tomorrow people ensemble, cafe au lait

The clear starry Jakarta night at Friday, 9 January 2009 was a perfect start for me to stepped in a cozy cafe with classical interior at Cikini, Cafe Au Lait, to see a band that we don’t hear often anymore, Tomorrow People Ensemble.

Tomorrow People Ensamble (TPE) is a band consists of four guys graduated from Institut Musik Daya. They are Nikita Dompas (Electric Guitar), Adra Karim (Rhodes, Piano & Hammond), Indra Perkasa (Double Bass) and Elfa Zulham (Drums). They first appearance of TPE in Indonesian jazz scene was back in 2004, when Indra Lesmana and Aksan Syuman, two senior Indonesian musicians invited them to held a mini concert at Pondok Pinang Concert Practice. Not long after that, Riza Arshad, the man behind Simak Dialog made a concert called Pasar Jazz, and TPE participated in that concert. Then they got many invitations to perform, such as Indonesia Open Jazz 2004, Nusa Dua International Jazz Festival 2004, Bali Jazz Festival 2005, and the most prestigious was Jakarta International Java Jazz Festival 2005 and 2006. Besides performing in many events, they also participated in Janji Joni OST. Eventhough they haven’t made a single album yet, they have already been quite active by participating in a compilation album Jazz Masa Kini : The New Wave of Indonesian (Aksara Records) , Blossom Diary About A Boy EP, special guest star in Rieka Roeslan‘s album Mata Ketiga and SOVA’s Selayang Jingga.

Their performance last Friday considered rare because they have been inactive for 3 years. The reason for this wasn’t because they had problems or any other internal problems, but because two of the personnel, Adra and Zulham had to continue their study in Nederland. Plus, another personnel, Indra Perkasa went to Music Scoring in Lost Angeles, USA to study. They didn’t wanna miss the chance to perform while they could, just like when they gathered together at Jakarta in the beginning of 2009. TPE will perform three times in Jakarta (1 open concert and two privates) before Adra and Zulham go back to Nederland soon on 16 January 2009.

And yes, only one open concert sited at Cafe Au Lait was the show that no one wanted to miss. Hundreds of people from different background, from jazz musicians, jazz experts, jazz journalists to music lovers gathered together to witness their performance. It seems like everyone really missed their appearance on stage. Big names in Indonesian jazz scene such as Riza Arsyad, Indra Aziz, Barry Likumahuwa, Rayendra Sunito, Matthew Sayerz, Mian Tiara were there blended among the crowds. Not only from the jazz world, but non jazz bands like Alexa and White Shoes & The Couples were there too. It was a fully booked concert.

The concert started at 9 pm. They made people stunned with their musical touch. In perfect harmony they played original composition like Mr Heep, Magic Mushroom and The Answer Is Now. They also brought Ornette Coleman’s composition, Broadway Blues. The first session of the concert was closed at 10 pm. Then there was half an hour break before the second part of the show. They continued the second half with their own compositions like Wham Bam Thank You Mam, taken from the album Jazz Masa Kini. They closed their amazing performance with Mario Bros Theme Song at 11:30 pm. They brought no less than 13 songs that night.

That was a two thumbs up performance for me. Indonesia can be proud to have a high skilled group like them, playing their own compositions, still very young at age, very energic and also very entertaining.

Just like what my friend said, “I’d be lucky if I could see them again in 4 years.” I had to agree, because I don’t think we will see them soon enough, performing in the name of Tomorrow People Ensemble.

What a performance to remember!

Reporter: Titis Sapto Raharjo

Log on to Tomorrow People Ensemble‘s official myspace  at http://www.Myspace.Com/Tpensemble

Pictures taken from TPE’s myspace and a shot taken by Titis at the location

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