Jakartass Home thoughts from abroad. Alien thoughts from home.

I made a rare venture to a jazz gig last night at Goethe Haus. That the gig was free and was part of the Serambi Jazz events curated by Riza Arshad were sufficient inducements. That he and ace guitarist Dewa Budjana were among the guest musicians of the Mery Kasiman Project were added incentives.

The hall was so packed, mainly with young university student types, that friend and I had to sit on the stairs, which wasn’t a particular hardship. But, oh dear, the music was. Maybe I should have read the pre-publicity a little closer.

Serambi Jazz hopes to be the learning ground of culture and a place to appreciate good quality jazz, also set as an event that can complete all the jazz events in Indonesia especially in Jakarta, the presentation of Mery Kasiman is something not to be missed.

Introducing the music of Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane to young people who rarely have the chance to hear it is no bad thing. After all, they were seminal improvisers in jazz whose inspiration spawned many great jazz musicians.

To quote Thelonious Monk: “All musicians stimulate each other. The vibrations get scattered around.”

Mery Kasiman is a mere stripling at 27, and has studied improvisation with Benny Likumahuwa, father of dynamic bass player Barry, another of the evening’s guests. Barry, along with drummer Sany Winarta and Riza, has participated in jam sessions at Indra Lesmana’s studio which enable them “to explore whatever they feel inside them in the jazz language.”

The introduction to last nights gig featured an interview with Mery; the loudest cheer was when the word “improv” was spoken.

What I had failed to note was that Mery also has “a Masters degree focusing on arrangement and orchestration”.

The ‘big band’ then took their places and with Mery conducting proceeded to play the notes on the pages in front of them. Even the solos were set out for them and to these ears, only the pianist, Ali Akbar Sugiri, injected some personality into his playing.

As friend said, “I’ve got the CD at home.”

Yep, from where we were sitting, the sound quality was excellent, yet what we were hearing were sub-Carla Bley orchestrations with none of the fire or freedom of her work with, say, Charlie Haden’s Liberation Orchestra.

I wondered too about the non-existent nods to Indonesian music. To quote Riza, “world jazz presents jazz with local/ethnic values and this is a new trend here”.

Maybe so, but emphasising “local/ethnic values” here has a history. As this National Geographic page about Krakatau, pioneers of Indonesian ethno-jazz, notes, since the 1930s Indonesian nationalists and musicians have striven to create a new classical national music that would work to bind the various ethnicities of the Indonesian archipelago as successfully as did the national language, Bahasa Indonesia.

President Sukarno gave this effort a push with his ‘War against Beatle music’.

In August 1965, the Department of Education and Culture decreed that ‘constructive’ music was to be fostered and developed whilst ‘destructive’ music was to be fought against until it was eliminated. ‘Destructive’ music was said to have, among several others, the following feature: Indonesian music whose ambience, composition and presentation is given in a jazz or beat arrangement that is unnatural and deviates from the original.
(fr. article by Steven Farram in Review of Indonesian and Malaysian Affairs, vol. 41, no. 2. 2007.)

Well, unfortunately there wasn’t any ‘destructive’ music to be heard last night. It was so safe and unsatisfying that friend and I left and went to chat with acquaintances outside in the lobby.

One of them had a selection of Indonesian jazz sounds for me to get into and in return I gave him a selection of my bootlegs of European jazz concerts; I wasn’t in the audience of any of these gigs, but I can feel their rapport with the musicians who were driven to reach even greater mutual heights.

I hope Mery will give more freedom to her musicians in future gigs.

Jazz has long been my favourite music genre because I believe that it is one of the few art forms which are an honest reflection of 'soul' and, when improvised, collaborative empathy.

That so much of what currently gets labelled as 'jazz' is formulaic, appealing to the lowest common denominator by catering to commercial trends, is unfortunate. Of course, everyone is entitled to earn an income, but I am often disappointed when talents are seemingly wasted on 'background' muzak.

This week Jazzuality has a really fine interview with Riza Arshad, the current 'guv'nor' of Indonesia's jazz scene, and much more complete than his contribution to the next edition of Culture Shock! Jakarta – to be published later this month. This is what he wrote.

