In the festival, Krakatau presented traditional music and dances, such as double masks dance performed by a dancer Didik Nini Thowok and traditional songs and two Korean songs such as Arirang by Peni Candra Rini. The performance of the group band received high appreciation from North Korean people.

In each performance, Krakatau Band received applause and warm welcome from the audience. The organizing committee expressed their appreciation and satisfaction on Indonesian team’s performances and hoped Krakatau Band would be able to perform at the next festival with larger formation.

The biennial festival was taken part by about 23 countries which presented various art and cultural attractions, such as music, singing, dance, acrobat and circus.

Penggalan kata diatas adalah deskripsi yang terpampang disitus Festival International Cervantes di Mexico yang mengundang kelompok Krakatau untuk tampil disana 16 Oktober 2008.

Krakatau yang akan berangkat dengan formasi Pra Budi Dharma (slendro fretless bass); Dwiki Dharmawan (keyboard); Adhe Rudyana (kendang & perkusi); Zainal Arifin (gamelan & perkusi); Gerry Herb (drums); juga melibatkan Ita Purnamasari, Didik Ninik Thowok beserta 4 penari dari STSI Bandung. Sementara Ubiet (voice) yang sedang menyelesaikan program doktoralnya di Universitas Wisconsin akan terbang langsung menuju Mexico City dari Madison USA. Satu personil berhalangan hadir yaitu Yoyon Dharsono (rebab, tarompet, voice) sedang menjadi gamelan artists in residence di Perancis.

Ditemui kala tengah berbuka puasa bersama personil Krakatau di sekolah musik Farabi Dharmawangsa minggu lalu, Pra Budi Dharma yang didampingi Dwiki Dharmawan mengatakan akan menyiapkan sebuah lagu berjudul “Mexican Spirit” sebagai persembahan dalam pertunjukan mereka di Mexico nanti.

Tak hanya itu, mereka juga akan melakukan kolaborasi dengan Sociedad Acoustica dan Mexico Orchestra dalam lagu berjudul “The Spirit of Peace”. Khusus dengan kelompok ini, Krakatau tampil dalam acara terpisah yaitu memperingati 55 tahun Hubungan Diplomasi Republik Indonesia dan Mexico bertempat di Sala Nezahualcoyot UNAM Mexico City tanggal 12 Oktober 2008. Sementara Ita Purnamasari - penyanyi yang juga istri Dwiki Dharmawan akan tampil membawakan lagu Bengawan Solo.

Krakatau dijadwalkan bertolak menuju Mexico via Amsterdam tanggal 8 Oktober dan kembali pada 19 Oktober 2008.

After their successfully performance at Beijing Concert Hall Beijing P.R China last November 2007, Krakatau schedulled for MEXICO Tour 2008 including  KRAKATAU in CONCERT for celebrating  ‘55 Years Anniversary of Mexico - Indonesia Diplomatic Relationship”  on 12TH October at Sala Nezahualcoyotl - UNAM (Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico) Insurgentes Sur, Centro Cultural Universitario- Ciudad Universitaria UNAM
Mexico DF Mexico. http://www.musicaunam.net/

On 16th October KRAKATAU will be performing at CERVANTINO FESTIVAL - Plaza/explanada de  La Alhondiga , Guanajuato. GTO

info :
www.festivalcervantino.gob.mx
http://festivalcervantino.gob.mx/fic08/node/712
http://festivalcervantino.gob.mx/fic08/node/87

Krakatau Mexico Tour 2008 supported by Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Indonesia and Embasy of Indonesia in Mexico.

More…

Setelah sempat tujuh tahun vakum dari dunia rekaman, pada tahun 2000, Krakatau kembali merilis album “Magical Match”. Pada album ini, Krakatau memperkuat barisannya dengan kehadiran Kang Zainal Arifin, Kang Oseng dan Kang Effix Zulfikar. Seusai penggarapan album ini, Krakatau kembali memenuhi undangan pertunjukkan, diantaranya event bergengsi, seperti Montreux Jazz Festival, North Sea Jazz Festival, Toronto Downtown Jazz, Vancouver International Jazz Festival, Lincoln Center Summer Festival, Esplanade, Sziget Festival, Midem dan lain-lain.

