French accordionist back in town to amuse local audiences

French accordionist back in town to amuse local audiences

By Johannes Simbolon

JAKARTA (JP): It would seem that Dominique Bodin has come at
an inopportune time.

The accordion has all but disappeared and few, if any,
musicians use the instrument in performances any longer.

But such a virtuoso as Bodin revives its magical lure.

Jakarta's music lovers can now witness the magic every night
at the newly-opened Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza hotel.

Bodin creates a really different atmosphere in Jakarta's
nightlife with the sound of his instrument, style of performance
and, last but not least, his rapport with the audience.

Carrying his silvery-colored accordion and wearing an exotic
pandanus-leaf hat and a red bandana around his neck, Bodin
gracefully stepped from one table to another like a dancer,
throwing friendly smiles and glances to patrons at the spacious
Beranda cafe on the hotel's second floor.

Various melodies from pop, tango, waltz and classical music
filled the air while guests dined and sipped drinks.

Guests may request any melody. Bodin seemed to have an endless
repertoire and had no difficulty in meeting all the requests.

"This accordion isn't in fact suitable for classical music. I
usually play classics with another accordion of mine, a bigger
one, which I left in Paris," Bodin told The Jakarta Post.

But I felt the classical numbers he played on the accordion he
brought with him sounded just fine. When he played one number,
the "grand" feeling -- the kind of feeling usually felt during
orchestra performances -- filled the room.

"It feels so great," commented a customer.

Bodin continued playing his accordion and moving from table to
table. Jakarta audiences became accustomed to his style of
performance long ago. Street singers here also use the technique
of approaching listeners one by one. Although Bodin of course did
not ask for money afterwards, and he sometimes stopped for a
while to chat with his listeners.

Bodin talks the way his accordion plays music: quietly and in
a romantic way.

Born in Tours in 1957, Bodin has played here several times
before. Many people may remember him performing here on other two
occasions, each for two weeks in the Borobudur Hotel in 1979 and
1980. His gigs were so successful that the Sari Pacific hotel
called him to play in 1980.

"Jakarta is now very different from the time I first came
here. It was like countryside. Now it already becomes a city," he
recalled.

Jakarta has special meaning for him because it was here that
he first played overseas.

He recalled the then Borobudur hotel manager, a Frenchman, was
seeking a qualified accordionist to play at the hotel. Through a
relative, the manager managed to contact celebrated French
musician Marcel Azolla. Azolla proposed his student, Bodin, who
had won numerous awards and had been voted best accordion player
in France three years earlier.

"When he (Azolla) asked if I would like to go to Indonesia, I
was confused, asking him 'Where is Indonesia?'" Bodin admitted.

Bodin didn't anticipate that his performance in Indonesia
would mark the rise of his career. And it rose uniquely.

His first overseas performance introduced him to the community
of hoteliers and it was these people who gradually and
"unintentionally" promoted him throughout the world.

Hotel managers are regularly moved from one hotel to another
in different countries. One hotel manager was so impressed with
Bodin that he asked him to perform at any hotel where he was
posted.

Patrick G. Fiat, the general manager of the Holiday Inn Crowne
Plaza, is one hotelier who has repeatedly invited Bodin to play
at hotels under his management.

"As such, I have acted as his agent, although without payment"
Patrick told the Post jokingly.

Bodin has played in numerous concerts, as well as at hotels,
almost all over Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the Carribean.

He has composed around 200 compositions and recorded tens of
albums under the WEA publishing companies. He is accompanied by
the Paris Philharmonic Orchestra in some albums. In Japan alone,
the albums have sold around 300,000 copies.

He has a band in Paris, where he plays either the accordion or
piano.

"I play piano too. But I don't play it here because there is
no speciality in that. All hotels I have visited throughout the
world have pianists," said Bodin.

Bodin's performance with his accordion creates a different
atmosphere. He holds his accordion with commitment.

His father aspired to be a great accordionist and failed, but
his dream aspired his son.

That's why, although many musicians all over the world have
pushed the instrument aside, Bodin will always stick to it.