It’s always
great to see jazz being spread throughout universities in Indonesia through
music festivals. Mostly established yearly, some of those are strong enough to
come regularly every year. Imagine the difficulties for the students to do
this, since they still have to study, facing exams or tons of paperworks, but
still they manage to bring music alive in their campuses as well as
contributing big deals for our music scene in Indonesia. Last year we tasted
the first installment of Espose in the size of a festival, featuring
lots of top artists for about 8 hours straight. This year the Student
Executive Board of Economic and Rural Development, Faculty of Economics from
this university (HMA ESP FE UNPAD) has done it again. The Espose 2012 was served with the theme of “Chain The Ethnicity Through Musicology”.
This
continued the last year’s program where ethnicity played a big deal too in its
package. The difference is this: if last year they were focusing on West Java
(Sundanese) culture, this time they went wider to reach Java and Bali. What’s
interesting about Espose is their concept. We could feel assorted jazz flavors
on stage, but the show itself are usually made wider than just that. A lot of
other musical styles like blues, rock, soul
and pop were all there too in accordance with our own ethno-musicology. So
let’s take a look at the good point. When modern and traditional come hand in
hand, you’ll find out how music can unite the diversities in harmony. Along
with the development of music that supported by technological advances,
Indonesia can actually keep maintaning its original identity. And we are
certainly place that hope to the young people who are still steeped in
idealism, creativity and dareness, most notably college students that can
contribute so much in it. The smart heads behind Espose 2012 deserved big applause
for making this event more than just a party. Other than serving one full pack
of joyous entertainment, Espose 2012 has given an awareness of how we have to
keep our own ethnical heritage alive at present and for future.
Challenging
blues with a twist is the concept of Stone N Wood who started the whole
fest at noon. Back in the auditions they poured out thick blues flavor in
rockin’ motion with the sound of guitar distortion everywhere. They didn’t win
the auditions, but the band arrived here at the main event by being the
favorite band. They roared freely on stage just like how the blues should be
played along with the cool harmonica sound.
The stage
soon replaced by two bands that won the Band
Auditions for Espose 2012 which held last month, Jamithology and Helluva.
While Jamithology brought enough groove in acoustic (including a nice cajon
playing) to capture the hearts of the judges, Helluva made it by having a solid
chemistry among players, good skills in playing jazz and also a lovely soulful
voice of the singer, Fitri Aprilya. If in the auditions they only played two
songs, this time they got longer duration to fill.
Jamithology
was first on stage,this time with two vocalists. The group played Parkdrive’s
“Biarkan”, Michael Jackson’s “Human Nature”, India Arie’s “Can I Walk With You”
and Usher & Alicia Keys’ “My Boo” in sweet, catchy soul-coustic tunes that
suited them very well. Helluva came right after, playing soulful songs
including Alicia Keys’ “If I Ain’t Got You”, Jessie J’s “Domino”, “One Last
Cry”, Beyonce’s “Love on Top” and one of their best cover, Marvin Gaye’s
“What’s Going On”. Both bands are still new, but they have enough talent
to keep going. All they need is just being serious with the band. If they do
that, it’s going to be just a matter of time before we see them in the higher
state. Good luck and keep going guys!
Pop jazz was
served well after that, courtesy of Titik Awal. This is not a new band
since they were already established since 2006. Having said that, the band’s
most recent formation consists of young player who are not only capable in
playing neat on stage but also already have their own songs like “Berkarya” and
“Hanya Sesaat”. Melvhin (vocal), Gama (guitar), Bobby (bass) and Dicky (drums)
had landed at the Java Jazz Festival 2011 and played alongside Iwan Abdie. They
also showed their cool acoustic side several times such as at the Sunday Jazz
last year (May, 2011) and also at Jazzkustik Part 1 just two days ago at
Potluck Kitchen. On stage they served an early party by singing “Rame-Rame”,
Vina Panduwinata’s hit that brought popular again by Reza “Dia” and a new
groovy arrangement of Hijau Daun’s hit.
