Campus jazz fest marks 17 years

Campus jazz fest marks 17 years

JAKARTA (JP): Jazz Goes to Campus (JGTC), the University of
Indonesia's annual jazz concert, celebrated its 17th anniversary
by thrilling some music lovers and disappointing others last
Saturday.

For the second time in its history, the concert was held on
the new vast campus of the University's School of Economics in
Depok. The event used to be held in the university's
amphitheater.

JGTC gave the audience of 3,000 people, mostly from the middle
class, a mixture of fusion, blues, and ethnic-jazz that was
performed by top Indonesian jazz musicians, such as Bill Saragih
and members of the Jakarta All Stars, Java Jazz and the Krakatau
Band.

Although the festival satisfied the majority of the audience,
the fans of Coco York faced a big disappointment. The Dutch jazz
star, whom fans say has the voice of an angel, did not show up as
scheduled.

"She's having a problem with her visa," one of the committee
members explained.

This festival was meant to celebrate the event's "sweet 17th"
anniversary with a display of its journey from the past to the
present. But the 17 years of experience weren't as noticeable as
some jazz fans might have hoped.

Some complained that there were too many ear-buzzing mistakes
with the sound-system for a concert of its experience and status.

"The sound-system was terrible. There were an array of
disruptions just to fix the sound that made the event longer than
scheduled," Ismail, a student from Depok, said.

"And I think the committee did not expect it would go on till
dark," he commented when the entertainment continued without
proper lighting.

Besides providing a flashback to the past, JGTC had another
mission. The event wanted to prove that jazz music is not only
for yuppies and other upper class members, a phenomenon happening
in Jakarta today.

Tickets were sold for Rp 2,000, a very low price for an event
that presented several leading local jazz stars and guaranteed
each ticket holder a bonus pack of cigarettes from the sponsor.

What with the general appearance of the crowd, mostly students
of UI and neighboring universities with BMWs, Italian shoes and
Gucci bags, it is difficult to say the concert hit the target in
that respect.

Even though the festival did not function as an arena to
introduce jazz to the grassroots, that did not seem to bother the
audience too much. "We're here to experience the JGTC legend that
has existed among the university students in Jakarta and to watch
the fashion demonstrations from the people that came here," noted
a couple of UI students hailing from Sumatra. (23)