Jakarta has a number of jazz festivals, the biggest being JavaJazz. There is also JakJazz and the oldest one in Indonesia, the third oldest in the world, Jazz Goes to Campus which started in 1977.

These festivals indulge jazz at its most marketable, so this has inspired other places around Indonesia to follow suit. and although people have started to accept jazz, not only as music but also as a 'lifestyle', this doesn’t mean that the city has facilitated any aspect for the musicians. We still have to strive to present and express our ideas and musical ability just like our colleagues around the world. But unlike jazz musicians who live in the US, Europe, Australia and Japan, musicians here lack good jazz education. We have no more than three ‘reliable’ institutions which provide decent knowledge of this music.

Programs like Serambi Jazz (curated by Riza – J) were created to raise the value of the music performed by dedicated and idealistic jazz musicians. Other small gatherings, in ‘Jazz at Café Au Lait’ or Indra Lesmana’s studio where jazz musicians frequently gather to jam and express their creativity, also help maintain the greater values of this music.

Another movement, world jazz, presents jazz with local/ethnic values. Even though there isn't much in Jakarta, in cities such as Bandung, Solo and Jogja, this is a new trend. Some festivals are related to this.

This demonstrates that jazz lovers around the globe have their own ways of presenting jazz as a very moderate and democratic 21st century cultural product.
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Some 'ethno-jazz' albums to look out for.

Kulkul – Welcome To Bali
Karimata – Jezz
Simak Dialog – Trance Mission, Patahan, Demi Masa
Dwiki Dharmawan's World Peace Orchestra

All these fine albums, and more, can be ordered from Warta Jazz.com.
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Riza will be a guest of the Mery Kasiman Project next Thursday, August 12th, 2010, from 7:30pm at Goethe Haus, Jl. Sam Ratulangi 9-15, Menteng, Jakarta
Entry is free, but seats are limited.
For more info, please contact: (+62 21) 2355 0208, ext.116.

I've just today heard of the passing on March 9th of an old neighbour and friend, Mickey Jones.

Back in 1980, I moved into a small flat in a newly converted fire station in Herne Hill at the bottom end of Brixton's 'Front Line' . There were only nine flats so we residents soon became acquainted.

The lady from the flat on my left introduced herself as Jenny, and told me that her husband was Mickey Jones of the Man band.

I'd heard of Man, knew that they were Welsh, that they had been popular, without having major 'hit' records, and that they had split up a few years previously. But I didn't know any of their music; Londoners are spoiled for choice and there's only so much that one can absorb.

Mickey proved to be one of the nicest guys I've ever known: both he and Jenny had absolutely no 'rock star' pretensions and they shared a life which depended, as far as I knew, on his guitar playing.

Until the reformation of Man in 1983, Mickey's main music outlet was the Flying Pigs, a trio which mainly played the pub circuit. I went to many of them, and that's the back of my head in this picture.

What I treasure from those gigs was Mickey's talent to literally send shivers down my backbone. Over the solid groove generated by the bass of Mick Hawksworth and drums of Phil Little, whose eyesight was much worse than mine, Mickey would sing in a strangely angelic way, high, pure and only, perhaps, as the Welsh can sing.

Although Mickey could play blues, reggae and country, what we'd really relish and wait for were the moments when his guitar would take over and his solos would reach those parts that few ever manage.

These comments are taken from the BBC obit page.

He was one of the true unsung guitar heroes of his generation. His angular style of playing, colourful tones and wah wah work emulated both Zappa and Jerry Garcia, but brought with it a unique Welsh flavour that was forever Man!

….. he could make the guitar talk.

….. he will live on in the memories of everyone who was fortunate to see him play – each solo was unique! He deserves recognition as one of the most talented guitarists of the 20th century.

His improvisation skills are of legend,and he had the ability to put you under a cosmic spell when going off on one of his incredible long solos.

Micky never received the recognition he deserved but he is right up there in the top five of guitarists such as Clapton and Green as far as I am concerned.

