Age hampers only a little of what Ireng Maulana, a veteran Indonesian jazz musician, can achieve with his band.

The male members of Ireng Maulana sported dark suits, white shirts, and black-and-white bow ties when they were performing at a recent press conference at CJs. The "tightness" of the band was reminiscent of the old ragtime jazz bands of the past.

Ireng, who has been playing the guitar for five decades, and his crew, are performing every Sunday at The Cascade Lounge at the Mulia Hotel from 8 p.m. onwards.

"This is a challenge for us. I've always wanted to perform at this place. We will play the kind of music we think the guests will enjoy. A lighter kind of jazz, or light pop jazz tunes," Ireng said at a press conference recently.

"Depending on the crowd, we may lean towards a heavier jazz sound if we have to," he added.

Ireng Maulana and Friends consists of seven musicians. They are Ireng on guitar, Rudy Subekti on drums, Sam Panuwun on piano, Ade on bass, Yuyun George on saxophone and both Sherly O. and Jackie on vocals.

The band will play their second gig on June 1 and will play six more times after that. Ireng said they would like to perform more at the hotel after their initial contract ended.

"During our first performance at the hotel, the crowd reacted warmly to our show. We played with a slow tempo in the first moment. However, I asked the band to speed it up a little bit. It turned out great as there were many requests for songs," said Ireng, who listens to a local jazz station when he's on the road.

Ireng said his influences in music included acoustic guitarist Earl Klugh and pianist Monty Alexander, who performed at the first JakJazz, a big jazz event in Indonesia in which Ireng is the main visionary.

"I regard Senayan as a Jazz area. We also held JakJazz at this (Senayan) spot. So I'm happy to perform at Mulia."

The band plans to bring guest musicians to their show for the sake of variety.

Besides performing, Ireng's main activity is preparing for the upcoming JakJazz.

The "maestro" lamented the rising booking costs for JakJazz. "The reason we don't book legendary jazz musicians is because of the booking prices and the small crowd that is willing to show up for them."

For the time being, Ireng is delighted to have a regular gig at the Mulia. The band will perform 9 to 10 songs in each Sunday show.

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