm and the way she played authentic bossa on guitar along with ‘telling the story’ with her satin-smooth voice like a real Brazilian, but she also sang it with full emotion. Not just the music, her facial expression told it all.

Nayra invited Jason to take his position behind the grand piano. From solo to duo, they took on “Você Vai Ver”, again by placing deep emotion into the song. Jason did an awesome job by exploring jazz freely over the keys, but amazingly kept it all in bossa mood. According to him, he’s just trying his best to match Nayra’s chord progressions, but for us he did it spectacularly.

Nayra then introduced her single “In A Blur”, telling the story of the moment when one doesn’t know where to go for the next chapter of her life, feeling insecure in a blurry future. The combination of really beautiful, bitter-sweet melody and the poetic lyrics made the song a gold as if it was written by Jobim and sang by Astrud Gilberto. Jason contributed big time in building the drama with his amazing bossa-jazz touch, matching Nayra’s heartfelt works. The single speaks something relevant to teenagers based on her own experience when she was in the same situation. Emotional, poetically sad but Nayra doesn’t want to spread the negative vibe by telling us that despite all the blur, there’s always hope waiting in front of us.

For the last song Nayra and Jason took us visiting another Bossa Nova classic by Djavan, “Flor de Lis”. This song has been sung by so many artists throughout decades including one of the most memorable ones at present time by Gretchen Parlato. Eventhough she still chose to present it in darker tone, the beautiful sight of watching ‘Lily Flower’ and the fragrance were clearly felt through their play. Just like the first two songs, Nayra demonstrated how fluent she could sing in Portuguese as if she was born and grew in Brazil.

Watching Nayra’s transformation is certainly fascinating, from the day she started up to this moment when she is already a well established musician with one single available in every major online outlets. An album is to come, and then we will wait to see where she will go next. One thing for sure, success for her is not in a blur. It’s something certain if she keeps going straight on track.

While she swings and bops real good, we always believe she is a natural born Bossa Nova artist. She sparks magic whenever she sings Bossa, it feels authentic and classy when her smooth breezy soft voice complimenting her dancing fingers above the fret. And the way she connects with her heart, mind and soul in singing Bossa is truly amazing. There are many singers sing Bossa from time to time, but it’s rare to find someone does it as authentic and pure as Nayra. Jason is a perfect companion that could make the audience forget about the need of a band in order to get the best of jazz-tertainment. Congrats and good luck Nayra, stay true to your calling and go dance among the stars.

The final act featured a 14 year-old boy who rose to fame after becoming one of the finalists of Indonesian Idol Junior in 2017. He finished in top 10, that’s not bad at all, since to go there he has had beating thousands of other kids. We met him in Jazzphoria, a jazz competition created by MLD. There he finished second, proving that jazz, something that he’s been into since the beginning is actually a perfect habitat for him to live in. For us, having met and known someone talented like him actually wishes to take the jazz road is a pleasant surprise. We offered him to use our community as a start, he gladly accepted it. After series of performances and jam sessions in our yard, finally he’s landed here inside the TP Stage. Oops we forget to mention his name. He is Akbar Herliansyah, better known as AKBAR IDOL JUNIOR.

This boy is a natural born artist. He enjoys being on stage and great in spreading good vibes to his audience. While usually boys his age struggle with all the effects of puberty, including or especially the changing of vocal tone for singers, Akbar knows how to deal with it. Other great things about this boy is good song choice, ranging from the jazz standards to today’s groovy/jazzy hits both from his own nation and abroad. He also sings by connecting his heart which makes any song he sings become heartfelt.

Two months ago he took a higher step. From his father we were informed that he made his first ever jazzy song titled “Cinta Membuatku Bahagia” (in English: “Love Makes Me Happy”). The combination of ear-catchy melody and simple, universal lyrics make this single powerful that it could become an instant hit in the ideal music industry whenever it has the chance to be aired.

TP Stage is not a new place for him since he was featured in Mat Bitel’s gig a while back, also when he joined the jam sessions in one of our previous editions. For this time he performed by having a solid band backing him, consisting of Rizal Fachri (keys), Rimba (bass), Rommy Hendrawan (guitar) and b(drums).

After a brief introduction from Akbar himself about how he came to use jazz to (re)build his career, he directly took a familiar song from Michael Jackson and dipped it in lively, groovy jazz. It’s none other than “Man In the Mirror”. Eventhough the song was a hit far before Akbar was even born, he managed to own the song as if it was from his time.

Akbar carried on with his first jazz single, “Cinta Membuatku Bahagia”, a song that’s built upon cool joyful groove, ear catchy melody and lyrics that we all experience. This song could become a hit anytime it gets the airplay.

Akbar then took the risk by taking a difficult song not many dare to sing, Etta James’ signature song “At Last.” Imagine, how often do you listen to a male singing it, especially a teenage boy? Akbar surprised us with this when he played for the very first time in our event some months ago, and now he brought back that great moment on the TP stage.

For the next song he gave a surprise by swingin’ with a famous dangdut song “Kopi Dangdut”, originally is a Venezuelan song titled “Moliendo Cafe”. According to Akbar, this song was made fast when they rehearsed in the morning of the same day. They had lots of fun in doing this song just like a bunch of kids playing merrily in a park. For the last song they covered the late George Michael’s gem, “Careless Whisper” in Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox way. As we said earlier, this boy does great in dealing with the changing of his vocal tone. The evidence appeared here, as he showed he could still do the falsetto effortlessly. Just as unique as Bradlee’s, Akbar and his band presented a really different or even bizzare version of this 80’s classics and used it to create a joyous finale.

From Michael Jackson to Etta James to George Michael, from Etta James’ signature song to swingin’ with dangdut, plus introducing his original jazzy song, Akbar let everyone see how wide his musical coverage could be, and how he could pin all that in the music that he’s been in love with, jazz. He enjoyed his every second on stage, transfering that happy feeling to everyone in the room. It’s not everyday we see a boy claiming his place in the jazz scene as early as him, so we can say that he is one of a kind. Jazz is definitely his thing, a perfect habitat for him to build his career and fulfill everything he’s ever dreamed of.

Since we’re done kind of early, the jam session took place shortly after. The first batch featured Nayra Dharma (vocal), bluesman Eki Kamaluddin (guitar), Joe Bastian (bass), Rivandi (drum) and Jason Limanjaya (piano). They took “Route 66” in a deep, much slower blues style.

Nayra and Jason then left the stage, the piano seat than was taken by Nicodemus Horrison. Like a big magnet, Eki dragged everyone to focus on stage with his amazing blues guitar playing and singing over B.B King’s “The Thrill Is Gone”. Blazin’, thrillin’, flamin’ performance by this batch would make anyone surprise when they realized that this was a jam session, meaning they didn’t rehearse at all before playing that good.

The guitar then switched to Adya Amru. Coincidentally, three members of Chakraborty had their reunion on stage: Amru, Nicodemus and Joe. This last batch served the last party, swingin’ happily with Charlie Parker’s “Billie’s Bounce”.

We are proud to feature all young guns in this 8th edition of Jazzuality @ TP. These are the talented youngsters that we have been with for quite some times, watching their growth every step of the way. Words can never be enough to express how proud we are of them.

Since The Papandayan Hotel doesn’t want to continue their support to jazz communities any longer, this 8th episode becomes the last edition of Jazzuality at TP. We thank the hotel management, Mr Bobby Renaldi, Mr Doni, Mr Hari Pochang and Mr Venche Manuhutu for accomodating this event until the final show. As the TP Stage is mentioned as “The Address of Jazz” by the Mayor of Bandung, we do hope the young jazz (related) musicians could always have it as their home too, with or without us. In their hands lies the future of jazz in Indonesia, they need support to grow. Long live Indonesian jazz, we will always do our best, any which way we can to support you.

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Reporter & Photographer: Riandy Kurniawan .

One tribute to highly respected figure in Blues and two jazz fusion representing totally different corners (ethnic jazz and the 80’s). That was the menu for BRAGA JAZZ NIGHT #50. We always love to strecth jazz wide in our event, so the public can see the variety of jazz. We have featured swing, bebop and other pure jazz bands many times, but we do also bring fusion, jazz pop and even blues, the genre many believe jazz is rooted in. For us this is a very interesting edition due to the variety and theme.

We began loud with wicked Blues roar, brought by Eki Kamaludin‘s band, the EKI BLUES PROJECT. This project is intended to send huge respect to the undisputed King of Blues, Mr. B.B King.

B.B King had a nutricious and inspiring long spanning career for more than 50 years. Having a struggling childhood, Riley B. King (his real name) was attracted to music in church and took guitar as his weapon. He began his career in local radio and juke joints and then began recording in 1949. Soon after, he started making hits and the rest is history.

While he was unlucky with marriage, he stated that his true love was none other than Lucille, the name he gave to his guitars. He loved her so much, so much that he was willing to risk his life by running back inside the burning club just to save her. Throughout his career he has won 14 Grammys, inducted into the Hall of Fame many times, also various other honorary doctorates, medals and awards. He loved music so much that he kept on touring extensively until he sadly passed away at the age of 89 in 2015. The thrill is gone, but surely not forgotten. He has inspired millions of musicians for decades and will keep on doing so for many more decades to come. His music, his spirit, his legacy will be remembered and respected forever.

Back to Eki Kamaludin, this young man is a great Blues guitarist, something that we have been amazed at since the first time he came to our event around two years ago. His Blues playing skill on guitar is exceptional, and he plays by locking tight to his heart. He participated in numerous jam sessions we made and has got his gig too. Realizing that he’s a natural gifted Blues guitarist, we offered him to make a tribute to B.B King that we have been wanting for so long. He happily took it, and this edition finally welcomed him and the tribute called “LUCILLE: TRIBUTE TO B.B. KING”.

In Eki Blues Project, Eki is accompanied by his buddies including Joe Bastian (bass), Tedi Rahmat (keys) and Steven Suwanto (drum).

As the theme suggested, Eki started with “Lucille”, a song where King told the story about Lucille. Just in case you don’t know, Lucille is not the name of his wife, nor child, but his guitar, which he stated as his true love. Lucille, whom he was willing to sacrifice his life for, as he rushed back to save her during a burning club incident. He once wrote that Lucille is real. “When I play her, it’s almost like hearing words, and of course, naturally I hear cries. I’d be playing sometimes as I’d play, it seems like it almost has a conversation with me. It tells you something. It communicates with me.” Interestingly, Eki didn’t talk about it, he sang it. Eki doesn’t name his guitar, yet he successfully established a tight connection just like how B.B King and Lucille had. This first song directly let everyone felt the thick, sharp and wild blues that might be rare to find on jazz stages nowadays in Indonesia. Loud cheers and thunderous applauses were thrown to him and his band in between and at the end of the song.

For the next song Eki Blues Project took B.B King’s popular song from mid 60’s, “Rock Me Baby”. This medium-tempo twelve-bar blues has plenty of room to improvise, which they gladly took. In the middle of this song, Eki made a surprising act by playing his guitar from the back of his head. This move made the audience popped.

Of course it’s impossible to give a tribute to Mr King without playing his most famous song. Yes, “The Thrill Is Gone” became the climax. Right when he sang the title, the crowds again blasted, showing how familiar this song is to them and how they love it. In this song Eki gave a long solo run to each of his mates. Not only solo runs, Eki also teased them one by one. The battle created made a highly entertaining climax. If in the second song he put his guitar on his back, this time he used his teeth instead of his fingers. It’s also interesting to see Joe did his solo by making a bass walking jazz way without ever losing the blues grip. Tedi gave a wild organ exploration and Steven pleasured us with his solid rockin’ blues drumming.

Carrying a tribute to someone like B.B King would never be easy, especially for young musicians who are still in the early stage of their career. Not only they have to be able to go catch the way King played, carrying the spirit of his monumental songs, but the pressure could make them crumble in seconds. But not Eki. This young dude has the gift to be a standout bluesman, he is passionate and knows exactly what he’s born for. In other words, put him in his habitat, he will definitely shine. Having a great companion makes him able to bring out his best to send respect to King. A really good tribute, heartfelt and deep. We have been wishing to give a tribute to B.B. King for so long, we are glad that it’s finally done by a very talented musician like Eki and his friends. What a mad, mad start.

If you have listened to music since the 80’s, you would remember how big Jazz Fusion was in that era. Fusion was born in the late 60’s and reached its momentum in the 70’s, but entering the 80’s, Jazz Fusion became even more interesting. There were branches of it like Smooth Jazz and Acid Jazz that are more radio and ear friendly. That makes this music gained more fans. In Indonesia, you would also probably notice that Jazz Fusion was once on top of the music scene. We got so many successful Jazz Fusion bands/musicians like Krakatau, Karimata, Bhaskara 86/87/88, Halmahera, Emerald, Spirit Band just to mention a few. Some of us stuck in the 80’s, we need to go back to that era’s songs once in a while to make our lives stay at peace.

So, we need to bring an 80’s Fusion style of party in this event. We have got the hits from that era once in a while, but we hadn’t got the chance to make a full session of it until finally we met a band that is still standing tall ever since it was established in that glorious decade. It’s AT LAST.

The history of this band is rather unique, starting when a bass player Ruyadi Wiraatmaja got a friend through the Amateur Radio Organization of Indonesia, better known as ORARI, Indra Yoga. He found out later that Yoga was an active drummer who also liked the 80’s jazzy tunes. Establishing a band became the next step. They searched for other players to complete the band. Long story short, they completed it.

Today the band is still kicking. The members of At Last are Ruyadi Wiraatmadja (bass), Indra Yoga (drum), Dicky Maulana Yusuf (keyboard), Sandika (sax), Agus ‘Acis’Sutardiman (guitar) and Ritawati (vocal). Eventhough they come from three nearby cities in West Java: Bandung, Cimahi and Padalarang, the last mentioned city was their basecamp.

Having a band with veterans that has been playing during that era promised a great flashback. And yes they did it from the start by taking on a big hit from 1984, written and produced by David Foster for Chaka Khan, “Through The Fire”. Eventhough this song came from 34 years ago, its ageless as we still hear or play it today. Rita’s soft and bright singing voice is perfect for this song. Some of the audience sang along with her.

“This is still August”, but we are going to sing a song which is having the next month as the title.” said Rita. Of course it’s a clear clue for the next song, Earth Wind and Fire’s “September”. This song came to life in 1978, but it’s still a big hit throughout the 80’s so it’s still relevant with the theme. As how the spirit of the song has always been, At Last made it a party that’s surely loved by everyone. Some sang along, some nodded their heads and smiled happily.

Time for them to bring the Indonesian jazzy hit from that era, the song written by Dian PP and Deddy Dhukun made popular by January Christy, “Melayang”. Again, this memorable song managed to bringus back to those glory days in the 80’s. And for the last song, they took another Earth Wind and Fire’s hit, “In The Stone”. This song originally stood out with its ripe brass sound that incorporated pop, jazz, funk and disco. At Last didn’t have the brass section, but the combination of keyboard and saxophone plus the work of the rest of the band able to capture the exact hype in delivering the party mode just like the spirit of the original. We always love this song, how nice it is tohave it as the finale of At Last’s performance.

For the first time we presented a Flashback t0 80’s fusion, and we are happy that it was delivered by a band with members coming from that decade like At Last. Any of the audience who have tasted that glorious scene should be having a happy memory lane, perhaps they would even feel young again like we do. Classic songs, unforgettable hits, it brings back so many great memories from the past. Thank you At Last! We hope we could have another party from you someday.

The last session was also fusion, but from different corner. This one embraced the magical, mystical nuance of West Sumatra tribe, Minangkabau which has distinctive, typical beat and melody based in diatonic scale. The band is led by Maspon Herizal, an artiste who plays so many traditional Minangkabau woodwinds (some are even ancient and once related to black magic, though not anymore now). It’s a combo who knows the way to expand the diatonic pallette to be chromatic, thus able to suit and play Western music including jazz. It’s none other than the amazing PALANTA LINE ART.

Palanta Line Art was established around 6 years ago by Maspon Herizal. He led much younger players to answer the needs of traditional Minangkabau weddings, but since Maspon’s genius brain often goes progressive and always dare to explore something others might think impossible to do, he soon landed on other non traditional events.

We came to know them from Zahar Mustilaq and his band, West Java Syndicate. A Minang Jazz, that’s rare for sure. Therefore for us it was like finding a gem when we got in touch with Maspon and his Palanta Line Art.

More about this combo, it has one or two talempong (set of small brass or bronze kettle gongs) players, and the founder himself plays saluang (an oblique bamboo flute), bansi (a small end-blown bamboo block flute), sarunai (bamboo pipe), tanduak (ancient flute made from bull’s horn). Besides this traditional instruments, they have modern instruments too such as keyboard, bass and guitar. The combination of East and West, traditional and modern makes this band has a unique sound. Authentic Minangkabau music yet feels contemporary. When you hear their music, you will be surprise to see how wide their coverage really is.

For this appearance Maspon brought Kiki Septian (talempong), Arts Fiaris (guitar) and Shendy Susanto (bass). To complete the band, he got reinforced by two West Java Syndicate thugs: Zahar Mustilaq (drum) and Yopi D Nafis (keys).

Palanta Line Art started with the mystical, dreamy Minang music, which surprisingly used as the opening of Chick Corea’s most famous song, “Spain”. Once again we saw how solid they did the difficult tutti part, especially Kiki who demonstrated his quick hands in doing it upon his talempong. No matter what version(s) you have heard before, it would open up your eyes that “Spain” could actually appear in traditional Minang music style.

For the second song Maspon led his team to demonstrate how far they can play around with dissonants. It’s Palanta New Art’s new composition titled “Complication”. Due to its complicated arrangements, this song must be challenging to play, not to mention the difficulties of delivering it to the audience. But they did great in dealing with this complex composition.

