From 2009 Serambi Jazz has been providing series of quality concerts in Jakarta that involve both great local talents and European artists, mostly from Germany. This event belongs to Goethe-Institut Indonesien with Riza Arshad stands as the curator got so many loyal fans in no time, and said to be one of the most successful overseas programs of Goethe. Riza once said that this event was made as an alternative and complement the already existed events. But what this program brings is more than just that. For example, thanks to Serambi Jazz, the mutual friendship between these two great nations has been re-established through music as one of the art forms-jazz to be exact. The artists who show high commitment to jazz got a good spot to perform in front of the jazz aficionados in Jakarta. Later Serambi Jazz extended its service to reach other cities like Bandung, the capital of West Java and then stretched further to meet Yogyakarta and Surabaya. And that’s a good move, since those cities have many jazz fans too that are thirsty for a high quality event. Serambi Jazz definitely can quench that thirst.
Yogyakarta just got their wish two last July with Duo Project representing Serambi Jazz. Then two months later Surabaya got the chance. The Goethe Institut and Wisma Jerman Surabaya (Goethe-Centre/Goethe-Zentrum Surabaya) proudly presented a stunning band with unique concept, the one that we love to mention as one of the most dynamic bands in terms of musicality, variation and formation: SKETSA. This Serambi Jazz event took place at Ciputra Hall, Performing Arts Centre, Sekolah Ciputra, Puri Widya Kencana, Citraland, Surabaya with good amount of crowds.
Good amount of crowds? Yes. Let’s see some facts. The location of the venue is quite far from central Surabaya, and there were many events ran at the same time. But still, many jazz lovers spent time to be there watching the cool acoustic group from Jakarta.
Serving the opening act was a jazz fusion band from Surabaya named Deny and the Add. Under quintet formation the band released the joy of funky jazz fusion into the atmosphere. After that, madame Birgit Steffan, the Director of Wisma Jerman Surabaya gave the opening speech. And then the main show started right after.
Gerald Hiras Situmorang and Dimas Wibisana, the dynamic duo of Sketsa took their position on stage. Without further ado, they began sailing with the title track of their second album, “Different Seasons”.
Sketsa was originally formed as a duo almost a decade ago (in 2005). That’s the core formation. Just like the name says, the way they play music is like two painters painting as one. What they ‘paint’ on their ‘canvas’ is an connected discussion or heartfelt dialogue that can be enjoyed by anyone. Both have their own role in creating a masterpiece on the same canvas. Two should already be enough, that’s what we might think. But along the journey Gerald and Dimas have been enjoying the dynamic soundscapes through variety of extensions. Gerald once told us that he always needs varieties to avoid stagnation. Moreover, both of them always love to have richer tones by adding up other instruments than guitar. Who could predict that they would stretch the band from just guitar to ‘crowdier’ sounds involving contrabass, violin, percussion, clarinet, accordion and some vocals in adding up some more aestethic taste? But they have done it. Another important thing to note is that in any formations, Sketsa happily flies higher than genre. They serve rich varieties of sound, from jazz, bossanova, folk, pop and ethnics, not separately but in harmony to create enjoyable sounds that fits the ear of anyone who loves music.
For the second song, they called in one more player, Andreas Arianto Yanuar. From duo to trio, that’s right, but hey, Andreas didn’t play the usual instrument found in normal trio, he played accordion and clarinet. Andreas is not a newcomer in Sketsa at all. He’s been playing with the band since 2010 and participated in “Different Seasons”. Other than being a multi-instrumentalist, Andreas Arianto Yanuar is a well-established music producer, arranger and songwriter. You will find him in other successful bands too such as Andre Harihandoyo and Sonic People for example. As a trio, they played the fast-paced country-ish tune, “Horse Race”.
For the third song they played “Try Anything”, a composition that told a story of a man who’d do and try anything to win the heart of someone he truly loves. It started with clarinet that soon filled with the harmony of two guitars. This attempt created a sweet, soft nuance yet dynamic. During the concert they loved to throw jokes or making up funny gestures. Talk about the effort of making everyone felt at ease, they did it really, really well. Or maybe, it wasn’t even an effort since everything flew naturally from them.
In the fourth song, Dimas led the audience to clap their hands and used it as the beat. Andreas took his accordion and played “Cousins.” Not only accordion, Andreas also played clarinet in this one. Meanwhile, Dimas kept reminding the audience to provide the beat with their hands. The 5th song “Up and Down” kind of took the audience into a jolly joyride. Sketsa got a huge applause in this one.
What’s interesting is that Gerald took the chance to introduce his newer group called Gerald Situmorang Trio. With this group he recently released an album entitled “Time is the Answer”. More songs came in such as “Kita Tidak Bisa Mengulang Masa Lalu/Namun Ada Masa Depan”, “Anak Bungsu” (the album version is featuring Tohpati), the title track of the first album “Childhood’s Dream”, “Hop Hop” all the way to reach the end with one of their most popular tracks, “Into the Light”.
Taking Sketsa to Surabaya as the representative of Serambi Jazz was indeed a brilliant decision. This group is filled with experienced young lads that can give warm concert tone. They are explorative and love to spread the wings wide in creating music, yet somehow all pieces are friendly even to common ears. Under the trio formation Sketsa served a very intimate atmosphere. Some songs were melancholy but beautiful, creating the impression of sweet sorrow. “Did you try to close your eyes? I did, and somehow I felt like I was in Paris in the spring time” said one of the audience to us. While the harmonious sounds from two guitars took us into a journey around the globe, accoustically, in crossovers, Andreas’ accordion gave a strong scent of European accoustic scene/scent, just like the musicians you found while streaming along the streets of Paris.
Based on the great, appreciative response given by the crowds, we hope Serambi Jazz to keep Surabaya in the schedule. The good quality concert and players will stimulate and motivate the local musicians to reach their best state. Thank you Sketsa, Serambi Jazz, Goethe Institut and Wisma Jerman Surabaya for a beautiful concert. We loved it! May there be more to come.
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Reporter: Destina Kawanti
Photographer: I Putu Surya KB, Pramadi Wardhana
Editor: Riandy Kurniawan