Ah, those twenty minute guitar solos. I've got a cassette of the Flying Pigs, including their demos and a song, Breaking Up, recorded in October 1981 at the George Canning pub in front of an audience of, maybe, ten. That track, recorded off a couple of microphones, can still break me up.

It's Sunday today, a quiet day in Jakartass Towers, but tomorrow I'm going to play all my Mickey Jones tracks.

Man, I'm sad.
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Mickey once told me that he'd taught Status Quo their four chords.
Shame they got the fame and fortune – and he didn't.

For those of you with broadband:
Man Website
Videos of Mickey
Rapidshare Downloads

Saw

Last night, Our Kid and I went to the Jakarta Arts House (Gedung Kesenian) for a concert by simakDialog. Having seen them at their launch of Demi Masa, we were keen to hear them again.

Riza Arshad had emailed me to say that they were "going to play a selection of [their] music from various albums. [Their] next will expectedly be released in the end of this year or early next year."

So the music was familiar, not least because I did have the last two albums and played them before setting out for the evening.

The group was minus Dave Lumenta whose contributions at the Goethe Haus gig had "offered 'soundscapes' which I often found intrusive." But soundscapes there but whether they came from the wizardry of ace guitarist Tohpati or Riza's array of electronic keyboards, or both, I'm not sure. It matters not as the intros to familiar tracks were sublimely atmospheric leading into updated Indonesian traditional music, with its fiendishly intricate stop/start rhythms.

What I love about simakDialog's music is the groove generated by the percussionists, who I presume were Endang Ramdan, Erlan Swardana and Emy Tata  – we didn't catch their names – on their array of traditional Indonesian instruments. Emy Tata's set of gamelan gongs hit with a muffled hammer (ceng ceng) was described by Riza as "metal toys".

Their synchronicity, although sometimes subtle, also enabled a powerful groove which got me imagining a ride on an express train. At times I rollicked along and then found myself gazing out of the window as either Riza riffed and soloed or Tohpati reached for sounds unlike any other guitarist I've heard live or on record.

And here I digress, because MoonJune Records, who release simakDialog's album internationally have just released Tohpati's first album with his group Ethnomission, Planet Earth.

Leonardo, proprietor of MoonJune, has this to say about Tohpati.

Ethnomission serves up an exhilarating and wholly original program of instrumental compositions that sets a new high-water mark for Indonesian fusion.

Make no mistake – this isn’t your ibu’s (mother’s) Indonesian music. As a guitarist, Tohpati references such impeccable influences as Terje Rypdal, John McLaughlin (the Mahavishnu-inflected arpeggios and ripping Lifetime-esque single-note bursts), and Robert Fripp. Yet Tohpati is every bit his own axeman, equally at ease unspooling fleet-fingered chromatic runs, pointillist intervallic leaps, pastoral melodies suggestive of Irish traditional music, buoyant fusion, sinister metal crunch, country twang, and enigmatic, and freely improvised soundscapes.

Possessed of a soulful, meaty tone suggestive of John Scofield, Tohpati spices up the proceedings through sparing and tasteful use of pitch shifter, ring modulator, delay, and MIDI guitar synthesizer, all the while retaining an emotive, organic quality.

That is the definition of Tohpati I wish I'd written, although I'd have added Tohpati's occasional, yet thankfully fading, use of Pat Metheny's pastoral tones.

My overall impression of the music was that the group has enhanced their telepathic intimacy and as part of what Riza described to me afterwards as their ongoing creative process, continue to push the boundaries of Indonesian music. They are truly a world-class group.

At two hours, this gig was half an hour shorter than the previous one, and no bad thing for that.

However, and for the sake of balance there should always be a 'however', I do have some caveats.

I would have liked to have heard some acoustic piano added to the mix, whether electronically generated or not. As I type this, I'm listening to Trance Mission, their third album from 2002. By then, they had moved way beyond their initial Pat Metheny Group influence and had a recognisable direction, albeit with a pared down sound, including acoustic piano, compared to what was to come.

I bought Trance Mission pre-gig from the stall in the lobby. Unfortunately Tohpati's Ethnomission wasn't available. (Afterwards, Riza suggested to me that I should ask Leonardo for a copy. Hint, hint, L.)