Another new original composition came next, “Nocturnal Activity”. Just like the name says, this song was made by the young members of the band who one night stayed late and then captured a nuance that apparently fit to be transposed into progressive Minang fusion. Dark, eerie, yet enjoyable and explorative. The humming of Maspon added more mystical atmosphere.

They then gave a floating song before presenting the epic composition made by Maspon which captured the beauty of West Sumatra as a part of the whole Sumatra island, “Andalas Raya”. Whenever or wherever they play this, it’s always a winning song for us. While the original members did their part well, the guest star Zahar and Yopi blended seamlessly with the band, so tight that nobody would know that they were filling the empty spots in the band.

Their session was supposed to be done, but their MC Toro who came to support the band wished to join the party on stage. The traditional Minangkabau song “Ayam Den Lapeh” became his choice. After that, a Japanese lady, Chie Yoshida, the friend of Maspon who came to watch them was called to sing one song. She took “My Funny Valentine” which appeared unique since the song was presented by using talempong among the modern instruments. Lovely voice with lovely vibe, she sang the song flawlessly. This extra show gave a special extension to Palanta Line Art’s artistic show.

One last song featured a jazz guitarist now resides in Lombok, Adya Amru together with Joe Bastian (bass), Zahar Mustilaq (drum),Yopi Nafis (keys) and Kiki (talempong), playing Herbie Hancock’s “Cantaloupe Island”. A group photo wrapped the 50th edition of Braga Jazz Night.

In this third appearance for our event, the Palanta Line Art showcased 3 new songs which digged more progressive jazz in sync with the authentic Minang traditional music. The Palanta Line Art gave a unique soundscape which clearly embraces the authentic Minangkabau music but complimenting the modern music especially the progressive side of jazz fusion. Aside of their multidimensional music and action-packed show, this band will also inspire and encourage others to challenge themselves to go beyond limit. There are still so many sides of music yet to discover, whenever we know that there are bands going towards that direction, we would be more than happy to welcome them in.

One special tribute to a Blues legend and two showcases of jazz fusion from different corners made this 50th edition of Braga Jazz Night interesting. We thank every participating bands/musicians, all partners and of course everyone who came joining us. We will be back again next month with another batch serving different style of jazz. Hope to see you again in September.

Watch the highights of Braga Jazz Night 50 here:

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Reporter & Photographer: Riandy Kurniawan
Video editor: Vierna Mariska

For 5 years we have been running monthly regular event inside the Braga CityWalk situated in the historical Braga street of Bandung. This event was formally named Braga Jazz Walk but then changed to Braga Jazz Night since last year. With this event, we offer new musicians a home, a place where they are welcome to perform and promote themselves. We think it’s important since usually it would be hard for newcomers to find a place to play. By providing them the chance, we hope to see them grow to fulfill their passion to become a musician.

Eventhough this is just a small jazz community event, we have been seeing many young musicians who started sailing from here found their dream as an established musicians. There are community members who now have their own bands and projects, making interesting theme or concept and so on. Some have made singles and albums, some have even played alongside local and international giants. We have got many international musicians gracing the stage, legends, seniors who are willing to share their experience and happiness with the young musicians.

On the other hand, we provide jazz entertainment with easy access without charging any dime, letting us introduce the unlimited color of jazz to the music lovers in Bandung and beyond. We feel blessed that this simple idea works really well, more than what we ever dreamed of.

Now we have reached episode #51. In the Braga Jazz Night #51 we featured all bands or groups who made their debut in it. Many of them consisting of familiar faces, but still they were performing inside the bands that we have never showcased before. For around 3 hours straight, these bands delivered the wide variety of jazz in front of many audience consisting of fellow musicians, those who especially came to enjoy the show, mall visitors and passers-by.

While having bands on our stage, we always keep our eyes on some good ones and try to push them further. One of the good ones is Putra Pardamean Kusumanegara, better known as Dony Manurung. He is still young, but he’s been active mainly as sessionist and also as a teacher. A couple of weeks ago he told us that he now has a new band and wished to take part in Braga Jazz. We quickly found him a spot in this edition.

The band is called THE SESSION, based on the same background of the personnels as session players. In here Donny joins some of his fellow musicians, who are actually in our radar too. They are the drummer of New Blood Sugih Gumilang, guitarist Swain Samuel and bassist Emannuel Mozes Domingus Tuhumury. The Session was established on 25 February 2018 and still in process of expanding their canvas and make themselves heard. That makes this event a perfect habitat for them, and we are more than happy to have them in.

Donny added synth above his keyboard and took the timeless standard, “Summertime” with his fellas. If you thought you knew the song, think again, because they made it fast-paced, intense action packed which is far, far different than the way we usually hear it. The roaring thunder drumming from Sugih provided strong base for the rest of the boys to have lots of fun. Donny tranced on keys with some effects on the synth, the playful rockin’ guitar from Swain and the funky chops on bass by Emmanuel took us all on the edge of the seat. What a spectacular opening which brought them loud applauses from the crowds.

Not only mind blowing with the arrangement and execution, they also love to surprise us with song choice. Look at how they play our mind with The Beatles’ “Come Together.” Once again they made something totally new out of it. If originally the song was made in power rock, they redressed it smooth, calm but still nail-bittingly chilling. The part where Swain roared wild rocking with his guitar was sensational. The synth effects, the abusive keys, killing bass lines and manic drumming created a whole different story of how The Beatles made it.

Emmanuel got the chance to funk us high on the last song, Reza Artamevia’s hit “Berharap Tak Berpisah”. Just like the first two songs, they brought the new dimension of it, digging it from different angle that actually works really well. The Session still kept the familiar melody, everyone would easily notice the song yet it’s taylored nowhere near the original, as if it was made in another world. Lots of improvisations, lots of fun, the boys of The Session danced merrily with their instruments. Stand out individually, rock solid as a unit, in fine blend.

Taking the jazz road for a career is not easy. That’s why we always proud to see bands like The Session who dare to enter it because they simple love the genre. Imagine if there is no youngsters to play jazz anymore, how the future of jazz in this nation would be like. On the opposite, imagine if good skilled and passionate musicians like these four young cats still bravely go against all odds establishing and building their career in jazz. That would keep the regeneration of jazz musicians alive in good quality.

We know how good every head existed in this group is, so we already predicted the band would be great. Now that we have seen them performing, what they offer is far better than we have ever expected. we found out that not only they have solid teamwork and shine individually whenever they got their wicked solo runs and improvise. The word spectacular will never be exaggerating when given to them. We hope The Session to have success. Not only it will be good for their career but it will also give benefit to Indonesian jazz future.

The second act featured a duo consisting of a little girl who soon will turn teen: Favel Fatima (vocal) and a boy still in his teen: Luqmanul ‘Uman Bott’ Hakim (guitar). The duo is named after their names: FAVEL/UMAN.

We came to know Favel based on recommendation of some musicians earlier this year. When we checked her Youtube channel, we were surprised to hear her voice, a thick, soulful voice with jazz vibe that sounds much older than her age, which is still 12 year-old. Most of the songs she sings in her channel are jazz standards, showing how much she is into jazz. That’s pretty amazing for a little girl her age.

Meanwhile, Uman is no stranger to us. He has helped us in documenting the event when he was still 10 years old alongside her mother, Mia Damayanti who has been with us along the way. A few years ago we heard that he got interested in guitar, and soon found that he learnt from Hardi Suryana, a senior jazz guitarist. He’s shaped up fast, and soon we got him and his teacher/mentor performed in this event.

The Favel/Uman has performed together in many occassions including Ruang Putih and last April in Afternoon Tea, an event commemorating the Asia-Africa Conference (KAA).

Three months ago we tried to invite Favel and her newborn duo with Uman. Unfortunately Uman had busy schedule at school and had to have his part taken by his mentor, Hardi Suryana. Now finally we could have the duo on our stage.

Favel and Uman began sailing with Don McLean’s classic hit from the 70’s that speaks about the life, works and tragedy of Post-Impressionist painter Vincent Van Gogh, “Vincent (Starry Starry Night)”. We got used to hear this song on male’s voice, now Favel showed us that thick female voice with jazz vibe would work fine too.

When Favel performed in this event three months ago, we challenged her to take Etta James’ monumental song, “At Last”. This song has such high level of difficulty to sing and need more than just good vocal, if the singer wants to deliver it the best way possible. It’s not usual to hear this classic from a 12 year-old girl like Favel, but looking at Favel’s unique singing voice and her good control, we dared her to do it. In this event, Favel proved that she could take it without any problem. Uman worked his fingers efficiently, showing his true musicianship in completing Favel’s voice. Favel/Uman then did one of Favel’s favorite tune, “Somewhere Beyond The Sea”, crafting it simple yet meaningful.

They then surprised us by going out of the box, taking a cinematic indie pop hit of Fleurie, “Hurts Like Hell”. Not wanting to make it depressing, she delivered it light yet deep. What’s amazing is they made the song suits perfectly being on the jazz stage. For the last song, the duo took a popular standard which is based on the instrumental song written by Charlie Chaplin for his movie Modern Times (1936), “Smile”. Just as how the song was meant to tell us to cheer up and hope for a bright, better tomorrow just as long as we smile, Favel/Uman’s simple and sweet version painted happy smile on our faces.

It’s always fascinating to see young talents inside the jazz scene, especially promising ones like Favel/Uman. They keep it simple by focusing on the essence of each song, not to show off. Uman played effective to back Favel up nicely, while Favel did well in letting her golden voice flying over the streaming melody. Give this kind of duo more chance, you will see them grow fast since they have what it takes to be a good artist. It may not be easy to lock them up again since they both are busy with school, but once we find the right time, we will invite them again. On the surface the song might look easy to sing, but actually it isn’t since McLean tells a life story in poetic way. And Favel did well. Eventhough she clearly looked shy and nervous, she’s still able to connect with her feeling and made it heartfelt.

The last act featured a groovy, soulful pop jazz band established 5 years ago, FORTUNATES. Calling their genre as “Creative Music”, this band takes music as the result of love, feel and creation, also a universal language to be connected to others. Started the band as the media to fulfill their hobby in 2013, the band has been moving further by playing in many events, festivals also actively join the band competitions anywhere.

The band is now consisting of Rena Pradhita Suwandani (vocal), Lira F Ramdani (guitar), Asep Rijwan (bass), Juli Ahadiyat (keyboard), Raiwan Ramdani (drum) and Rizaldi (saxophone). They have catchy, pop jazzy singles and creative in redressing today’s famous songs (including dangdut) to suit their music style. We have put them in the schedule since two months ago and finally got them in this 51st edition.

It didn’t take long for them to grab our attention by swinging with Armada’s big hit, “Mau Dibawa Kemana.” Marcell has done it before, but it still feels different in the hands of Fortunates, especially with Rena’s strong soulful voice. For the next song, they introduced their second single, “Love You”. This ear-catchy, groovy jazz-based pop song has lyrics that’s relevant to everyone who fall in love, especially the youngsters’ love life. Fortunates has many original songs and several singles already, and this one here can show how good they are in fitting today’s music trend by still holding on to jazz.

The third song brought in another suprise. If you are Indonesian, you should know how popular the modern Dangdut song “Lagi Syantik” by Siti Badriah today. Fortunates did a cool remake in soulful pop jazz. They kept it simple but believable, as if the song was made Fortunates’ way. Since the song is familiar, there were many passers-by stopped in front of the stage, recording the band with their gadgets while enjoying the new version of “Lagi Syantik”.

For the last song, they mashed up two songs from different decades: Wild Cherry’s “Play That Funky Music” (1976) and the huge hit written by Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars that became a phenomenon all around the world with major impact on pop culture, “Uptown Funk”. Fortunates is smart enough to combine both songs seamlessly, making it as one. They funked us up with retro-modern style which reflected the glorious soul/jazz funk in the past but still captured recent music trend. As the original members of the band Rena, Lira, Asep Rijwan, Juli and Raiwan played solid with chemistry that has been built for 5 years, the newest member Rizaldi on sax merged naturally with no problem. This happy song with funky bites gave us the chance to have a party mode ending, what a way to seal up this edition of Braga Jazz Night.

In their first attempt performing for us, Rena wowed us by reaching the high notes effortlessly. We thought she has been doing it for years, but actually it was the first time for her to do so. “It was the first time for me to reach that high, I’m doing it for Braga Jazz Night.” she told us. We appreciate it, and of course proud of her. Tonight Fortunates shows that not only it’s a pop band with jazz-spirited members, they can also swing their songs.

Jazz opens up possibilities to be creative. Sometimes being creative doesn’t mean that one has to think too much or creating too complex crafts, creativity is also shown by doing something simple yet on target. Taking popular songs from totally opposite genre and make something good out of it is one of the examples, or maybe, simply making a jazzy tunes by still keeping themselves updated with today’s scene could be another one. Often these kind of moves able to attract followers and fans from outside the genre a band is in. The Fortunates has this within their blood veins. They keep themselves relevant to pop without loosing the grip as a jazz-oriented band. They also know how to attract people with their interesting and tasty version of today’s popular dangdut songs, not to mention the play solid and tight as one unit. A feel good band, soulful, groovy and fun, that’s what we feel after watching their appearance. We know they still have many interesting stuffs in their shelf, so we do hope to invite them again next time.

Another interesting edition is added into this event. From a duo, to a jazz quartet, to pop jazz band, altogether creating a colorful jazz presentation. We are happy with the result and send respect to the participating bands and musicians. We also thank all parties who have supported us all the way, and certainly the audience for there won’t be any successful event without people watching it.

We will be back again next month with another batch. Among them including a native USA man working as a UFC licensed Jujitsu coach, formerly a journalist and happen to be a musician. He has already wrote tens or even hundreds of songs cross genre, he plays instruments like guitar and drum, but when you hear him sing, he has a comforting voice like John Denver that could go further to high pitch in executing rock-based songs. Keep yourself updated, follow our social medias, see you again next month!

Watch the highlights of Braga Jazz Night #51

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Reporter & Photographer: Riandy Kurniawan .

Since 2011, Medan city, the capital of North Sumatra has finally had its own jazz fest called North Sumatra Jazz Festival (NSJF). Born as the brainchild of Berklee College of Music alumnus, neo progressive jazz guitarist/composer and inventor Erucakra Mahameru, the North Sumatra Jazz Festival is set to create a good jazz event with strong character that embraces the local wisdom. We salute Erucakra and all the committe who have given tremendous effort to maintain this annual event. Not only it keeps running year after year, we have been watching them grow too. This festival has invited many living legends, superbands and masters from both national and international scene, but amazingly the festival always opens up the chance for the youngsters and newcomers to perform. Not just that, they have been including traditional musics from variety of tribes existed in North Sumatra to walk side by side with jazz.

This year, the North Sumatra Jazz Festival has reached the 8th edition. It was held a couple of days ago on October 21st, 2018 taking place at the official venue, Grand Ballroom JW Marriott Medan. Standing on the headlines are new sensation Eva Celia (daughter of Indra Lesmana and Sophia Latjuba), Bonita (daughter of Koes Hendratmo, famously known with her band Bonita & the Hus Band) and of course, Erucakra’s band, Erucakara Mahameru & C Man with a very interesting concept.

The 8th North Sumatra Jazz Festival 2018 kicked off with the opening performance from the two band audition winners, Shenology Music and DeVote Singers & Band. Then, presenting the North Sumatra Junior Jazz, some young musicians with great talents and achievements let us see the progress of jazz development in this city.

The piano prodigy Toby Tan Kai Rong from Singapore then comes up on stage. This little boy is still 9 year-old, but he has bagged so many achievements. He won the Singapore Junior Original Concert two years in a row in 2015 and 2016 with his original compositions, Gold in the Asia Arts Festival and 1st Place at the American Protégé International Music Talent Spring Competition 2017. He has his debut performance at the New York Carnegie Hall in December 2017.

The shiny list continues on with 1st Prize and Category Winner for the ‘eMuse’ Online Music Competition 2017, 1st Prize (100/100 Absolute Prize) and Exceptional Young Musician Award for the Salzburg Grand Prize Virtuoso, 2nd Prize for the Bradshaw and Buono International Competition and 3rd in the Open Category 2016 Singapore Asia Youth Competition. In 2017, he also made his debut performance in Gyzi Megaron Festival in Santorini, Greece and competed at the Japan Piara Piano Competition and won an Apollo Award. All before he even reaches two digits of age.

The show carried on with the North Sumatra/Medan jazz girl wonder; Nikita Mawarni, the finalist of Indonesian Idol Junior 2018 that swept away the audience’s attention. Like the act 1 of the musical concerto, This 11 year old girl really can jazz up the NSJF stage and wrapped that first act with her splendid performance and also a cute stage act.

The founder of NSJF Erucakra Mahameru doesn’t only stand as the highlight of every edition with his band Erucakra Mahameru & C’Man Band, but he knows how to surprise everyone by creating inventive ways in exploring jazz. This time, announcing their status as the official WEM USA ASCAP Neo Progressive Jazz Artist/Band, Erucakra with C Man Band – consisting of Rusfian Karim, Radhian Syuhada, Heri Syahputra dan the smooth sax sensation Brian Harefa collaborate with Bonita, a soul jazz singer/songwriter who found success with her band Bonita & the Hus Band other than pursuing her solo career.

To open up their collaborate performance, Bonita and Erucakra sang national song “Tanah Airku” composed by the legendary Ibu Sud like an anthem. Bonita then brought her first single before jazzin’ the stage with Titiek Puspa’s classic, “Bimbi” – the famous song about a girl struggling with Jakarta’s nightlife.

The most inventive part of this year’s NSJF then rolled, still by Erucakra & C Man. After some of their previous compositions, they went on blending jazz with North Sumatra music ethnicity they called as Jazz Onang-Onang. With the special touch of Batak ethnic music consisting Sulim/Suling and Mandailing Gondang called Gordang Sambilan, Erucakra presenting a colossal numbers titled “Rise of the Kingdom – Sriwijaya Kronologi”. Majestic, ground-breaking in every way, this ingenious exploration of jazz surely cannot be found in any other jazz festivals. Truly a masterpiece!

