Krakatau cheers jazz crowd at Sydney Harbor

Krakatau cheers jazz crowd at Sydney Harbor

JAKARTA (JP): A combination of traditional and modern elements
often results in something unique and beautiful.

Krakatau band, using both traditional and modern instruments,
provides a new experience which is both visually and aurally
stimulating. When Krakatau hit the stage last weekend at the
first day of the 20th Manly International Jazz Festival in
Sydney, the audience was surprised by the dynamic, exciting
rhythms and lyrical melodies they heard.

Krakatau's CDs were reportedly sold out within minutes
following each performance thereafter.

The band performed in the four-day Manly International Jazz
Festival along with local and other overseas artists, which
included William Galison and Howard Alden from the United States,
The Nairobi Trio from New Zealand, and Martin Taylor from the
United Kingdom.

Krakatau's performances added a new perspective to Indonesian
culture, according to Margaret Bradley, a Sydney-based
ethnomusicologist specializing in Sundanese music. Many
Australians rarely witness the new music coming out of Indonesia
and now realize that modern Indonesia is home to experimental
bands mixing various musical styles and feels, she said.

Krakatau, led by Dwiki Dharmawan, is a jazz fusion band with
its roots in jazz, rock and Sundanese traditional music from West
Java.

Following their success at the Manly International Jazz
Festival, they performed again at the Harbourside Brasserie with
two other groups -- the Guy Strazzullo Trio with Steve Hunter and
David Jones, three of Australia's best jazz musicians who have
been invited to perform at JakJazz, Jakarta's International Jazz
Festival; and Arafura led by Margaret Bradley, whose music
explores the crossover between Australian and Indonesian sounds.

Krakatau has been invited to return in September 1998 to
Sydney and Melbourne.

The group members include Dwiki Dharmawan (keyboard), Pra
Budidharma (bass), Budhy Haryono (drums), Trie Utami (vocals),
and Mohamed Rudiana, Yoyon Darsono, Efiq Zulfiqar, Zaenal Arifin
and Deni Tudi Rahayu, who play traditional instruments including
rebab (fiddle), seruling (flute), and parts of the gamelan
orchestra instruments like saron and bonang. As sound engineer,
Husein Syarifurir, mixes their unique sound which can be heard on
Krakatau's CD Mystical Mist released in 1993. (sim)