'Dangdut' steals the show on Jakjazz 1997
JAKARTA (JP): Traditional Indonesian dangdut music stole the show on the opening night of Jakjazz 1997 at the Soemantri Brodjonegoro youth center, South Jakarta, last night.
Farid Hardja, dangdut singers Hamdan AT, and pop singer Trie Utami, all members of the Trakebah, Gadogado Ngetop TV show, took center stage as the annual jazz festival got underway.
Festival chief organizer Ireng Maulana and general chairman Peter Gontha defended their presence.
"Dangdut listeners may think it's only dangdut, but it has jazz elements too and it gets a positive reception abroad. We brought dangdut here to promote this kind of music and not for commercial purposes," Gontha said.
"We brought Trakebah onto the stage to address the charges that Jakjazz excludes Indonesian ethnic music," he added.
In previous years, the festival also gave an "Indonesian identity" by presenting nonjazz Indonesian music on the first night.
Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono, a known jazz buff, officially opened Jakjazz 1997 at Bengkel Night Park discotheque in South Jakarta Thursday night, but the real festival only began yesterday at the youth center.
Although Jakarta has hosted the festival many times, it was still a chaotic opening night.
The show began two hours late, and Trakebah played to an audience of about 100 people on Stage A.
There were also last-minute unannounced changes in the schedule.
Incognito, the British swinging group known for its acid jazz, almost lived up to its name. The group had been billed as the highlight of the first night but were absent because they had not rehearsed since arriving on Thursday.
Incognito is now scheduled to play tonight.
Its place was filled by Total Touch from the Netherlands.
One highlight of the evening was the performance of Japanese group Jimsaku and Watanabe, which had originally been scheduled to appear tonight. It played to a packed audience on stage B in the hockey hall.
LA All Star was another main attraction of the evening. It was scheduled to play at midnight. This group consists of members of the celebrated Earth Wind and Fire which was initially scheduled to take part in the event.
With sponsorship from media mogul Peter Gontha, the organizers are forking deeper into their pockets this year to bring in foreign participants and make the event a success.
At Rp 2.5 billion ($760,000), it is considered to be the most expensive ever Jakjazz.
"Incognito, Total Touch and Dave Koz ask between $40,000 and $50,000 each," said Gontha, whose Jamz jazz club sponsored this year's festival and will likely to be involved again next year.
The organizers hope to recoup their money from ticket sales and renting out kiosks to traders who sell everything from memorabilia to food and drink.
There are 40 booths, 20 were rented out for Rp 1.5 million and the others for Rp 2.5 million each. The organizers hope to collect Rp 80 million from the booth rentals.
By last night, the organizers had sold only 14,000 of the 33,000 tickets it printed. Ticket cost for Rp 50,000 for one night, or Rp 125,000 for the entire three nights. (team)
Total touch -- Page 9