The intermission of the show then gave the stage to the fundrising for the Palu, Sigi and Donggala which was hit by a series of large earthquakes (the largest being 7.5) and a 5-6 m tsunami, also Mandailing Natal by Waspada and Dompet Dhuafa, then welcome speech by North Sumatra vice Governor Musa Rajekshah.

After all done, the time for Eva Celia, the most awaited performers has finally came. Also known as a famous Indonesian actor, Eva brought the musical – entertainment legacy from his father, the legendary Indra Lesmana and mother – singer/actrees Sophia Latjuba. Eva started sailing with two songs from her debut album “And So it Begins” (2016).

Performing with his band consisting of Vicky Geovaldi, Aldhan Prasetya, Wahyu Agung Munthe and Demas Narawangsa, Eva took time to celebrate Agung’s birthday by giving him a birthday cake on the stage.

After greeting the audience, Eva brought Dewa 19’s hit “Aku Disini Untukmu” on stage, followed by the rendition of two of her mom’s old hit singles – “Diam” (composed by Indra Lesmana & Mathias Muchus) and Sophie-Indra’s duet ballad “Tiada Kata”. Closing her performance, Eva back to the Dewa’s classic rock ballad “Takkan Ada Cinta yang Lain” and “Reason”, her first single from ‘And So it Begins’.

Now that’s a wrap for another great edition of North Sumatra Jazz Festival. Prepare yourself jazzin’ for more at the first edition of the joint program, Samosir Jazz Seasons. With surprisingly stellar performers such as Dian Pramana Poetra, Syaharani and the QueenFireworks (ESQI:EF), Ed van Ness, Rodrigo Parejo, the event hopefully will continue annually in the center of the heavenly Samosir, Lake Toba – at the Dainang Pangururan Samosir Hotel on October 27th 2018. Kudos to WEM, may both of events continue spreading the love of jazz all over North Sumatra. See you again next year!

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Reporter: Daniel Irawan
Photographer: Ferry Rumahorbo .

Two very interesting new bands, one coming out of long hibernation. Yes, that’s the case of BRAGA JAZZ NIGHT #52. We are happy with it, because other than our wish to encourage new bands and/or musicians to step up to the plate, we always search for bands who were already put to sleep to wake up again and make their return. All in order to support the musicians and contributing to the regeneration of jazz (related) musicians. So yeah, we are happy with this edition’s line up, and we are happy with the result.

We started not long after 7:00 pm with a band that has just reappeared on the surface after being on hiatus for 4 years. This band was formed in 2010, has pop rock as their core and managed to successfully sail all the way until they got a major label, several singles, aired in many major radio stations, available to download as ringback tones and album. Unfortunately the band lost its grip and then out of action. Finally they are back again, returning for the first time in this event. The band is ANNABETH.

If you wonder what AnnaBeth means, in English it means “God has favored me”. They decided to use the name because each of them has experienced God’s loving hands in every way and hope that their music and songs would bring happiness to the listeners.

Just as mentioned before, this band has been rooted in pop rock but their repertoires are still related to jazz even from the beginning.

For this edition, AnnaBeth regrouped in complete team, the latest one before they became inactive. They are Stella (vocal), Tiffany (bass), Thomas Sylvester (guitar) and Andi Pramudito (drum), plus they got reinforcement from Daniel Pratama on keys.

In front of many friends among the audience, they began their comeback with Bruno Mars’ big hit, “Treasure”. As how the original spirit of this song is, they created a little party that was well received by everyone. A classic Dewa 19 song “Takkan Ada Cinta Yang Lain” came right after, with Stella leaving the stage and positioned herself right in front of the crowds. That’s where she stood all the way until the end. Stella’s powerful voice is just amazing. Along with solid music and rhythm from her mates, she attracted many passers-by to watch them. We see her full of spirit, both vocal-wise and gestures, as if she was standing as a worship leader in the church.

For the third presentation AnnaBeth brought back their single that achieved success over radio charts. The song is called “Putus Baik-Baik”, a well- written pop ballad with bitter-sweet melody. From what we hear when they sing it, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out why this song became a hit back then.

To seal their first comeback in style, they covered a big hit of an Indonesian Idol season 9, Marion Jola, made post competition. The song featured Rayi RAN titled “Jangan”. As this is their final presentation, they released every bit of energy until the last drop. The punching drum from Andi, the cool fusionesque guitar playing from Tom, substantial melodic rhythm from Tiffany and the ultra strong vocal of Stella plus Daniel’s enrichment from the keyboard created a perfect ending. The fact that many audience sang along with them showed how successful they were in playing the song.

Eventhough they were hibernated for some years, the band still has it. They are solid and tight just like the way they were back then. While we already know Thomas and Andi, AnnaBeth has a female bassist, something that we don’t find often in a band and a female singer with wide vocal range and strong voice, both sound and character.

According to Tom, they are planning to go back into the studio again to record more songs.That’s exactly what we would like to hear, the main reason why we asked them to comeback in first place. We don’t want this to be just a one time appearance, we want this to be the start of a new chapter. We do hope AnnaBeth to continue their journey after this comeback and achieve success more than before. If they do, we look forward to have them in another round.

The second show featured 8 students of Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia (UPI) who gather and practice in the afternoon in campus. This band is interesting since they have brass section that could bring a taste of big band. It’s amazing to see that this concept and formation could come from young university students who still have to share some or even most of their time to study. The band has the name related to where and when it was formed: KELASORE (Kelas Sore in English means Afternoon Class).

The members of KELASORE are Muhamad Syamsul Gunawan (vocal), Akbar Abdul R (drum), Ganes Herlambang (keys), Mohamad Faishal Riza (guitar), Jere Fernando (bass) with brass section comprising of Rizki Gusti D (tenor sax), Fahmi Luqman Sullivan (alto sax) and Beno (trombone). Eventhough this is considerably a new band, they have been moving fast by having their own single available in all major digital outlets. The single is titled “Dear Siti”. It was the bassist Jere who told us about this band, and right after we heard it, we secured this slot for them.

From the beginning this band showed a rebelious punk-funk-titude even with minimal gestures over their pop jazz music, with some feels of ska here and there through the late Chrisye’s evergreen, “Aku Cinta Dia”. “We are sure you guys know the song, but here we want to let you hear our version of it. We hope you like it,” said Syamsul. The roaring brasses sounds was effective to create a happier mood on this song. Kunto Aji’s famous song from his 2015 album, “Terlalu Lama Sendiri” was taken to show their softer and sweeter side.

Their first single “Dear Siti”, speaking about a boy has a crush on a naturally beautiful girl. As their first product, this song is smartly created in pop jazzy and indie vibe. Rich in sound and texture, simple lyrics that could represent the feeling when one has a crush on someone. We say it’s a really good song that suits the youngsters around their age.

For the last song, the band gave a funky, modern cover of ME’s hit in 1998,”Inikah Cinta”. It’s a cool rejuvenation of the song. They keep every good thing of the original but add the brass sounds and simple rearrangement on the rest, with enough room for each of them to have fun. The band then introduced each player with cool solo runs.

From the moment we heard about this band, we know it’s going to be interesting and different. Yes, they do. Not often we found a band full of youngsters having this kind of formation. Kelasore has wide soundscape and rich sound. Their homework is to be consistent, keep moving on up and stay creative. If they do, we have no doubt that these fellas will make it to the top one day.

Bandung is blessed with talents. There have been plenty of stunning jazz bands and amazing young guns coming from this city in the last couple of years. We just heard about the new band consisting of 5 dudes equipped with high skill and driven by passion. This band placed their feet in between the contemporary smooth jazz and jazz funk, which could be the perfect pallette for musicians who love to explore wild and wide, as free as a bird. The band’s name reveals the important thing they are holding in order to have a good career and future. It’s COMMITMENT.

This band has 5 players in it. All are young but stand as major forces coming out from the new generation. Three of the members have performed for us many times before with their bands: Anjuan Julio (guitar) with AFA Trio, New Blood, Restoration Project and some other projects, Athina Niassrin Muhammad (sax) with 5Petani and Vico Wibowo (keys) with BFG Trio and New Equinox. The rest of them are new to this event as far as we remember but equally good. They are Daniel GT (drum) and Kevin ‘KJ’ Jonathan (bass).

For tonight, unfortunately the saxophonist couldn’t make it at the last moment. Missing one player actually didn’t make the band lost its grip, you can’t even tell that because they still played as if they were built above four pillars. Look at how the pinned Adam Hawley’s composition from his 2016 album, “Joy Ride”. A really great piece executed chill that directly showed who they are and what these lads were made of.

They digged deeper by playing Vico Wibowo’s original composition titled “Smoothie”. Vico told us that he made this song after finishing his school exams. This song continued the jolly joy ride mood with another feel of happiness. Although we could feel that as how the song really meant to be, these four lads didn’t leave the chance to run wild. Look at how tranced Vico was in some parts, blazing with no mercy above the keys. KJ decorated the song with monster groove, the power punches on drum by Daniel, and Juan stood tall in front providing the melody along with stunning improvisations.

A song taken from 1992 album of Incognito, “Colibri” became the next canvas for them to paint on. They rose the intensity, adding more heat with their wicked fusion interpretation. Intense but really fun to chew.

For the last song, they paid respect to the late Alvin Lubis. Alvin was a successful musician, composer and producer who sadly passed away too young at the age of 37 due to heart attack. What’s interesting is that they chose not to focus on the sadness of losing him, instead they brought back the good memory of him when he was still alive. They took their style of jazz rock to the next level to build a high octane finale, including a cool ‘dialogue’ between guitar and keys courtesy of Anjuan and Vico.

Lethal dose of funk were poured by them through wicked, free-flowing madness. They could radiate smooth jazz in shimmering beauty, but when they got the chance to funk, they ran like a pack of wolves and gave no mercy. What they crafted were clearly melodic, but amazingly without leaving the freedom of exploration. In other words, they made lots of stunning manouvers, yet the songs were still beautiful to listen to. It’s always interesting to see passionate and highly skilled young lions like them because their brave and bold bites could really caught us off guard. Sharp, tight and bold, these young dudes totally nailed it.

Two new bands and one comeback are the bones that’s built this 52nd edition of Braga Jazz Night. Speaking of variation, these three bands gave different sides of jazz ranging from pop jazz, smooth jazz, lite fusion, jazz funk and everything in between.

We thank all performing musicians, all who support us and this event, and certainly everyone who came. We will be back again next month with another set. Keep yourself updated by following our social medias, may we always have you in supporting the jazz (related) musicians for a bright future of Indonesian jazz.

Watch the highlights of Braga Jazz Night 52

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Reporter & Photographer: Riandy Kurniawan .

A mad gang with their like-none-other cross-Sundanese ethno progressive jazz fusion, a unique duo combining guitar and flute, and surprise, surprise, there will be a native New Yorker who was once a journalist and a martial art,Ju Jitsu expert who has served as the instructor for many years. Pretty unique lineup, don’t you think? That’s exactly what the BRAGA JAZZ NIGHT #53 got. Aside from the unique participants, what they brought were interesting too, where one could get or even learn something from what they’re cooking.

We started with the duo whose format are rare to find on the jazz stage. It’s a slice of an ethnic fusion group Lalakon, consisting of its guitar player Rian Rastian and bamboo flute/woodwinds player Sandy ‘Acil’ Prayoga. The duo is called DUO WEDAL SENEN (W.D.S).

This duo is not new since the embrio was already existed about 2 years ago. Plus as mentioned, both players are together in an ethnic fusion band Lalakon. But they found a strong core just a couple months ago which enables them to have good sail. We heard about them when they played in Klab Jazz’s Jazz Day, and knew that we really got to feature a duo with unique blend of instruments like this.

Speaking of unique, imagine the ‘surreal’ sound of Sundanese music and jazz coming out from the combination of just flute and guitar. You might find both instruments inside a band, but a duo using just these is really rare.

The beauty of their work poured down directly from their first song, an Earl Klugh’s classic “Wishful Thinking”. This smooth, relaxing tune is perfect to be delivered using just guitar and flute alone. “The good thing about instrumental songs is that the listeners can have their own interpretation according to the mood they feel when they listen to it.” said Rian.

The tranquility of their tune became even more evident when they played their original titled “Pasosore”, picturing the calmness of peaceful afternoon. In this second song Acil demonstrated his skill in playing variety of traditional flutes. Many of these flutes are new to us, meaning we haven’t seen them before. Each of them produces different sound that creates rich, colorful texture on the song along with Rian’s dynamic guitar playing.

On the third choice Rian and Acil took Romeo and Juliet’s theme, “A Time For Us”. This song appeared unique since it was built upon world music, resonating the music of Indian tribe, using once again different kind of flutes, ranging from the smallest one which looks like a clam to the flute with the shape similiar to the one used to charm cobras. This classic Harry Mancini’s piece appeared in the whole new style on Duo Wedal Senen’s arrangement.

For the last song Rian and Acil played their other original titled “Egrang”. Egrang is a traditional game mostly played by children which is nearly extinct. It’s made from sticks gaff wood or bamboo with standings that can make one walk above the ground. Rian told the audience that they hope this old game can survive the test of time. “There are so many new games, but Egrang is still a cool game, I hope the kids will keep on playing it,” he said.

Did they play good? No doubt. Do they share chemistry? Yes. Does it work? Indeed it does. Duo Wedal Senen opens up new musical horizon through their compositions, showing that Sundanese jazz fusion can be built straight and tall by using jazz guitar and flute. It sounds nice, of course. But what’s also important is that what they do is important. On one hand, they are preserving the traditional music, bringing it to meet today’s modern, contemporary scene, thus could attract non traditional music listeners. But on the other hand, they remind us that there are still so many possibilities in making and playing music, including jazz, if we are creative and dare enough to explore. D.W.S is different, fun and cool. May there will be more innovative creations come from them.

Sometimes the universe could bring people to meet out of nowhere, and something good then come out of it. We met a foreigner by chance. He is Chris Alexander, long time Jiu-Jitsu master, trained by the initiators of UFC and has served as the instructor of US Military in Gracie Jiu Jitsu. Just based on that, you wouldn’t want to mess with him. But no, this man is far from scary. He is really friendly, smiley and love to talk about many things. He is also a former journalist and broadcaster, someone who believe that we can achieve greater things if we work together.

What’s surprising is that all those things are not the only talents he got, because we later found out that he’s also gifted in music. Other than able to play various instruments including drum (the first instrument he learnt), piano and guitar, he told us that he has wrote no less than 300 songs and still counting. The songs are made in variety of genre, ranging from rock, blues, country, folk, pop, groove, jazz and everything in between. What surprise us more is that he hasn’t brought any of those in live performance. We think community stage is a good and safe place for him to start. He is Chris Alexander. We introduced some young musicians to him, and a group was formed in no time. Let’s call it a project, he named it INDO FUSION JAMBOREE as a way for him to introduce his music as a blend of styles, informal ho-down old fashion common people celebration that holds a local national identity of where it’s built.

In this Indo Fusion Jamboree he shares the happiness with some local resources. They are Zahar Mustilaq (drum), Andreas Bastian and Jerry Gates (guitar) and Hanzel Tarigan (bass). It would be hard to pick just a few from 300++ of his songs, but he managed to pick those who suits the jazz stage and his band-mates.

Chris led the band to sail directly not long after they took their position on stage. The first song was “Right About Now”. In this song, Chris slowly built the momentum by adding more and more intensity in each turn. They kept circling back the melody with some more dynamics until they reached the peak where Jerry roared wild rockin’ with his guitar. It was a fine start that made them gain great number of crowds.

Using three guitars in a band worked well for them. Other than Chris himself standing tall in front singing and playing guitar, Jerry and Bastian worked cohesively in bringing lots of surprises. They changed role seamlessly, and Jerry’s effects added richer texture in their music.

“This is the song for you who are looking for a job”, said Chris before he started the next song, “Snag A Job”. In this song Chris demonstrated his funny side and ability to tell a story through music and lyrics. It was built upon the classic cheerful American pop rock the way Bruce Springsteen did back then. If you are still haven’t found the job, stop thinking too much but just snag any job. That’s more or less what Chris wanted to say, but in a funny story telling way.

For the third song he sang the latest one he wrote titled “I’m All In”, telling a story of love life, that, despite of the uncertainty in te future, as the reality says there will be good and bad times in any relationship, he’s ready to go all in. Interestingly, as the term “I’m all in” is commonly used in card playing especially poker, he connected the loveship with playing poker. This one has a really cool groove in pop jazz-mosphere which became the most relevant song to be played on this event.

The final presentation was “Grand Life Adventure”, served in fresh country pop which is perfect in resonating the adventurous life of a man. This song for us is an epic. Not only for its progressive mode but also the way all players poured every drop of energy they had left inside them.

Chris Alexander is a Jiu-Jitsu instructor. He is a former journalist and broadcaster. All true. But he’s also a very talented musician. If being a martial art expert makes him a tough man, the other side of him shows funny and romantic personality, all wrapped inside his friendly and humble nature. The compatriotes he has in Indo Fusion Jamboree did great in building up his songs. Not only we enjoy his ear-cathy tunes, we also love the way Chris and his fellows took us into their little party from the stage.

It wouldn’t be a surprise for you if you see a Jiu-Jitsu expert went inside the octagon or above the mat because you thought that’s the perfect habitat for him, but when we have someone this caliber on music stage sharing his tender and romantic side, that’s another different story. For a debut, Chris’ performance is more than we expected. We are just glad to be able to bring this side of Chris, we feel happy to accomodate the birth of Indo Fusion Jamboree, and we surely hope to see them back again.

