Jak Jazz

As a first time visitor to this year's Jak Jazz festival, I read with interest the various comments and remarks about the event, to which I mostly agree.

Basically, to have such a Jazz festival on an annual basis in Jakarta is a wonderful thing and, in general, I also found it quite adequately organized with the exception of the already mentioned problem of bands performing at the same time on different stages leading to an overlay of music.

One way to overcome this really disturbing problem would be by using only two big stages on opposing sides. While a band performs on one stage, another band can set up their equipment on the other and, after the show on stage one is over, stage two is ready to start. By doing so, perhaps not that many bands can play in one night but then one could arrange for a program where each band performs only once and does not have to repeat the act the next two nights again.

The aforementioned concert practice was used successfully for many years during the Essen Song Festival in Germany in the late sixties, which always lasted three days and three nights and with many bands becoming famous later on, for instance Pink Floyd or Deep Purple performed there back to back without any problem or unnecessary delays.

Lastly, I also second the request recently made for traditional New Orleans jazz bands. I think their music would complete the whole variety of different jazz styles.

R. WOEHRLE

Jakarta