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Jazzing up a Sunday
Heavy rain did not disperse the crowds at the Sunday Jazz Festival
H
eavy rain did not disperse the crowds at the Sunday Jazz Festival. Instead, they patiently waited until the rain stopped and the festival resumed.
For the second time, the Sunday Jazz Festival came to town. This time, it was held last weekend on June 5. Taking place at Segarra Beach Club in Ancol, North Jakarta, the event promoter said it hoped to provide jazz in the most comfortable, relaxing and fun way.
The Brand New Heavies. JP/Aliendheasja Fawilia
The festival was divided into two outdoor stages, each of which had no barriers between artist and audience to create a more intimate atmosphere. The event started around 4 p.m. with a gig by a local band, Soulvibe.
Only two hours later, heavy rain forced the organizers to stop the show for two-hours. At around 9 p.m. the show continued with the Barry Likumahua Project. The band, led by Barry who is the son of senior jazz musician Benny Likumahua, also brought to the stage Rieka Roeslan, an Indonesian jazz singer famous for his band The Groove.
Because of the rain, local performers were asked to cut short their shows. They were asked to play only three songs each, a decision that disappointed the crowd who did not come only to watch England’s The Brand New Heavies, the festival’s headliners.
Aside from Soulvibe and the Barry Likumahua Project featuring Rieka Roeslan, music lovers were also entertained by singer Andien, Ecoutez!, Maliq & d’essentials, Valsetto featuring Valent, Notturno, Mian Tiara, Un Soiree, Iwan Abdi & Mr. Brightsight and Parkdrive.
Andien successfully had the crowd singing along to her jazzy-pop songs, especially when the 25-year-old sang her latest single “Moving On”. Maliq & d’essentials had their fans screaming “We want more!” even after the group played their three song allotment.
Although each performer was instructed to sing only three songs, most ignored the “rule” and sang mashed up versions of two or three songs at once.
Among the Indonesian artists, Parkdrive might be the most anticipated. The group had not been playing for about three years and they were hoping that the Sunday Jazz Festival could trigger their comeback.
The band that was made up of two Berkelee College of Music graduates played two of their old songs and two of their new songs. At the end of the performance, the crowd cheered and clapped almost endlessly.
At midnight, The Brand New Heavies finally came on, jazzing up the night even more. After teasing the audience with an intro, they played “Never Stop”.
After saying hello to the crowd, N’Dea Davenport, the vocalist, said that the crowd was rather quiet. Before singing their second song, she invited people to sing along and get loud.
Right away when their second song, “Dream on Dreamer”, was played, everyone was moving to the beat and singing to the lyrics. The band, which started as an instrumental band in the 1980s, was very playful on stage. Not only did The Heavies – their nickname – communicate with the audience, they also jumped up and down on the stage. They also did not hesitate to shake the crowds’ hands.
Simon Bartholomew, the guitarist, said to the audience, “Sorry we’re a little crazy.”
Despite their maturity, the band members are in their mid 40s, they dressed very glamorously. Andrew Levy, the bassist, was covered with glitter, while Simon wore a sparkling flowered jacket.
The Heavies played at least ten songs that night, including their popular singles “Back to Love”, “Midnight at the Oasis” and “World Keeps on Spinning”.
On some songs the drummer Jan Kincaid started the song by singing the first verse. This caused big rounds of applause from the audience.
Halfway through their performance, Rejoz, an Indonesian percussionist famous with the band The Groove, joined The Heavies on stage. Rejoz played the percussion for The Brand New Heavies until the end of the 10th song.
At the end of The Heavies’ performance, they sang one of their most powerful singles, “You Are the Universe”. Everyone in the audience seemed to have memorized the song, which was first released in 1997.
Then the band members said good night and left the stage. The crowd panicked and screamed, “We want more!” over and over again. The Heavies finally returned to the stage and sang one of their first hit singles that was released in 1991, “Stay This Way”.
During the show, N’Dea noticed a group of people in the front row who had been singing along with them the entire night and said, “This is the real Brand New Heavies, right here!” After that, she walked around the stage and asked the audience in between the verses, “Do you know the lyrics?”
“Dream Come True” was The Heavies’ closing number. With a song that was first released in 1990 and re-released in 1992, the crowd was shouting the lyrics and moving along with the music.
The night ended as the Heavies came together and took a bow to the audience. As for a band that has been coming back to Indonesia several times, that night at the Sunday Jazz Festival was for sure not going to be The Brand New Heavies’ last visit to Indonesia.
