Bumi Sangkuriang Jazz Night : Jazztravaganza

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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