Jak Jazz '95 is over but the grumbling continues<\/p>\n
By Remy Sylado<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Jak Jazz 95 is over, but the grumbling
\ncontinues. The successful performers, who encountered no problems
\nduring the international jazz festival, said nothing. The less
\nsuccessful participants, however, blame the organizers.<\/p>\n
The complaints mainly concerned the stages, which were divided
\ninto one main stage and several secondary stages. The main stage
\nwas reserved for guest musicians; those with a name.<\/p>\n
The stage issue began a month before Jak Jazz started when the
\norganizing committee invited noted musicians and journalists to a
\ngathering at a restaurant. If the stages had been thoroughly
\ndiscussed then, the numerous complaints from performers, first
\nover the stages, and then over the unorganized rehearsals and the
\norganizers' obvious preference for certain groups, may have been
\navoided.<\/p>\n
Indonesian pianist Bubbi Chen was the most vocal. From the
\nbeginning he let it be known that he wasn't happy with the
\ndivision of the stages. The rule was ignored anyway, with
\nJapanese performers Jimsaku and Tekeshi Ito, who were not slated
\nto perform on the main stage, making two unscheduled appearances.<\/p>\n
Ben Pasaribu, a musician and a lecturer at a university owned
\nby the Batak Christian Church in Medan, accused the organizing
\ncommittee of lacking national pride.<\/p>\n
\"To honor a guest, we should offer him a chair, but don't let
\nhim have a seat while the host has to sit on a mat,\" Ben said.<\/p>\n
The sound system, the \"breath of musicians\", also took a
\nbeating from the local musicians. Tan Deseng from Bandung was
\nupset and played only one number before hastily leaving for his
\nhometown. He felt victimized since he was denied the time to
\nrehearse or do a sound check. He waited four hours on the first
\nday to do a check but didn't get a chance.<\/p>\n
\"We played a mess,\" said Deseng. In a telephone conversation
\nhe also said that the agreed fee of Rp 3 million had been cut to
\nRp 2.5 million.<\/p>\n
It was anticipated that musicians with ethnic orientation
\nwould present some alternatives to the international festival.
\nThe name of Tan Deseng, who had received acclaim during the
\n\"Magnificent Seven Guitarist\" at the Jamz pub a month earlier,
\npitifully sank at the musical event.<\/p>\n
In his place came Dwiki Dharmawan, who also married jazz with
\nlocal beats. Dwiki earned honorable place at the music festival.
\nHis music gracefully united East with West, and he played on the
\nmain stage.<\/p>\n
The domination of the main stage by the guest musicians
\ncreated envy. Bill Saragih, the key figure at the festival, also
\nvoiced concern with the division of stages. He regretted the
\norganizing committee did not book local musicians on the main
\nstage. The main stage was reserved for performers like Earl
\nKlugh, Arturo Sandoval & Latin Train, Surface band. They graced
\nthe stage three times each while Carol Kidd got one crack at it.<\/p>\n
Jak Jazz chairman Ireng Maulana didn't even show up on the
\nlast day of the festival, or at least didn't answer a request to
\ncome up on stage.<\/p>\n
During the closing program, veteran Bill Opung (grandpa)
\nSaragih, proved he was still the best local entertainer. Hearing
\nhis jokes, the audience, who were exhausted and ready to go home,
\ngot excited.<\/p>\n
His jazz style -- as he always says: \"First play jazz
\nproperly\" -- is a historical walk through jazz from old New
\nOrleans to today. His years of overseas experience showed other
\nIndonesian musicians how to entertain.<\/p>\n
Jazz has a special audience, quite different from pop and rock
\nlovers, not to mention dangdut enthusiasts. And even though Jak
\nJazz featured Otto Sidharta, Yazeed Djamin and Ben Pasaribu, jazz
\nshould be presented properly because the music, however universal
\nit is, can not be torn from its American roots. That is why Bill
\nSaragih looked more original in the American context during the
\nclosing program.<\/p>\n
A Indonesian context for jazz has never been discussed, even
\nthough \"culture with national context\" was behind the
\nInternational Marxism propaganda of the Old Order government. In
\nthose days - and its echo still reverberates -- the combination
\nof anything local with anything from the West was baptized as a
\nnew perspective towards the national culture.<\/p>\n
The idea resurfaced at this year's Jak Jazz; with questionable
\nresults.<\/p>\n
If traditional jazz music is transferred directly without
\nvision, creativity, imagination or acculturation then it can
\nclearly be regarded as a foreign. Since Indonesians are being fed
\nwith mounds of nationalist, yet confusing slogans, like \"Love
\nLocal Products\", local musicians face a difficult problem.<\/p>\n
It is easily forgotten that people will purchase the original
\nbefore the imitation. It is much more exciting to listen to the
\nreal Louis Armstrong than a sound-alike. Indonesian musicians'
\nhabit of imitating foreign performers reveals that they remain
\nstagnant and cannot acculturate.<\/p>\n
If Indonesian musicians continue to imitate Miles Davis,
\nGeorge Shearing, Dizzy Gillespie, Barney Kessel, and so on,
\nmusical vision will not develop in Indonesia.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/jak-jazz-95-is-over-but-the-grumbling-continues-1447893297",
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