The audience was sparse, especially for a gig which was part of a festival to commemorate Jakarta's 483rd 'birthday'. A couple of weeks ago I went to an evening of Balinese gamelan which was much better attended, perhaps because it was organised by Jakarta's Balinese community under the patronage of former President Megawati's younger brother Guruh.

Following the final pre-performance gong last night we heard the instructions to not eat or drink, to take photos and to switch off electronic devices. And then there was an absolute silence in the auditorium for five minutes. No-one even dared cough. It was almost eerie.

Sore

Then, as soon as the curtains parted and the auditorium lights dimmed, on went the lights of handheld phones. Focussing on the group was difficult as our eyes were inevitably drown to the panels of white light in front of us. I was so distracted that I mentally rehearsed such lines as "If you don't switch off your effing phone I'm going to shove it down your expletive-deleted throat."

What I did say, in surprisingly fluent Indonesian to the lass immediately in front was that I'd paid good money to see the group and I didn't want to see her. She cringed and cowered down in her seat, as did her similarly distracted boyfriend, and their phones stayed switched off.

I hope they enjoyed the show as much as we did.

These are a few items which have caught my interest recently yet have been a tad too busy to catch up with and write fully about.

1. The Thinking Indonesian's Paper, Kompas, had the following headline in Thursday's edition.

When it's an Indian, Malaysian or other nationality who gets busted for drugs, the articles do not refer to their skin colour. But when it's an Australian (German, Brit etc.) ….

I've said it before – and no doubt I'll say it again – but skin colour is irrelevant and has no bearing in terms of morality, criminality or whatever, and using the word bule (pron. bu-lay) merely indicates the user's inherent racism.

I sent an email regarding this to various correspondents and here is a selection of their replies.

Yes, not good journalism, although 'Bule' is not derogatory, as far as I understand the term.
I think it is relevant. I always thought it meant 'albino' and since I am always so ghostly pale, I have never really objected to the term but yes – not good to print it in the newspaper …

[My husband] is always going on about ‘dumbing down’ and standards dropping – if no one comments then it will be accepted and they might start doing it on a regular basis …

I was tempted to blog this myself, but nah! Although it does feed into this belief that Indonesians (and some others) offer up that the word does not have racial connotations or undertones… Besides, it is hard to get reasoned debate on this one.

I have read the article. Well, what can I say about the "system" which we all know is totally rotten to the core.
My opinion? "Majukan dong!"

So, moving on …

2. In basic music terms, I'm a jazz fan. I'm not referring to the lounge or elevator variety as epitomised by Kenny G, but the kind where risks are taken. Riza Arshad and Tohpati have fused Indonesian 'ethnic' instrumentation with their sublime creativity. Riza has recently been involved in an album, Ubiet's Kroncong Tenggara, and Tohpati has his Ethnomission.

Together, they are key personnel of simakDialog whose last two albums were released on the New York-based label MoonJune.

Leonardo Pavkovic, the founder and continued catalyst behind MoonJune, is trying to arrange a tour of Europe and the USA for them, and needs to get government sponsorship. (I have yet to confirm that he means the Indonesian government.)

L. has written to say that you can help by voting in the Indonesia Cutting Edge Music Awards (ICEMA) 2010.

SimakDialog's nominated track is Disapih from their album Demi Masa released in 2008. (This begs the question as to why a track wasn't selected from Patahan which was released last year!)

You can watch a live version of Disapih on You Tube: Part 1 and Part 2.

3. Another update on the Balikpapan Bay Bridge Project

Why oh why can I find no interest here in Jakarta, or in local media? Out of sight, out of mind?
I don't usually post in Indonesian, but this is what I received from a correspondent in the Czech Republic. (Go figure that one!)

Pak Gubernur Awang Faroek baru saja menerima anggaran APBN untuk membangun Jembatan Pulau Balang, yang akan menyebabkan kerusakan ireversibel Hutan Lingung Sungai Wain dan Teluk Balikpapan. Namun pemerintah daerah masih berani melakukan negosiasi untuk opsi alternatif, yang bisa melestarikan seluruh wilayah.

