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Modern times: Erwin Gutawa and Ardhito Pramono freshen up an 80s classic
After more than 20 years of creating orchestral pieces, Erwin Gutawa returns to his "band" roots and reimagines an 80s classic "Masa Masa" with Ardhito Pramono.
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Equals: Legendary composer Erwin Gutawa and young jazz-pop musician Ardhito Pramono team up for a reimagined 80s classic 'Masa Masa' (Personal collection/Courtesy of GUT Records)
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fter more than 20 years of creating orchestral pieces that have received mass popularity and artistic admiration, composer Erwin Gutawa returns to his "band" roots and reimagines an 80s classic "Masa Masa" (The Times) with the young jazz-pop virtuoso Ardhito Pramono.
There was nothing but mutual admiration and respect when The Jakarta Post caught up with Erwin and Ardhito in person on Nov. 22. Their age and generational differences aside, both immediately highlighted how their latest collaboration—the reimagining of January Christy 1987's classic "Masa Masa", released digitally on Nov. 12—was an artistic labor of an equal working partnership.
"It was something I have never experienced before: being in the studio with Erwin Gutawa where we took two pianos and we brainstormed together, complete with the headaches [of songwriting] and such. And that became an incredibly cool experience and I will take pride in that for the rest of my life," declared Ardhito, praising the veteran composer for not being an employer, but instead, "a great collaborator".
Erwin, in turn, has always preferred a collaboration in which all musicians involved get to showcase their authentic self on a level playing field. "When I get myself a collaborator with a sense of musicality and a distinct style—and we don't force each other to be like one another—usually the ideas are limitless," he remarked. "That's what makes things exciting."
Get with "The times"
Perhaps in the eyes of the audience which has grown up in the era of streaming, Erwin is viewed as an orchestral composer and nothing else—a sentiment that the 59-year-old can understand. To boot, back in March, he released an album called SYMPHONESIA in which he reimagined some of the most popular Indonesian songs as an ensemble piece in collaboration with the Vienna-based Synchron Stage Orchestra. Once he wrapped up SYMPHONESIA, however, a peculiar yearning suddenly emerged.
"I felt like after this, I had to do something band-like. It had been a while since I made a record with a band. So I was like, 'Orchestra - done!'" he said with delight.
