Gontha, from jazz to action

M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

"When I have an argument with my wife, the moment she threatens not to serve me dinner, this is jazz," said jazz aficionado Peter Frans Gontha when asked to define the musical genre.

He went on to say that all musical genres were in fact jazz when they were not played directly from musical notation. "Rock music is ultimately jazzy, as all the melodies are always twisted and turned before reaching the intended result," he said.

Gontha claims that jazz is no longer confined to a small circle and has in fact proliferated among the general public. There is now even a car named after the musical genre.

Gontha clearly has a profound love and passion for jazz, and this devotion has led the media businessman into a deep involvement in promoting jazz in Indonesia in a variety of ways.

He was the brains behind the now-defunct JakJazz, an annual jazz festival that showcased local talent along with world class performers. With the festival being brought to an abrupt halt in 1997 as a result of the Asian financial crisis ("krismon"), Gontha ventured abroad and took part in organizing the World Port Jazz festival in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

Long before his involvement with the festival, Gontha played a critical role in promoting Indonesian jazz to the outside world. He helped local bands and artists such as Baskara, Krakatau and singer Ruth Sahanya perform in the revered North Sea Jazz Festival in Den Haag, the Netherlands, in the late 1980s.

In his spare time, Gontha has recorded dozens of jazz tunes, sometimes in collaboration with local jazz crooners. He has released a couple of light jazz albums and public response has been quite reasonable.

Now, after being out of the limelight for some time following the demise of JakJazz, Gontha will once again give a pleasant treat to Indonesian jazz lovers.

After six-months of preparation, he last week unveiled the staging of the International Java Jazz Festival that will run from March 4 to March 6, and which will be the biggest jazz festival this country has ever seen.

Over 100 performers representing a diverse range of musical genres will be performing at the festival, including the likes of "godfather of soul" James Brown, neo-soul crooner Eric Benet, piano player George Duke, and Incognito. And this in spite of travel advisories from many countries advising their citizens not to come to Indonesia.

"Let's show the world that in spite of all the media reports -- stating that Indonesia is a corrupt country, rife with political problems and diseases, that has just been struck by a massive natural disaster -- that we are a cultured country. And there is one thing that all these afflictions cannot take away from us: hospitality," Gontha proclaimed.

He said that the festival also aimed to show the world that Indonesia was completely safe for foreigners. "Recently, I watched a news report on CBS that stated that the godfather of soul would perform here and entertain tsunami victims. Although this report was not entirely accurate, it showed that our name was once again recognized and the world is giving us due credibility, " he said.

However, for all this, staging the festival will require a monumental effort.

"I had to work hard to persuade sponsors to engage with the festival, because without them there will no festival," he said, adding that he also had to work hard to attract international artists.

Sponsors play a significant role in paying the bills for the festival. In an effort to draw the largest crowds possible, ticket prices would be relatively low, especially in comparison with ticket prices at jazz festivals abroad.

"In Europe, you can pay up to 100 euro just for one show, but for this festival, concert goers only have to pay on average Rp 200,000 (US$21). With ticket prices so low, we have to rely on our sponsors to foot the bill," he said.

Gontha said that profit was not his prime motivation in organizing Java Jazz, but rather it was his desire to see the festival develop into a stand-out, world-class jazz event.

"This festival has been recently been put on the list of the world's jazz festivals. We are at number 608," he said.

To maintain the longevity of the festival, Gontha pledged that the government would not have even the slightest involvement in organizing the jazz festival. "I don't want this music and this festival to be connected with politics. We don't have to invite the President to open the festival, but if he wants to come along, then of course we will be delighted," he said.

Gontha has apparently learnt from past experience, that even the support of an influential minister in the cabinet of former president Soeharto could not help sustain the former JakJazz festival.

Besides his deep entanglement with jazz, Gontha, a Dutch- educated accountant, was once considered Indonesia's equivalent to media magnate Rupert Murdoch, controlling as he did a number of big media outlets.

He was one of the major shareholders of the SCTV television company, and was a member of the board commissioners for RCTI and TPI. He also owned a number of newspapers and radio stations back then.

Born in Semarang, Central Java in 1948, Gontha nurtured his business acumen at the American Express Bank from 1979 to 1983. Afterwards he joined PT Bimantara Citra, a holding company owned by the son of former president Soeharto, Bambang Trihatmojo.

After divesting some of his media interests, he now controls a major cable TV service, QTV.