Then Denis,
one of the judges of Espose Band Audition appeared with his band, Juicy
Luicy. This band came to its existance in 2010 started by Denis’ passion in
playing songs from famous pop jazz groups with his guitar. Joy Under
imagination and Creation of Youth is the basic concept held by the members and
additionals who appeared full team, Denis Ligia (acoustic guitar), Julian
Kaisar (vocal), Yanuar Ilmawan (bass), Rizky Parada (chunky guitar), Dwi
Nugroho (drums), Zam Zam (alto sax), Gilang (trombone), Ryan (tenor sax) and Putra
(keyboard). As how we saw them in several previous coverages, this time
they delivered the easy listening/catchy groove on stage by playing their own
songs “Selalu Ada Cinta”, “Mengerti Cinta”, “Malam Indah” and a big hit
from EWF “September”. Steadily having smooth journey with rising trend and
based on their talents, we hope to see this band become big in this nation.
Balinese was
then served on stage, opened by a group of Balinese dancer. Think of a band
where you can enjoy the mystical Balinese gamelan sound while getting the jazz
texture at the same time. Not only it appears in the exact portion and being
true to each of the elements, but they could go hand in hand without any
dominations. That’s what Tesla Manaf ft Mahagotra Ganesha is all about.
Tesla (guitar) led his team including Jalu Rohanda (bass), Yopi D Navis
(keys), Dani Irjayana (drums), Mumu (sax) and a set of Balinese gamelan
ensemble, Mahagotra Ganesha.
Tesla can be
a role model for any young musicians in this recent time. His passion in
playing music (guitar in his case) is too big to be stopped. He’s willing to do
anything to keep himself playing, and while upgrading his skills by constant
practice he’s been showing his eagerness to uphold the traditional ethnic
musics. He’s found the peaceful playground by teaming up with Bandung Institute
of Technology (ITB)’s Mahagotra Ganesha which has resulted one album with good
acceptance in the market. (The album “It’s All Yours” is available at
our online store: http://store.jazzuality.com/products/cd/tesla-mahagotra/). The album
holds a storyline about preserving the environment in challenging compositions.
Participating
in a music fest with ethnicity as the headline was of course perfect for this
group. The cool, peaceful composition quickly turned to something mysterious in
the second part, gloomy, the radiated Kecak chants all the way until the
heart-wrenching melodies where silence and emptiness stood in the end. The
appearance of the masked dancer Jauk Keras was supposed to give the
audience something they didn’t often see in the music fest, but due to the
duration sadly they had to pospone his appearance. For the last part of the
song, they gave us some kind of positivity, encouraging us that it’s not too
late to safe the environment. Inspiring, creatively challenging and rich in
colorful tones, that’s what we got from Tesla Manaf ft Mahagotra Ganesha’s
session. How nice it was to have something more than just entertainment as they
really heated up the show with their winning concept.
The Trees
and the Wild simply
stands as one of the frontrunners in the independent scene. Having blues and
acoustic as their background, this group started to write their own songs in
2006 as well as establishing a strong base for their journey. What they play on
stage is often surprising, because they love to go in wide and elastic
dimension. We can listen to post rock a la Sigur Ros, vocal accent like John
Mayer, the glorious Arcade Fire‘s art rock and the honesty, simplicity of indie
folk from groups like Kings of Convenience, the classic style of the Eagles,
even some traditional/ethnical patterns inside their music. Having this much
variety makes them able to capture the hearts of music listeners no matter what
the musical background is, not only in Indonesia but also out there especially
in South East Asia.
From the
three founders now they are down into two. Remedy waloni and Andra Budi
Kurniawan are still holding on in the group. Interestingly they bring more
players now and shape themselves as a full band. Iinnu, Tyo and Tamy are the
new members of The Trees and The Wild, but actually they are not new for the
Remedy and Andra since they have been playing together for no less than 3
years. Usually when a group got reformed we could expect something fresh from
them, both musically and conceptually. As they are preparing the next album,
let’s hope to have it all from the new version of The Trees and the Wild.