For the final session we welcomed back a mad gang serving a distinctive music concept: The WEST JAVA SYNDICATE. This band consists of dear friends, especially the drummer Zahar Mustilaq who has been a great help to us and this event by providing the drum and keyboard in every edition for the last two years. This band is also very special for us because we have seen their first appearance 8 years ago and still in touch with us until this very moment. Other than Zahar, the members are Dede SP (bass), Yopi D Nafis (keys), Ipin Zbet (kendang) and Randy Gevenk (variety of traditional Sundanese woodwinds/humming and karinding: a traditional instrument made of bamboo and midribs of palm trees).

The West Java Syndicate uses a different approach in creating a multi-dimensional cross Sundanese-ethno progressive soundscape. This band has both drum and kendang (the double-headed drum) in it that creates 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. 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. 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 and anytime he uses his vocal to do a high pitch humming, he adds a deep mystical nuance.

Last year in August they launched their first full album titled “Bubuka” (in English: “The Opening”) following an EP released independently a few years earlier, “Album Leutik” (in English: “Small Album”).

In this appearance, unfortunately Ipin couldn’t come because he was still in Bogor. But since the West Java Syndicate is a great band, the rest of the players could maximize their performance that would make anyone watching don’t feel that they are missing something.

Look at the way they opened their act with the title track of the album, “Bubuka”. Even without the sound of kendang that usually characterized the song, they covered the loss with no problem. As Zahar was busy in doing all the beat, 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.

The glittery, bright “City of Light” followed right after. It’s written by YD Nafis and Randy Gevenk instantly at the studio during the recording session. You could feel as if you were watching a bright light, big city from above when listening it it.

Next the West Java Syndicate played the song written by Nafis to propose his wife back then: “Tembang Katresna” (“Love Song”). This song has such sweet, sentimental prelude that leadsto the rest of the players gave significant and harmonious contribution until it reaches its peak, amazingly without losing the romantic grip even for a moment.

The song written to pay respect to the late Riza Arshad followed right after. The title is “Like Brother Like Teacher”. This song is mainly built by using just piano and bamboo flute, capturing the strong Indonesian spirit of Riza Arshad the way he did for two decades with his band simakDialog. During this sentimental song, Dede SP recorded his fellas playing by using his GoPro. A musician documenting his own performance on stage? That created such a different scene.

Zahar took some moment to introduce his band mates and thanked the audience. “Enough talking, we are going to end this performance with our’noisiest’ tune!” he said before rushing back to his Nebulae drumset. For those who are following this band, they would know that Zahar was refering to their most wicked composition written by Zahar titled “Gending Rame Ku Kendang” aka “GRKK”. We call the song wicked because this song contains nonstop, full-throttle action. It’s playful, yet intense, complex rhythm yet easy to love, the kind of song that would only work if a band has skill, speed and chemistry altogether. They played this song with attractive stage act too. Zahar went on teasing the other players while locking everyone like he’s behind the master control, Yopi’s tranced piano playing, Gevenk’s blazing tarumpet sound and Dede SP’s burning rockin’ performance and some cool pose with his bass guitar, all made a fantastic climax.

The woodwinds player Randy has been spending his life for some years in China. He went there to study, and now after he graduated, he is going to permanently move there with a new role as a lecturer. Because of that, he won’t be able to serve as the member of the band any longer. Quite unfortunate because he is a solid, creative player who shares strong chemistry with the rest of the thugs, but we understand his decision and wish him the best of luck. Now, what about the band? Of course, with or without Randy the band has to carry on. It has to, since it offers a different color that can enrich our jazz scene for years to come. According to Zahar, they have found a great player to take over Randy’s post, a man that they believe truly will carry the awesomeness of Randy or even to achieve more than they ever did. That’s a great news for us, and just like to Randy, we also wish West Java Syndicate the best of luck. This band is different, their braveness of exploring music is extraordinary, we are surely looking forward to have more great things come from them.

Another very interesting edition is done for the episode 53 of Braga Jazz Night. We thank all the performers, partners, supporters, soundman, and especially the audience for making this edition a success. As we are approaching December, we are preparing the jolly, merry Christmas Edition for the next stop. We will let you know more, stay tuned to our social medias and website for the updates. It would be impossible for us to do this alone, but with your support, together we can push the regeneration much forward and help the young musicians to do their callings. See you again in December! For those who celebrates, have an early, Merry Christmas!

Watch the highlights of Braga Jazz Night #53

See more pictures:

Reporter and photographer: Riandy Kurniawan .

“Tis the season to be jolly, fa la la la la, la la la la.” This opening lyrics of “Deck the Halls”, a traditional Christmas carol dating back to the 16th century would probably perfect to describe the feeling of Christians all over the world in December. Why? Simply because it’s Christmas. There are many ways to celebrate the birth of Christ, but as usual we do it through jazz, by dedicating the December edition to Christmas. This is something we have been doing for years. In fact, our first ever created event was even for Christmas. We want to share the happiness, sending the message of peace, love and happiness to everyone who celebrate it by inviting bands that we believe would bring the celebration the best way possible.

We made the Braga Jazz Night #54 Special Christmas Edition in sync with our partner and the venue Braga CityWalk’s program throughout this month, “The Glory of December 2018”. For that, just like before we invited bands/musicians/singers to fill up three sessions. This year we’re connected with a youth ministry from a church and a New Yorker with huge talent in music eventhough he was building his career in many fields elsewhere. We believe this batch could give a lovely Christmas gift through music, and yes they did.

This 54th edition started with a band with unique name, CAFE GOSPEL. This is the band or project built by a guitarist Thomas Sylvester. Thomas is the founder of Annabeth, a band who just made its return in this event two months ago. At first we planned to invite Annabeth, but unfortunately some of the players couldn’t make it. The good thing is, instead of dropping our offer, Thomas created a band with his friends. It’s not an ordinary name for a project or band, but we think what he meant by Cafe Gospel is a project that have a lot of ways to spread gospel in fun and relaxing way, just like what you may find in a cafe.

In this band Thomas has three friends to play with. There is the certified gym’s personal trainer Catra ‘Catrasimo’ Simorangkir (drum), Ricki Sumampauw (bass) and Daniel Rhynaldy (vocal). Keyboardist Nicodemus Horisson who in fact was in the lineup with Reign happily joined the gang.

They kicked off loud by taking one of the most popular praise songs in churches today, a song that’s said has given the co-writer Israel Houghton a big impact in his life, “Friend of God”. Daniel sang loud and clear in front of the thunderous drum by Catra, funky rockin’ guitar of Thomas and Ricki’s funk lines. Nico made it sweeter with even richer melodies from the keys.

After a praise, they moved on to worship, pinning Sammy Simorangkir’s “Karena Kita”. It was like they were moving the praise and worship session in a sermon to this stage. It was like they were moving the praise and worship session in a sermon to this stage, and we think, isn’t it good to celebrate Christmas by praising and worshipping Him?

As if they didn’t want to dissapoint the audience who are not celebrating Christmas, they went out of the religious songs to fill the last two songs with hits from the secular world. The tight groovy intro must have sounded familiar to everyone watching, it’s Sandhy Sondoro’s popular song, “Malam Biru”. Thomas was busy in creating the funky chops, while the disco beat they made for the refrain was infectious.

For the last song they surprised us with making a groovy, pop jazz version of Cita Citata’s big hit “Sakitnya Tuh Disini”. They did an interesting arrangement. While giving a whole new outfit to the song, they kept it simple so anyone could sing along with Daniel, or at leat enjoying it at ease.

Eventhough the project is built to join this event, they played tight and cool, with joy being felt in every song. We are sure it’s because they have been playing together often, and also because these guys are all really good players. We are glad to invite them and hope this project will keep their existance, because doing the gospel through music certainly needs a good band, and this one is.

Next was the chance to see the second appearance of the New Yorker in this event. While he’s clearly talented in music, he actually built his career elsewhere. He was a journalist, a broadcaster, a businessman, and hey, he is a Jiu-Jitsu expert who trained the US Military. He was trained by the initiators of UFC and shaping himself seriously for years until he got the philosophy and the right technique of each arsenal moves of this martial art.

Normally, if you hear of a Jiu-Jitsu expert linked with UFC, you probably would imagine a tough looking fella with killer instinct, waiting to attack his prey. Or, you might think of a scary figure inside the octagon. But no, this man is far from all those impressions. He looks friendly, familiar, with warm smile almost always painted upon his face. Before we forget, he is none other than CHRIS ALEXANDER.

Now let’s back to his music side. This is what’s ‘oddly’ funny. Eventhough he had illustrious career on the other sides, he has been writing songs at least since the 80’s, resulting no less than 300 songs never been brought to the music stage. He had been attracted to music since his childhood years. Born in the rock n roll era, he started with drum after watching a drummer playing and thought it was cool. However, later on when he wanted to move on from the rock n roll, he felt that it was neccessary for him to play melodic instruments just to make sure that he would still able to play alone when he didn’t have anyone else with him.

Meeting him by chance, we quickly offered our stage right after we heard his story. He appeared on our stage, performing for the very first time as an artist right here in this event last month (Braga Jazz Night #53: http://jazzuality.com/jazz-event-report/braga-jazz-night-53-the-report/) under a project he called Indo Fusion Jamboree. That was his debut, a successful one. As it was in November, we invited him again to do Christmas, but this time we offered him to play solo. He joyfully accepted right away.

Christmas means love, that’s what Chris meant to say. For him, Christmas is the actualization of God’s love to us, and love keeps us together, despite of all the differences we all have. That’s the message he sent through the first song, a pop folk tune he wrote.

He dedicated the second song he wrote around 18 years ago to me as I am going to have my baby girl in just a couple of months from now. “You can’t really know what love really is until you have a baby”, he said. The song’s titled “You’re My Baby Girl”, an adorable song with sweet lyrics and melody that would make any daughter wept in happy tears if she hears her daddy sings it for them. I’m deeply touched by this wonderful gift. As he says, it’s the most wonderful gift one can have, and he just makes it more wonderful with the song. Thanks Chris! Love the song, love the way you sing it.

Next, he brought another original song of his, “Dance Into The Night”. This song has a catchy, groovy riffs that would make anyone listen dance into the night. Some audience got the rhythm and clapped their hands following the groove created by Chris.

For the last song, Chris took a classic song firstly recorded by Bing Crosby in 1943, “I’ll Be Home For Christmas”. It’s interesting to see that he avoided the ballad style that most of artists do, he gave a mid-tempo joyride treatment, making us imagine of someone rushing home to spend the Christmas eve together with his family. Another interesting thing is his decision to change some words from the lyrics. Instead of “Please have snow, and mistletoe, and presents on the tree,” he changed this into “Please have snow, and always know, what Christmas really means.” What for? “I think it’s much more important to remind everyone of what Christmas really means instead of mentioning the mistletoe, tree and presents which are not even connected to the meaning of Christmas in first place.” he said. What a nice way to close his Christmas session. Not only he sang a very well known Christmas song but he also used it to send the message.

Chris can play with a team, but he is also a good one man band. He has sophisticated and calming singing voice, he can play instrument, he knows the importance of building the dynamics that makes every song he sings feels alive. With acoustic approach, he encounters Christmas warm and intimately, connecting to each of the audience in the simplest way yet heartfelt. “The songs I chose were meant to send the message of what Christmas really means… more than just a party, it’s a proof of God’s love to us.” he said. We believe that aside of his talents on so many fields, his soul is truly an artist, and music is written in his every breath. There are things that we are planning with Chris in the future, we hope by supporting him, he will achieve something that he’s never been able to reach before, a successful musician.

For the last show we welcomed a band representing a fruitful youth ministry of GBI Kalam Hidup called REIGN. The meaning of Reign is rule, that’s what the dictionary says. But for this youth ministry, it’s an abbreviation of “Redeemed Eternally In God’s Name”, which shows how they look at their life as.

Today Reign consists of more than 50 youngsters, led by youth pastors, young leaders and mentors that would know what the youngsters really need to have good faith that keeps on going stronger each day, something that they will really need as they are stepping into maturity. “We grow together in God as a family at Reign!” , they said, pointing that they wish to grow their faith in God together as one big, happy and blessed family.

For this Braga Jazz Night episode 54, Reign will be represented by the combination of leaders and youngsters. They are Stella Angela (vocals), Nicodemus Horisson (keys), Jerry Gates (guitar), Andreas Bastian (bass) and Ruben (drum). They have been serving in sermons, now this is the chance for them to extend their wings, coming out of the church’s wall and go blessing people in wider scale.

Reign filled their session with nothing but Christmas carols, starting with “Joy To The World”. This song was presented in funky style with merry ‘wah wah’ guitar sound. While the siblings Bastian (bass) and Ruben (drum) worked well in providing the rhythm, Nicodemus painted strong jazz with his keyboard. Stella’s loud and clear singing voice, and her cheerful gesture with lots of smile was captivating.

A very old Christmas carol from the 18th century (1700s), “O Come, All Ye Faithful” was the second song. Instead of making it a hymn like most people do, they redressed this song into jazz-rock fusion. Unique approach, but it worked.

They then slowed down with “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” before sealing up their appearance with another cool modern version of the raditional classical English Christmas carol,”The First Noel”. As this is the last presentation, they built it in a medium tempo with happy beat. Happy is also the feeling we got from their apperance.

There are many youth ministries, but for us Reign is different. They happily took the chance to go outside the church’s wall to share the joy of Christmas. The team representing Reign transfered their happiness to the crowds which let us feel the blessing for real. We really hope Reign to keep equiping and fathering the youngsters so they will make big impacts when they are ready to penetrate the market place. May these ‘arrows’ fly into the right path in the hands of their mentors.

This time we got some musicians and singers visiting us. So we opened up the jam session. The first batch consisting of the amazing soul sister Agis Kania, senior jazz guitarist Hardi Suryana, young bassist Joe Bastian, while Catra and Nicodemus of Reign continued their service, positioned on drums and keyboard. They took “All Blues” to have fun. They all got the chance to do the solo run which created a cool scene. Since it was cool, the jam session manage to get the audience eventhough it was already late.

Due to the request, Catra left the drum and took the mike. His place was replaced by Ruben, while Jerry replaced Hardi on guitar. Catra sang “Because of You”, a hit of Keith Martin. Some of the audience were surprised that Catra actually has a really beautiful RnB voice.

The last batch featured our own Erick Gabe who gave one stunning finale with “Route 66”. Erick demonstrated his ability to do the sound of trumpet and trombone using his mouth, that attempt triggered the players to run wild along with him. That was the last drop of this edition as well as the whole 2018 program.

Three showcases in variety of styles made this Special Christmas Edition of Braga Jazz Night bright. We hope everyone who came and watch the event felt the joy of Christmas, may this presentation encourage others to go fulfill their callings and be the agent of peace everywhere they go. We will be back again in 2019 with more artists and concepts, but for now, we are thankful to successfully wrapped all of our presentation throughout 2018. We thank your support to our jazz community, we wouldn’t be able to make it without you! We wish you Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Stay positive, always be blessed.

Watch the highlights of Braga Jazz Night #54

See more pictures:

Reporter and photographer: Riandy Kurniawan .

We always try to sync our regular event, including or especially this Braga Jazz Night to any celebration or special day. Why? Because we always believe jazz can have its way to make any celebration merrier. We are just done with Christmas Edition, now here we are celebrating the Chinese New Year, The Year of the Pig. Of course, we got to cook something different for a different theme, and invite bands or musicians that we know can live up the theme.

The lineup is interesting and very special for us. There’s a jazz trio consisting of three highly talented beautiful ladies, an amazing 18 year-old girl who have high skill in guitar as well as sing with strong bossa spirit, and the return of a band whose career actually started right here in this event 4 years ago.

For this Braga Jazz Night #55 Chinese New Year Edition under the theme of Shanghai Night Jazz, we got Barongsai or Lion Dance attached for the very first time, provided by the Braga CityWalk. The Barongsai was set right before this event by the mall management. We didn’t want to make this interesting show apart from our event but be integrated. So we asked one of the featured band to join the party, making a special appearance alongside the Barongsai. It was Jazzy Juice who stepped up the plate, collaborating with Erick Gabe.

At first the Barongsai  (Lion Dance) from Tian Long Kungfu performed normally, starting from the entrance all the way straight in, teasing and entertaining the mall-goers before they ended up right in the same spot where they started. Jazzy Juice and Erick Gabe then asked the Lions to join them. What they chose was a famous Ambonese song titled “Rame Rame”, written by the late Christ Kayhatu and appeared for the first time in “Nada & Apresiasi album (Granada Record) in 1982. Two lions danced in front of the stage following the song, that created a unique scene of the lion dancing with jazz instead of the traditional Chinese music. It was a surprise to many mall goers as they came watching to see this magical moment. Loud applauses and cheers were thrown to the Barongsai and the band. What an unforgettable scene for this event.

After this surprising opening, the Braga Jazz Night officially opened. Taking the first shot was a very talented young lady, still 18 years old but already able to play/perform like a long time pro. She’s able to play complex compositions with her guitar, amazingly she often sings too. While she is a technical guitar player, she has a strong bossa spirit, meaning that anytime she plays bossa, she creates magic. She is none other than NAYRA DHARMA.

Talented is a strong factor in her success, but that’s not the only thing. She is dilligent and persistent in her commitment to be a musician. If girls her age usually spend time in between study, hang out either in real life or through the social medias, Nayra spends most of her prescious time practicing at home, and it could take 6 to 8 hours a day. And let’s not forget that as the daughter of maestro Pra Budidharma who co-found the supergroup Krakatau, she inherits his DNA.

A couple of months ago she released her first solo single around 6 months ago, titled “In A Blur”. This song is built in Bossanova, but still has tight jazz progressions but not difficult at all to digest even to the non-jazz listeners. Speaking of the lyrics, it gives a portrait of her struggle as a teenager that is taking a step into maturity.

