The last performance in Jazz Buzz Salihara 2018 by progressive rock band Trodon brought unrelenting hard beat and the harshest sound you could expect in the genre, but in a melodic arrangements. They incorporate ear-piercing hard rock with the harmonic tones of classic and modern composition notable in video games. Continue reading Jazz Buzz last day: Trodon
It took a year for Adra Karim and John Navid to prepare a collaborative work in a duo called Mirak Div. They recalled Tony Prabowo, a music composer with contemporary taste, whose initiative led to the group formation, and later they accepted the invitation to play in his annual event, and eventually staged their maiden performance in Jazz Buzz Salihara 2018. Continue reading Pianist and drummer experimental collaboration in Jazz Buzz 2018
Jazz Buzz is an annual music program by Komunitas Salihara since 2012 that aim the spotlight at the contemporary compositions seldom heard in any regular concerts. think archipelago is a proud media partner of the music festival which runs from 17 February until 25 February 2018. Continue reading The upcoming 2018 Jazz Buzz Salihara
Even a prominent Indonesian female jazz singer such as Dira Sugandi coiuld make a confession in front of the sitting crowd who filled up the concert hall at JIExpo Kemayoran, Jakarta, and also to the big band whom she shared the stage with, about how difficult it is here to make a living in jazz. Continue reading She ain’t quitting
Imanissimo made a closing performance in Jazz Buzz Salihara 2017, the same time they announced the launch of their latest album Enigma. Continue reading Last no least in Jazz Buzz Salihara
Arief Winanda, who is currently preoccupied with the development of urban art discipline in Institut Kesenian Jakarta (IKJ), has wit and, at times, cracking humor, in his show on Saturday night as part of Jazz Buzz Salihara 2017. Continue reading Xylophonist takes center stage in Salihara jazz event
The Italian a capella group of five, Mezzotono, performed in front of the public audience they claimed to be the greatest under the concert title “The Mezzotono Show” in Ice Palace hall, Jakarta, 29 September. Continue reading Sing and laugh it out lout in Mezzotono’s a capella show
The article first appeared in Indonesia Jazz Review, 2 May 2015
From swing to bebop, acid, and the further rapid evolution of jazz when the western world brought it on board of the trade ships to meet Indonesian vernacular music in the 20s, Lantun Orchestra played their repertoire based on a timeline that tells about each period of the constantly-altering musical genre. Their live performance When Betawi Meets Jazz in @america, Jakarta, 30 April, started with the 1929 song Ain’t Misbehavin by Fats Waller, before moving to another era of bebop which was popularized by the 30s era trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie.
The article first appeared on Indonesia Jazz Review, 29 April 2015.
Stefano Bollani simultaneously plays with two piano instruments.
In 1996 Stefano Bollani chose to drop all he has worked for in pop since he first took a professional path at his teenage years, and in his solo concert at Usmar Ismail Hall, Jakarta, 28 April, the Italian pianist showed his aptitude, more of nurtured than inherent, after over 15 years of dedication in jazz. He left traces of his childhood aspiration to become a singer by singing a couple of songs in melancholy for Jakarta audience, meanwhile he was sure not to let them miss the anticipation having him played out one of his best talents: swing, especially after his last performance in Jakarta seven years ago.
The article first appeared on Indonesia Jazz Review, 17 March 2015.
Swing Boss Jazz Band dedicated itself since it was founded in 2014 to promote Indonesian vernacular songs in a unique arrangements combining jazz and bossa nova. Given that jazz emerges from an alternative cultural expression of folk songs developed by a particular group of immigrants in the US, the seven members of the band applies similar approach in the modern Indonesia, a diverse country where they can find abundant cultural reference for their works, such as folk songs from the eastern province of Maluku, Sulawesi, to Java. The latter became the theme of their performance in Galeri Indonesia Kaya, Jakarta, on Sunday, 16 March 2015.
Popular traditional Javanese folk songs such as Rek Ayo Rek and Suwe Ora Jamu showcased their creativity to make rural culture more receptive to urban trends. As the host repeteadly uttered in the opening words, “this is the real Java jazz,” alluring to the recently held International Java Jazz Festival 2015, the biggest regular jazz event in the country, but dominated by global pop culture instead of identifying local character. Talking about local identity, exceptional 30 year-old singer Sruti Respati, also in the same spirit to increase the popularity of Indonesian folk songs among the pop-influenced Indonesian public, sang Gundul Pacul and Gambang Suling in a classic style, but in harmony with the band’s play.
Continue reading “The real Java Jazz”
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