JakJazz's second night draws larger crowds
JakJazz's second night draws larger crowds
JAKARTA (JP): After a slow opening, the second night of the
1997 JakJazz festival showed more fervency yesterday as fans
packed the Soemantri Brodjonegoro youth center in Kuningan, South
Jakarta, to enjoy a variety of lively performances, albeit not
all jazz music.
The three stages set up at the youth center were mostly
standing room only as local acts faired well against their
foreign counterparts.
The Indonesian group Dua Warna, led by keyboard player Aminoto
Kosim and traditional music maestro Djaduk Ferianto, jazzed up
ethnic tunes like Sen Ken Ken (How Are You?) blending traditional
elements with modern sultry fusion sounds.
Around 500 people quickly got into the mood as they clapped
along. The band featured a solid rhythm section dominated by the
strong playing of percussionist Uce and Djaduk along with bassist
Indro.
Traditional gamelan was prevalent in songs like Jazz Liquid,
and sense-stealing drumbeats were a feature in Kuah Ethnika.
The group also took a successful stab at juicing up the
Mission Impossible theme song from the famous film and television
series.
With bongos and the sounds of a toy gun and cans being
incorporated, the song marked a satisfying conclusion to the
band's five-song set.
Djaduk said they initially had trouble trying to fuse
traditionalism with jazzy tunes since there was no standardized
rhythm to ethnic music.
Judging from their audience's reaction, Dua Warna seemed to
have succeeded in their symphonic unison.
Another local act worthy of mention was guitarist Dewa
Budjana, who appeared without his regular group Gigi.
The 34-year-old fronted his own three-piece band, playing
self-written tunes distinct from the pop-rock melodies of Gigi.
Soundsystem problems continued to plague several stages irking
performers and audiences.
Scheduling problems also continued to be frustrating as
changes continued in the festival's performance timetable.
Guitarist and chief organizer Ireng Maulana did not give
reason for these changes saying only that "it was unexpected and
we apologize for the inconvenience".
Dutch group Total Touch, which was originally scheduled to
play at around 10 p.m., was moved up to 8 p.m.
Motored by the creative talents of brother and sister team
Tjeerd and Trintje Oosterhuis, the nine-member group performed to
an appreciative audience.
The crowd got a joyful dose of Trintje's powerful vocal chords
as she belted out the group's hits which included Give Me One
More.
She showed the over 1,000 at the main stadium why she was
chosen to sing at the opening of the Ajax football club's new
superdome stadium in Amsterdam which was also attended by Dutch
Queen Beatrix.
A rather unknown act, the Elmhurst College Band from the
United States, took their audience by surprise. Their light
melodies were warmly greeted by their listeners.
As the night went on, people continued to pile into the youth
center.
By around 10 p.m. it was hard to enter the arenas where well-
known artists like saxophonist Dave Koz and British fusion band
Incognito were performing.
Incognito's appearance at midnight must have come as a relief
to organizers as they had to already cancel two earlier
performances due to reported immigration problems.
Festival organizer Ireng Maulana would not reveal why the
group's earlier performances had to be delayed. He neither
confirmed nor denied reports that immigration problems were the
cause.
JakJazz's mediocre opening night Friday paled in comparison to
last night's scene which saw much larger audiences enjoying
lively performances.
The fact that it was a Saturday night may have helped in the
heavy turnout which created a traffic jam around the Kuningan
area.
Several scalpers were seen around the festival entrance. They
were selling tickets for Rp 60,000 (US$18.4) -- Rp 10,000 higher
than the regular price.
A girl who bought her ticket from a scalper said she simply
did not want to wait in the long line for tickets, not because
tickets were sold out. (02/ste/mds)