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AlbumReviews: 'To the Universe' by Sri Hanuraga
To the Universe, 29-year-old pianist Sri âAgaâ Hanuragaâs second album under his own name, is a fun record
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To the Universe, 29-year-old pianist Sri 'Aga' Hanuraga's second album under his own name, is a fun record. That's a meagre sentiment to express about a jazz record; knotty arrangements coupled with crafty technical skills don't usually make for 'fun' records, but there's something singular about Aga's vision for his album and I can't think of any adjective other than, well, fun.
Musically, Aga and his bandmates were going after the West Coast jazz signatures that prize smoothness over challenging aesthetic. Simply put, West Coast jazz sounds cool and easy-listening.
Depending on your taste, West Coast jazz is the jazz for relaxing times. From Vince Guaraldi to Dave Brubeck, there have been a number of artists attempting to emulate and eventually perfect these sounds to make their most memorable standards ('Cast Your Fate to the Wind' and 'Take Five', for instance).
On To the Universe, Aga's playfulness welcomes listeners to the record. Opener 'Teka-Teki' (Riddles) has delightful piano notes meshed with a frenetic bass-playing by Kevin Hutapea.
There's no denying that from the get-go that Aga is a gifted pianist; he graduated from the Conservatorium van Amsterdam (a coveted music academy) with summa cum laude honors, won the Indonesian Young Talent Award given out by the Java Jazz music festival at age 25 and toured to several cities in Europe.
It's easy to think he just wants to ape the music already provided for him, but the arrangements on To the Universe are wonderfully fresh and original. The three-parter 'Ever Changing' goes for maudlin notes complete with a flute instrumentation that oddly recalls traces of Sundanese music. The third part is the most unnerving and abrupt of all; it's an electric song, complete with guitar and synth notes.
Aga's arrangements are also neat, which, from a completely amateur standpoint, sounds like real work. His renditions of 'Suwe Ora Jamu' (Long Time No See) and 'Amadeus' sound tender and well-produced. Aga has fun throughout the record, but he's never grounded on laziness to keep finding new corners to fill out.
To the Universe is not without its flaws, though: 'A Palm for You', the longest on this record, sounds a little mopey and it just drones on without ever taking off, although cudos to Kevin's awesome bass playing.
The title track also never goes anywhere, even when it starts promising ' again with the bass playing. Aga fares a lot better in songs in which he keeps questioning his depths and answering them: 'Gundul Pacul', 'Amadeus' and closer 'Schoenfeld' are examples of them.
To the Universe is a decent album, but it does not say a lot about how hard it is to ensnare investment for jazz in the Indonesian indie music industry. It's a very refreshing outlook to have: that musicians still make jazz records that people want to hear. If we're having jazz from now on, then To the Universe couldn't be a better candidate to start the first course.