Put it
simple, The Trees and the Wild’s music style certainly fits the Espose concept.
Multi-colored, has an ethnical nuance and suits the youngsters’ ears. It was a
good pick to have The Trees and the Wild for this year’s edition. The crowds
loved it, so did we.
Blues was
back in full right after. Imagine when a rockin’ blues group can reach their
fame not just in their main land but also internationally. Europe, particularly
in England has become their second performing ground. Expertise of every
personnel deserve to be seen abroad. Last year they won the Hard Rock’s Global
Battle of the Bands competition that placed them on the same stage with Bon
Jovi and Rod Stewart. Yes, that’s the case of Gugun Blues Shelter. When
you listen to their music, you can exactly understand how they could do that.
The amount of funkin’, rockin’ blues venom they inject in every show is more
than enough to stun you out of senses and put you in the blues-lag condition
for days. What’s unique is that they have been participated often in jazz fests
too and never failed to add more colors into the party.
Seducing
rock path in blues were served chilled by them right after The Trees and The
Wild show. Gugun (guitar), Jono (bass) and Bowie (drums) had all the fun on
stage. Right after the first two songs, “Satu Untuk Berbagi” and “Ikuti
Langkah” they blasted the crowds with high energetic “Basa Basi”. They carried
on with “Jangan Berkata Dalam Hati”, “White Dog”, “Vixen Eyes”, “Trampled
Rose”, “Solid Ground” and then their hits “Turn It On” and “Soul on Fire”. 3
albums were made and more to come. With a very rock-solid team as this and
strong musical concept, Gugun Blues Shelter will keep on flying higher and
higher in the music scene. Indonesia should be proud of having them. Long live
the blues, Long live Gugun Blues Shelter!
Then it was
time for the modern day crooner Muhammad Tulus to take over the stage.
This man is blessed with such vocal quality that could remind us of Buble,
Sinatra or even our own legend Broery Marantika but what’s good is he knows how
to use it to approach the current trend. Mixture of pop jazz, soul, presenting
it occasionally with some touches of broadway or simply put it in acoustic are
proved to be the exact formula to hit the spot. Making the songs easy to listen
and to sing, writing smart, meaningful lyrics about our daily life are also his
major strengths. His single “Sewindu” became an instant hit in every major
radio stations and now his next single “Teman Hidup” is doing very well too in
charts. With thousands copies of the debut album being sold in just 2-3 months,
Tulus is one of the fastest rising star today. From Tulus we can also learn
that the independent (indie) road can lead you to success too.
Having his
friends backing him including Sindhu Banyusekti (bass), Topan Abimanyu and
Ferry Nurhayat (guitars), Arifandi ‘Ari Aru’ Renaldi (drums), Yonathan Godjali
(keys) and Lukman Hakim (backing vocal) Tulus made his fans happy with
songs that they’ve known so well.
The crowds
popped when Tulus appeared and directly started with “Teman Pesta” followed by
“Diorama” and “Kisah Sebentar”. Right after covering Float’s song “Sementara”,
surprisingly Mahagotra Ganesha came up and joined them on “Tuan Nona Kesepian,
giving up such a different atmosphere while still rooted in swing. The new
single “Teman Hidup” blew the crowds away and finally closed it with his
monster hit “Sewindu” firstly served chilled in acoustic before he delivered
the full band version. You should see how the audience responsed to this song,
it was simply amazing.
Many of the
audience seemed to have his album already as they all sang along in almost
every song. We are happy to see where he’s standing today, and we won’t be
surprised if he goes even higher in the near future. As one of the latest
strong evidences of his success, he will soon land on Gedung Kesenian Jakarta
for a concert called “Beyond Sincere” (May 25th, 2012). “We’re going to play at
the GKJ to bring awareness to the youngsters, making them realize that Jakarta
has such a beautiful building like this which has been commited to art and
culture for a very long time.” he said. Keep it up, Tulus and friends! Keep
writing smart lyrics, serving it in nice melodious tunes and sing them the way
you do. The best is yet to come!
