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)