Pada perjalanan Krakatau North American Tour (2004), Ubiet (Nyak Ina Raseuki) mulai bergabung dengan Krakatau, menggantikan Trie Utami pada vokal. Bergabungnya Ubiet yang juga merupakan peneliti sekaligus sarjana ethnomusicology, menambah kaya warna musik yang disajikan Krakatau. Karena Ubiet menguasai olah vokal dengan bunyi-bunyian tradisional, seperti yang ia teliti selama ini.

Pada tahun 2006, dua album, “2 Worlds” dan ‘Rhythm of Reformation”, sekaligus diluncurkan Krakatau. Kali ini formasi Krakatau menjadi Dwiki Dharmawan, Pra Budidharma, Ubiet, Gerry Herb, Zainal Arifin, Ade Rudiana dan Yoyon Darsono. Di bawah label independen Musikita Records, album “2 Worlds” direkam di Jakarta, Chicago dan Toronto, karena melibatkan pula musisi dari Amerika Serikat dan Kanada, antara lain Howard Levy, Carlo Actis Dato, Ron Davis, Reg Schwaggerdan lain-lain. Bagi Krakatau, kolaborasi dengan musisi dan kelompok dari negara setempat baik pada pagelaran maupun rekaman menjadi bahasa yang ampuh bagi diplomasi budaya Indonesia serta untuk meningkatkan kerjasama kebudayaan antar bangsa. Sementara itu, salah satu pendiri grup Krakatau, Dwiki Dharmawan mempunyai pengalaman luas bermain bersama baik dalam konser maupun rekaman dengan banyak musisi jazz internasional diantaranya Mike Stern, Jimmy Haslip, Russel Ferrante, Sadao Watanabe, Frank Gambale dan lain-lain.

Baru-baru ini, dalam rangka meningkatkan kerjasama budaya tersebut, Krakatau berhasil memukau publik Beijing pada ‘The Rhythm of Indonesia’ yang diadakan pada tanggal 7 November 2007. Pada kesempatan tersebut, Krakatau berkolaborasi dengan Central Conservatory World Music Ensemble, Beijing dan Asian Harmony Orchestra, Beijing. Ditambah lagi Krakatau turut melibatkan pesinden Jawa asal Solo, Peni Candrarini, yang selama ini kerap tampil bersama Rahayu Supanggah dan Wayan Sadra. Penari Didik Nini Thowok pun menari bersama Krakatau pada nomor ‘Impen-impenan’ dan ‘Genjring Party’.

Pada penghujung tahun 2007 ini, Ubiet, yang baru saja menyelesaikan album terbarunya “Kroncong Tenggara”, berencana kembali ke Madison, Amerika Serikat demi menyelesaikan program doktoral ethnomusicology-nya di University of Wisconsin atas bimbingan Profesor Anderson Sutton. Sedangkan Dwiki mulai sering diundang menjadi visiting lecture di Musician Institute, Hollywood yang membuatya semakin sering bolak-balik ke Amerika Serikat.

Tahun 2008 yang akan datang, Krakatau berencana untuk mengadakan pagelaran di Forbidden City, China dan berkolaborasi dengan National Symphony Orchestra serta Central Conservatory World Music Orchestra. Setelah itu, grup kebanggaan Indonesia tersebut akan pula melakukan pagelaran di Mexico City dalam rangka memperingati 55 tahun hubungan diplomatik Meksiko dan Indonesia, serta turut ambil bagian dalam sebuah pagelaran di Wina, Austria bertajuk Expo Indonesia.

Sebagai anak bangsa, setiap anggota Krakatau merasa bersyukur dan bangga memiliki kesempatan membawa kekayaan seni musik dari budaya nusantara ke hadapan publik dunia yang memiliki latar belakang kebudayaan yang berbeda-beda. Seluruh anggota Krakatau berterima kasih atas dukungan dan doa dari keluarga, rekan-rekan seniman, teman-teman dari media massa, dan saudara sebangsa indonesia. Semoga seni budaya Indonesia makin berkembang dan pelaku seni tradisional Indonesia di setiap daerah tidak henti mencintai dan berkarya. Terima kasih Indonesia.

“Ilir-ilir” Concert in Beijing
by : Frans Sartono

Ilir-ilir, that sung Javanese poetry, appeared with a touch of Sundanese and jazz in the country of China. It was one of Krakatau’s contribution in the concert “The Rhythms of Indonesia” at Beijing Concert Hall, Beijing, China, on Wednesday (7/11) night.

