Dwiki mixes 'angklung', jazz in Frankfurt

DWIKI DHARMAWAN: (JP/Arief Suhardiman)

FRANKFURT: Jazz musician Dwiki Dharmawan has his own way of promoting Indonesian culture abroad.

During the Frankfurt Musuemsurferfest 2008, which was held over the weekend, the 42-year-old musician presented a unique collaboration of jazz music and traditional West Java angklung music.

Dwiki, together with Saung Angklung Udjo, a traditional angklung group from West Java, and students from the Bandung Institute of Technology, were invited by the Indonesian consulate in Frankfurt to join the event.

"We wanted to present Indonesian contemporary and traditional music at the same time," Indonesian consul general in Frankfurt, Eddy Setiabudhi, was quoted as saying by Antara.

Dwiki has been combining jazz with traditional Sundanese music since 1990 and has released two albums; Mystical Mist and Magical Match.

The Museumsurferfest, or "The Museum Riverbank Festival", is one of the biggest cultural festivals in Germany that takes place over three days at the end of each summer. The event, which helps promote 12 museums in the city, attracts almost three million tourists from all over the world. -- JP