Musicians rejoice at return of jazz festival<\/p>\n
M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The prayers of Indonesian jazz musicians for a major scale
\nmusical event has finally been answered with the return of an
\ninternational jazz festival in the capital, after a very long
\nabsence of such an event.<\/p>\n
Scores of jazz musicians have warmly welcomed the first
\ninternational Java Jazz, slated for between March 4 and March 6,
\nthat will feature big names from the jazz scene such as George
\nDuke, Earth Wind & Fire, Incognito, Tania Maria and the
\n`Godfather of Soul' James Brown, as well as dozens of bands and
\nmusicians from the Indonesian jazz scene.<\/p>\n
Piano player Riza Arshad said that the planned festival would
\nbreathe new life into the local jazz scene, which in past years
\nhas suffered from a lack of noteworthy musical events.<\/p>\n
\"We are glad about this festival. We have longed for this kind
\nof festival and finally it materializes in the midst of our
\ncountry's myriad problems and uncertainty,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Riza, along with his fusion band Simak Dialog, is expected to
\nperform on the first day of the festival.<\/p>\n
\"I am hopeful that this festival will run year after year,\"
\nRiza added.<\/p>\n
Drummer Gilang Ramadhan, the country's equivalent of session
\ndrum player Hal Blaine, said that the festival indicates that
\nthere were still people in the country who cared about jazz music
\nand worked hard to realize their passion.<\/p>\n
\"We are very enthusiastic about the festival. However, I
\nprefer to just be a performer on stage, because I can imagine how
\ndifficult it must be to organize a festival of this scale,\"
\nGilang said.<\/p>\n
Bassist Bintang Indrianto concurred with Gilang, saying that
\nit must have been an uphill struggle for the organizers to bring
\nthe jazz festival to life.<\/p>\n
\"I have nothing to say but 'thank you' for the festival,\" said
\nBintang, who will be performing at the festival with renown
\npuppeteer Sudjiwo Tedjo, chronicling the development of jazz in
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
Despite repeated warnings against traveling to Indonesia,
\ntwenty two international musicians have confirmed their
\nparticipation at the Java Jazz festival, along with over 80
\nperformers from the local jazz scene, making it the largest jazz
\nmusic festival ever to be staged here.<\/p>\n
Dozens of stages will be used simultaneously, erected inside
\nthe Jakarta Convention Center (JCC) in Senayan, Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The last time the country had a noteworthy annual jazz
\nfestival was in 1997, when Jakjazz was staged for the last time,
\njust prior to the severe financial crisis that hit the country
\nhard.<\/p>\n
Aside from the rather inferior Jazz Goes to Campus (JGTC), the
\nlongest-running jazz event in the country, local jazz musicians
\nhave few avenues to display and develop their musicianship. This
\nhas resulted in a perception among the general public that jazz
\nwas the preserve of a limited group of people.<\/p>\n
The mastermind behind Java Jazz, jazz aficionado Peter F.
\nGontha, said that he could foresee the event being staged
\nroutinely on an annual basis, with another festival of similar
\nscale being planned for 2006.<\/p>\n
\"I can assure you that Java Jazz will be an annual festival
\nthat will be around a long time,\" he said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/musicians-rejoice-at-return-of-jazz-festival-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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