Beijing Concert Hall, which is located about a kilometer from the historical Tiananmen field, became the cultural intercourse event. There Krakatau and Chinese musicians collaborated in playing Indonesian traditional pieces. Dwiki Dharmawan, Pra Budidharma, and friends performed together with strings from Asia Harmony Orchestra, and World Music Ensemble, a Chinese traditional music instrument ensemble with fourteen members who are students at Chinese Music Conservatory.

From that collaboration, thus flowed Bengawan Solo composed by Gesang, sung by Ita Purnamasari and Yong-Yong in Bahasa Indonesia and Mandarin. Following that, Ilir-ilir from Java, Janger Bali, Ayo Mama from Maluku, even Yamko Rambe from Papua. Those songs Lagu-lagu itu disuguhkan di depan sekitar seribu penonton dari berbagai bangsa.

Krakatau was very clever in communicating through music. They used jazz as some sort of musica franca, the “language” of intercourse for ears from various cultural background. In this jazz part, there were Dwiki Dharmawan on piano, bass from Pra Budidharma, and drum from Gerry Herb. At the same time, they brought the Indonesian flavor through a set of traditional instruments. There were Sundanese drum played by Ade Rudiatna, rebab and tarompet by Yoyon Darsono, also kecapi (West Javanese plucked zither), multi-sync bonang, and taganing Bataknese percussion from Zainal Arifin.

At Beijing, Ilir-ilir started with an intro of solo piano improvisation from Dwiki who used acoustic grand piano. The sung poetry melody was then developed in piano improvisation. This was some sort of appetizer, the introduction course to be able to go into the next composition. From the flavor of jazz, Ilir-ilir continued to kecapi and recorder that created the atmosphere of Pasundan land. Only after that did singer Peni Chandra Rini showed up with a very beautiful Javanese accent singing bowo (a kind of song intro): “lir-ilir, lir-ilir tandure wis semilir, tak ijo royo-royo….” At the moment, the atmosphere has gone very Indonesian, with the combination of Javanese and Sundanese that are similarly comfortable, calm, and harmonic.

Ilir-ilir in the next composition part received a touch of China through traditional instruments, such as dizi recorder, Yangqin string instrument, Erhu rebab, and an instrument similar to guitar called Pipa. This traditional version of ensemble was combined with the string section playing a melody which was more or less the same so that it gave the impression of merely playing music together. The communal situation ended when Ilir-ilir was then pulled to the flavor of swing jazz. This method was very communicative. At least it’s shown from the audience in the balcony seen tapping their feet along with the tempo.

Krakatau’s music’s ability to communicate was strengthen by the performance by dancer Didik Nini Thowok in Genjring Party and Impen-impenan. Genjring or a kind of tambourine became the backbone of Genjring Party composition that bring out the percussion element. Didik performed his old creation, which is the Dwimuka dance that’s very popular because it’s frequently performed by Didik in various opportunities, including weddings. He wore two masks on the face and the back of the head. When he’s not facing the audience, Didik’s body and motion gave the impression as if he’s actually facing the audience.

The very percussion-y composition spoiled Didik with impulsive free motion that gave comedic effect. The audience was laughing, enjoying the combination of Kratau music and Didik’s dance that are both spontaneous and full of improvisation.

Fusion

With its jazz ”plus” format all this time, Krakatau fluently accomodated various ethnic elements in their music contribution. As was mentioned by music lecturer and observer, Franki Raden, in a jazz workshop in Jakarta at the end of October, Krakatau’s music gave a certain distinction outside Indonesia that’s not used to Indonesian traditional music. Krakatau stood by jazz, but opened itself for traditional flavors.

Krakatau was born from young musicians from early 80s who are very high spirited in playing fusion. At first, said Pra, they started with American “fusion-ish”. Pra (52), who grew in Bandung, then initiated fusioning jazz with Sundanese music element. “Sunda was what’s close to me since I was small,” said Pra who lives at Cipaganti, Bandung.

The idea was not fulfilled yet because comercially the Indonesian music industry at that moment did not have any room for experimental music. Krakatau that then formed with Pra, Dwiki, Indra, Gilang Ramadhan, and Donny Suhendra plus vocals Trie Utami turned to be popular for its four pop albums.