Tolong membantu kita untuk menyimpan suatu tempat yang indah. Ini adalah kesempatan terakhir sekarang! Ada beberapa hal yang Anda bisa melakukan dengan mudah:

1. Tolong menulis kepada pemerintah provinsi, meminta Pak Gubernur Awang Faroek untuk memikirkan kembali rencananya untuk membangun jembatan Pulau Balang. Jelaskan kepada pemkab Anda tidak percaya bahwa perencanaan pelestarian lingkungan sepanjang jalan dan jembatan Pulau Balang cukup matang. Hutan Lindung tidak bisa dilestarikan cuma dengan pagar kiri kanan jalan, seperti yang direncanakan oleh provinsi! Perusakan wilayah yang sangat unik akan merusak citra Provinsi sebagai Kaltim Hijau, yang akan menjadi Kaltim Coklat atau Merah Kekuningan! Alternatif yang ramah lingkungan adalah Jembatan Tg. Batu – G. Seteleng. Untuk mengontak pemprov, Anda bisa menggunakan link ini.

2. Tolong menulis kepada Pemerintah Balikpapan dan walikota Pak Imdaad Hamid untuk mengucapkan terima kasih atas perhatian lingkungan hidup dan upaya mereka untuk menghentikan rencana pembangunan Jembatan Pulau Balang. Untuk mengontak pemkot Balikpapan, Anda bisa menggunakan Buku Tamu pada link ini.

3. Tolong menulis surat kepada Bupati Penajam Paser Utara, Pak Andi Harahap, mendukung beilau untuk mengejar upaya awal untuk membangun jembatan langsung antara Balikpapan dan Penajam, tapi menunjukkan bahwa opsi Tg. Bati – G. Seteleng akan menjadi alternatif yang lebih baik dibandingi dengan opsi Nipah-Nipah – Melawai, karena tidak akan melewati pusat kota dan karenanya juga akan berlalu bagi kendaraan besar. Untuk mengontak pemkab PPU, Anda bisa menggunakan Buku Tamu pada link ini.

4. Tolong menulis komentar ke artikel-artikel online, menerangkan bahwa bukan hanya orang asing tetapi juga masyarakat setempat peduli lingkungan dan memahami bahwa Jembatan Tg. Batu – G. Seteleng adalah pilihan yang lebih baik dibandingkan dengan Jembatan Pulau Balang. Artikel-artikel disebut dapat ditemukan disini, disini, disini, dan disini.

5. Share artikel-artikel ini pada Facebook Anda.

Bersama, kita masih bisa menyelamatkan Teluk Balikpapan dan Hutan Lindung Sungai Wain!

Apart from the singer Anggun, who's based in France, it's not often that an Indonesian group or artist, let alone a progressive jazz group, has an album released on an international label. Last month saw the international launch of simakDialog's fifth album, Demimasa, on MoonJune Records, based in New York, who also released their fourth album, Patahan.

Leonardo Pavkovic, proprietor of MoonJune, has said, "I have noticed that Indonesian jazz and prog musicians tend to have smooth jazz affinities: maybe they believe it is a safe way to make the music."

Speaking of the keyboardist and leader/composer of simakDialog, Leonardo says, "Riza Arshad is an amazing pianist with a great touch and the sensibility of an ECM artist."

This is the German label which first recorded Pat Metheny and Bill Frisell, and counts Keith Jarrett, Jan Garbarek and Eberhard Weber among its longstanding recording artists.

"I have been talking to Riza to liberate himself and challenge his artistic ego with an evolutionary and free music spirit, without being afraid to say musically what he wants to say. In other words, I am asking Riza to abandon the safe way of expressing himself and to experiment more."

In simakDialog Riza Arshad has the solid backing of the ubiquitous guitarist Tohpati with Adhithya Pratama on bass guitar. What adds the extra freer dimension to their music is the percussion triumvirate of Endang Ramdan, Erlan Suwardana and new member Emy Tata on Sundanese kendang percussion, tambourines, claps, toys and vocals.

Arshad's compositional approach opens up from a jazz-rock palette, but his Fender Rhodes electric piano is clearly influenced by the crisp ring and shimmer of Indonesian gamelan. He pushes his solos to continually higher levels, urging repeated climaxes as each piece steadily amasses intensity.