Since we haven’t got her solo performance for quite some times, we decided to have her in this simplest format for this edition. Right after we introduced her, she spread the love of bossa starting with Djavan’s “Embola a Bola”, followed by Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto’s “Doralice”, where she scat-singing along with the melody she created with her guitar. Listen to her, you’d wonder how a girl as young as her able to sing fluently in Portuguese, without having any script or note. No, she wasn’t born in Brazil, nor that she spent some of her life there. In fact, she hasn’t even been there. But apparently Nayra is talented not only in music but in language as well. And it’s evident that she’s persistant, focus and real serious in doing this.

Her father, Pra Budidharma who watched from the right side of the ring looked proud of her and enjoy every minute of her appearance. According to her, she now has no less than 300 songs in her repertoires, where most of those are in Portuguese. That’s unbelievable.

The beauty of bossa continued on with another gold often considered to be the first recorded bossa song by Jobim and Moraes, “Chega de Saudade”. Nayra breathed her soul into this legendary song that holds such important history, singing it with respect and admiration yet made it easy going and flew naturally as if it was hers.

Then it was time for us to enjoy another Jobim’s song from the 80’s, the quirky, imaginative and playful “Two Kites”. While keeping the pushy bossa groove, Nayra kept on building the momentum through the repetitive chords. All these treats weren’t all, because she also sang “Outro Lugar” and “Juras” for this special edition.

We think having her in this event is essential. Not only because Nayra is a superb musician who has a beautiful stage presence, but as a Buddhist she celebrates the Lunar New Year. This event is no stranger to her since she has performed many times, from the early stage of her career some years ago to some more appearances later on, either as the highlight or sessionist. No stage is too big for her. So, celebrating Chinese New Year with Bossa Nova, why not? It was beautiful. Another captivating, intimate and sweet performance by Nayra for this special edition of Braga Jazz Night.

The next session got a band with 8 players, all still in high school, who has won 11 out of 13 competitions they have been ever in. The band’s name is LASTORIA.

Aside of their marvelous achievements mentioned above, this band is very special to us. Why? Because the embryo of this band came to life actually right here in this event 5 years ago. In March 2015, at the 11th edition we introduced a band consisting of junior high school students of Kalam Kudus Christian School. They were trained by guitarist/gym personal trainer Jerry Gates, drummer Andreas supported by guitarist Thomas Sylvester and now-inactive vocalist Billy Likumahuwa especially to perform here. At that time the name was still Hexatonix.

We didn’t hear anything about them anymore after that event, until several months ago their formal coach Jerry told us that the band is still alive and already much improved. The name has changed, the band got larger, with several new players and replacements. Today Lastoria consists of Erick Surya (guitar), Cecilia Antonius (vocal), Rainer James (saxophone), Meylinne (vocal), Neysa Agustin (vocal), Kirana Ariel (bass), Vincent Simon (keyboard) and Kevin Natanael (drum).

Tonight they had to perform minus one player, since unfortunately Neysa couldn’t be in. Yet that didn’t stop them for giving their best. These millenial boys and girls stays true to their era, playing the current hits that are surely familiar to everyone. Starting with Isyana Sarasvati’s “Kau Adalah”, they hooked the audience up with their tasty groove neatly. Erick demonstrated his ability in singing and beatboxing without losing his grip on guitar. For the second song, they gave a jazzy version of “Inikah Cinta”, made famous by ME in 1998 that has been cover by so many artists until now.

They made the party merrier by singing Stevie Wonder’s song which became a hit again later on from other artists including Incognito, “Don’t You Worry Bout A Thing”. Lastoria made it fully in disco way, a good decision for a festive edition. The new hit from Rizky Febian “Berpisah Itu Mudah” was delivered chilled and cool.

For the last song they sang in Chinese, covering David Tao’s hit “Marry Me Today”. According to Ariel, they chose this song because they wanted to bring something special in celebrating Chinese New Year. A really, really good song this one is, and we are happy to have a Chinese song on our stage, the second time after Out of 7 did last year. Rainer kept his sax bites sharp, the beat-boxing from Erick, the clear and sharp vocals of Cecil and Meylinne, smooth finger-dancing of Simon on keys and punching beat from Kevin gave a strong finale.

4 years ago these boys and girls have just began their music career. Now in the first month of 2019 they re-appeared with much more solid and stronger than before. This is what we always wish to see from any new bands that we feature. We want them to have a good start in familiar ground, find their grip to grow so they can keep growing to be better and better. The fact is, as much as we wish for that, there are many bands that unfortunately have a short run, but we are happy that Lastoria is not one of them. This band has grown so much since the last time we saw them. They now enjoy their performance which makes them able to execute each song nicely. We feel their energy and fun, and that’s important because no matter what, in the end music should be able to entertain the audience and also the band itself. We are proud of you guys. Keep it up, viva Lastoria!

For the final act we got three ladies who always remind us of Charlie’s Angels. They are beautiful, stylish and cheerful, but they can be deadly when holding their weapons. Yes! Adisty Zulkarnaen (drum), Arnie Christanti (bass) and the youngest of them all Dyah sekar (piano) are the pillars of a very interesting jazz trio that has been in business for quite a long time, the JAZZY JUICE.

We have seen this band since the beginning and watching them evolving. From playing simple standards and Brazilians to wicked explorations especially in their originals. They can be so funny while performing. They joke around, the call and response is on all the time, attractive appearance are just a few of the good things you will get from cute ladies of Jazzy Juice. They were once went with two saxophonist, but then shortly after the band became trio. FYI, these three ladies are also together in the legendary Bandung all-female pop rock group, SHE.

Arnie said that they haven’t played together as Jazzy Juice for more than 2 years. They were excited to finally reunited again

As mentioned earlier, Jazzy Juice already gave one stunning opening collaborating with the Barongsai. Now in their own full session, these ladies directly dropped the bombs by playing sharp and tight right from the start. Their first one is their original song we haven’t heard for quite a long time, “Pohaci”. We still remember this song originally has a haunting melody along with humming and poem reading, but this time they rearranged the song to fit the theme, using the melody of Wong Fei Hung, Once Upon A Time In China theme song. Arnie stood up gave her extra part with the mike, working on the lyrics both sung and spoken in Sundanese. So, the combination of Chinese tune, Sundanese and Jazz by them creating a mystical atmosphere around the venue. It was indeed brilliant.

For the second song they played their first single written by Dyah Sekar which we don’t think any song writers would care to talk about, “Death of Mosquito”. This is served in dramatic and in a way, tragic feel. It has some light classical part and even the ‘stingy’ one note by Diah suggesting the attacking sound of mosquito. Intensely build, groovy and full with emotion, this song is always a winner for us.

For the last song they picked one of Dave Brubeck’s masterpiece from the late 50’s, “Blue Rondo à la Turk”. This song is quite challenging to play since it has additive rhythm and a free-flowing swingin’ part. These ladies show their remarkable skill and chemistry by executing the song with no mercy, flawlessly. What a joy to see them locking up in action.

“Blue Rondo à la Turk” was supposed to be the last presentation, but Erick Gabe asked them to go for one more shot. With Blues guitarist Eki Johan joined the stage, they gave one last jam with Sting’s “Englishman in New York”. Erick’s blazing voice matched the Jazzy Juice’s wild play, plus Eki’s roaring Blues guitar sound, that created one stunning finale of this edition.

Solid package of trio with seamless chemistry and very talented, that was so perfect as the finale. Not only that, they were highly entertaining and eye catchy too. The combination of candy sweet jazzy melodies from Dyah, tasty and steady beat from Adisty and the monster groove of Arnie served in pleasuring joyride mode is simply irrisistible as always. We feel blessed that we could bring the jazzy Charlie’s Angels in this special edition of Braga Jazz Night.

It might not be easy to make a jazzy Chinese New Year edition, but we did it once again. It’s made possible mainly because Bandung has never-ending source of talents associated with jazz which we take as a blessing. We give thank and send big respect to every participating musician and everyone who has been giving us tremendous support. We will be back again next month with another special edition. As it’s going to be in February, the theme will be Valentine. Do join us and celebrate the day of love together, and keep supporting our community, jazz in Bandung and all the musicians breathing in it. See you again next month!

Watch the highlights of Braga Jazz Night #55 : Shanghai Night Jazz

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Reporter and photographer: Riandy Kurniawan  .

Three important stages in a musician’s life: a debut performance, a single and an album. That’s what this 56th edition of Braga Jazz Night is all about.

As usual, since the Braga Jazz Night#56 was held in February, we once again dedicated it to celebrate the Day of Love, Valentine’s Day. Naturally that would mean plenty of love songs found in this event, and that’s true. But more than just presenting love songs, we wished to celebrate it by doing a good cause. We celebrated it by sharing love to the musicians through supporting their career and movements. We believe expressing love through doing something real for them would be much better than just shaking hands and sharing love songs.

In this year’s Special Valentine Edition we helped promoting the album of a fantastic jazz-spirited soul singer, introducing a young male singer and guitarist and helping out a native American now living in Bandung to choose one song to be his first single. As mentioned earlier, you can see there are three acts reflecting three important stage in a musician’s career: the debut, single and album.

The show started with the debutant. His name is YOHAN DAVITA. He is still in productive age below 30, currently working at the office at this moment of speaking, but he actually realized his passion in music since he was still a kid, as early as the 5th grader. He started with guitar which made him served as the guitarist of a high school band. Yohan actually could also sing, but he was too shy to show it. Later on when people found that out, and that he could write song, he became the singer.

Speaking of song writing, he made a jingle for Indomie instant noodle that represented West Java for the Jingle Dare 2 competition. He won the third prize. Clearly he is talented in music, unfortunately he quitted for some personal reasons. He stayed outside the music world for no less than 8 years, not knowing where or how to get in again from. Lucky that we heard about him and his story, we offered him a second chance, letting him continue where he left or even starting up a new day in music.

We thought he was going to perform solo, but he actually brought in some friends from STIMB. They are Dean Muliawan and Wisnu Octa Triani (guitars), Langga Jati (bass), Fransiscus Firman (flute) and Arif Andrian (cajon). Along with this heavy artilery, Yohan armed himself with acoustic guitar.

He started with Ello’s hits from several years ago titled “Gadisku”. Keeping the fun factor of the song, he drove the song safely to the finish line then carried on with a song of Jeremy Passion from 2011 that used variety of metaphorical terms to describe his feeling towards someone, “Lemonade”. This song appeared in cool, smooth groovy jazz vibes which fit Yohan’s voice tone nicely.

Yohan then introduced his original song he wrote long time ago titled “Habis”. This bittersweet ballad has all the ingredients to be a big hit if the song made into the recording and if Yohan has the channel to slide it in to the radio stations. For the last song they took Reza’s hit “Berharap Tak Berpisah”, redressing it in groovy pop jazz.

He told us how excited he was when we offered him a slot. “When you invited me on 23 January 2019, I felt really excited. I hope this is my way to start my passion in music again, a world that I may belong to.” he said. Looking at his debut, we dare to say that he was born to music. Not only he’s talented, he is passionate too. Good control, good vocal, good guitaring, good performance. The band that backed him up is tight and solid, we will invite them soon. May this shot become a start of something good for Yohan and the band. Nothing we want more than looking at someone find success in doing what they love the most, and certainly we hope to have these lads again in the near future.

From a debut to single campaign. It’s a project built by Chris Alexander, a New Yorker who is clearly have music in his soul but has been channeling his career strangely elsewhere. The project’s called INDO FUSION JAMBOREE. The project debuted here in this event 3 months ago, in episode #53 http://jazzuality.com/jazz-event-report/braga-jazz-night-53-the-report/. Since Chris realizes that he can expect something from this team he built, he moved on to do something he has never done before, making up a single.

First, let’s take a quick look at Chris. It’s funny that he’s been living ‘off-grid’, career-wise speaking. Look, he’s been a reporter, journalist, businessman, negotiator, and what for us really impressive, he’s also a Jiu-Jitsu trainer who has trained the US Military back in his land.

But his soul has always been into music. He started with drums when he was still very young, and then decided to learn singing to make sure that he would still be able to do something when/if he had no mates to go with. It’s a wonder that he has been writing songs for more than 30 years and counting, yet he never did something real with those, not performing as a musician or singer, nor making a real recording.

Then he settled down here in Bandung, building his family. He met us by chance, and this meeting triggered his passion in music, something he’s never had the chance to do before. He then built his own team consisting some of the praise and worship musicians from a Youth Ministry of a church in Bandung. They are Jerry Gates (guitar), Hanzel Tarigan (bass), Nicodemus Horrison (keys), Stella Angela (vocal) and certified fitness coach Catra ‘Catrasimo’ Simorangkir (drum).

You probably ask what we mean as single campaign? Well, at this moment Chris is unsure which song among his 300 plus collection to choose as the single carrier. Therefore he wanted to bring along some of the strongest candidates, presenting them live and then asked for feedbacks from us, the audience and other performing bands. Go directly to the market to listen to their feedbacks? That doesn’t happen often. Of course we support the project and their intention happily.

Chris led the boys triggering his act with “Grand Life Adventure”. As the title suggest, this song speaks about the way he looks at life as a grand adventure.

For the second one, he took another one of his favorite, “Snag a Job”. This funny song is really well written, showing his funny side and ability to tell a story through music and lyrics. It was built upon the classic American pop rock, some kind of Bruce Springsteen-ish. If you are still haven’t found the job, stop thinking too much. Better just snag any job. That’s more or less what Chris wanted to say, but in a funny way.

One of his songs that has strong jazzy vibes came next, “I’m All In”. The song resonates true love, that despite of the uncertainty in the future, if we really love someone we have to be ready to go all in. The term “I’m all in” is commonly used in poker. Chris connected the loveship with playing poker and served it in light, melodious groovy tunes.

The last song was “We All Need Love”. This song has a rapid punchy beat and brit-pop vibes, While Bastian did nice walking bass in it, Jerry still somehow managed to let his guitar roars above tight beat. If before Stella only served as the backing vocal, on this song she was pushed more in front, as Chris’ duet partner.

Chris Alexander has a certain way in writing song. He loves to keep it simple, he cares about melody (it has to be ear-catchy and easy to chew), nice rhythm, he thinks building momentum dynamically in a song is important, and also good in playing words. He gives real-life experience, slice of life or stories in an easy way in the lyrics. That makes any of his song nice to listen to. We think he has chosen the strongest ones among his own collection to go into the studio. We hope the feedbacks would help him or them to decide, and we hope the single to be ready soon.

After a debut and a single campaign, it’s time to feature a well-established soul singer who finally releases her first solo album following a couple of successful singles. She is the fabulous AGIS KANIA.

We have been highlighting her not long after she moved to Bandung from her hometown, Sukabumi. It was the time when she got fascinated with jazz, soul and everything in between. But her career actually started long before that, because she already got into music with some shiny achievements since she was still a child. She has done traditional singing including keroncong before she got hooked with the American music. In Bandung, she joined a gypsy jazz band, then an acoustic duo before she embarked her solo career two years ago.

In 2017 she released her first single titled “Baby You”, produced by Ajier (T-Five) and Inal Chaniago (Two Triple O). The second single “Erase My Number (EMN)” followed the success, featuring the great blues guitarist from the younger generation, Ginda Bestari. This second single of her got the chance to be broadcasted over radio airplays in various countries including Japan, Canada, Sweden, USA, UK, Northern Africa, china, Malaysia , Singapore just to mention a few. In early December 2018, the song awarded the #1 chart of the week by DCDC Shout Out Indonesia. The success story continues on with her performance in one of the best Jazz Club in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the No Black Tie, also performed in the Gaslight (KL) and Iskandar Puteri Jazz Festival 2018 at Puteri Harbour, Johor Bahru, Malaysia.

Finally she released her first solo album. The title is IGNITION. Agis said that Ignition is about song and story. She brings and shares her personal experiences — being discriminated, bullied, ignored — into tunes that she hopes would motivate others who have struggled or experienced the same feeling. To her, Ignition has a purpose to motivate people, to ignite their spirit, to bring the light to shine the darkness of their despair.

IGNITION consists of 5 songs: “Baby You”, “Erase My Number”, “Tergoda”, “Ignition” and “Hey… Brown Sugar”, plus one Bonus Track: “Baby You” (Studio Experience). You can get the album at: https://itunes.apple.com/id/artist/agis-kania/1244739918 , https://open.spotify.com/track/7pErGxdYqxPSSSLzUvWXsx?si=4VwKFP0oQ8GHvNY89Lkpcw or other major digital outlets.

For this act Agis was accompanied by keyboardist Ezra Abraham who has helped her many, many times including with us. She started with her first single “Baby You”. This song which is rooted in Neo Soul and Urban Contemporary Music gave a solid stand for her solo career by receiving lots of positive responses both national and internationally. It entered the charts in top digital outlets, delivered into the Jazz Anak Negeri Compilation (Spotify version), also RnB in Indonesian and Jazz in Indonesian (iTunes version). In case you haven’t heard the song, you can watch the official music video on her Youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CM3RyTUbMU4. Sexy, seductive, this song would certainly steal the hearts of neo soul lovers around the world. With the help of technology, using a laptop controlled by Ezra, Agis managed to deliver the song perfectly like with a whole band.

For the second song Agis sang the title track, “Ignition”. This lyrics was written by Agis herself, while the music composed by co-producer Ajier. Ezra contributed with the rap lyrics on this one. Agis said that she dedicated this modern, electro nu soul to everyone out there who have experienced being discriminated, bullied, looked down, ignored and so on. Don’t let yourself down, instead ignite yourself and sparks, that’s what she wanted to say more or less. For the last song she took another new song from the album titled “Tergoda”, written by Inal. This song allowed Agis to explore her ability in doing traditional singing, which isn’t just from her own Sundanese roots but also from the other parts of the world like India. Agis let her soul flew freely as expressed by her hands and body gesture. Really interesting song, which seems isn’t easy to sing but suits Agis perfectly.

