Kayon Tree of Life in Concert
In Wayang world, Kayon represents a Tree of Life, where time stands still. It’s also a tree of creation, grows towards heaven and many other various symbolic functions. We find the symbol used mostly in the performance of wayang kulit as one of the important figure. Kayon comes from Sanskrit language originally means tree. If a group choose to use this as a name, it has to be that good, as good as a tree representing life. And yes, this group has all the ingredients to match the name.
Meet three maestros of Indonesian Jazz with brilliant skills and perfect chemistry with each other inside Kayon. the keyboard wizard Indra Lesmana, complete drummer Gilang Ramadhan and the bass master Pra Budi Dharma. All three of them are some of the best talents Indonesia ever has. They once were the members of Krakatau, the legendary band before Indra and Gilang resigned in the late 80′s. Now imagine when these three jazz maestros formed a group together. The stunning result is definately guaranteed.
Kayon was established as a continuous concept of their journey as a trio, from the fusion progressive era in the 80′s followed by the improvised music in the late 90′s. It was originally formed back in 1986 using the name P.I.G. In 1996 they released a free jazz album entitled “Lost Forest”. Later in 2007 the group reformed again and launched “Tree of Life” presenting various original Indonesian ethnical musics in the spirit of jazz. They performed at The House of World Culture in Berlin, Germany in the late 2007.
Indra Lesmana is a natural born talent. He got a formal education in music at the Conservatorium of Music, Sydney, Australia and learned from many jazz greats such as Don Burrows. His career grew with numerous music group and famous jazz musicians in Australia, performing in various jazz clubs such as The Basement and Soup Plus. Up to this day, Indra has made 200 compositions and 18 solo albums, also involved in 50 recordings. He’s also active in many different groups, Indra Lesmana Reborn, JavaJazz and of course Kayon, besides working as producer with his record label, Inline Music. Pra Budi Dharma started with studying Art with minor in music at the University of Washington, Seattle. He learned guitar at Berklee College of Music, Boston in 1977. He was one of the founder of Krakatau when it was established in 1985, and still active in the group today. Gilang Ramadhan is never a stranger in music. He played various intruments since his childhood, such as piano, violin and drums. In 1973 he learned piano and organ from Slamet Abdul Sjukur in Paris. He took percussion course in Los Angeles City College (LACC). Just like Indra, Gilang is active in many different groups, Nebula, Karimata, Krakatau and Nera.
As mentioned before, Kayon delivers the cultural richness of Indonesian traditional musics, often tuned their instruments to slendro, a pentatonic scale found in Indonesian (Javanese) traditional music. Not only the Javanese music, they also give a taste of Batavian (Betawi), Aceh, Sundanese, Banyuwangi, Balinese even Kutai off-shore and Papua music inside a free jazz pattern. The east meets west concept of Kayon is simply superb, all fuses smoothly , united in diversity. Indeed, Kayon is a combination of skill and art.
I have seen their performance in Bandung Jazz Statement at Padjadjaran University several years ago, and yes, they were stunning and unbelievable. Very explorative, entertaining with amazing improvisation all over their performance. As how it was before, I’m sure this time it’s going to be as great, if not even better. This is another chance to see them live. Don’t miss this performance!
KAYON Tree of Life in Concert
Date: Saturday, October 3, 2009
Time: 8:00 PM – 11:00 PM Western Indonesian Standard Time
Location: Salihara Theatre
Jalan Salihara 16, Pasar Minggu, Jakarta Selatan
Admission fee: IDR 50.000
Special price for students: IDR 25.000
You can buy the ticket directly at Komunitas Salihara or from Carla at +62 8170771913 or +62 21 96192632, or buy it online at Salihara.org
Don’t miss Kayon Tree of Life CD, Limited Edition, only available at the concert.
See you there!
For more info, log on to Komunitas Salihara website
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