Arshad might begin in a contemplative mood, but it doesn't take him long to develop an insistent pulse. The percussionists soon enter, clattering out their organic patterns with roundly slapped skins, shakers, bells and handclaps. Tohpati is also attracted to resonant trebly zones, journeying from acoustic delicacy to a subtly distorted friction. Another element is added later, with the percussionists chanting along to emphasise their dense structures.

The result sounds both natural and fully integrated. This is a particular realm that couldn't be reached either by Western progressive musicians or a traditional gamelan ensemble. SimakDialog involves a unique combination of both spheres, without making the commercially tempting mistake of cultural dilution.

Last October I was invited to the Indonesian launch of Demimasa at Goethe Haus and conducted the following interview through an email exchange and a couple of meetings.

Firstly, how come you played in bare feet at Goethe Institute?

That is a traditional dress code, I first played barefoot back in 2002 in simakDialog's solo concert at Philharmonik Petronas' concert hall. I do this to try to catch the 'spirit' of the music. I can't imagine what would be my performance if I should dress any other way.

How did you become a jazz pianist rather than, say, a classical pianist.

I started to play at 6: classical music was the 'tool' for my first encounter with the piano. I found it difficult to concentrate as I was quite a rebellious kind of boy. I liked watching fish – this was so distracting.

I quit my course but began to play again at the age of 10, but 'naturally' by copying my early influence of classical music. I created 'original' tunes and began to enjoy the beauty of composing and improvising.

How did your early music develop?

Through my brother, Luke Arsyad, I got a lot of musical knowledge, mainly classical since we shared the same teacher, but also tons of 70's music especially those from art rock/classic rock genre (Yes, Genesis, ELP, Gentle Giant, the Who, Beatles etc.), and some jazz like Corea, Hancock, Davis, but not much.

I took a course of jazz music lessons for two and half years and then my brother asked me to join his art/rock band – Rara Ragadi. I was 15 years old at that time.

Through a friend, we were introduced to the guys in an Indonesian top rock band – God Bless (who have recently reformed), and through them we were introduced to a local record label guy named Slamet, the CEO of Duba Records. We recorded an album in 1978 which was released in 1979. The band only did a few shows as my brother and I started to work with another rock band – Godspell.

My brother moved to the US to pursue his studies and I enrolled in the art department of the Bandung Institute of Technology and joined the jazz community there and played some gigs. In 1983 I met my next jazz piano instructor to continue to study jazz music. After 8 months, I started another class of jazz studies, this time in Jakarta, so I had to travel back and forth between Bandung and Jakarta every week.

What was the influence on you of the first generation of Indonesian jazzers such as Jack Lesmana, Bill Saragih and Bubi Chen?

Huge. I went to their shows quite a lot and had the opportunity to play with them years later. Being able to play and hang with them was such a milestone in my musical career.

I studied with Jack Lesmana and his son Indra and worked as their assistant in their school until it closed in December 1989. Jack is famous for what he did to introduce jazz rock music in the early 70's in Jakarta. He sort of did what Miles (Davis) had done with jazz in the late 60's, being a huge influence on the later development of jazz and the music industry in this country.

Indra, incidentally, was a remarkable young jazz player, hailed by Leonard Feather, Downbeat magazine and Chick Corea for his amazing talent and he recorded a jazz album with Charlie Haden and Jack deJohnette at the age of 18.

As I became his student then good friends, at one point joining his band 'Reborn', his playing and ideas never let me down. His spirit inspires almost every jazz musician of my generation and the next and I have adopted his philosophy. Having determined my musical direction I have never taken the opportunity to become a good session player, as Tohpati has done.

When did you start recording your own music?

After a period producing indie artists with my brother, including my first solo album in 1992, I formed my original band Dialogue with long time cohorts – drummer Arie Ayunir and Dewa Budjana.

In December 1992 I changed the personnel of my original band and its name to 'simakDialog'. With my experience working and producing artists with my brother I started to build sense of my musical identity. Playing in an entirely western mode was no longer a challenge to me, which is why I like to have a specific sound and colour in my music.

