Percussion orchestra spices up jazz festival
JAKARTA (JP): Jazz gourmets had a chance to taste an exotic blending of the rhythm of traditional percussion instruments and saxophone on the second night of the ongoing Jakarta jazz festival 'A Mild Jak Jazz' at Senayan in South Jakarta.
The Percussion Orchestra, with Reto Weber and Bruno of Switzerland, M. Balasubramoniam of India and Djamchid Chemirani of Iran, offered an alternative menu item for those who are looking for a new taste in jazz music yesterday at the Natura stage, one of five stages built for the festival.
Reto Weber on steel drums, the champe African drum and the ghatom, or clay pot, which is often used as a musical instrument in India; Balasubramoniam on mridangam, a South Indian drum, and Chemirani on the Iranian traditional drum called zarb, produced a very basic natural sound, creating an atmosphere of traditional Asian and African rituals.
Bruno on the saxophone introduced a more modern element into the traditional sound, blending up a truly exotic musical concoction. The saxophone added a sensational touch to the traditional rhythms.
"We combine traditional and modern musical instruments for experiments. Since all of the personnel come from different countries and backgrounds, we don't know at first what will be produced by this 'joint venture'. However, our improvisation seems to acclaim a big success. People welcome us very well," Balasubramoniam told The Jakarta Post yesterday.
The Percussion Orchestra just completed its Europe tour last month. Previously, the group, founded by Weber, had performed in France, Britain, the United States, Argentina, Hong Kong and India. This is the third participation of the band, which is now considered one of world's most versatile percussion groups, at Jak Jazz. They were also here for Jak Jazz in 1991 and 1993. The group will perform again at this year's Jak Jazz for the last time tonight.
The performances last night were slightly disturbed by the mixing of the sounds coming from a number of stages simultaneously. The proximity of one stage to another and the difference in sound system capacities, seemed to annoy the musicians who were playing at stages with relatively weaker sound systems.
The cello player for the Antoine Herve Trio of France, who were playing at Arena stage, yesterday evoked laughter from the audience laugh when he swayed his body to music from another stage, which could be heard clearly at the Arena stage.
"It is rather difficult to play when there is also another sound coming from other stages. They should spread the stages farther," said Balasubramoniam, who is also mridangam teacher at Jakarta's Indian Cultural Center.
Last year, the Jak Jazz was also criticized by performers and audiences for the same type of disturbance.
The menu on the second night of the festival was further spiced up by the presence of a number of food and beverage sellers wandering around the event site selling almost anything from pizza to the traditional Betawi dish called kerak telor. (als)