Jazz wraps up with high hopes

Jazz wraps up with high hopes

Evi Mariani and M. Taufiqurahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

It was a promise fulfilled for music lovers who came to the
Java Jazz Festival, as top-notch performers executed powerful
shows, leaving behind an afterglow among concertgoers that will
last for days to come.

Large crowds, mainly young people, enjoyed the last night of
the three-day festival on Sunday, dancing, screaming and shouting
to songs delivered by several big names of music.

Rhythm & Blues crooner Eric Benet turned up for an early
evening show, his second, to the delight of female fans.

Sporting a black trouser, white silk shirt and a tie, the
heartthrob won screams for his sensitive sounding song and also
for his alluring moves which included taking off his tie and
shirt on stage. The highlight of Benet's performance was when he
invited Indonesian singer Ruth Sahanaya to join him onstage.
Ireng Maulana was among several other local artists playing to a
packed audience.

Piano-playing singer George Duke also drew a huge crowd for
his second appearance for his dynamic piano playing.

Both artists and jazz lovers said they would relish the chance
of another jazz festival next year.

"I hope that I can come back to this festival year
after year," former bass player of fusion band Casiopea Tetsuo
Sakurai said, after performing on one of the main stages at the
Jakarta Convention Center (JCC) in Senayan, Central Jakarta.

Tetsuo and his band received a roar of applause for every
composition they delivered. Previously, the enchanting Laura Fygi
said that she would surely be back if invited.

Jakarta hosted its first international jazz festivals since
the late 1980s to 1990s, but financial difficulties led to a gap
of several years.

Jazz lovers however expressed hopes that organizers would
learn lessons from this year's festival. Shortcomings in
scheduling performances and sound system arrangements contributed
to several shows being postponed as blaring music from one
performance would drown out others being held at other JCC
venues.

"I came to the festival three days in a row, and I got
confused with the schedule for the performances," one fan said.
"I have a hectic schedule, so I was later disappointed to find
that I had wasted time waiting for some of the performances."

However, he said the festival was on par with those staged in
Europe for the quality of the lineup, the stages as well as sound
systems. Another concertgoer, Reza, said despite the let-downs,
"Staging this event takes a mammoth effort -- I have to applaud
them."

Fans, many of them who left with souvenir hats, T-shirts and
bags, had been treated to a wide choice of performers from many
nations -- including James Brown, Incognito, George Duke, Tania
Maria and many others.

Organizers are already planning next years festival.

Festival executive director Paul Dankmeyer said he would like
to see artists such as Michael Franks, Diana Krall and Norah
Jones at the next event.

Among the performers on late Saturday, Earth, Wind and Fire
Experience got a warm reception from the audience who sung along
word for word their hits, Let's Groove and After the Love Has
Gone. The two most notable features of the band were their
flawless horn harmonies and funk guitar licks adorning every
tune.