Jazz bar offers place to unwind
Jazz bar offers place to unwind
JAKARTA (JP): Are you desperately trying to cast the cliche
"crisis" from your exhausted mind?
A night out on the town can help forget worries, but the same
tired faces and old tunes end up creating an even more depressing
pall.
Harry's Jakarta, affiliated with its namesake in Singapore, is
hoping it can be the favored night refuge when it opens its doors
this Monday.
Jazz is the musical theme of the bar, located at the Mandarin
Oriental Hotel on Jl. MH Thamrin.
"One of the reasons we decided to make Harry's a jazz bar is
because of the immense support and demand in Jakarta for jazz,"
said the bar's representative, Thomas Zetterberg.
This local demand for the music was evident by the regular
holding of the Jak-Jazz festival here, he added.
"JakJazz proves year after year that Jakarta audiences love
jazz and blues, and we want Harry's to be a dynamic jazz
environment where the musicians and the audience can let their
hair down and have fun."
He said the bar's commitment to jazz included allocating time
for rising local jazz musicians to perform, in addition to sets
by established stars.
Zetterberg has recruited one of the country's best exponents
of the musical form, Indra Lesmana, to put together the program
for the bar between 9:30 p.m. and 12:30 a.m.
Jazz theme nights will include Latin jazz, acid jazz, rhythm
and blues and Indra's own "strawberry jams" of freestyle jazz on
Sunday afternoon.
Local musicians will not be the only entertainers performing
in the bar -- open from 5 p.m. until 1 a.m. every day -- as
international entertainers will occasionally be scheduled as
special guests.
Zetterberg said priority would be given the abundance of
quality local musicians.
"But with the wealth of musical ability right here in Jakarta,
the emphasis will definitely be on homegrown talent," Zetterberg
said.
The bar's opening coincides with final goodbyes of many other
entertainment spots as worried customers stay home. Is Harry's
Jakarta a sign of unwavering confidence in a quick turnaround, or
merely a case of bad timing?
"We didn't come up with the plan to open Harry's in a short
time," said Ria Leimena, the hotel's public relations director.
"The planning goes two years back."
She is optimistic the bar will draw its share of regulars.
"Whatever the situation is, entertainment will always be
needed." (ste)
JAKARTA (JP): Are you desperately trying to cast the cliche
"crisis" from your exhausted mind?
A night out on the town can help forget worries, but the same
tired faces and old tunes end up creating an even more depressing
pall.
Harry's Jakarta, affiliated with its namesake in Singapore, is
hoping it can be the favored night refuge when it opens its doors
this Monday.
Jazz is the musical theme of the bar, located at the Mandarin
Oriental Hotel on Jl. MH Thamrin.
"One of the reasons we decided to make Harry's a jazz bar is
because of the immense support and demand in Jakarta for jazz,"
said the bar's representative, Thomas Zetterberg.
This local demand for the music was evident by the regular
holding of the Jak-Jazz festival here, he added.
"JakJazz proves year after year that Jakarta audiences love
jazz and blues, and we want Harry's to be a dynamic jazz
environment where the musicians and the audience can let their
hair down and have fun."
He said the bar's commitment to jazz included allocating time
for rising local jazz musicians to perform, in addition to sets
by established stars.
Zetterberg has recruited one of the country's best exponents
of the musical form, Indra Lesmana, to put together the program
for the bar between 9:30 p.m. and 12:30 a.m.
Jazz theme nights will include Latin jazz, acid jazz, rhythm
and blues and Indra's own "strawberry jams" of freestyle jazz on
Sunday afternoon.
Local musicians will not be the only entertainers performing
in the bar -- open from 5 p.m. until 1 a.m. every day -- as
international entertainers will occasionally be scheduled as
special guests.
Zetterberg said priority would be given the abundance of
quality local musicians.
"But with the wealth of musical ability right here in Jakarta,
the emphasis will definitely be on homegrown talent," Zetterberg
said.
The bar's opening coincides with final goodbyes of many other
entertainment spots as worried customers stay home. Is Harry's
Jakarta a sign of unwavering confidence in a quick turnaround, or
merely a case of bad timing?
"We didn't come up with the plan to open Harry's in a short
time," said Ria Leimena, the hotel's public relations director.
"The planning goes two years back."
She is optimistic the bar will draw its share of regulars.
"Whatever the situation is, entertainment will always be
needed." (ste)