Margie Segers back with 'blues' plan

Margie Segers back with 'blues' plan

By Helly Minarti

JAKARTA (JP): A high-ceiling mall -- part of the Lippo
Supermall in Lippo Karawaci, West Java, which survived the 1998
May riots -- might not be a perfect venue for a jazz performance.
The sound system was not perfect and the young crowd - those
typical mall crawlers on Saturday night - didn't look like they
were yearning for a jazz moment.

Yet, they enthusiastically clapped as the band played familiar
instrumental pieces from David Koz at the Red and White Jazz
concert performed by Ireng Maulana Associates last weekend.

When a female singer took over the stage to sing out a soulful
jazzy version of Georgia on My Mind and the swinging Route 66,
however, they seemed baffled.

Once dubbed as a jazz diva in the 1970's and 1980's, the
vocalist, Margie Segers may be a stranger to the youth born in
the 1980's.

"I quit from the jazz world in 1986 after delivering my son,
Mark," said Margie, 49, backstage.

She said Mark needed her full attention. It was not until 1993
she made her comeback to jazz as Jamz - a jazz pub - was opened
and she was asked to fill the regular gigs in the club.

What's surprising is her later remark. Though she has been
identified during her music career as a jazz singer, Margie never
thinks of herself as one.

"I never say I'm a jazz singer. That is what people call me,"
she said.

It was the late Jack Lesmana - a renowned jazz musician - who
introduced her to jazz music and taught her to sing jazz songs.
Spending her early youth in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, Margie came
back to Indonesia in 1969. She sang a few times on television and
once her neighbor, Nien Lesmana, Jack Lesmana's wife, recognized
her.

"And soon Om (Uncle) Jack played records of Billi Holiday and
Sarah Vaughn for me," said Margie.

Not only did he introduce her to the beautiful tunes, Jack
also taught her how to sing like a diva and even played his
guitar for her.

"True, Billie Holiday was known as a blues singer but
according to Om Jack, she was the queen of jazz," said Margie.
One thing led to another, it was also Jack who introduced her to
the exclusive jazz circle and before she knew it, she shared the
stage with noted jazz gurus like Jack himself and Bubbi Chen.

"I had gigs with almost all generations of Indonesian jazz
musicians. From Jack Lesmana, Bubbi Chen, Jopie Item up to Ireng
Maulana," she said.

Margie also recorded many jazz albums with her top hit Semua
Bisa Bilang (Everybody Can Say). "I can't remember how many
exactly - it's like three (albums) with Om Jack, another three
with Jopie Item and some with the late Chris Kayhatu," she
recalled.

Together with Rien Jamain, Margie was automatically linked
with jazz in the 1970s, but the fact doesn't make her think that
she's a jazz singer. "No. What is jazz? It's much too complicated
music. And who the hell am I saying I understand jazz?" she
added.

So, what does she think she really is?

"My roots are more blues and soul music," she said, naming
Aretha Franklin as her idol.

Margie, born Aug. 16, 1950, is the third of three siblings.
Her father, Anton Segers was a soldier in the Dutch KNIL force,
who then moved to Netherlands with her mother, Maria Rina
Pieterz, bringing all their children. Margie married an Ambonese
man who gave her a son, Mark, now 13. Later divorced in 1994,
Mark has now become her center of life.

"I came back to jazz because Mark encouraged me to. I could
see that he could manage without my full attention, unlike
before, so here I am," said Margie.

Clad in all black, complete with tight pants, high heels and
leather jacket, at a glance Margie looks more like a rocker than
a jazz singer.

Yet she has kept her voice intact and once onstage her singing
seemed effortless. In the recent jazz festival in the Lippo
Karawaci she played with the audience by including songs like The
Girl from Ipanema or the popular Killing Me Softly. She also
gladly responded to song requests.

So, Margie Segers is indeed back. On the verge of turning 50
she has a dream: to create a blues record.

"I know that's hard. Blues is not popular in Indonesia. So
finding a sponsor is one thing. And besides I can't imagine
singing it in Bahasa Indonesia, it has to be in English. But, who
knows?."

For the moment she is just happy to have found a new friend
who shares her interest - a blues guitarist with whom she will
build a band and play in cafes. "We plan to insert blues songs
between our standard ones." Her fixation on blues is for its
soulfulness. "Many singers have a good voice. But very few can
sing out of their heart. Blues makes you cry from your heart. And
(I want to be) one of those few."