Sunday morning jazz show delights young fans
JAKARTA (JP): There was something refreshingly new during Jak- Jazz '94: A program offered up fresh on Sunday morning for the jazz lovers that just could not stay out late.
Anyone one could guess from its name that "Sunday Student Jazz" the event was meant for young jazz players. But that was not the only "student" aspect of it. The entertainment package, organized by a bunch of college students under the name of "Polim Enterprise" tacked a "student-price" of Rp 10,000 (US$4.5) to its tickets and drew a crowd of 1,000 mostly school-aged jazz fans.
"The Jak-Jazz main committee contacted us when they came up with the idea of making use of Senayan's East Plaza area at daybreak. They had to pay four days of rent to the Senayan Sports Complex although they only used it at night," Budi from Polim Enterprise explained. "But unfortunately we had to find our own sponsors and contact all the players ourselves."
The fiesta featured high school jazz bands, such as Mahakam Travelers, from SMA 6 Jakarta, SMA 68 Jakarta, SMA 3 Bandung and college performers, such as ElJay from Atmajaya University, the Trisakti University Jazz Band and the Pancasila University Jazz Band, to name few. Several non-student performers, including the all-police Polda Big Band, added verve to the student session.
Mezzoforte
The young jazz fans were also entertained by world-class jazz players that added a touch of glory the student's festival.
The Embong Raharjo Project featuring American jazz maestro, Michael Colina, and Mezzoforte, the Icelandic jazz group, were among the groups that gave the morning a special meaning to the young people gathered to play and listen.
Embong delighted the fans with magical tunes on his saxophone and flute from his recent recordings. The songs included Gamelan Girl composed by jazz ace Bob James. Michael Colina and Idang Rasyidi, both played keyboards, enhancing Embong's sax session for the audience composed mostly of young people who could not stay up to catch the midnight performances of Jak Jazz `94.
But nobody can deny that Mezzoforte was the Sunday morning party's zenith. The Icelandic fusion band hypnotized the jazz fans for more than an hour with their easy listening tunes. The favorite piece was the solo drum display by Klaas Klove, that triggered a chorus of screams from female fans.
Humor slipped in when Eythor Gunnarson, who was on the keyboard, tried to communicate with the fans in Bahasa Indonesia. His brief message of Indonesian words was swept away by the wind, leaving the crowd amused, but wondering what he was trying to convey. The language lessons continued when Johann Asmundsson, the bass player, chatted with Eythor in Icelandic so loudly that the audience thought it was a sound-system foul-up.
"Hey, I've tried to talk in Bahasa Indonesia. So, can't you try to talk in Icelandic," Eythor told the crowd.
The gala reached another high point with Garden Party, the band's most famous hit.
The event ended an hour over schedule, only two hours before the last day's events of Jak Jazz `94 commenced.
"The main Jak Jazz stage coordinator complained frequently to me about messing up the schedule during Mezzoforte's extended show, but they just couldn't do anything when the band was on such a roll," Arif, the main stage program coordinator, said. (23)