Just three songs, but could already give a clear portrait of Agis Kania’s debut album, “Ignition”. It’s certainly fascinating to see how far she has come at this very moment, how many wonderful things she has achieved, especially since we have been watching her grow, with all the struggles she has been through. Knowing her as a fantastic old-soul jazz singer, she actually found her perfect spot in neo soul. She deserves this. We hope this debut album opens up the chance for her to get more than anything she has ever dreamed. Get in touch with her through her Instagram and other social medias, but most importantly, support her by buying her album. It won’t cost you much, yet it will definitely push her to keep going. We also hope this album ignite her career to a stage she has never been before. With that kind of voice, ability in writing and kindness, we know it’s just a matter of time before she become one of the world’s best soul divas.

We still got a little time to do the jam session. Some musicians from the featured bands happily participated in it. There were Jerry Gates and Dean Muliawan (guitars), Nicodemus Horisson (keys), Langga Jati (bass), Fransiscus Firman (flute) and Arif Andrian (cajon), together they had fun with Chick Corea’s “Spain”. Then Erick Gabe joined them to sing “Englishman in New York” where bass was moved to Bastian, and the last batch got Wisnu Octa replacing Dean and Chris Alexander on drums, along with Catra and Yohan on vocals. This last team covered Bruno Mars’ “Just the Way You Are”.

A debut, a single campaign and an album promo, that’s the menu for this edition that went out well, thanks to the musicians who gave their best. We will be back again next month with different lineup and story. Thank you for being with us, see you again soon.

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Reporter/photographer: Riandy Kurniawan  .

One of our overseas readers once told us that he’s amazed to know that Indonesia actually has many jazz-related musicians. Well, it’s true that jazz was originated in USA which is far, far away from Indonesia. But jazz has been here long time right after this music took the world by storm shortly after.

Today we can be proud to see that there are so many young musicians are still attracted and attached with jazz. Some of them embrace the pop side of it, some preserve the traditional, some coin it with the ethnic musics, there are also those who go further creating something new. We realize it and know that in order to keep the flame, we have to provide playgrounds for them to explore the music. Often the case is that there are many who are interested in jazz, but they don’t have enough place to play on. That’s one of the main reasons that made us establish this community event called Braga Jazz Night, hoping that this can be a friendly and familiar place for them to start, grow and achieve their dreams. We hope to stimulate the musicians to go jazzy, keep pushing the established ones and at the same time spreading the good news that jazz actually has so many styles where some should be able to accomodate one’s music taste or preference.

The Braga Jazz Night #57 was held on Thursday, 21 March 2019, that’s the third Thursday of the month, the schedule we have been keeping on for almost 5 years. This time we featured all young players bringing jazz in rainbow-like variety. And, we got a pleasant surprise during the jam session by the participation of a wonderful, beautiful female jazz singer/composer from Italy.

We are also proud to tell that this edition got big number of audience as seen on the photo above. Some of them came to support their friends and family, some to watch and some were the mall-goers who happened to be there during the event.

The first one taking the stand was a very interesting duo who combines classical and jazz, ellegance and wild. They are Jesy Dewinda and Jason Limanjaya, fused as one as Jesy/Jason.

Jason is no doubt one of the most spellbinding jazz musician from the young generation in Indonesian jazz scene today. Came to Indonesia during holiday from his study in Singapore, he quickly sunk into the jazz pool and never stop making waves in it. From joining the New Equinox, a reliable partner of Nayra to his on-going existance as a proud member of a wicked jazz band The New Blood, plus establishing his own trio and many projects, all shows the track that this dude is indeed genius. Last month he told us that he got a new concept by pairing with a young lady with classical background, Jesy.

Jesy realized her passion in music since she was still 3 year-old. She started learning classical piano at the age of 4, graduaed from ABRSM grade 8 and then became the runner-up place in a classical piano competition in Jakarta. She joined the choir as chorister, artistic division, also as the junior conductor in campus and then conducting workshop with Dr Brady Allred (USA). Jesy has composed “Ave Maria” for Unpar Choir at the Parahyangan Heritage II in Bandung, Jakarta and Surabaya, learned classical singing and ended up as the semi finalist of Catharina W Leimena’s National Classical Vocal Competition. You can read more details about Jesy here https://jazzuality.com/jazz-events/braga-jazz-night-57/.

So, a girl with classical background on piano and vocal pairing with the wild, young jazz genius? For us that’s really interesting of course. So we quickly arranged a slot for them in this edition.

After a brief opening, Jesy and Jason took their position on the left and right side of the stage. The first song was written by Jesy titled “Goodbye”. This ballad quickly drew attention from the mall goers, and that’s no surprise. Why? Because the song has everything to love. The beautiful melody, the lyrics that would reflect what many of us feel at certain times, the captivating soprano vocal and the amount of spirit she breathed out into the song to make it so alive. As she slowly built the momentum, Jason added up more flavors from his keys. Just a little, but significant.

For the second presentation Jason left his keyboard and sat right beside Jesy. Using one keyboard, they gave a song from maestro Mochtar Embut, “Setitik Embun”. This song suits Jesy’s vocal type really well. But that’s not the only good thing from this one, because they made a surprise too. Jason kept on changing place with Jesy, who also played the piano along with singing. Imagine this. While the classical basic of this song was saved in the hands and voice of Jesy, there was Jason who went wild above the keys. From left to right, right to left. It was surprisingly attractive, no wonder they bagged loud applause in the end.

A cute but lethal female drummer Marissa Wiguna then joined the party. A little bit about Marissa, she’s an active church drummer who embarked her secular career with Out of 7 and recently gets busy with Nissan Fortz. With Marissa, they expanded the canvas with more beat, making the next song felt like appearing with full band. The title is “Tunggu Dulu”, made by both of them on their second meeting. This song reminisced the joy of pop jazz groove we loved back then around the late 80’s and early 90’s, as well as showing that Jesy’s soprano voice is great on singing this style.

For the last song they played another original, written by Jason and Anjuan, “Gagu”. The syncopative rhythm should be quite challenging to execute, but they successfully funked us up. Jason acted like a bassman, standing and holding his keyboard just like a bassist, spreading high dose of funky virus.

Using only two keyboards and one additional drum, Jesy/Jason with Marissa Wiguna managed to bring richer sound than one would imagine, thanks to Jason who programmed the sound of other instruments in his keys. The combination of classical and jazz isn’t new, yet this fine young musicians somehow manage to bring something fresh. Catchy melody, charming appearance and really entertaining. A unique concept like this deserves recognition since it opens up a new musical horizon and perspective that there are so many things we can do in jazz.

While we already know Jason as a jazz wiz and Marissa is a complete drummer, a very talented, charismatic beautiful girl like Jesy should have a good career to as an active musician. She’s well equipped with skill, she can sing just as good as her piano playing, she’s capable of writing/composing songs, she knows what to do when encountering jazz and has a charming stage apperance too. We will surely keep our eyes on this duo. If they continue the partnership, we will definitely invite them again to check what’s new in their shelf.

The second session belong to Joe Project. Joe Project is a band built by young bassist Joe Bastian. Joe certainly is no stranger to us since he’s been participating a lot for about 4 years, when he was still studying at STiMB majoring electric bass. Today he’s having some regulars and seriously maintaining his own band, the Joe Project while happily serves as sessionist.

For this edition he appeared with some of his buddies: M Rizqi Pratama (guitar), Ian Kalangi (drum) and Razita ‘Zizi’ (vocal) and Sheira (piano).

Look at how they opened their gig. What a surprise to see Joe and his mates started by pinning one of Casiopea’s hits, “Mid-Manhattan”. Full speed, full power, great technique, this song is perfect to show each of their individual skill and their harmony as a unit. Also, it’s a right pick for a band leader who plays bass like Joe. Strong fusion statement was driven out of their instruments through sharp punches. The roaring rocking guitar sound, merry finger-dancing on the keys, power drumming and of course, kiling bass jabs made the venue filled with jazz-rock spirit. They carried the momentum with Mezzoforte’s song from 2004 , “Nightfall”. These two songs shows how good this pack is in riding the fusion wave.

Then Joe called Zizi. According to Joe, he met Zizi by chance during one of his regulars. Realizing that Zizi has a good singing voice with power, he invited her in on his gigs. Starting with Adele’s “Rolling In The Deep”, we directly stunned with her strong charasteristic voice. Other than she’s the right one to sing Adele’s, it’s just cool to hear a jazz fusion version of this famous song.

Eventually they reach the final song. It was Stevie Wonder’s from 1973 that became the signature song for Incognito a decade later and covered by Tori Kelly for Sing OST, “Don’t U Worry Bout a Thing.” With this one, they served one last party and drained every bit of energy they had left.

Having a bassist as the band leader is always interesting. It gives us the chance to get the extra groove in front and every wonderful things a bass could give. From fusion to pop jazz to RnB, Joe once again shows that he’s a good bassman with the ability to lead. Always nice to have him and his fellows along. Note that he never has the same lineup twice, but amazingly all play just as good. Will you see him again in the future? You bet.

The final round featured a funky jazz band full of young wizs, The Commitment. This band made their second appearance on our stage after 5 months ago when they debuted in the 52nd edition.

As mentioned, the band is built upon young musicians with amazing skills. They are Anjuan Julio (guitar), Daniel GT (drum), Vico Wibowo (keys) and Kevin Jonathan (bass). Having skilled players with strong passion makes this band able to tackle challenging compositions, where some of their repertoires are originally made by the members.

Sharp, wicked, this band of youngsters blasted with an original song titled “Groove Minder”. This song is spirited, full of chunky bites with lots of toppings, brought razor-sharp by these boys. Tight, fully rounded, these boys ran wild like a pack of wolves hunting the melody, the beat and chew them all ferociously. Anjuan is without a doubt magical with his guitar, then the wicked Vico tranced behind his set of keys. Then look at the expressive face of Jonathan who is always in extacy along with the monster groove he produced with his bass. Daniel, the calmest member is actually a killer when he’s with the drum. Quickly they drew passers-by to watch them.

For the second song they went remembering the late musician, composer and producer Alvin Lubis who passed away too young at the age of 37. If usually a tribute to the loss of someone dear made sad, they chose to remember the good thing in cheerful mode. High octane jazz-rock that would be driven anyone to the edge of their seats.

One of the audience told us that the Commitment played so neat and strong, it’s like watching a long time pro performing at the Java Jazz Festival. Well, he’s not that wrong, because some of the boys in this band has tasted that grand stage before. But even if they hadn’t been there, they really play like old timers who have been playing together for ages. It was that good.

After those two instrumental goodies, Juan invited Aldo Suherman to the stage. Aldo is originally a drummer but currently switches to be a singer, and that’s not wrong since this young man has delightful voice that would be great to sing RnB and soulful songs. The first one with Aldo was Justin Timberlake’s “Suit & Tie” rearranged to be more jazz rock.

For the last presentation The Commitment and Aldo gave Stevie Wonder’s “Higher Ground”. Aldo is not just a good singer with RnB vibes, he also has wide vocal range and the ability to reach much higher notes, something that this song of Stevie requires. Near the end, Anjuan introduced each mate and let them had their solo run. Jonathan was even stepped forward and got huge applause when he nailed his solo while expressing his joy on his face.

While being busy with the preparation for World Youth Jazz Festival in Kuala Lumpur on 3-5 May 2019 and finishing the album with New Blood, Anjuan still has so much more to explore, and the Commitment becomes the home where he can unleash it. Having four pillars with complete skills makes the band able to fly high. Not only wide exploration with lots of improvisations, they are also attractive and charming to watch. We have no doubt that they will climb higher and higher until one day this band stand as one of the best from the young generation. Until that time, we will keep on following their updates and of course support them with any which way we can.

Since we still got some spare time and lots of great musicians, we opened up the jam session. What a pleasant surprise that we got a very special participant. It’s a jazz singer and composer from Hong Kong who’s now pursuing her career in Italy, Heidi Li. She has shared the stage with the likes of Jeff Ballard (a jaz drummer who has played with Ray Charles, Pat Metheny and Chic Corea among others). She was on her first ever holiday trip to Indonesia and apparently was in Bandung after visiting Bali.

As The Commitment still stood on stage, Heidi joined them and sang a jazz standard “There’ll Never Be Another You.” She has a really beautiful voice and charming smile, a perfect combination to sing this classic from early 40’s. Other than being mesmerized by her appearance, it was cool to see The Commitment went smooth swinging after playing powerful jazz fusion just a couple of minutes earlier. Erick Gabe couldn’t resist the fun, he jumped in and played mouth trumpet with Heidi and The Commitment.

We spotted another male singer among the audience and invite him to have the mike. He is Diwo Giri. Still with The Commitment, Diwo sang a famous song first published in 1964 and became a big hit again in the millenium by Michael Bublé, “Feelin’ Good”.

More players followed the jam. The new set including Joe Bastian (bass), Frank Navayo of 5Petani (guitar), Aldo Suherman (bass). Vico’ still in charge on keys. With Erick Gabe, they launched Chick Corea’s evergreen, “Spain”.

Heidi Li who was still watching the jam accepted our invitation to go once more, She chose a song written by Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell in a third floor apartment while having their thoughts over the pleasant Southland, “Georgia On My Mind”. “Really love her voice. Really beautiful”, said one of the audience to us. This song wrapped the 57th edition in the sweetest way possible.

All young musicians, passionate, skillful and creative, that’s the menu for this edition that went out well, thanks to the musicians who gave their best. We will be back again next month with different lineup and story. Thank you for being with us, see you again soon.

See more pictures:

Reporter/photographer: Riandy Kurniawan .

Indonesia has just done with the election. Most of us wished it to be peaceful, but with the hoax and negative campaigns that filled up the atmosphere for months, some problems seems to be unavoidable. Thank God the law enforcements are able to have the situation in control, so we all can keep on doing our jobs, tasks and callings during this kind of season.

We always believe that. That’s why we decided to keep the event running normally as scheduled. And it went on smooth without any problem. For the BRAGA JAZZ NIGHT #58 we featured young musicians from kids to young adults. One band representing an educational institute that has music as one of its fortes, one is a union of alumnus and students of a music school in Bandung and a considerably new band with quite achievements.

After a short opening speech by the founder of Jazzuality also the initiator of this event, the team from GITA BAWANA. Gita Bawana is an educational institution in Bandung with variety of classes including Music Course, Music Production, Traditional and Modern Dance Course and Modelling. Jazz is an integrated and important part of the music course in its curriculum, which for us is no wonder since there are quite many skilled jazz musicians working there as the teachers.

Some of you may notice that their logo appears in every poster and promotional materials of this event. That’s because they have been generously supporting us by providing the acoustic drum and keyboard, something that are essential or even vital for us. Without their support, this event would probably stop running at least since 2 years ago. For us, this shows Gita Bawana’s commitment to community event which can be a part of educational system.

This time we got the chance to see some of the talented students of Gita Bawana recommended by the teachers, consisting of kids and teenagers. And their appearance was fully supported by their teachers, who proudly performed alongside them. FYI, this is not the first time for them to participate, because they were here last year in #44 edition.

A set of teachers acted as the anchor. They are Zahar Mustilaq (drum), Dede SP (bass) and Yopi D Nafis (keyboard). As you may already know, they are all the pillars of a mind-bending cross Sundanese Jazz Fusion band West Java Syndicate. Before the event started, they played one song taken from their album just as a warming up, which for us taken as a special treat. After the event was officially opened, the trio of teachers played Jaco Pastorius’ “Chicken” that quickly gained applauses from the audience.

Speaking of the audience, we are grateful that once again this edition got many jazz lovers gathered around the stage. This kind of support will definitely boost the spirit of these young musicians to perform at their best and certainly will help them to grow. For that, we thank you. Really, we appreciate it.

Zahar then called Anita to come on stage. Anita is still 5 years old, currently studies singing and piano at Gita Bawana. She already appeared last year, so we were excited to see how she is now.

She surprised us with her song choice. Not wanting to take it easy, she sang Mariah Carey’s “Through The Rain”, a song that would be so difficult for a little girl like her. But she did very, very well accompanied by her teachers. She surprised us more with the fact that they had no rehearsal beforehand. Imagine a 5 year-old girl came on stage taking this kind of wide-range song, for us that’s remarkable.

The guitar student who’s also learning drum, Vira was next. She is also young, still in 7th grade. The song she chose was “Can’t Help Fallin’ In Love”. Apparently she didn’t want to do it like usual, because she added more groove in faster tempo. “Next time you should choose drum on this stage”, said Zahar to her. Hey, we agree. We’d love to see Vira doing it.

A young lady took the last segment. Who could guess that this lady is not a student but working there as an admin. She is Sylvia Ramadhanty. The song she selected was a classic from Chaka Khan written by ‘The Hitman’ David Foster, “Through the Fire”. As the song is familiar, many of the audience sang along with her. With Sylvia, Gita Bawana sealed their show.

After a year passed, we think it’s time for us to have the people from this art insitution again. The music division has done great work on its students, no doubt about it. Why not, they have great teachers who are friendly and humble supporting them. The good connection between teachers and students is noted too. We are happy to have them again and look forward to meet them again in the near future.

The second session featured a considerably new band in town, PUDING LAVA. Established 2 years ago, they chose pop jazz to express their love towards jazz. It’s built upon 6 players: Mukti Bawono (keys), Muhammad Mauli Rahman (guitar), Ochika Widiaritami (vocal), Muhamad Agustio (drum), Alwi Hidayat Harahap (bass) and Arul Ramadhan (saxophone).

The band is still in their second year running, but they have made some breakthroughs. They competed in the annual competition Jazzphoria earlier this year, that’s for a start. But that’s not the only one, because they were also attended the Maranatha Competition and Mahakarya Competition which they won first prize. It’s only a matter of time for them to be a part of this regular event, and the time came in this edition.

