Jazz Merah Putih Goes to Banua
Just one day before the Indonesian Independence Day about two weeks ago, one very interesting jazz event was held at Banjarmasin, the capital of South Kalimantan (Borneo). The title was “Jazz Merah Putih Goes to Banua”, that featured Imelda Rosalin (Imel) and Friends. This event was held on August 16, 2009 at Jorong Cafe & Resto, Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan from 2pm to 6 pm. It wouldn’t be a surprise if we noticed any jazz events happened in Jakarta, Bandung or in any other big cities, but the case of jazz event appear in a city that actually not so often to be related with jazz? Now that surely grabbed our attention. What makes us even happier is the fact that the event was very successful.
The idea of making this event came from a dentist who used to teach piano at Venche Music School (VMS) in Bandung some years ago, Dr. Harmaji. He lives in Banjarmasin right now and pursues his career as a dentist. But his passion to music seems still alive very well. He must have seen how jazz grows very well in many cities and thought, why Banjarmasin couldn’t make a jazz community or quality jazz event. So he made it happen. Teaming up with Jorong Cafe & Resto, together they delivered “Jazz Merah Putih Goes to Banua”, a very interesting event with a friendly and familiar concept where the musicians and audience gathered and blended together harmoniously. This might be the very first jazz event with this concept. Not the first jazz event though, because there were some jazz events were made in this city before. Ermi Kullit was there, Idang Rasjidi and Margie Segers were there. But those were made more like a concert or show. This one was different, with the live interactivity among the musicians and the audience, some even came and play together with them in seriously cool jam sessions, and this event was also filled with Q&A segments here and there.
“Jazz Merah Putih Goes to Banua.” Merah Putih is the color of Indonesian flag, Red and White, referred as a celebration of Indonesian Independence Day. Then, Banua, is the way they call their land in their own language. There’s a little explanation of the title, just in case you wonder what it means. The performers came from both Jakarta and Bandung. All were talented players across generations. Imelda Rosalin, I’m sure you are quite familiar with this name if you read jazzuality.com often. She’s a down to earth senior jazz artist from Bandung who has been breathing her soul with jazz for more than 15 years at least. She’s one of the great female pianist Indonesia has today, capable in playing accordion very well and also blessed with lovely jazz vocal. Next,we have a senior jazz drummer who has been active as a session player everywhere for quite a long time as well, Edy Syahroni. The lineup continues with Shadu (Shah’adu) Rasjidi, the son of Indonesian jazz legend Idang Rasjidi. Unlike his father, Shadu choosed bass as his weapon, and I got to say he is one of the next big thing in Indonesian jazz scene. There were Agus Takari from Jakarta, a guitar instructor of Purwacaraka Music School. Last but not least, this event featured a brilliant young pianist, still in his sixteen year old, the son of Indonesian jazz great Venche Manuhutu named David Manuhutu.
Now let’s talk about the show. If you think Imel and Friend delivered something easy, you got to be wrong. Surprisingly they delivered a very thick jazz pattern that mostly range from mainstream to post bop. Basically Imelda Rosalin played in trio formation, including Edy Syahroni and Shadu Rasjidi. It was clear that Imel and friends were heavily inspired by what Keith Jarrett Trio (with Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette) has done a couple of decades ago in their ECM era. It was the time when jazz standards, those type of songs that usually sang in the wedding, went up reaching the new higher level. At that time it was phenomenal to have a new height of jazz standards, it still is until today as a matter of fact. From time to time we have jazz artists everywhere around the world that are inspired by Keith Jarrett’s style, including Imelda Rosalin of course. And I’m sure that’s also the reason why Imelda loves to play in trio. “It’s really challanging to play in this formation.” she explained. Why? “Because you only got two other partners.. that means you got to have really good chemistry to fill each other, one has to interact completely with the rest of the band or else you won’t deliver anything good.” she continued. For some times I’ve seen Imelda playing standards in the “easy” way, but not that night. In Banjarmasin she demonstrated what she capable of. Complex and progressive chords are all over, but still enjoyable even for those who are not so into jazz. The songs might be familiar, but Imel and friends delivered those songs just as if Keith Jarrett Trio would do. Surprise, surprise, the audience in Banjarmasin actually loved it! They all stayed from start to finish and responded very well. That was amazing.
Let’s see what songs they brought at Jorong Cafe and Resto that night. Musicians from Purwacaraka Music Studio led by Yunita the vocalist brought “Just The Two of Us” and Lionel Ritchie’s “Hello” in light and smooth jazz. Imelda, Edy and Shadu brought Duke Ellington/Bob Russell’s “Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me” in post bop style. Followed by “Straight No Chaser” from Thelonious Monk’s collection. How would you describe the style of “Come Fly With Me”? Most of us would remember it in lovely swingin’ style, but Imel and friends brought it differently in ECM style. The crowds seemed to love that move. As the event was supposed to be a celebration of Independence Day, Imel played “Belaian Sayang” (Love Caress), a song written by Bing Slamet. That was the first part of the play.
