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WORLD NEWS | Feb 26, 2010

Jazzing Up Jakarta’s Musical Scene

The annual Jakarta International Java Jazz Festival makes its return this year during the first weekend of March. For this year’s festival, the location has been moved from Senayan to the larger area of Kemayoran in Central Jakarta. No doubt the change of venue is to accommodate the growing number of attendees the festival has enjoyed over the years.

As is always the case with Java Jazz, performers will include a mix of local and international talent, both well-known musicians and emerging artists, to represent the diverse spectrum of the genre.

The JIJJF was founded five years ago by businessman and entertainer, Peter F Gontha, to promote Indonesia through art across the world. His aim is summed up in the festival’s motto: “Bringing the World to Indonesia.”

The first festival was an immediate success with 57,800 attendees. And its popularity has only grown, with bigger and bigger stars performing at the annual event. Names such as James Brown, Jamie Cullum, Sergio Mendes, Jason Mraz, Lee Ritenour, and Earth, Wind and Fire, have graced the festival’s stages over the years.

Nirmala Hapsari, a representative from the festival, says: “Every time we plan a festival the whole team sits together to discuss who we think should perform. That’s how we get our long wish list.

“Along the way, some bands drop off the list for various reasons. However, sometimes we also get offered other bands [to take their place], and those bands are the ones who usually add a certain heft to the festival.”

This year, performers will include renowned jazz act The Manhattan Transfer, whose easy-listening vocal harmonies should provide an exciting show.

They will perform songs from their latest album, “The Chick Corea Songbook,” in which they cover songs by Armando Anthony “Chick” Corea, a Grammy-winning jazz multi-instrumentalist and composer.

In an interview with The Boston Globe, the group’s alto songstress Janis Siegel said she found the experience of recording Corea’s songs “amazingly challenging, because Chick isn’t the first person you think of [for what we do].” She added, “Chick’s virtuosity and eclecticism over the years have always intrigued us as listeners.”

US hit-maker John Legend will also be appearing as one the event’s headliners.

Legend confirmed his appearance at the festival by way of a video announcement on the JIJJF Web site. In it, he sings a portion of the song “Green Light” from his latest album “Evolver,” with the original lyrics of “I’m ready to go right now/We can go all night,” changed to “I’m ready to go to the Jakarta International Java Jazz Festival.”

Legend’s most popular single in Indonesia to date was “Ordinary People,” from the 2004 album “Get Lifted.”

Over the years, Legend has worked with some of the biggest names in the music industry, including Kanye West, Jay Z, Alicia Keys and Lauryn Hill.

R&B songstress Toni Braxton will also perform as a headline act. Braxton had major hits in Indonesia in the 1990s with her singles “Breath Again” and “Unbreak My Heart.”

Her performance at the JIJJF will be a part of a promotional tour for her first record in five years, “Pulse,” which will be released in May. The first single, “Yesterday,” recently made it to No. 12 on the US Billboard Hot Hip-Hop/R&B charts.

Well-known R&B performer, Kenneth Brian “Babyface” Edmonds, will be the third headline act.

Babyface, whose last album, “Playlist,” was released in 2007, has been busy working with artists such as rapper Lil’ Wayne for the past few years.

The versatile producer had a number of hits in Indonesia in the 1990s, including his duet with Eric Clapton, “Change the World.”

Babyface, Braxton and Legend will be part of the “special show” section of the festival — meaning their performances will cost extra to attend.

Local performers include jazz musicians such as Dwiki Dharmawan, Indra Lesmana, Dewa Budjana and Syahrani.

Also performing will be Ireng Maulana, who was the founder of another local annual jazz festival, JakJazz, which was cancelled this year due to lack of sponsors.

Nirmala says: “[The festival’s] agenda is to present a diverse music festival experience for Indonesian music enthusiasts.

“We hope that our festivals can be, in their own way, ambassadors for Indonesia. I guess whenever we have a successful festival it shows the world that Indonesia is a worthy destination, tourism-wise.”

Source: The Jakarta Globe

Indonesian Lifestyle 2008