The band kicked off with interesting stuff. They gave a different version of Potret’s famous hit from 1997, “Salah”. Their version still carry the fast, upbeat style but appear more jazzy both in music and groove, making the song sounds fresh and current. For the second song they pinned a single from a new sensation Reality Club, “Is It The Answer”.

A blast from the past came next, the late Dian Pramana Poetra and Deddy Dhukun (together as 2D)’s classic, “Masih Ada”. If the original was made as a ballad, this band took it differently, redressing it into power, toe-tapping disco. Just like their first song, this attempt gives a fresh new look on this gem from the late 80’s. The recent hit of Rizky Febian “Kesempurnaan Cinta” came right after.

They gave two more songs. Daniel Caesar’s song (feat H.E.R) “Best Part” was delivered nice and clean. And then for the last song, once again Puding Lava made a manouver by serving Dewa 19’s “Kangen” in totally different way, not as a ballad but in a groovy upbeat.

Puding Lava is the kind of cake that’s sweet, delicious taste with yummy look that would make anyone who eat it feels happy. It’s clear why they use the name, because under pop jazz that they chose as their platform, they intend to give it to their audience. This band give something simple but fun and current. A pop jazz band is important to reach wider listeners and expose them to jazz, and Puding Lava band could do it. Puding Lava has been running for 3 years, may there be many, many more fruitful years to come.

The last act featured a band called DEAN’S KOLEGA KATOB. Just like the name says, this band is built as a project by guitarist Dean Muliawan, better known as Dean Bach. He told us that the first intention of making it is for fun, mainly set to fulfill his regular gigs. But since he’s clicked with the players he brought in, soon after the project is ready to take just about any stage.

In case you wonder what the word “Katob” means, it’s a reversal of ‘botak’ (bald), the head style Dean the way he wants it to be. Speaking of music style, they are into jazz fusion. We know how good this band is because they are not a first-timer for this event. They already landed here two months ago in #56 edition to support their friend Yohan Davita (read it here: http://jazzuality.com/jazz-event-report/braga-jazz-night-56-the-report/). Other than that, they all come from a top music college in Bandung, Sekolah Tinggi Musik Bandung (STiMB). Dean has graduated from it, but the rest are still studying in there.

For this event, the formation consists of Dean Bach (guitar), Fransiscus Firman (flute) and Arif Andrian (drum), Badai Keke (bass), Arbiyasa Witha Pramara Adhi (guitar) and Sheira (keyboard).

The first one was the song Dean played in his recital. It was Mike Stern’s “Play”. Right from the start we could clearly see that this Dean and his colleague is one class act. They gave strong statement with neat execution, where plenty of goodies were found along the way. Dean and Badai showcased eye-catchy action on the right side of the stage. Arif’s sharp drum banging, Sheira’s wicked keyboard playing were fabulous, and Fransiscus’ flute and Arbiyasa’s extra guitar sound added more vibrant colors into their musical pallette. It was intense.

They kept the fire on with Dean’s own composition, “Exploration”. Just like the title, this song allowed each of them to explore the music wild, just like a group of surfers riding multiple big waves merrily. A triumphant composition executed efortlessly great.

Then came the song that Dean said familiar to every student in his college. “Everybody got to be able to play it”, he said. The song is Lee Ritenour’s “Night Rhythm”. While rooting on with the basic, they created plenty of room to have fun and filled it with jolly-flowing improvisation. With Dean led the party, their version goes more rocking than Lee’s original. It’s also interesting to hear flute sound on this one, which we don’t get to hear often. This song has been brought many times on this event, but Dean’s version is still able to offer something fresh that make us feel like listening to it for the very first time. For the last song, they took a famous pop song from Reza, “Berharap Tak Berpisah” and made a cool jazz fusion version of it.

Dean’s Kolega Katob has really good students and alumnus of a famous music college that are driven by passion. They play everything right on point with lively dynamics that could entertain the audience more than just through music. The band knows what to do when having a jazz-rock guitarist as a leader, and the leader knows how to let his colleagues have their moment. This band also shows that sometimes it’s not about the complexity of arrangement but more about having fun together under the spirit of jamming. Surely we will invite them again to explore what they have inside.

Since we still got a little extra time, we quickly opened up the jam session. This time the session was taken by Yopi Navis (keyboard) and Zahar Mustilaq (drum) from Gita Bawana, Dean Bach from Dean’s Kolega Katob, Joe Bastian (bass) and bluesman Eki Johan (guitar). They picked Herbie Hancock’s masterpiece “Cantaloupe Island” to send the joy to everyone who were still watching. We would love to continue, but unfortunately the closing time of the mall has come, so we had to seal this edition right here.

Three acts with different portion of jazz, different jazz style and different approach. As you can see, jazz can appear in so many different form, but this is still a very few of the countless but united world of jazz.

We thank you all performers for giving their best on our stage. We thank all supporters, and certainly the audience, for without you none of this would happen.

We will be back again next month with another set of bands. But that’s not all, because as we are marching in to the fasting month of Ramadhan, we are going to make it a special edition, Ramadhan Jazz. Thank you once again, see you in a month!

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Reporter/photographer: Riandy Kurniawan .

As Muslims around the world is now celebrating the Holy Month of Ramadhan, we once again set our this month’s edition of BRAGA JAZZ NIGHT to it just like the previous years. In this BRAGA JAZZ NIGHT #59 Special Ramadhan Edition we invited 3 bands to rise to the occassion, presenting their jazzy music not just to entertain the crowds but also fitting the concept to Ramadhan.

For this special theme, we got a band from another city in West Java, Majalaya and a band whose personnels live in both Majalaya and Bandung. Both of these bands were participating in last year’s Jazzphoria competition and made good impact. The other band marked its return on our stage after missing for almost 5 years.

First to go was JAZZY TUNES. we met this band at the Jazzphoria competition. At that time they got the first number to appear and quickly grabbed our attention. What they play is a groovy pop jazz, the favorite style among youngsters and young at heart listeners.

As mentioned before, this band consists of players from both Majalaya and Bandung. At this present time the personnels are Kiki Gusdiana (guitar), Habib Usman Az-Zahir (bass), Hasbun (percussions), Alif (drum), Dandy Rifaldy (keyboard), and two new members, Azrin Noor Erisa (vocal) and M Raafi Dipo (saxophone).

More about Jazzy Tunes, it was formed around two years ago and got their first break at the competition. From there they sailed smoothly, reaching many events from high school fests, television to a big music festival where they shared the stage with many top stars including RAN, Yura, Kahitna, Marion Jola, Gugun Blues Shelter, The Overtunes among others.

We intended to invite them not long after the competition, unfortunately due to some reasons we couldn’t make it happen. Finally this time we were able to lock them in and got them for the first time on this stage, in complete formation.

The Jazzy Tunes began with an instrumental number, “Mourning into Dancing” which quickly brought joy through the happy, mood-buster groove and melodies. Azrin joined the crowds after that and wowed us with her sweet, smooth vocal by singing a hit of Toronto’s Daniel Caesar with H.E.R that’s just won a Grammy some months ago, “Best Part”. While her voice fitted the song perfectly, the boys did very well in adding up some breath of jazz into this cool soulful RnB song.

An evergreen “Tak Akan Ada Cinta Yang Lain” became their third choice. Yes, we have heard the jazzy version of this song quite many times, but Jazzy Tunes still gave us something fresh with their touch. This soon followed by a classic “Fly Me To The Moon” in still swingin’ but in much modern style.

For the last song the boys and young lady took a famous soundtrack “Laskar Pelangi” in a pop jazzy groove way, ending their debut on our stage with a party. Some of the audience sang along and clapped their hands, showing how much they loved Jazzy Tunes’ performance.

Jazzy Tunes delivered fresh groovy pop jazz the way we remember them from the competition. Clearly they had fun in their performance. They appeared cheerful and lively, making the audience able to feel everything they sent from the stage fully. Having personnels living in different cities must be tricky, since it would be difficult for them to find time to practice together. Not to mention each of them should have their own activity. But looking at their show, we can see that they don’t have it as an obstacle. They share chemistry and play solid together as a team as if they practice frequently on daily basis. Their next challenge is to keep the good work up and go higher. It might not be easy, but if they can do it for these past two years, they should be able to achieve even more than they have ever dreamt of.

The second act was OWCINDFUL. The band was first named Dora the Explorer, but for not long because they soon changed the name to Owcindful. The keyboardist and band leader’s name is Nicodemus Horisson, also known as the keyboardist of Chakraborty. If you want to know where the name came from, taking the name of the keyboardist, Nico, spelled backwards, then spiced it up a bit.

This band was formed exactly on Valentine’s Day in an event at Trans Studio Mall. This band plays jazz-based funky disco and groovy pop fusion, a good, familiar musical elements that made them got many appearances around Bandung. That includes a performance in our previous event before this one, Terraz Jazz, at that time celebrating Indonesia’s Independence Day.

They were moving on good, all the way to producing a single titled “Kecewa”. Unfortunately later the band went on hiatus for a couple of years due to the personnels’ busy agendas. A couple of months ago we heard from Nico that the band was about to wake up from its long sleep. We directly asked him to bring the band to this event, and this edition marked the return of Owcindful: first time in Braga Jazz Night but the second appearance in our created event.

It was great to see that most of the original members are still in. Nicodemus Horisson (piano), Ariel Arliyanus (guitars), Jere Fernando (also of middle-sized ensemble KelasSore, bass) and Andre Joshua Yonatan (drums). Before they started, Nico told everyone that this was their first stage reunion after 3 or 4 years. We are proud and delighted that this band had their comeback with us.

Nico then told everyone that although this is a Ramadhan edition, he decided to bring his own theme. And that is ‘fixing the broken heart’, meaning that Owcindful would tell stories of someone trying to fix their brokenheart through series of songs. Starting with The Groove’s “Dahulu”, we directly encountered the sharp, on-point beat, whacking groove with jazzy touch and splashes of rock, something we still clearly remember from this band. Add those with a lovely vocal with smooth rapid vibe, they got everyone’s attention right away.

The story moved on to another chapter, Tulus’ “Ruang Sendiri”. Maria and the Owcindful boys delivered it effortlessly chilled, making it as if it’s their own song.

Owcindful then introduced their own song, written by Nico in 2014 titled “Kisah Hati.” “This song was made in 2014, but we never got the chance to launch it. So I think it’s okay to do it now”, he said. The song started only by Maria and Nico. Although they have just known each other, it’s great to see they share tight chemistry, resulting deep emotion in the first part of this song.

Not wanting to let the negative vibe over heartbreaking feeling, Owcindful gave a positive message with Utha Likumahuwa’s famous hit, “Esok Kan Masih Ada”, which means ‘there will still be tomorrow’ in English. The story ended up with a message to move on in love through Vina Panduwinata’s hit from 1984, “Dia”.

A really, really nice comeback was captured in this edition of Braga Jazz Night. We always know that this band intends to entertain its audience with jazz-oriented, easy-to-chew music. The delicate jazz piano playing, the smoothly provoking rocking guitar sound, the groovy bass working, the sharp drumming and sweet vocal are always the essence of this band. We still remember their performance 5 years ago at the Terraz Jazz, so it’s good to have it all back. We do hope Owcindful to keep running, because there’s always room for a band with such music concept to get more and more fans. If they keep their existance, we will definitely invite them again in the near future. Welcome back guys! Live long and prosperous.

The final band is a band having their second appearance on this event after last year. Everyone in this band are coming from Majalaya and have been together for many years. It’s SAVASIKA.

Just like Jazzy Tunes, we got to know this band also from the Jazzphoria. From them we realized that there are many jazz-oriented bands in Majalaya, which for us shows that jazz is breathing in it. Not just exist, they are really good too. And this band can be a perfect example for that.

Although the band is built with young adults, this band actually is not new. They have been together for about 8 years. As you might have guess, it’s never easy to keep a band running for that long. And it’s not easy for them too. They have been gone through ups and downs. There are times when they paused the band, but in the end they got together and run again. They have been giving good fight against many obstacles which makes the band able to keep its existance until today.

The personnels remain the same, at least like last year when they took their first bite of our stage. Savasika comprises of Ryzky Ramadhan (keyboard), Erfan Iksan Fauzi (vocal), Tomy Fhaisal (bass), Wili Rizki Ismail (drum), Hasbun (percussions) and Kiki Gusdiana (guitar).

Savasika don’t just do covers, because it has original songs too which you can find on Youtube.

Savasika didn’t want to waste any time. They began with a bang, taking on Barry Likumahuwa Project (BLP)’s first hit “Mati Saja” The expressive and charismatic vocalist with cool falsetto voice Erfan was eye catchy on stage, and the blending between him and his fellas on the instruments were tight. That made an entertaining scene on stage.

For the next song, suiting the theme of this edition SavaSika did a very fine cover of Once’s “Dealova”. Erfan is the kind of male vocalist with wide range, it’s no problem for him to go to the height like how Once does on this song.

For the third song they took Toto’s classic from 1978, “Georgy Porgy”, a nice attempt to keep the groove with a familiar song. And for the last song, SavaSika gave us their ‘winning’ song, Tania Maria’s golden hit from early 80’s, “Come With Me Now”. We say winning song because this was the song that wowed the judges at the Jazzphoria competition then announced them to be in the final. It might look like a simple song, but actually it’s not easy to sing due to the ‘spirit’ one has to have in singing it, and it becomes even more difficult when a man tries to do it. Not many male singers have this song in their repertoires, but Erfan and his compatriotes dare to take it and make something good out of it. The song served as a good climax that sealed this edition nicely.

It is difficult for a band holding jazz as its core to have enough gigs, while certainly a band needs it in order to keep going. Therefore we are amazed with a band like Savasika who, despite of all the difficulties, manage to overcome all the obstacles and keep the band rolling. It was a solid performance. We are happy to hear that they are still getting more and more gigs here and there. We wish SavaSika all the best and look forward to have them again in later edition.

We are proud to see the talents who played for this edition. Not only they all gave their best shot in delivering variety of jazz but also in suiting the Ramadhan theme. We thank everyone who came and involved in any way. Still many 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. Happy Ramadhan.

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Reporter: Riandy Kurniawan .

We’re just done with the 60th edition of Braga Jazz Night. 60th edition. Think of it. That’s equal with almost 5 years running. There have been hundreds of players/bands we have featured. Some moved on to be top players in the country, some have played overseas, with international musicians, went into recordings, hence, have success in their career after starting here. We can’t be happier to see it. That’s what we hope to see coming out from this event.

It was an edition where the word ‘unique’ sounded louder than before. How come, you might ask. Well, how about having a band using three guitarists, a band consisting of three bassists, and a wild jazz-rock guitarist showing his soft, smooth and romantic side in a duo with a fine female singer? We believe you agree with us that this edition is unique.

We started with the band with multi guitarists 4PEGGIO. This band was established by a senior and well-respected guitarist/teacher, Venche Manuhutu consisting of his students at the VMS. This band is now more than a year old, they are basically still together but quite struggling to exist because not everyone of them live in the same city and they are busy with each of their agenda/schedule. But they are still running despite of the obstacles.

The personnels are Vetto Christie Frangklin (guitar), Bayu Imam Fauzan (guitar), Felix Sentosa (guitar), Adi Nur Furqon (guitar), Romay (guitar/vocalist) and Ezra Manuhutu (bass). However, for this 60th edition Felix, Bayu and Romay were not able to join as they already have schedule elsewhere. Yet this band has quite unusual formation. It’s not easy to carry this concept, but they have proven their ability to do it through series of previous appearances including in this event a year ago.

For this time, 4Peggio decided to add a drummer, Restu Shidiq to support them. Without further due, the band sailed directly. The catchy, groovy and joyful Stevie Wonder’s “Isn’t She Lovely” attracted many people to watch them. Vetto and Adi got their moment respectively, fully supported by the rhythm section. Ezra demonstrted his cool, steady walking bass with “Beyond The Sea”, a song which melody taken from “La Mer” from the mid 40’s. The rapid changing chords was tricky, yet they managed to wrap the song.

Restu Shidiq got his shining moment on the third presentation, covering Tania Maria’s signature from the 80’s, “Come With Me”. Unlike the original which started with the catchy groove, they began with some bluesy intro before delivering the song with infectious funky chops. We loved it and wished to have some more, but unfortunately that was the last one. With this uplifting song, 4Peggio sealed their session.

Having three guitarists at once is tricky. Imagine if one of them got a wrong tempo or note, even for a slight second. It could make the song uncontrollably crumbling. But no, these young dudes know what they are doing. Driven by passion and equipped with skill make them able to bring something difficult seems easy, or complexity seems simple. A good jazz band would never be affected with missing player(s), so to see this band found its way to cover the loss shows that it is indeed a good one. 4Peggio gave us a fun session, we hope they will come in complete lineup next time when we invite them.

Still in the world of strings, we moved to a band with triple bassists simply called BASS FRIENDS. How often you see a band with this format? It’s a group came to life after three friends, all bassists, often hangout at a coffee shop in Bandung. Joe Bastian, Willy Hardian and Ricki Sumampouw realized that they share the same music taste.

Driven by the passion and creativity, they thought of making something different, establishing a band like no other. When we heard this wicked idea from Joe a couple of months ago, we got interested in it right away. Why not? First of all, Joe has been playing many, many times for us and he never fails to impress us. So we know, whoever or whatever he brings will be good. Also we always believe that there are always open possibilities in jazz, and something like a group of 3 bassists would certainly prove that point. Plus, we always love to see new things happening on our stage.

For this event, sadly Bass Friends appeared incomplete because one of the bassists, Willy Hardian cancelled his participation at the last moment. So, the band appeared with Joe Bastian and Ricki Sumampouw (basses), Ian Kalangie (drum) and Nicodemus Horisson (keyboard), plus a female singer, Adel.

