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sually a practice session isn’t included on the menu when musicians perform, but was different this time.

Guitarist I Wayan Balawan came with an alternate storyline, delivering an almost two hour music jam and ending with a “mini” live show.

Balawan as the opening performer for this year’s Salihara Jazz Buzz festival performed with Sigit Arditya, widely known as Didiet, one of the country’s most talented young violinists, and bassist Fajar Adi Nugroho.

These musicians wrapped up their jam session by role playing the ordinary life of a jazz musician.

The performance had Balawan’s house as background. Act 1 had the wife leaving the house on some business and asking him to supervise their son.

After putting the baby to sleep, Balawan then called Didiet, asking him to come by to practice with him. They then started playing a song titled “What’s Left in Bali”.

Just before they started the music, Balawan told the audience his concerns about massive construction done mostly by foreigners. In his perspective, those constructions would sooner or later distance Balinese from their island.

“Foreigners keep buying the land in Bali piece by piece at a massive pace. Right now, for sure I don’t know what’s left in Bali for the Balinese themselves. If only these foreigners would be satisfied by renting and not buying the soil maybe it would create fewer headaches,” Balawan told the audience.

The first song raised those concerns with the second, “One Day We Will Make It”, suggesting a positive mental attitude. Balawan dedicated the song to everyone who believes that despite never-ending problems, Indonesia will someday become a great nation.

As usual, Balawan performed with his famous tapping technique. And Balawan’s speed was fascinating, as if any worries about making mistakes had evaporated. No wonder his fans have called him one of the speediest guitarists in Asia.

To catch up, Didiet also performed at full speed. His ability to produce various sounds from his electric violin and his speed surpassed anyone’s expectations that night.

After playing two songs, an additional player emerged. Fajar acted as someone who was tempted to join the party after hearing the music from Balawan’s house.

Some critical comments regarding a musician’s life were made during this interval. For example, when Fajar asked whether he could join Balawan and Didiet because he thought the house was a music studio, Balawan quickly replied, “Well there was a music studio just in the front of the house but now it’s closed. I’ve heard that it was because the musicians who played and practiced there were only jazz musicians who rarely paid the rent.”

The audience burst into laughter while the musicians prepared for their next song. After a five-minute interval, Balawan asked Fajar to play a song with him called “Mie Goreng” (Fried Noodles). This song’s level of difficulty and the way the musicians played and improvised garnered a long, massive applause from the audience.

A Chinese nuance was produced when Didiet played the song “Sang Bango”, which was known as a children’s song back in the 1970s and 1980s. Influential names like Benyamin S and Bing Slamet were among those who popularized the song.

A unique moment occurred as the three were practicing one of Didiet’s creations titled “Bali Dance”. During the music, Fajar seemed to be having some difficulties catching up to the melody. Some in the audience thought it was part of the play, but Fajar acknowledged otherwise.

“Well, that was genuine. I had difficulties when jamming with Didiet onstage. It was because Didiet had only informed us about the music just a few hours before the performance,” Fajar said after the performance.

The gigs then ended with a real live session in which they played two final songs in a more complete format, with Dion Subiakto on drums.

When asked about the unique performance concept, Balawan said it was his own idea. The concept was meant to unveil the real life of a musician, he said. Thus there was no glamour on offer.

Balawan said he just wanted to be natural and honest with his audience, and therefore he manifested this idea by performing naturally onstage. He said the idea of having a bit of theatrics emerged just a day before the gig.

“We gave the audience the privilege to see the practice session. We wanted to share this experience in the hope that our audience could have a better understanding of us as musicians,” he said.

All dialogue during the performance was entirely unplanned, he added.

After the performance, Didiet acknowledged that it was a bit harder to do simply because of the role play.

“Both jazz and the role play required me to act and think spontaneously and that is a hard thing to do,” he said.

Commenting on this, audience member Zainal acknowledged that it was fun and surprising. He said he enjoyed both the performance and the theatrics. Haryo agreed, saying the drama added value and was something that differentiated it from other jazz performances.

Jubing Kristianto, a guitarist who also attended the performance, applauded the concert, saying it had succeeded in giving the audience a quality performance.

“Regarding the skills, they are unquestionable, especially Balawan and his speed and tapping technique. Besides, I enjoyed the drama; it tells us the true reality behind the glamourous side of a musician,” he said.