A few years ago my sister, singer/musician Jeanne Fadale, called to tell me she had heard Yo-Yo Ma talking about Indaba Music, an online community where musicians from all over the world could meet to collaborate on music. I checked it out and joined immediately and since have met and worked with musicians/composers from several countries. Music of the world or world music, whatever it is called or however many definitions are offered, is wonderful to hear, feel and participate in.
It’s always exciting and interesting, I think, to listen to musicians
who bring the influence of their cultures to their craft of music. Good musical
performance is enjoyed whether it is impossible to tell where the players come
from or if they are more easily identifiable as coming from a specific place. Yet,
when the players bring an amalgam of their region’s traditional
instrumentation, composition and style into the musical mix, they are sharing
that particular part of the world with us, and I’m hooked.
A group that has that going strong is simakDialog, an
Indonesian jazz fusion band. They incorporate true gamelan—complex rhythms and
specific instruments that are identified with Indonesia—with jazz fusion that
pays homage to the very best associated with that style while maintaining their
own excellent musicianship and creativity.
The group has so much rhythm going on, and great solos
happening, that the counterpoint could be baffling, but it never is. There is
always a fine balance maintained so that the listener doesn’t feel distracted.
It all combines, rather than fragments. It takes you in different directions
but never loses you. It’s an adventure that satisfies with just the right ratio
of plunge to plan.
It is a most intricate whole that is comprised of the
assorted metal percussion, including temple gong, played by Cucu Kurnia, as
well as Riza Arshard’s Fender Rhodes electric piano, synth and soundscapes. It
is Tohpati Ario Hutomo’s Stratocaster or Takamine guitars and Adhitya Pratama’s
electric fretless bass in combination with the two-headed Kendang drum played
masterfully by Endang Ramdan and Erlan Suwardana.
It is all those things and above all, it’s just great jazz
fusion. The meaning of simak dialog
is said to be “listen to the music.” I
hope you’ll do that, and enjoy this track, “For Once and Never” from their CD, The 6th Story.
And, as a bonus this week, I’d like to add a link to another
Indonesian jazz-rock fusion group Krakatau that adds traditional wind
instruments to their ensemble. I especially like the vocalist, who reminds me
of Tori Amos!
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