Paul Dankmeyer on all that Jazz

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.