Festival brings jazz to the people

Sri Wahyuni ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Yogyakarta   |  Sun, 11/29/2009 5:18 PM  |  Lifestyle

Who says going to a live jazz performance has to be expensive? It certainly doesn't have to be, as shown by the Yogyakarta jazz festival Ngayogjazz 2009, held last weekend at the Gabusan Art Market in Bantul, Yogyakarta.

Presenting noted musicians of both national and international reputations, the festival was free for the public - no entrance ticket or special invitation was required to come to the venue, which had four performance stages.

"Ngayogjazz is designed to bring jazz closer to the community in a bid to help develop a stronger supporting community in the music industry," the festival's director, Djaduk Ferianto, said.

Djaduk, himself a musician, said that although there are numerous festivals held by different jazz communities across the country, most were concerned primarily with the content and neglected to take into account the supporting community.

In fact, he said, the success of the music industry was very much dependent on the support from the music-loving public. That was why, he added, interaction with the public was essential to make the music industry a success.

"We consider this a long-term investment for musicians," Djaduk said. "We may not be able to notice the results this time as this is not an investment whose fruits can be directly enjoyed."

To attract more people to the festival, the organizer used the concept of a night market, where, in addition to the jazz shows, visitors could take in traditional performances that the local community were familiar with.

It was therefore no surprise to have performances such as the traditional trance-dance jathilan and traditional music calung. To go with the entertainment, people could buy various traditional foods such as satay and the cold drink es dawet.

Other local elements at the festival included the parades of giant dolls, golekgung, and performers on traditional stilts egrang.

"This is indeed a unique way of enjoying a jazz performance," chairman of the International Jazz Festival Organization (IJFO), Fritz Thom of Austria, said on the sidelines of Ngayogjazz.

"The ambiance, the people, the vendors . It's something that I cannot find in other jazz festivals."

Thom, whose organization arranges 14 international jazz festivals worldwide, said he was confident that Ngayogjazz would eventually win international recognition, especially for its unique way of conducting a festival.

It did not seem to be an exaggeration. Although this was only the third year for the annual festival, it succeeded in attracting international jazz musicians, including Harri Stojka and Claudia Jelinek of Austria and Albert Yap and BassGroove 100 of Malaysia.

"There were actually more international players who expressed interest to join the festival, but the organizer could not bring all of them, mainly because of budget constraints," said Djaduk.

He added that although the original budget for the festival was Rp 600 million, it was later decreased to only Rp 200 million, most of which came from the Bantul regency administration.

High interest in taking part in the festival, according to Djaduk, was also shown by Indonesian musicians, singers and bands, although not all of them could be accommodated.

"There were about 25 other jazz bands and musicians that we just could not accommodate this time. Hopefully we can next year," he said.

Among the participating Indonesian artists were Dwiki Darmawan, Dewa Bujana, Syaharani, David Manuhutu, I Wayan Sadra and Sonoseni Ensamble, Purwanto and Kua Etnika and jazz communities from Yogyakarta, Pekanbaru, Palembang, Balikpapan, Malang, Solo, Semarang, Bandung, Surabaya and Pekalongan.

They performed back to back on the four stages, each of which named after a noted Indonesian figure in the music industry: Cokrowasito (composer), Basiyo (musician, comedian), Condrolukito (Javanese gamelan music singer) and Kusbini (composer).

The Jur@sic Brass Band of the Indonesian Institute of the Arts (ISI) Yogyakarta opened the festival at 3 p.m., featuring singer Farah Di, who performed, among others "Pasir Pantai" (Beach Sand), "Merah Biru" (Red Blue) and "Caravan". The festival lasted until about midnight.

"It turns out that jazz music sounds good to my ears. I think I'm going to like it thanks to the festival," Suparman, 40, of Palbapang, Bantul, told The Jakarta Post during one of the performances at the festival.

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