Learn about jazz at music clinics
Learn about jazz at music clinics
Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
Some opportunities are too rare to be missed, such as when
legendary musicians, here for the Java Jazz festival, make
themselves available for tips and advice.
Top musicians, such as George Duke and Gilang Ramadhan, are
among those offering instruction during the three days of music
clinics at the festival.
Amateur percussionists or jazz enthusiasts are certain to
enjoy their time with top Indonesian drummer Gilang Ramadhan, who
will share his knowledge on "Ethnic Percussion and Modern Drums".
A seasoned drummer, Gilang often collaborates with other top
jazz musicians like Indra Lesmana and guitarist Dewa Bujana.
Members of the Afro-Cuban Latin jazz band, Tiempo Libre, are
also ready to share their drumming skills with clinic
participants. Grammy-winning singer Poncho Sanchez is one of the
members of the veteran octet, who have become symbols of the best
of modern jazz and tropical Latin traditions over the years.
Tiempo Libre's clinic, "Class on Rumba/Afro-Cuban Drumming",
is scheduled for Saturday at 12:00 p.m.
After Tiempo Libre fires things up, former member of the
defunct Japanese fusion band Casiopea, bassist Tetsuo Sakurai,
will outline his progression since his time in Casiopea.
Later in the afternoon, Seattle-born Japanese musician Jeff
Kashiwa, will lead a clinic on "Sax and Jazz". While he started
his career on clarinet, he later chose to play saxophone.
Kashiwa is a former saxophonist of the Rippingtons and now a
member of the Coastal Access band.
For jazz guitarists, Allen Hinds will play his guitar and
speak on "Advanced Guitar Playing Techniques" for an hour and 15
minutes.
Surely this is not enough time to gain even a fraction of his
skill, but participants could no doubt grab a few good pointers
from the session.
Also a guitarist, Vinny Valentino will speak on the topic:
"From Pop, Rock, to Jazz and Beyond".
The suggestion, that jazz is a progression from pop, makes one
curious to hear Valentino's slant on music history.
Keyboard maestro George Duke will enlighten jazz lovers for
more than an hour in his clinic on "Jazz Improvisation".
On Friday, Brazilian musician Deodato ran a clinic "On
Arranging from Bjork to Sinatra".
After Deodato, keyboardist Jeff Lorber talked about "Jazz
Improvisation and Production Technique", followed by vocal
trainer Bertha, who spoke about "Singing from the Soul".
"Those who already have festival tickets are welcome to join
the clinics, without having to pay extra money," coordinator of
the clinics Sonny said on Friday.
"The rooms can accommodate more than a hundred participants,"
he added.
Those who are interested should arrive at the Nuri 1/Nuri 2
rooms half an hour before the clinics.
Saturday:
Tiempo Libre (Afro-Cuban drumming)
"Class on Rumba/Afro Cuban"
12:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Tetsuo Sakurai (bass)
"Progress from Casiopea"
2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Jeff Kashiwa (saxophone)
"Sax and Jazz"
4:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Allen Hinds (guitar)
"Advanced Guitar Playing Techniques"
5:45 p.m. 7:00 p.m.
Sunday:
George Duke (piano)
"Jazz Improvisation"
12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Vinny Valentino (guitar)
"From Pop, Rock to Jazz, and Beyond"
2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Gilang Ramadhan (drums)
"Ethnic Percussion and Modern Drums"
4:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.