When Javanese gamelan meets jazz

When Javanese gamelan meets jazz

By Gus Kairupan

JAKARTA (JP): A gamelan ensemble of more than 20 pieces, a saxophonist-cum-clarinetist and an electric guitarist...would it work? Well, everything, they say, is in the eye of the beholder, or, in this case, the ear of the listener, and judging from what the ear of this listener caught, it will take a long time before the combination of Javanese gamelan and jazz becomes an established form of music. It is, of course, not the first time attempts have been made to mix jazz with other non-Western musical forms of expression, and one would, at first, think that it would pose little complication -- what with jazz itself being a mixture of a number of widely different types of music.

It was curiosity more than the expectation of a musical treat that made me go to the event at Taman Ismail Marzuki last Wednesday where the event, Du gamelan dans le Jazz, was held. The musicians were French saxophonist and clarinetist Andre Jaume and guitarist Remi Charmasson, while the gamelan ensemble included Sapto Raharjo, Sonny Suprapto, Poernomo Nugroho, Gatot Djuwito and Setyaji Dewanto.

Now, I'm the first to admit that I know very little about gamelan music, unlike Western music in which I've enjoyed a bit of grounding. Though I like gamelan immensely (especially Sundanese), the appreciation stems from listening rather than from a thorough study of it. But even that is enough to perceive the differences between these two forms of music, including differences that may not pertain of music per se.

First, there's the matter of blending which in gamelan seems to be the desideratum. This leaves very little room for individualism, i.e. solo work, which more than anything is the backbone of jazz. Hence, whereas gamelan strives for harmony among the instruments, the emphasis in Western music is contrast. Second, the diatonic versus the pentatonic system, with the former often playing the decisive role in directing the course of a tune, while the latter depends heavily on melodic lines. Third, gamelan instruments are predominantly percussive, while in jazz music you can mix practically everything: percussion, wind, piano, strings -- whatever. But though percussive and quite able to produce loud sounds, gamelan instruments -- especially Javanese -- are practically always tapped, never beaten. The mallets used are made of wood which are padded or tightly wrapped in cloth and these soften the tones considerably (in Balinese gamelan, however, instruments are struck with small-hammer like tools which produce louder and brighter tones).

Considering all these contrasting elements, what was the performance like? Tonal systems (diatonic and pentatonic) perhaps matter little because a lot of music of this part of the 20th century has done a away with these as well as conventional rhythmic patterns. This has often been referred to as liberated music (never mind esthetic values) but that applies mostly to Western music, jazz as well as classical. Gamelan music has yet to free itself from whatever practitioners like Sapto Raharjo and his ensemble perceive as the strictures of formality. If he, Raharjo, intends to do more of the things he did that evening -- i.e. involve gamelan in jazz -- a thorough study of that art is of prime importance. On the other hand, jazz artists like Andre Jaume and Remi Charmasson would do well if they had delved a bit deeper into gamelan music and why it is the way it is. Gamelan could perhaps be described like this: a performance of many acting as one, and not one making oneself stand out in a solo passage.

The concert, then, was an exercise in how to marry these two different styles of musical expression in which Jaume and Charmasson were quite obviously in search of different colors, while Raharjo and ensemble appeared to be looking for ways to achieve something akin to individuality. It didn't always work, though there were some interesting parts, like the piece the jazz artists shared with four rebabs (bowed string instruments), and some passages in which Raharjo stood out a little, like -- in the opening number -- beating (not tapping) the gongs everywhere but on the knob in the center.

Disregarding tonal systems and rhythmic structures, the one remaining element would be coloring. Personally, I found much of the sax and clarinet work rather harsh and grating on the eardrums when juxtaposed with the sounds of the gamelan. Javanese gamelan, that is. I must say that the guitar blended better, but could still not help wondering how it would be if Jaume and Charmasson had combined with a Balinese gamelan.

Thus, the concert was rather a jazz-based experiment in music which of course has its merits. The course of the West's music is rife with experiments and it could be through just such cooperation that gamelan may one day enter a musical sphere with wider horizons.