Losing one key player didn’t make the band shaky. In fact, they gave a very strong start with Herbie Hancock’s classic hard bop track, “Cantaloupe Island”. We could see that they were not just cover this gem, they used the song as the canvas to explore and expand the role of bass in a band, digging what two (or more) basses able to do while playing a song. Both joe and Ricki exchanged role seamlessly and optimized their manouvers whenever they got the chance. Nicodemus and Ian worked progressively controlling the dynamic, making this first attempt appeared sharp, lively and even explosive.

The second choice was one of Joe’s favorite, Barry Likumahuwa’s “Walking With The Bass”. We have heard him play this song with his Joe Project, but he rearranged it differently to fit two basses. It’s a perfect choice because this song was written by a funky bassist and made to emphasize on this instrument’s supremacy. Ricki and Joe clearly had lots of fun in executing it, the killing punches from Ian was awesome, and Nico breathed life into it. Another ace from the Bass Friends.

Adel was called to join the party. When she appeared, suddenly the band made a surprising turn by embracing the ethnicity. Yes! Adel is not just an ordinary singer, she can do the traditional Sundanese singing style. “Mojang Priangan” was redressed in modern fusion with thick Sundanese nuance. It works really, really well. Props to Willy who came up with the idea, and certainly, props to the whole players who brought this concept alive.

For the last song, Adel and The Bass Friends took a joyride with “Fly Me To The Moon”. They kept it simple so they could have fun freely with it.

Props to Bass Friends for expanding the function of bass in a band. Not only to deal with rhythm or groove, bass can create lots of surprises. We hope the band keep running, because we are curious what else they can do with the bass. There are still many things they can do with it, we are waiting to see it the next time we invite them. Keep walking with the bass fellas!

For the last act we featured a new duo, ANJUAN JULIO & HANNA PANDA. This is not just a duo because there are more about them than what you see on the surface; which directly give you the impression that they are good.

First of all, let’s talk about Anjuan. This young man has been shining from many years ago, when he was still a teenager. We knew him first as a swingin’ guitarist, which he was really, really good at, but then later he kind of ‘switch’ into the jazz-rock world. Surprisingly, he shines here in this world much, much better. From his role in AFA Trio to series of projects and now achieving huge success with the group of young wizs The New Blood, he just can never stop shining. Not just bby being unpredictable in pouring the notes, he is also electrifying on stage. That’s why we were surprised when he told us about his new duo, something that we rarely see.

With him in this duo is Hanna Panda. Some of you might have not heard much about her, and that’s okay because she’s considered to be a newcomer into the indie music scene in Bandung, especially jazz. This young lady has breathe music since the beginning of her life and showed her passion in music at least since the kindergarten. She is a self-taught piano player starting from the junior high school. Later she learnt more in Purwacaraka Music School up to grade 3, then enhanced herself with saxophone and other woodwinds such as flute and clarinet as she is currently studying in Universitas Pasundan. Clearly is serious in establishing her career in music, aside from her other wish to become a teacher.

Right after we introduced them, Anjuan and Hanna went bossa with “Diz Que Fui Por Ai”, a classic from 1964 by Nara Leão that’s sung by many singers including Joan Chamorro. Hanna said this song is one of her favorite songs, we could clearly see that by the smile and excitement on her face while singing it. The chemistry between them felt strong, while their skill made them did it effortlessly. The smooth sailing continued on with Hanna’s other favorite, “Moody’s Mood For Love”.
With Anjuan, Hanna built it patiently by emphasizing on the beauty of melody and lyrics.

This duo has unpredictable song choice. For the next song, they surprised us by taking on an old jazzy song which was featured at that time in a compilation cassette Indonesia Jazzy Girls released in 1984, “Bayang Bayang Jingga” by Kiki Maria. For us, this is an interesting choice because then we could see the variety of genres that suits Hanna’s voice very well, also how good the finger works of Anjuan in doing different styles. The theme from Disney’s Mulan, “Reflection” by Christina Aguilera came right after, served sweet in jazz.

Then they took Bee Gees’ evergreen “How Deep Is Your Love”. Juan said that some of the younger listeners might refer it to PJ Morton, and the previous generations maybe remember the song from other singers, but that’s not a problem because this song is indeed beautiful and never out of date. On this one, they sang in duet in the end, which according to them becomes their ritual in any gig they are in. That was the last drop from them.

A lovely moment captured from Anjuan Julio & Hanna Panda’s gig. They kept everything simple and flew freely from the start to the end. They hold on to how beautiful the songs were made yet still naturally making the songs their own. Anjuan and Hanna knows exactly what songs to choose that suit them and the audience, which created one fine session that should satisfy everyone that watch them. Solid chemistry, tight and right on point, sweet, relaxing and romantic, we can’t wait to see what’s more they are going to do next. True, Indonesia has never ran out of duos throughout the years. But there’s always room for the new ones to shine, especially when they are as good as this dynamic duo. Afterall, we can never get tired of great jazz duo, can we?

Since we still got a little time left, we quickly opened the jam session. Two of fine young musicians from Bandung, Oce Kamlasi and Eleazar Yoshua came on stage and positioned themselves on drum and guitar. Joe was the bassist, Nico on keys and Anjuan stayed with his guitar. Together they dropped “Billie’s Bounce” in playful mood which brought lots of applause.

Erick Gabe took the mike on the next song, Chick Corea’s “Spain”. It’s interesting to see them got their solo run one after another. They were also able to bring it neat, as if they already rehearsed many times. Anjuan gave a lovely flamenco touch in the middle, a move that decorated this act differently. Erick’s scat singing in the end was spectacular. A group photo session sealed this edition.

Three unique acts created something special in this 60th edition of Braga Jazz Night. There are simply many, many more to come, we are grateful to see that Bandung has so many talented musicians who have interest in jazz, and we are thankful that they take our stage as one of the important places to write their journey. Big thanks and hugs to all performers, participating musicians, supporters and everyone who came and enjoy this event. We hope to see you again next month. Stay cool, be blessed!

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Reporter and photographer: Riandy Kurniawan .

From one edition to another we try to present the colorful world of jazz by opening our stage for variety of bands to play on. It works two ways. On one side we are letting the public see how wide jazz style is, on the other side we are supporting young musicians, not just giving them the ground to play but also promoting them in our website and social medias. By doing so, we hope they could have a good start and have successful career in the future. That’s what filling our mind in every edition of the on-going Braga Jazz Night, and before we realize, we have reached the 61st edition. That’s equal to almost 5 years in service.

For Braga Jazz Night #61 we invited three bands that we think represent our idea well. One is a project based on our wish to push a talented young pianist to be a band leader, one is a unique multi-national duo sharing huge interest in jazz-ethnomusicology, and one is an indie band that’s currently taking one step further with a single. This edition was held on 18 July 2019 in our ground zero, the Braga CityWalk.

The indie band was the first to go. The band’s called HUNI (in English: Occupancy). They use the name not for without reason. The members are inspired by a philosophy that despite of different background found in human’s life, all can live in harmony side by side under one roof.

The band was born not too long ago, almost exactly just a year ago. Erfan ‘Pehung’ Iksan Fauzi (vocal), Fajar RM (kajon), Alan ‘Ibonk’ Marlan (bass), Dado (guitar) and Iwank Ux (guitar) came from different musical background and decided to establish a band without taking side to any genre, rather trying to create a different kind of music by combining each of their musical preference. According to Dado, each of them has to spread the spirit of goodness inside the band and able to ‘translate’ it to be felt by their audience.

Huni has their first single titled “Duniaku” ready. it will be launched sometimes around next month. We heard about this band from its vocalist Pehung when he performed in this event with his pop jazz band SavaSika a couple of months ago. We know him as an expressive and dynamic singer, we think their music is cool, so we’d love to bring them in.

Huni connected us with nature right from the start with their upcoming single, “Duniaku”. “It’s weird to sing in front of many people, in the middle of the city, not in front of trees and grass where we used to do”, Erfan joked, but their songs in fact best to listen when you are celebrating sunrise inside the green nature. So serene, peaceful and mind-wandering.

The second song was “Karya Tuhan”, another original song that has a really sweet, good-feeling melody. We know how good Erfan’s falsetto voice is to go with jazz, but it’s proved to be perfect to carry on this music as well, if not even better. The mellow mood went deeper with “Konsumsi Nada-Nada Sendu”, placing us deeper into the serenity of a dream.

“Enough talking about the nature, let’s talk about man.” said Erfan. They delivered “Lumpuh”, another well-written original that’s presented effortlessly. For the last song, Huni sang a famous hit of an indie band that’s featured in ‘Filosofi Kopi 2’ soundtrack, Zona Nyaman” by FourTwnty. These boys know exactly where their music lies, that makes them able to pick the right song to go with when they feel like covering. Some of the audience sang along with them with smile painted on their faces.

Since we base our concept not on ‘jazz by genre’ but ‘jazz by spirit’, once in a while we invite non jazz band that is still relevant to the grand design of our concept. Huni brings something folk-based, yet has strong signature of their own. They bring in good music, they play really nice, but that’s not all because we also love the way they are connected to nature, and the way they rule the stage even by sitting.

It’s like a breath of fresh air to have a band like this participating, because as Huni wants the band to be a home that’s able to spread good values of life, we hope our stage can become a home for every musician to find their potential, share their positive life values to others and find their momentum to a successful career.

The second act was a project made by a talented female keyboardist, Sheira. The band’s called PLAN B PROJECT.

Sheira has played a couple of times as a part of several different bands in this event. We saw big potential in her and sugggested her to take a further step to be a band leader. We believe this will bring the best in her and stimulate her to grow fast. At this moment she is going to finish her study at the STiMB soon, so she must be busy. Yet she still managed to build this project as a response to our suggestion.

If you wonder what Plan B is, it’s the name of her duo with her siblings when she was still in her hometown, Palembang. This band gained quite a reputation back then, but since Sheira moved to Bandung to study, the band was hybernated for the time being. Since the duo means a lot to her, she decided to use the name in her brand new project.

In this project she brings in her college mates from STiMB, from junior to senior. All of them love fusion, but in this band she doesn’t closed off the possibility of playing other genres too, which for us could add up more excitement. The lineup are Sheira (keyboard), Ian Kalangie (drum), Arya (bass), Arbiyasa Witha Pramara Adhi (guitar) and Valent Angeline Gumolung (vocal). According to Sheira, this project actually has a saxophonist, but since the player won’t be able to make it, she proceed with the rest of the team.

Showing how much she respects her mates, she introduced them one by one before they played any note. Sheira has a sweet talking voice, she loves to smile, but don’t be fooled because once she’s positioned behind the keyboard, she turns into merciless, ferocious lioness. Look at her, she didn’t just use a keyboard, but also a synthesizer positioned on the top of the board.

Plan B Project started with a big bang, roaring loud by using Bob James’ collection. They turned this song into a battlefield where they unleashed madness, jazz-rock style. It was a strong opening that brought them a lot of audience in no time.

After the first instrumental number, Sheira called Valent to join them on stage. They took Isyana’s big hit “Keep Being You”. You think you know the song, sure, it’s familiar. But Plan B did a very cool rearrangement to suit their rebelious fusion soul, that’s including a badass jazz-rock intro. What’s amazing is that, if you haven’t heard the original version, you would believe that it was made that way.

Valent left the stage again, giving the band to surf with another instrumental song. This time it was from Barry Likumahuwa titled “SHRTL”, a song listed in the album “Bass Heroes 2” re-released for the International Jazz Day last year. We don’t know if they rehearsed or not, but this one gave us the joy of watching a jam session due to its openess and free-flowing execution, surprisingly delivered neat and tight, even with the rapid tempo changing found in it. She exploded with her synth in this one. We are sure, if Barry saw them, he would be proud to see how they interpret the song.

The last song probably gave the biggest surprise. With Valent back on stage, they played Raisa’s most popular song, “Could It Be”. Just like how they did with Isyana’s song earlier, they rearranged this one into fusion. Why we say surprise is because they built this song with lots of syncopated tutti statements. It must be difficult especially for the Valent to sing under this kind of composition, and it won’t be easy for the band to execute it as well. But Sheira and her mates successfully served the idea clean. It’s interesting to see how they use this sweet pop jazz song into a fun action-packed fusion party.

After noticing her great finger works, now we see Sheira’s new role as a band leader. With this move, she could have more rooms to explore which for us shows how good she is. Her colleagues did a marvelous job in backing her up, proving once again that any students and alumni of STiMB do possess good skill. Surprising arrangement, wild execution. In metaphor, if she were a dart player, she didn’t just throw the dart bullseye, she also destroyed the board. We will continue pushing her. If she maintains this project, we will definitely bring it again in next editions.

What would happen when two mad brains unite? They came from the different side of the world, yet they do share some things in common. That is, to go boldly exploring the multi-dimensional music, especially where jazz and ethnic collides. In our wildest dream, we once thought they would create madness if they work together, and voila, they actually do! And how wonderful it is to be able to bring them in for their debut. That’s the collaboration between Jason Limanjaya and Otto Stuparitz. The duo is simply called JASON & OTTO, creating one helluva final for this edition.

Jason is certainly no stranger to us since he’s been involving with our event almost right away after he came back from Singapore, at that time still for holiday. It’s fascinating to see him moving from New Equinox, Nayra Dharma, his own Jason Limanjaya Trio to The New Blood, plus a couple of projects in the middle. Apart of his expessive and catchy appearance on stage, this man is innovative. He never stops trying to produce something new which for us interesting because he’s like standing on two worlds: jazz and ethnic musics.

Otto Stuparitz is an American who has big interest in the richness, variety and uniquity of traditional music found in Indonesia, also the history of Indonesian music including, or particularly jazz. well, not just interested, he has been spending many years to dig it deep, artistically and scientifically, which makes him has to go back and forth from Los Angeles to Indonesia. Graduated from the University of illinois majoring Music History, he continued to the Ethnomusicology at the University of California, finishing it with a paper exploring “Balinese Gamelan Pedagogies, Value and Time: The Co-Existence of Punctuated Time and Capitalism.” He’s Advanced to Candidacy (Completion of Ph.D excpected June 2020) at the University of California. One thing you got to know, he speaks Bahasa fluently.

He holds many honors and awards from UCLA where he’s been serving as a teacher for around a decade. He is also active in giving presentations mostly about Indonesian music particularly jazz and ethnic,from the corelation between “Balinese Gamelan and Jazz” at the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance at UCLA (2017), “Java Jazz: Activist Archives and the Politics of Preservation at the Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal Land en Volkenkunde, Leiden, Netherlands in 2018, “The Indonesian Jazz Archive: Indonesian Jazz as Ethnic Music” to “Gender and Class in Rhoma Irama’s Dangdut Films from 1977-1980” and “Women and Class” from the same subject.

Taking position facing each other on stage made them able to communicate through eyes, body gesture other than just what they produced with their instrument. From the start, they directly showed how they broke the boundaries between traditional Eastern and modern Western just by using normal instruments. Look at the way they transformed “Bapang Selisir”- a Balinese ancient musical form with the unique scale/mode – that usually played with gamelan to fit the bass and keyboard. If that’s already bizzare, think of their decission to progress this song to find Bing Slamet’s gem, “Nurlela”. It’s kind of difficult to put what they did into words, but just imagine two guys throwing their notes nonstop in pelog scale with Nurlela being trapped inside. We’re like, “oh my God..” , and Otto actually said that the title is “Bapang Selisir Rasa OMG”. Insane and ground-breaking. That’s absolutely a OMG.

They punched our soul again with Jason’s new composition, “Blues-ukan”, a ‘bluesy’ spin from ‘blusukan’, a Javanese word popularized by the President Joko Widodo meaning impromptu visit. While the sound really well describes the way Mr President does the blusukan, technically speaking it appears as a new sound. “Actually it’s a 12-bar Blues Funk in G, but I use new idiom that I currently develop, using all pelog scale. The point is, I’m trying to make new sound from an overused platform” Jason explained. So you can imagine how different the sound is. If blues was invented in Java instead of New Orleans, this might be the sound, we thought. Jason furthermore said that the idea’s been there in his head for the last two years, but it all came real after he exchanges knowledge with Otto and got Otto’s expertise in Balinese gamelan.

As they love messing around, the third and last song got the title “Barang-Barang Paling Disukai”, which in English translated as “My Favorite Things.” Ring the bell? Sure, it’s a famous song you found in the movie Sound of Music. But these ‘deranged’ dudes made it sound like never before: building it fully with pelog, Just like the first two songs, they teased, challenged and filled each other creating an intense flow. While saying pelog scale, you could still clearly notice that it’s jazz. Again, it’s difficult for us to translate it into words, especially since they find the magic to make it as one entity. Loud applause and cheers were thrown at them.

Amazing, inspiringly innovative, Jason and Otto shows that there are still things can be done by using the same number of notes. Isn’t it insane to run the 12-bar blues funk in G using pelog scale? And that’s just a start, because then they kept on surprising us by making such rearrangements like no other. If you think two is empty, with this duo two is a crowd, because suddenly you don’t even care how many of them with that kind of presentation.

We asked Otto about the possibility that some of the audience might not realize how big their creation really is, and Otto said, “It’s okay. Just let them hear and figure out how amazing and precious their traditional music really is.”

Jazz always opens up possibilities, and when two expert innovators jump into it, a new world could be opened through free-and-fun-flowing notes. No western and eastern, no modern and traditional, it’ simply Jason and Otto’s music, a dimension where jazz and ethnic – and everything in between – no longer can be separable. We are proud that something like this happen on our soil.

Another cool edition is written. We thank every performing musicians, all supporters and of course the audience for making this Braga Jazz Night #61 hit the spot. For the next stop we are making a special edition to celebrate the Indonesia’s Independence Day by bringing in some of the wonderful Indonesian traditional music fused in jazz, from the upper North to the lower Southern part of the archipelago. Stay tuned for more info, do join us!

See more pictures:

Reporter and photographer: Riandy Kurniawan  .