Krakatau stopped once. Pra experimented by making a creative Sundanese pop album with Trie Utami and Sundanese karawitan artist, Yoyon Darsono. This project became the so-called seed of Krakatau. Later, Pra and Dwiki fulfilled the prior idea, which is to play fusion, a fusion between jazz and Sundanese music. Accidentally, Dwiki Dharmawan owned a strong auditive memory of Sundanese karawitan. Dwiki’s house is only a concrete wall away from Kampus Akademi Seni Karawitan Indonesia (ASKI – Indonesian Karawitan Art Academy) Bandung that now becomes STSI and almost every day, he heard the students practice.

To fulfill the idea, they invite two Sundanese karawitan artists, Yoyon Darsono and Ade Rudiatna. Both are lecturers at STSI Bandung. This time Krakatau is strengthened by a drum player, Budi Haryono. They explore in entering the Sundanese element into jazz. “For three years, we synchronized the pattern of kendang and drum beats,” said Ade Rudiatna.

Their exploration started to be presented in front of public in 1993. The jazz lovers gave an exciting response to Krakatau’s creation. A year after that, “Mystical Mist” album was born. Krakatau kept on exploring the rhythm, sounds, and ethnic nuance potention through “Magical Match” (2000), “2 Worlds” (2005), to “Rhytms of Reformation” (2005).

Jazz still became the creative attitude of Krakatau’s artists. They don’t deny change with exploration. Jazz is also still their composition platform. Jazz became the foundation to give place to ethnic elements that are given such vast space in Krakatau to explore.

“Organizationally, I played kendang. We play with traditional approach, but that tradition has been modified. When we play swing, then kendang became a normal percussion. I gave meaning through kendang. I realize I’m not in the area of tradition. I became one in the totality of playing kendang. So, on one hand we’re invited, but not as additions,” said Ade Rudiatna.

“The identity of Sunda does not disappear. I treat rebab as a Sundanese rebab. Not like the style of a person playing violin, for example,” said Yoyon Darsono.

This identity and creative room clarity for each individual is what makes Krakatau able to explore the various sounds and rhythms. They could put the flavors of Indonesia and even China comfortably, just like what they contributed at Beijing.

The event supported by the Indonesian Cultural and Tourism Ministry and Indonesian Embassy in China became a kind of window for the Indonesian culture. Chinese musicians were invited to play Indonesian music and presented it to the audience coming from various countries.

“We hope that people will know Indonesia and want to come there. After that, for a friendship to happen between China and Indonesia through music,” said the Indonesian Vice Ambassador, Mohammad Umar.

Ilir-ilir, tembang Jawa itu, hadir dalam sentuhan Sunda dan jazz di negeri China. Itulah salah satu suguhan Krakatau dalam konser “The Rhythms of Indonesia” di Beijing Concert Hall, Beijing, China, pada Rabu (7/11) malam.

Beijing Concert Hall yang terletak sekitar satu kilometer dari lapangan bersejarah Tiananmen itu menjadi ajang pergaulan budaya. Di sana Krakatau dan musisi China berkolaborasi memainkan lagu-lagu daerah dari Indonesia. Dwiki Dharmawan, Pra Budidharma, dan kawan-kawan tampil bersama orkes gesek Asia Harmony Orchestra, serta World Music Ensemble, sebuah ensemble instrumen musik tradisional China yang berawak 14 mahasiswa Konservatori Musik China.

Dari kolaborasi itu mengalirlah Bengawan Solo gubahan Gesang yang dibawakan Ita Purnamasari dan Yong-Yong dalam bahasa Indonesia-Mandarin. Kemudian Ilir-ilir dari Jawa, Janger Bali, Ayo Mama dari Maluku, sampai Yamko Rambe dari Papua. Lagu-lagu itu disuguhkan di depan sekitar seribu penonton dari berbagai bangsa.

Krakatau sangat cerdik berkomunikasi lewat musik. Mereka menggunakan jazz sebagai semacam musica franca, “bahasa” pergaulan bagi telinga dari berbagai latar kultural. Pada bagian jazz ini ada Dwiki Dharmawan pada piano, bas dari Pra Budidharma, serta drum dari Gerry Herb. Bersamaan dengan itu, mereka membawa rasa Indonesia lewat seperangkat instrumen tradisi. Pada bagian ini ada kendang Sunda yang dimainkan Ade Rudiatna, lalu rebab dan tarompet oleh Yoyon Darsono, serta kecapi, bonang multilaras, hingga perkusi Batak taganing dari Zainal Arifin.

