“Jazz Goes to Campus is all about being in the moment, because jazz is the moment!”

That was the first line of an announcement on the upcoming Jazz Goes to Campus (JGTC) music festival, held by the University of Indonesia’s (UI) School of Economics and Business on Nov. 27.

“Being in the moment” probably means going over to the university’s main campus in Depok for a night where jazz claims front seat — where it’s the festival’s main attraction, its centerpiece. The annual festival is still going steady with its 39th iteration, carrying with it a set of new offshoots — like the JGTC clinic, a class for aspiring jazz musicians, and the JGTC scholarship for UI School of Economics and Business students — and, of course, the acts.

They are South African singer Kgomotso Xolisa Mamaila, Canada’s Daniel Powter and France’s Samy Thiebault Quartet, along with Indonesia’s Kahitna, Barasuara (in collaboration with Indra Lesmana and Adra Karim), Raisa, Mocca, the Barry Likumahuwa Experiment and many more.

The festival is among many with the word “jazz” in their name, but rarely do they become a respectable brand of their own.

As is the case with the Java Jazz Festival, it’s become a tradition either awaited or at the very least expected every year.

To some wildly inordinate extent, Jazz Goes to Campus maintains its honor to what the word “jazz” means to many people — and does not just exploit it for a shot at a niche show, and it takes that task to heart. JGTC All Stars, one of the programs this year, will bring Indonesia’s household names in jazz like Barry, Ermy Kullit, Jeffrey Tahalele, Arief Setiadi, Sam Panuwun and many others to the same stage to pay tribute to the late Ireng Maulana, legendary jazz guitarist.

Also notable is the JGTC Young Stars, which will see young musicians such as Richard Hutapea, the band Tuslah (Sri Hanuraga, Adra Karim and Elfa Zulham) and Johanes Radianto perform arguably one of Indonesia’s most celebrated jazz LPs by Tony Scott and the Indonesian All Stars, Djanger Bali.

Many renowned names have graced the festival’s stage.

Lenka, the Australian singer-songwriter, was there last year. In 2014, Sondre Lerche, a singer-songwriter from Norway, came over; and in 2011, French band Nouvelle Vague performed a set.

If questioning the elitism in jazz became the impetus for this festival back in 1976, then the spirit still hovers around.

First of all, there’s the affordable tickets (less than Rp100,000 or US$7.40). Second is the line-up, where pop and rock artists get equal billing as jazz artists.

I’m not one to stake a claim for puritanism in jazz festivals, but at least these guys did exactly what they came here to do.

Jazz in Indonesia has always thrived in versatility, crossover appeal and for some reason geographically associated festivals — Jazz Gunung (Jazz in the Mountains; and Jazz Pantai (Jazz on the Beach).

For every Joey Alexander, the Grammy nominated pianist who has performed at the White House, there’s also Dewa Budjana, the guitarist. Or Balawan, Gerald Situmorang. There’s also the singer Andien, Monita Tahalea or Danilla. It’s going. Sometimes slow, but it’s going.

Jazz Goes to Campus has lumped itself into that canon of the things that make sure jazz, in all its forms, in all its glory, always has a place in Indonesia.

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