Sawung Jabo's new band offers contemplative music
Sawung Jabo's new band offers contemplative music
By Matdon
BANDUNG (JP): Yogyakarta musician Sawung Jabo was linked to
the bands SWAMI and Kantata for the last decade, but now he is
forging his own path.
"I got fed up with SWAMI and Kantata's musical styles. I was
eager to try something new, lighter and funnier," commented Jabo
after a recent show with his new band GengGong at the Sunan Ambu
Building at the Bandung Institute of the Arts (STSI).
Jabo is now exploring ethnic music from around the world. With
his Sydney-based band, Jabo experiments with a mixture of eastern
and western ethnic sounds -- Javanese and Sundanese music, music
from Bulgaria and Turkey.
The band's debut shows were in Bandung, the provincial capital
of West Java. Jabo and his band performed in Rumah Nusantara on
Aug. 12, at Toko You on Jl. Hasanuddin and at the campus of STSI.
"It is high time for me to compose contemplative work. This is
my real music," Jabo asserted.
In the last few years, Jabo has spent much of his time in
Sydney. "That was a period for soul-searching and self-
contemplation," Jabo said.
Jabo's music appealed to the Bandung public, known for being
highly critical.
GengGong presented a distinguished sound using common musical
instruments like the saxophone, flute and percussion. To create
different sounds, Jabo added a bagpipe from Bulgaria and a
Turkish flute. Jabo uses all of these instruments to cleverly
blend traditional and contemporary sounds to create a very
original music.
Percussion plays a very dominant role in each composition. The
band includes a Sundanese kendang (drum), gondang batak and
metal percussion. Two percussionists from Bandung, Wahyu and
Jiner, played their instruments beautifully to add a Sundanese
touch to the music.
The band performed ten compositions, including Do'a, Kental
Kentul Kentil, Sweet Kambing Guling, Dere Vaja Dere Paja, Ning
Nong and Dolanan.
The band's lineup is Sawung Jabo, Kim Sanders playing flute
and saxophone, Australian musician Ron Reeves and Reza Achman.
Jabo said he became well acquainted with all of these
musicians before asking them to form a new band.
The band will continue its tour in Jakarta, Bali and Surabaya,
and, according to Jabo, will release its debut CD in the next few
months.