Di Beijing, Ilir-ilir dimulai dengan intro berupa improvisasi piano solo dari Dwiki yang menggunakan grand piano akustik. Melodi tembang dikembangkan dalam improvisasi piano. Ini menjadi semacam appetizer, suguhan pengantar untuk masuk ke dalam komposisi lebih lanjut. Dari rasa jazz, Ilir-ilir bersambung ke permainan kecapi dan suling yang menghadirkan atmosfer tanah Pasundan. Baru setelah itu muncul pesinden Peni Chandra Rini dengan cengkok sangat Jawa yang merdu melantunkan bowo atau semacam pembuka lagu: “lir-ilir, lir-ilir tandure wis semilir, tak ijo royo-royo….” Kali ini suasana telah mengindonesia—paduan Jawa dan Sunda yang sama-sama nyaman, teduh, dan harmonis.

Ilir-ilir pada bagian komposisi selanjutnya mendapat sentuhan China lewat instrumen tradisi seperti seruling dizi, alat berdawai Yangqin, rebab Erhu, serta alat serupa gitar bernama pipa. Ensemble versi tradisi ini berpadu dengan seksi gesek memainkan melodi yang kurang lebih sama sehingga memberi kesan sekadar main rame-rame, bareng-bareng. Suasana rame-rame itu berakhir ketika Ilir-ilir lalu ditarik ke rasa jazz swing. Cara ini sangat komunikatif. Setidaknya itu terlihat dari penonton di balkon yang terlihat mengentak-entakkan kaki seturut ketukan.

Kekomunikatifan musik Krakatau diperkuat oleh penampilan penari Didik Nini Thowok pada Genjring Party dan Impen-impenan. Genjring atau semacam rebana menjadi tulang punggung komposisi Genjring Party yang menonjolkan unsur perkusi. Didik menampilkan kreasi lamanya, yaitu tari Dwimuka yang populer karena sering dibawakan Didik di berbagai kesempatan, termasuk di hajatan perkawinan. Ia mengenakan dua topeng pada wajah dan bagian belakang kepala. Ketika dalam posisi membelakangi penonton, tubuh dan gerak Didik memberi impresi seakan-akan tengah menghadap penonton.

Komposisi yang sangat perkusif itu memanjakan Didik dengan gerak bebas yang impulsif hingga memberi efek komedik. Penonton terpingkal-pingkal menikmati paduan musik Krakatau dan gerak tari Didik yang sama-sama spontan, improvisatif.

Fusi

Dengan format jazz “plus”-nya selama ini, Krakatau luwes mengakomodasikan berbagai unsur etnis dalam suguhan musik mereka. Seperti disebut dosen dan pengamat musik Franki Raden dalam workshop jazz di Jakarta akhir Oktober lalu, musik Krakatau memberi distingsi tersendiri bagi penikmat musik di luar Indonesia yang belum terbiasa dengan musik tradisional di Indonesia. Krakatau berpijak pada jazz, tapi membuka diri untuk masuknya rasa tradisi.

Krakatau lahir dari musisi muda era awal 1980-an yang sedang semangat-semangatnya memainkan fusion. Awalnya, kata Pra, mereka mulai dengan “fusion-fusion-an” gaya Amerika. Pra (52) yang tumbuh di Bandung kemudian menggagas untuk mem-fusi-kan jazz dengan elemen musik Sunda. “Sunda itu yang dekat dengan saya sejak kecil,” kata Pra yang tinggal di bilangan Cipaganti, Bandung.

Gagasan itu belum bisa terwujud karena secara komersial industri musik di Indonesia saat itu belum memberi ruang yang layak untuk musik eksperimental. Krakatau yang kemudian terbentuk bersama Pra, Dwiki, Indra, Gilang Ramadhan, dan Donny Suhendra plus vokal Trie Utami malah populer dengan empat album popnya.

