Paul Dankmeyer on all that Jazz

M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Staging the as yet biggest jazz festival in the country by inviting dozens of big names in the music business the likes of Earth, Wind and Fire, James Brown and George Duke amid a warning against travelling to the country may not sound like a good idea.

It is also a bad idea because considering the small audience for the musical genre here, there is no guarantee that revenue from the festival can cover the cost of bringing the performers on stage.

However, there was one person who thought the otherwise and instead agreed to take part in organizing the International Java Jazz Festival, the country's noteworthy jazz events in recent year, leaving his established position at the respected Rotterdam-based World Port Jazz festival.

The man was Paul Dankmeyer, the executive director of the Java Jazz festival.

On invitation from the country's number one jazz afficionado Peter F. Gontha -- who floated the idea of holding an international jazz festival in Indonesia -- Dankmeyer hastily agreed to join bandwagon early last year, believing that the festival would stand out among the world's renowned jazz festivals.

"Apart from rhythm & blues (R&B), jazz and soul which is not very much different with other festival, we try to expose the Indonesian culture and history...we have asked Indonesian musicians to bring a little more of culture in their music," Dankmeyer told The Jakarta Post in a recent interview, setting out the festival's mission statement.

He also said that the bulk of Indonesian jazz musicians were very enthusiastic about playing in the event as they had missed a lot of possibilities to be playing in big festivals.

March last year, Gontha gave him a call about the possibility about him joining the management of the jazz festival.

"I said I will be very honored if I can help organize it," he said, adding that he officially take the helm of organizing the festival in October last year.

Dankmeyer has been in acquaintance with Gontha since 1986, when he first helped the media magnate bring Indonesian groups to the North Sea Jazz festival, in Den Haag.

"The band was Baskara and it was so successful. Everybody was very positive about the band," he said.

The relationship went on over the years with both promoting more Indonesian bands in the festival. In the late 1990s, he lent a hand in organizing the now-defunct Jak Jazz festival.

And now Dankmeyer was at the full helm of a Jakarta-based festival, even bigger than Jak Jazz.

However, Dankmeyer soon ran into problems once he assummed the leadership of the Java Jazz. "The first time is always difficult, because you never know whether your concept or plan will work. Will the concept you have in mind work for the festival or not," he said, adding that he soon caught up by listening to suggestions from his Indonesian colleague.

Among the biggest problems, he would soon encounter was the setting up a good schedule for all performances in the designated dates and venues. "After the dates and venue are set, you start inviting people and you have to see if Diana Krall is available for the dates, whether Sade is available or not," he said, referring to two of the most sought-after names in jazz.

Unfortunately, the two performers and others such as rising star in jazz Grammy-winning Norah Jones were not available for the selected dates, citing a variety of reasons.

"It will be easy with a touring schedule because the artists themselves who come and ask us if they can play and we can negotiate money," he said.

In spite of the challenges, Dankmeyer had the conviction that Java Jazz would stand as one of the world's major jazz festival. "This is one of the most interesting festival...the programs is really superb," he said, adding that Fritz Thom, chairman of the international jazz festival, an organization that oversaw the revered festivals such as ones held in Monterrey, Montreal, Umbria and the North Sea Jazz festival, would work to connect Java Jazz with the festivals.

Born in Jayapura, 51 years ago, Dankmeyer is no stranger in the business and in fact a veteran in jazz festivals.

"I started being manager for bands and started doing production for pop music at the age of 25. Then, I was invited by founder of North Sea Jazz Festival to join in in 1979. I began to appreciate jazz more and more," he said.

Later, he took a full-time job of organizing concerts for acts like jazz legend Miles Davis, Pat Matheney, Sonny Rolins and Oscar Peterson.

At the age of 30, he became the production manager for the North Sea Jazz festival and later assume the directorship of the festival.

Born from an Indo-Dutch parents, his mother was born in the Central Java town of Tegal and his father was in Surabaya, East Java, Dankmeyer was immersed in music from his early childhood.

"My mother played in a Hawaiian band here and back in the Netherlands, my eldest brother, who was born in Bandung, played instruments in a band playing the so-called Indo-rock music. I was exposed to music from the very early stage

He said that all his backgrounds also made him no stranger to this country.

"All give me reasons to fell comfortable for being here," he said in a measured English.