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'Keroncong' A legacy with many possibilities
Keroncong Oemar Bakrie - Courtesy of Galeri Indonesia KayaRooted in the acoustic music brought by freed Portuguese slaves settling in the country in the 16th century, keroncong music remains relevant in the modern era
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Keroncong Oemar Bakrie - Courtesy of Galeri Indonesia Kaya
Rooted in the acoustic music brought by freed Portuguese slaves settling in the country in the 16th century, keroncong music remains relevant in the modern era.
The possibilities of assimilating this style of folk music with the tunes of rock, jazz and dangdut in a bid to take keroncong back to its heyday were explored by renowned keroncong singer Sundari Soekotjo during the Keroncong Week held in Jakarta last week.
Ever since its invention during the Dutch occupation, keroncong has been a melting pot of cultures and influences.
The genre was born when the Portuguese settlers played their own four-stringed ukuleles, called macina and locally known as cak, and the three-stringed prounga also known as cuk, in harmony with local sounds.
Rather than plucking them, they strummed the instruments, creating the 'crong, crong' sound that gave the genre its onomatopoeic name, keroncong.
With the addition of violin, cello and double bass, keroncong orchestras quickly gained popularity, filling ballrooms across the country, from the colonial age to the independence era.
The five centuries of keroncong development have resulted in pakem, a set of rules on keroncong arrangements and rhythms.
Many keroncong orchestras adhere to the guidelines as a form of their efforts to preserve the originality of keroncong. But Sundari sees that pakem also acts as a constraint on the young, dynamic generation of musicians, putting the future of keroncong at risk.
'The young generation takes notice of keroncong, but they see it as old-fashioned music that has many rules. So I'm open to new ideas. I feel that I should not be an idealist,' Sundari said.
In her role as the head of the Indonesian Keroncong Foundation (YAKIN), Sundari cooperated with Galeri Indonesia Kaya at Grand Indonesia Mall to hold Keroncong Week, a six-day show of traditional and modern keroncong.
With a theme of Keroncong Djoeara Noesantara (KEDJORA) or Keroncong is the Nation's Champion, the show featured classic keroncong orchestras as well as pop singers.
Sundari invited Winda Viska and Kunto Aji from Indonesian Idol, rocker Candil, jazz singer Dira Sugandi, Iman of J Rock band and dangdut singer Ikke Nurjanah to dip their toes in the warm waters of keroncong.
'My approach is 50:50. I let go of some of my idealism and hear the young musicians' desire to experiment with keroncong. Then I give them suggestions to improve their performance.'
Known for his upbeat Japanese rock, Iman of J Rock, for instance, performed some classic keroncong songs, including 'Keroncong Kemayoran', 'Juwita Malam' (Evening Beauty) and 'Rayuan Pulau Kelapa' (Solace on Coconut Island).
There were moments when it seemed that Iman was struggling to incorporate his rocker side with keroncong's slower songs.
'I love the classic keroncong and modern performances alike,' enthused an avid keroncong listener, Ani Sulastri, 77, who came to the show with her husband and daughter.
'There are some performances that fit perfectly with keroncong tunes, while some others were slightly less harmonious.'
In her youth, Ani was a fan of Javanese keroncong singers Eny Kusrini and Waldjinah. But today, Waldjinah's health is deteriorating and Eny has suffered a stroke.
Despite criticizing some of the performances that night, Ani, however, is quite happy to see young pop singers learning her favorite music. 'Collaboration is the future of keroncong music.'
The KEDJORA show may not have been an unqualified success, but its role in fostering the new era of keroncong is undeniable.
The show is the latest effort to modernize the genre, an effort that began in the 1960s when Hetty Koes Endang invented pop keroncong by adding electric guitars, keyboards and drums.
Sundari's desire to modernize keroncong has also captured the attention of her only daughter, Intan Soekotjo.
The 23-year-old Intan, who manages her family's currency exchange business, had never been interested in following in her mother's footsteps until recently.
Along with four young musicians, Intan created Alunada Keroncong Ensemble, which showcases the fresh interpretations of keroncong with a touch of pop and jazz beats.
'The ensemble plays cak and cuk because those are the core of keroncong music. But we also explore ways to make keroncong easy listening. We believe that keroncong has a future,' Intan, the ensemble's vocalist, said.
Despite Sundari's delight at the enthusiasm of young artists to explore keroncong, she has reservations about the regeneration of cak and cuk musicians.
'It is easy for a singer to switch music genres. But learning to play cak and cuk is harder. For the moment, there are still a lot of cak and cuk musicians, but they are getting older. '
Among the senior cak and cuk musicians is Uuk, 58, from Sundari's keroncong orchestra.
Realizing that the beloved music was losing fans, Uuk said he invented more rhythms to cak and cuk to make keroncong more appealing.
'In the past, the keroncong tunes were usually unable to catch listeners' attention, so I created new ones that were more upbeat.'
Uuk shared his expertise with Chaka Priambudi, a young bassist with the Lantun Orchestra, a group of young musicians playing traditional songs, particularly those of the Betawi culture, with modern twists.
Sporting white sports shoes and a kebaya blouse, Lantun Orchestra's vocalist, Nesia Ardi, performed a duet with Sundari on the Javanese keroncong song 'Getuk' while Uuk and Chaka strummed cak and cuk.
'The hardest part is not learning to play the instrument, but memorizing rhythmic patterns and finding ways to incorporate them into other music,' Chaka said.
Echoing Sundari, a soldier and keroncong musician from West Java's Bandung, Yudha Wastupramuka, emphasized the importance of keroncong musical regeneration.
'We need to grow new seeds of keroncong musicians. In Bandung, there are plenty of keroncong orchestras, but their members are the same senior musicians,' Yudha said.
Yudha's interest in keroncong grew when his parents took part in the Gema Irama keroncong orchestra based in their hometown of Pati, Central Java.
Reminiscing about his parents' love of keroncong, Yudha in 2010 founded his own orchestra, named Krontjong Tren Bandung, consisting of him as a bassist and six street musicians in their 20s, whom Yudha discovered performing on buses and public minivans in Bandung.
'When I first started the band, I let them play popular songs, such as those of Noah band or Raisa, with keroncong rhythms. Then, I 'poisoned' them with the real keroncong songs.'
'If I'd leapt straight in with classic keroncong, they wouldn't have been interested.'
Yudha expressed his happiness at seeing youngsters in Bandung starting to experiment with the Portuguese-influenced songs. Among the young keroncong group is Keroncong 7 Poetri, seven girls who perform the classic keroncong repertoire as well as giving keroncong twists to top 40 hits, such as Pharrel Williams' 'Happy'.
In the KEDJORA show, Yudha and his Krontjong Tren Bandung shared the spotlight with Sundari, playing songs themed around the country's struggle for independence.
With their classic keroncong style, the band performed 'Rangkaian Melati' (Jasmine Garland), 'Selendang Sutra' (Silk Shawl), 'Jembatan Merah' (Red Bridge) and 'Pemuda Pemudi' (Youth).
The Keroncong Week show was a success, with nearly a hundred people of different generations packing the auditorium.
'This musical collaboration has been able to freshen up keroncong and made us more interested in it,' said Donny Destiano, 26, who came to the show with his friends.
