with the news that the first album 11 years the Indonesian pianist Joey Alexander, my favorite things, topped the jazz charts in the first week of output, the Indonesian jazz scene seems to be in a good place entirely in the firmament of jazz.
Joey is undeniably an incredible talent, a prodigy as confirmed when I saw him in concert in 2013. Much is made of his extreme youth, but unfortunately for us, Joey was a fast O-1 visa " for people with an extraordinary capacity " and can not be regarded as Indonesian.
However, there have been, and are, many outstanding jazz musicians here. In the 50s, Bubi Chen (1938-2012), the widely recognized pianist as the "godfather" of the Indonesian jazz, spent two years in the United States to study jazz piano under the tutelage of Teddy Wilson, sometimes accompanying Billie Holiday . Two young drummers, Demas Narawangsa and Sandy Winarta currently studying jazz in the United States; pianist Nial Djuliarso studied both Juilliard and Berklee College of Music. In addition, many talented musicians, such as Sri Hanuraga, Adra and Karim Elfa Zulham, completed their jazz studies in European universities. Indonesian jazz is a story of generations, politics and class structure, yet untold story.
I arrived in Jakarta at the end of the tail of 1987 and as applicant inveterate jazz, progressive rock and the "world music", I soon found myself the scene of the pirate cassette. I traveled extensively across the archipelago in my days of pre-family, from northern Sumatra to Molluccas, and made a point of collecting tapes recorded locally. I came to understand that each region had its own musical traditions, with a range of special instruments, often including electric keyboards. I also discovered that there seemed to be stereotyped jazz; piano, guitar, bass, drums and maybe the saxophone, backing a pop singer whose melodies and lyrics, with the word " cinta 'sprinkled liberally throughout, were always sweet.
According to Professor Royke Koapaha to Yogya ISI, in the 50s and 60s, classical music was considered upmarket and jazz "low end"; to be caught playing, he invited contempt. There was also the war against the Beatles' mid-sixties of President Sukarno and other music influenced west. I could hear was the jazz?
Soeharto's accession to the presidential seat in 1966 leave the chains of anti-Western sentiments "subversive". The following year, after playing a jazz festival in Europe, Indonesian All-Stars, including Bubi Chen and piano Kecapi (Sundanese zither) Jack 'Lemmers' Lesmana (guitar), Marjono, saxophonist and suling (bamboo flute), Jopie Chen (bass) and Benny Mustapha van Diest (drums), recorded an album in Austria with Tony Scott, the American jazz clarinetist and arranger. djanger Bali is now recognized as a seminal album in the history of Indonesian jazz.
After that, it seems to have been a lull in the jazz scene. psychedelic music captured the imagination for a while, then Jack Lesmana is credited with introducing jazz rock in the early 70. This was followed by a prog-rock scene that has lasted to this day. Notable names included the son of Sukarno, Guruh, who in 1976 played gamelan on a recording with a band called Gypsy; the album Guruh Gypsy is now considered a classic.
In 1989, resurfaced ethno-jazz. Bubi Chen, " credited adding an Indonesian flavor to jazz music in particular at a time when President Sukarno despised Western music " may have been the catalyst with the release of his cassettes only album, Kedamaian. Accompanied by zither and bamboo flute, the game runs on Sundanese melodies. In the early 90s, Krakatau, a jazz fusion group led by classically trained pianist Dwiki Dharmawan, consisting of percussion instruments and wind Sundanese, with Western instruments granted Slendro Pelog and scales. The Java Jazz band, formed by keyboardist Indra Lesmana, son of Jack, was to follow. Balinese guitarist Dewa Budjana supervised by Indra, replaced the deceased saxophonist Embong, and the group has built a catalog of songs not only based on technical capacity and the melodic sense, but also their different ethnic backgrounds.
The first JakJazz festival in 1988, coordinated by Maulana Ireng guitarist, was marked by easy listening artists like Lee Ritenour Phil Perry and, with but few really creative groups such as Itchy Fingers UK and Kazumi Watanabe of Japan. Ten years later, the initiative of President Habibie to dissolve the Ministry of Communications may have been the trigger that released the jazz, the music of creative improvisation game. With access to the Internet and the growth in economy of Indonesia since "jazz cafes" have proliferated urban centers and festivals take place throughout the archipelago. Universities and music schools have created jazz departments staffed by professional musicians, many of which were supervised by their "elders".
Jazz is about the community, not individual celebrity status, and mentoring through the generations has been a notable feature of its current dynamism, for example: Jack Lesmana Indra Eva Celia; Benny and Barry Utha Likumahuwa. Riza Arshad, founder of ethno-jazz simakDialog group, said he is particularly proud to have played with Bubi Chen. Riza also studied with Jack and Indra Lesmana; and in turn, he has mentored pianists Alexander and Joey Sri Hanuraga.
self-produced albums Recently, some artists such as simakDialog, Dewa Budjana and Tohpati were released internationally on Moonjune label based in New York. They also recorded albums in the US with A-list western jazz musicians. What is particularly encouraging is the release Moonjune self-produced albums by I Know You Well Miss Clara, Tesla Manaf and the power trio Ligro which really tend the boundaries of the genre. However, few local jazz musicians an outlet other than occasional concerts where fans can buy records.
IndoJazzia was created to support the largest Indonesian jazz community by providing access to information and resources on a community basis.
The site (http://indojazzia.net) also provides a portal for many musicians seeking international exposure and foreign jazz lovers newly aware of the amazing creativity to discover here .
A start was also made on a large project, "History of Indonesia Jazz '. With the first pioneers reaching of their lives tonight, this is intended to be an audiovisual documentary and the book, with the possibility of releasing albums so far not digitized, concert tours and related activities.
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