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Jakarta Post

Overcoming barriers with music

The world is on the brink of madness these days, and perhaps music can work to attenuate the ever-growing threats of hate and prejudice directed against humanity.

Hans David Tampubolon (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Wed, April 12, 2017

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Overcoming barriers with music Grace: Moroccan singer Meryem Aboulouafa sings while playing guitar during a recent performace at the Insituto Italiano di Cultura (IIC) in Central Jakarta. (JP/Jerry Adiguna)

T

oday’s society reminds us of the periods before the two world wars began. There is a lot of joyfulness and opportunity among middle class youth, yet beneath this carefree visage, there is the rise of fascism and hard-line nationalism that divides humanity with borders and divisions.

Superpower United States currently hosts ultra-nationalist Donald Trump as its president with his narrow-minded nationalist rhetoric of “us” versus “them”. In Indonesia, the candidacy of a Christian, Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, has sparked a widening division between moderate Muslims and conservatives who refuse to accept that a non-Muslim can hold a public leadership position in the largest Muslim-majority country in the world.

A recent music jam session promoting inter-cultural interaction at the Istituto Italiano di Cultura (IIC) in Central Jakarta provided a much-needed spark among Indonesian youth to break down the boxes that their leaders have been trying to put them into.

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In collaboration with the Institut Fran ais d’Indonesie (IFI), the jam session featured singer Meryem Aboulouafa from Morocco, four Italian musicians — Francesco Santalucia, Giordano Tricamo, Andrea Cangianiello and Ruggiero Balzano — and Indonesian artists from the Sjuman School of Music.

Different worlds: The audience watch Meryem Aboulouafa and Italian musicians perform at the Insituto Italiano di Cultura (IIC).(JP/Jerry Adiguna)

To open the jam session, Aboulouafa and the Italian musicians performed a medley of four songs; “Agharo,” “Ya Qalbi,” “Smile” and “Harmonie du Soir.” Santalucia’s piano play combined with Cangianiello’s percussion and Aboulouafa’s hypnotic and soothing vocals formed a unique European sound that brought out an aura of exotic middle-eastern deserts and culture.

Afterwards, Indonesian musicians, including jazz singer Nesia Ardi, spontaneously joined the next musical session with Aboulouafa and her colleagues, playing random notes that produced a melodic harmony despite the fact that it was their first time meeting and playing together.

Santalucia, after the performance, thought the jam session with the Indonesian musicians was a blast and showed how music was very powerful force in breaking down the walls that segregate people from different cultures, races and religions.

“You build an instant connection in a jam session,” Santalucia said.

Feel the rhythm: Italian musician Andrea Cangianiello uses a simple percussion instrument in the recent performance.(JP/Jerry Adiguna)

Aboulouafa added that she did not learn the Indonesian language before collaborating in a humming performance with Nesia during the jam session, but both of them showed how they could build chemistry instantly and produce music on the spot.

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“She [Nesia] has a lot of groove. The way she sings offers a lot of freedom, which is very surprising to me because I was expecting a more traditional form of music but she showed that Indonesians are also very connected to international genres, which is very nice because I don’t like borders in music,” Aboulouafa said.

“We all speak differently but music is our common language,” she added.

Other than the jam session at the IIC, Aboulouafa and the Italian musicians were also in Indonesia to play gigs in different cities to promote their unique music that combines two different cultures — European and Morrocan — into one.

In the moment: Pianist Francesco Santalucia plays his composition during the performance.(JP/Jerry Adiguna)

Aboulouafa’s collaboration with the Italian musicians began two years ago when she met Santalucia at an event in Rome. From the meeting, both of them saw that they had a similar taste in music and believed that their collaboration could produce something refreshing and exciting.

“I think we have the same way of seeing music, the same attraction to the genres of music and we both go in the same direction. We share the same inspirations and this is why we decided to collaborate,” Aboulouafa said.

After playing in Indonesia, Santalucia said they planned to travel to other countries to introduce their unique style of music so that the younger generation could see the power of music to connect people together amid ever-growing tensions between state leaders.

“I think music is the most important way to create a connection from different places. We are here and we travel for this reason and we share our ideas with different people from different parts of the world. We are in a band, we have different cultures and religions but we always share music any way we can,” he said.

“We grew up in different places. I was in Europe and she was in Casablanca and this is why I love the disparity in our group because it makes our music very special.”

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