Rock
fans are well kept by Irfan Fahri Lazuardy, better known as Ipang.
He’s famous as the vocalist of BIP, the group he joined in 2004. His rebellious
stage acts are usually attractive to see, not only in rock scene but also jazz,
like when he surprisingly participated in Urban Jazz Crossover 2010′s 5 cities
tour.
Here at the
Espose 2012 we got another encounter with the rock n roll man. He sang songs
such as “Partner in Crime”, “Akhirnya Jatuh Cinta”, “Saat Seperti Ini”, “Hey”,
“Tanpa Kau” and “Cinta Baru” before delivering his big hit with the gamelan
ensemble, “Sahabat Kecil”. It was a nice surprise since this time Ipang
was joined by the Mahagotra Ganesha to deliver rock vigor with ethnical Balinese
ambience, something that we don’t see often. Ipang wrapped the whole show with
“Ada Yang Hilang” and “Gak Ada Takutnya”. Giving a whole different nuance for
Espose 2012, Ipang and the band locked all the youngsters with his rebelious
but cool stage act.
People who
idolized acid jazz got their vibes when The Groove took over the stage
several minutes before 10:00 pm. Just like the name, their tunes never
fail to groove our bodies whatever the condition is. Since it was started in
1997, The Groove has become a major force in the Indonesian music scene. Their
tasty blend of groovy disco, pop, soul, funk and R&B wrapped in jazz, great
vocals and nice stage act are all the key factor for their success. Lots of
unforgettable hits made them still acceptable for the younger listeners as well
as pleasuring their long time fans even when they went hiatus for several
years. Having Rieka Roslan, the lady with lovely soulful voice who wrote many
of the songs when she was still in college is certainly a blessing too for this
group. For 15 years The Groove have keep on serving catchy tracks, never run
out of ideas and we definitely look forward to see them for many more years to
come.
Reza, Rieka
Roslan, Rejoz were all there along with horn section on the left side. The
audience were happily danced and sang along with them when the well-known hits
were brought, including “Biarkan”, “Let’s Go (Reunian)”, “Hanya Karena
Cinta”, “Dahulu” and “Khayalan”. All these songs are famous to the crowds, so
they all sang together in each and every song along with the band.
Call it The
Groove Reunion or just simply The Groove like before, whatever they bring on
stage, they’d always be enjoyable to watch. We are happy to see The Groove
landed in Unpad for Espose 2012. The band’s not young anymore, but they are
still young at hearts. For that, we know that they can still paint more colors
into our music, and we are waiting to see more of them.
Finally we
came to the last act, Maliq & d’Essentials. This band is still
standing on the top list of the most favorable lists in any music festivals in
this country. Some personnel have been changed over the year, but that only
mean one thing, that is to encourage their music to be more mature in keeping
their existance better than ever. Serving their music in R&B, soul,
jazz, pop and the combinations, all shows how wide their musical range actually
is. They don’t want to draw boundaries to any type of music, because the spirit
of each song is more important for them. Yet they still know how to fit it into
the youngsters’ hearts. Since the first appearance in 2005 that basically
rooted in between nu soul and acid jazz pattern, Maliq & d’Essentials has
always been altering their style of music on each album without removing their
basic color.
One last blast
served grand by them. All the popular hits such as “Luluh”, “Kangen”,
“Terdiam”, “Penasaran”, “Coba Katakan”, “Untitled”, “Menari”, “Dia”, “Funk
Flow”, “Free Your Mind”, “Terlalu”, “Heaven”, and finally “Pilihanku” as the
closing tune. Having such a popular group with great stage act like this
resulted one hot party. With them constantly being a favorable list for any
music fests in this country, we’re sure to see them again soon
http://jazzuality.com/jazz-event-report/espose-2012-the-report/