Percussion orchestra spices up jazz festival

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)