Jazz lovers get bonus in tribute concert

Jazz lovers get bonus in tribute concert

M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Performing the works of a maestro is a daunting task for average
musicians, but three instrumentalists from the Daya Music
Institute proved that not only could they rehash classic
compositions of one of the country's jazz legends, Nick Mamahit,
they were capable of producing an intriguing interpretation of
them.

Accomplished in their own right, three musicians from the
institute, pianist Tjuk Nyak Deviana Daudsjah, double-bass player
Yudo Nugroho Doni Sundjoyo and drummer Sri Aksana Sjuman recently
gave a masterful touch, twisting and bending each note from
Mamahit's classic works, as if to claim the compositions their
own.

Although the concert, which was held to pay tribute to the
musician who passed away early last year, clocked in at almost 90
minutes, concertgoers went home thinking out loud that the one-
night performance was too short.

Mamahit himself must surely have been delighted from the other
side, as a spectator.

Staged inside a medium-sized performance hall recently
declared "the Nick Mamahit performance hall", the concert also
beamed an aura of intimacy as performers and the audience engaged
in a dialog about the compositions, and even traded jokes.

After a brief introduction about Mamahit's view on music from
a recorded interview, the trio wasted no time starting the
concert with Restumu Kunanti (Waiting for Your Blessing).

A ballad in 3/4 time, the composition highlighted what
Deviana's repeatedly stated as her own block voicing style, in
which all fingers were placed on the keys and moved freely from
one key to another.

The composition radiated the lyrical quality in which the
weeping piano cut through hissing cymbals and subdued snare beats
thumped out by Aksan's brushes.

Aksan's drum-playing was also another main attraction, aside
from Deviana's piano, which constituted the mainstay of the
performance.

With Deviana unceasingly playing the lead role, it was now
left to Aksan to provide a richly textured rhythm section.

In the second composition, Naik Naik ke Puncak Gunung (Going
Up a Mountain), which was performed in a samba style, Aksan's
soldier-march drumming made the bass inaudible to the unknowing
audience.

Again in Rindu Lukisan (Longing for A Painting), the cymbals
and snares went along the cascading piano during the coda,
sending thrills to the audience which instantly responded with a
big round of applause.

The bass player got what he deserved during Sarinade. After
going halfway with a tremolo-saturated work, Deviana and Aksan
took a break to give way to an extended bass solo, showcasing
Doni's melodic dexterity with the stringed instrument.

The composition, which was originally a sad song, turned into
a joyful Latin performance.

Concertgoers got more than they expected when Deviana took the
microphone in the sixth number, I Nani Keke, a traditional song
from the Minahasa culture (northern Sulawesi), where the
pianist's mother hails from.

The show was brought to a seemingly abrupt end after a
humorous rendition of Potong Bebek Angsa (Cutting Ducks and
Geese), in which Deviana also mimicked a frightened fowl in
between her pounding on the piano keys.

After a light-hearted rendition of Halo-Halo Bandung
(Bandung's March) which was thrown in as an encore, the concert
was brought to an end.

"What -- it's all over? It was too short," said Debra Yatim,
one concertgoer.