Some interesting Q&A came up. From the “innocent” question like “when a band/group has no sax player, can it still be called jazz group?” to some technical questions like the types of jazz chords. Imel answered them all well.
When the second part of the show started, Imelda and her trio got accompanied by Agus Takari and David Manuhutu. They delivered “Autumn Leaves” nicely. Then it was time for one local talent named Bambang to join them in the famous “Route 66″. Another question came for Agus Takari. It was a good question. “How do we understand the timing in jam session.” Agus explained that first of all the musicians really have to know the real and main form of the song. Each player usually will get their shot to run their solo, they are free to run their round as much as they like, but they have to fill up the whole round completely. Imelda also shared her point of view about the difference between our kind of “polite” jam session compared to the international style that can be wild and ferocious, based on what she saw at the jam session at Sultan Hotel’s cafe when Java Jazz Festival was on. Imelda also continued that in order to rise up our level in jam session, we got to have more events that brings music for music, not music for money.
Now, think this. Who would drive in straight 7 hours by car to watch a show? Mr Tisna did it. He drove 7 hours from the coal mining where he works to appear at Jorong Resto and Cafe. Not only being there, he also performed together with the band! I was shocked to see that he actually had the voice of deep soulful blues singer. He sang Miles Davis‘ “All Blues”, a famous song taken from Davis’ 1959 album, “Kind of Blue” just like a pro. Another surprising talent was Dili, a local jazz singer who actually able to do the “mouth trumpet”. He mimicked the sound of trumpet perfectly with his great jazzy voice on the classic Erroll Garner’s composition with lyrics written by Johnny Burke entitled “Misty”. David Manuhutu took charge on the piano accompanying one local guitarist in Chick Corea’s “Spain”. Another interesting scene came out. It started with a question came from a singer among the audience named Susan. After Imel answered her question, she was asked to sing right away. Susan sang one of Burt Bacharach’s classic, “The Look of Love”.
Another question came for Edy Syahroni, asking about the beat pattern of one Afro Cuban style. Edy Syahroni gave the example and invited the man with that question to discuss with him after the show. 
Imelda saw the chance to deliver some latin music, and “So Danco Samba” came up with Dr Harmaji still playing on the piano. The MC for that night was actually also a singer, and he sang the difficult song to sing, “Moody’s Mood For Love” in duet with Imelda Rosalin. They both nailed the song. The jam session continued on with Yunita, the singer from Purwacaraka Music Studio and Suci, the young local jazz vocalist in “When I Fall In Love” and “Killing Me Softly With His Song”. Agus Takari was back on guitar.
Before the show ended, Imelda brought one of her written song, taken from her album “Di Ladang Stroberi” (At the Strawberry Field), a song that was actually made for a television soap opera directed by her own sister, Key Mangunsong several years ago. And then came the last song, the song that we all know very well, “The Girl From Ipanema”.
It was a great show. Not only jazz concert with heavy ECM-mainstream-to-post bop style, but also filled with stunning jam sessions and Q and A that was started with simply innocent questions but later appeared more like jazz clinic in the end. It was a nice surprise to know that Banjarmasin actually has many great local jazz talents. It was something we didn’t really know so well before, but thanks to “Jazz Merah Putih Goes to Banua”, now we could see that actually there are many potential jazzers up there. Great play, great song choice, great version and great interactive blending with the audience. Love it! Props to Dr Harmaji, Jorong Cafe and Resto, the whole bands, all participated musicians and the audience, also everybody else behind this event. We are really happy to see that jazz also blossoms in Kalimantan. I personally hope by this event there will be many sponsors willing to support jazz events in Kalimantan in particular, also everywhere else in Indonesia in general. What they had done is very beneficial for the jazz growth and development in Indonesia. May there be more in the future.
Special thanks to Imelda Rosalin
Reporter: Riandy Kurniawan
Popularity: 3% [?]
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[...] David surprised the audience in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan (Borneo) with his stunning ability in Jazz Merah Putih (Red White Jazz), now he finally gets his shot to be in brighter spotlight in a very special event [...]
incredible banjarmasin, amazing, outstanding…….
and what a complete report, except the MC’s name, and unfortunately, it’s me….. he he he he…..
Viva Banjarmasin Jazz Society!!!!
[...] you remember one of the article we wrote last August titled “Jazz Merah Putih Goes to Banua” (check out the report here), now comes the sequel of it. At that time, our report from [...]