Although my brother passed away in 1997, I continue his exploration and dream of making our music widely heard everywhere anywhere in the globe.

Which western jazz pianists do you feel have influenced you the most?

Hmm, difficult question, since every great player who I listen to is my number 1 star.

My most influential jazz pianists would be Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, Keith Jarrett, Thelonious Monk, Chick Corea, Marc Copeland, John Taylor and Lyle Mays, but my difficulty lies with choosing because I like players who are also composers.

Both aspects have a very important impact in developing my musical path. So, apart from those already named, other musical influences are Chopin, Debussy, Jan Garbarek, Coltrane or Ornette Coleman, Charlie Haden, I Wayan Sadre (trad/contemporary composer), Jack deJohnette, Alan Holdsworth, Bill Frisell, Terje Rypdal, Pat Metheny or any great rock guitarists.

Where do see your own musical direction heading?

My first priority is still with simakDialog. Other than that, taking example Serambi Jazz as an example, my efforts are devoted for the growth of jazz in Indonesia.

You are the curator of Serambi Jazz at Goethe Haus. How did that come about?

They often invited me to play at their jazz events, but I couldn’t always be available for them. Plus, I didn’t think it would be good to feature me all the time. So, I offered them a new concept. A jazz concert every two months, featuring loads of talented musicians that have always dedicated their lives to music.

The chairman of Goethe Haus is a big music fan and he agreed right away and asked me to find the musicians.

I don’t want to dominate the Indonesian jazz scene by holding this event too often. I would love it if Indonesians could have a lot of variation in what they can see. We want to complement other jazz events, such as JakJazz, Java Jazz or the many smaller jazz events held regularly, such as Komunitas Jajan Jazz, KlabJazz’ Jazz Break Revival in Bandung, and so on. The more the merrier. We can see the development of Indonesia's jazz community through these many events.

How do you select the musicians featured at Serambi Jazz?

I decide based on who they are as musicians. They should be dedicated to Indonesian jazz development, in other words, someone who has decided to live their life as a jazz musician. I have a list of musicians who are very talented, but not yet widely known. Through Serambi Jazz events we hope we can introduce them so they get more appreciation.

What Indonesian musicians, jazz or any genre, are doing things you find interesting?

I rarely listen to a particular music or stay focussed on a certain style or player but listen to anything good for my ears and heart.
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If you want to know what’s happening in the Indonesian jazz scene, subscribe to Jazzuality.com who supplied the picture of Riza.

It is with immense grief that I have just learned of the death from leukemia yesterday of one of my all-time music heroes, Hugh Hopper. He had been seriously ill for a year, but this news is devastating.

All aficionados of the so-called Canterbury scene, and there are many here in Indonesia, will know what a sad loss this is.

Probably best known as the fuzz bass player with Soft Machine from one track on Soft Machine One, which they toured around the USA as support group for Jimi Hendrix with Hugh as the roadie, to the Sixth, for the past forty years he carved an individual even idiosyncratic path with compatible musicians. Like all master musicians, you can instantly recognise his voice and tone which, befitting a bass player, he generally used to support his fellow musicians.

He is less well-known as a composer, yet Robert Wyatt will attest to his melodic capabilities. Probably the most 'famous' song is Memories which was recorded by Whitney Houston back in the late sixties long before she became a diva.

He was a modest man in life, far from the archetypal rock star.

I last met him on Sunday 8th September 1974 – was it really that long ago? – outside the Drury Lane Theatre in London just before a concert by Robert Wyatt and Friends, a concert which was a sought after bootleg but is now available on a properly mastered CD released by Rykodisc/Hannibal.

I was with the mother of Son No.1, who'd known Hugh and many of the 'Canterbury Scene' in their earlier days. Hugh reminded her that she'd read his palm back then and predicted a steady yet not famous career in music. This he told her was what he had, and he was grateful.

And so are very many of us.

I'm not sure what else to say, so here is an interview, including a short discography, he gave to All About Jazz a year ago.

An interesting interview from 1998
Obit on Canterbury Scene website
You Tube – Hugh plays Kings and Queens