Indra Lesmana, Gilang Ramadhan release first duet album

Indra Lesmana, Gilang Ramadhan release first duet album

By K. Basrie

JAKARTA (JP): After working together for almost 13 years on an
abundance of projects, noted jazz keyboard master and singer
Indra Lesmana and singer, drummer, composer and percussionist
Gilang Ramadhan released their first duo album last week.

The nine-song album consists of seven pop songs and two
Indonesian-flavored instrumentals, of which Indra and Gilang each
composed one.

"Playing together as a duo for the first time ever is designed
to further neaten the differences of our music styles, tastes and
arrangements," Indra, the son of the country's jazz guru, the
late Jack Lesmana, told a press conference at the Hollywood Cafe
last Friday.

Both Indra and Gilang are members of jazz bands and have
released solo albums. They are comrades in the music trio PIG
Band, which also includes Pra. B. Dharma. Indra and Gilang are
also members of Krakatau Band.

"So, this is our first experience at being a duo," said
Gilang, a son of one of Indonesia's noted authors, Ramadhan K.H.

Thanks to their respective talents, and supported by backing
vocals, all seven songs on the album sound rather more impressive
and easy to understand for Indonesian music lovers than their
previous jazz songs, which are said by many to be too complicated
and difficult to enjoy.

However, their jazz fans might welcome the album with sad
faces because they could see the album as a boring collection of
songs slightly similar in tunes, lyrics and themes.

Take the themes, for instance. All but one of the seven songs
are about love, mostly love-related despair.

The titles reveal the same thing. They are Selamat Tinggal
(Goodbye), Satukanlah (Reunite Us), Lupa Diri (Insane), Masih Ada
(Still There), Damai (Peace), Usai (It's Over), Celia, Bersatu
Kembali (Reunited) and Impian Khatulistiwa (Equator Dream). Damai
and Impian Khatulistiwa are instrumentals.

Feeling

When asked about the album, Indra replied: "We create songs
based on our feelings, not based on the market demand."

The songs are about bitter events as well as the sad stories
of our friends that we saw and heard last year, he said.

Part of the lyrics of Selamat Tinggal, which was named by
Indra and Gilang as their most-favorite song on their newly
released album, is as follows:

Seringkali bertanya saat bahagia hadir; akankah ada akhir;
akankah 'tuk selamanya (Questions often appear when happiness
comes, will there be an end, will it be forever).

Even though the album is mostly about love, the songs are
filled with the seductive roar of Indra's keyboard and piano and
the breathtaking beats of Gilang's drums.

Of the seven songs, Satukanlah could probably satisfy Indra
and Gilang faithful fans because their old styles are mixed into
this song.

Some of the songs are sung by both Indra and Gilang, while
others are sung by one of them, with the other acting as backing
vocalist.

Apart from Selamat Tinggal, which has guitarist Donny Suhendra
sitting in, the instruments are all played by Indra and Gilang.

They have also invited Indra's wife, Sophia Latjuba, and
singer Anang as backing vocalists for Selamat Tinggal, Usai, and
Satukanlah.

Four of the seven songs are joint compositions, two are by
Indra and one is by Gilang.

The album was recorded by Kama Records and is distributed by
PT RIS Music Wijaya International.