Gontha, from jazz to action

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.