Economist's love affair with jazz

Ridlo Aryanto, Contributor, Yogyakarta

Tony Prasetyantono may be well-known as an economist and researcher at Gadjah Mada University (UGM). But in his hometown of Yogyakarta, he has been bestowed another title: UGM jazz director.

And he is proud to be called "UGM jazz director", a sweet nickname his colleagues gave him for his success in organizing a jazz concert at UGM campus on April 19, 2003.

Tony's colleagues at the UGM Inter-University Center for Economic Studies were not overestimating him. Back in 1987, along with the UGM jazz music lovers community, Tony -- then a junior economics lecturer -- organized his first jazz concert on campus.

Then he managed to bring in the famous jazz personalities, Karimata Band, saxophonist Embong Rahardjo and vocalist Ruth Sahanaya. The show drew an audience of 2,500.

"But because we were not experienced then, we suffered a Rp 5 million deficit," Tony recalls with a laugh.

Tony, who obtained his master's degree in economics from Pennsylvania University, Philadelphia, U.S., was not deterred. He decided to make the jazz concert an annual event called "jazz- comes-to-campus", which lasts to today.

The latest show was on April 19. Titled UGM-Bank Bukopin Smooth Jazz Concert, it featured famous artists Harvey Malaiholo, Syaharani, Glenn Fredly and Idang Rasjidi. It drew an audience of 4,000 and was broadcast live by Yogyakarta's TVRI.

"I think only around 500 of them were real jazz maniacs, with the rest crowding only as a 'floating mass'," he says. According to the economics columnist, apart from the loss in its opening year, the program later made fair gains and the recent event still left Rp 8 million for next year.

An economist critical of the nation's various economic issues, Tony has been a speaker of seminars in different countries.

He represented Indonesia in the Taking Nature Into Account delegation (Green Accounting for National Income) held by the World Wildlife Fund, besides the European Parliamentary Conference and the Club of Rome in Brussels (1995) and the Consultative Group on Indonesia Conference in Paris (1994).

In August he will speak at the Asian Economic Conference at Singapore's National University and in September in Indonesia Update Conference at the Australian National University, Canberra.

His research and analysis have turned out lots of books including Anthology of the Indonesian Economy (1990), Fiscal Policy in Indonesia: Substance and Urgency (1994), Some Agendas on the Indonesian Economy (1995), Getting Out of Crisis: Indonesian Economic Analysis (2000) and BLBI: Liquidity Support and Expensive Lesson for the Indonesian Economy (1998), the last two being in high demand among economics students.

How he is so crazy about Jazz? "In my view, jazz reflects democratization in music. All players are free to make artistic expressions through their instruments, skills and tones, by which a song can be presented in different rhythms and versions. Improvisation is an important characteristic of this music," he explains.

As a De Britto High School student in Yogyakarta, he was a fan of America's top jazz musician Michael Frank in 1977, though his music was not yet as intricate as that of current big names.

Being conversant with local and world-class jazz musicians and collecting hundreds of jazz compact disks do not seem enough for Tony to prove his great zeal for the music. When he rose to fame as an Indonesian economist in 1992, Yogya's Geronimo-FM radio invited him to join an interactive dialog on its economic and business talk show.

"I accepted the offer provided that jazz music of my choice would be played at regular intervals. So I could dictate my musical taste on listeners," he says, laughing.

His move worked, raising the ratings of the talk show broadcast on Mondays from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. His mobility as a much consulted economist has not prevented his availability either. Though Tony has stayed in Canberra for two years for his doctorate program at the Australian National University, he could still speak on the show on the telephone.

"It the only opportunity to listen to my favorite songs with Yogya citizens. I purposely give no other choice and they turn out to become familiar with jazz," said the single-child father born in Muntilan in 1962.

The campus jazz concert and talk show are Tony's concrete steps to enhance jazz appreciation in society, particularly among Yogya's students.

"As this music has remained a minority in Indonesia, jazz musicians cannot prosper yet. I wish to improve the image of jazz in Yogyakarta and Indonesia. Next year I'm going to invite jazz icons Diana Krall, Dave Koz or Casiopea to perform with Indra Lesmana and Luluk Purwanto in the UGM boulevard."

His obsession will of course be easier to realize with more companies as sponsors. "If necessary I will suggest that Ireng Maulana's JakJazz (Jakarta jazz festival) move to Yogya for its shows to prevent further losses and change its stage name into 'Jogjazzkarta Concert'...", adds Tony, who will stay in Yogya until July to finalize his dissertation on the privatization of state owned enterprises.