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.