Krakatau sempat vakum. Pra bereksperimen dengan membuat album pop Sunda kreatif dengan Trie Utami dan seniman karawitan Sunda, Yoyon Darsono. Proyek ini menjadi semacam cikal bakal Krakatau. Belakangan, Pra dan Dwiki mewujudkan gagasan awal, yaitu memainkan fusion, fusi antara jazz dan musik Sunda. Secara kebetulan, Dwiki Dharmawan mempunyai memori auditif yang kuat dengan karawitan Sunda. Rumah Dwiki hanya berbatas pagar tembok dengan Kampus Akademi Seni Karawitan Indonesia (ASKI) Bandung yang kini menjadi STSI dan hampir setiap hari ia mendengar mahasiswa berlatih.

Untuk mewujudkan gagasan itu diajaklah seniman karawitan Sunda, yaitu Yoyon Darsono dan Ade Rudiatna. Keduanya adalah pengajar di STSI Bandung. Kali ini Krakatau diperkuat pemain drum Budi Haryono. Mereka melakukan eksplorasi untuk memasukkan unsur Sunda dengan jazz. “Tiga tahun kami menyelaraskan pola pukulan kendang dengan drum,” kenang Ade Rudiatna.

Eksplorasi mereka mulai dipresentasikan di depan publik, 1993. Penikmat jazz merespons seru kreasi Krakatau tersebut. Setahun kemudian lahirlah album “Mystical Mist”. Krakatau terus menggali potensi ritme, bunyi-bunyian, dan nuansa etnis dalam balutan jazz lewat “Magical Match” (2000), “2 Worlds” (2005), sampai “Rhytms of Reformation” (2005).

Jazz tetap menjadi sikap kreatif seniman Krakatau. Mereka tidak menabukan perubahan dengan terpencarian dan terus bereksplorasi. Jazz juga tetap menjadi platform komposisi. Jazz menjadi dasar untuk mewadahi unsur-unsur etnis yang di Krakatau diberi ruang luas untuk bereksplorasi.

“Secara organologis saya bermain kendang. Kami bermain dengan pendekatan tradisi, tapi tradisi itu sudah mengalami modifikasi. Ketika kami main swing, maka kendang menjadi perkusi pada umumnya. Saya melakukan tafsir lewat kendang. Saya sadar tidak sedang berada di wilayah tradisi. Saya melebur dalam totalitas bermain kendang. Jadi, di satu sisi kami diajak, tapi tidak sebagai tambahan,” kata Ade Rudiatna.

“Identitas Sunda tidak sampai hilang. Saya memperlakukan rebab sebagai rebab Sunda. Tidak dengan gaya orang main biola, misalnya,” kata Yoyon Darsono.

Adanya kejelasan identitas dan ruang kreatif dari setiap individu inilah yang menjadikan Krakatau bisa bereksplorasi dengan beragam bunyi dan ritme. Mereka bisa memasukkan rasa Indonesia dan bahkan China sekalipun dengan nyaman, seperti yang mereka suguhkan di Beijing.

Acara yang didukung Departemen Kebudayaan dan Pariwisata Republik Indonesia serta KBRI di China ini menjadi semacam jendela kebudayaan Indonesia. Musisi China diajak memainkan musik dari Indonesia dan diperdengarkan untuk hadirin dari berbagai negara.

“Harapan kami orang menjadi kenal dengan Indonesia dan mau datang ke negeri. Selanjutnya, lewat musik bisa terjalin persahabatan antara China dan Indonesia,” kata Wakil Duta Besar Indonesia Mohammad Umar.

Sumber: http://www.kompas.com/kompas-cetak/0711/11/nasional/3982042.htm

“Yang unik, musisi tradisional China diajarkan musik Barat. Jadi, saya bisa menulis musik Krakatau dengan not balok. Padahal, musik Krakatau tak pernah dinotasikan. Uniknya lagi, kami belum pernah bertemu,” kata Dwiki yang mendapat dukungan Departemen Kebudayaan dan Pariwisata.

Di Beijing, Krakatau juga berkolaborasi dengan penari Didik Nini Thowok. Dwiki menyiapkan dua karya Krakatau, Impen-impenan dan Genjring Party untuk ditarikan Didik.

“Mas Didik sudah turun dari pertapaan di ’kayangan sundul langit’ dan mendapat inspirasi untuk membuat tarian dari musik kami, he-he,” ujar Dwiki mengutip e-mail Didik.

Acara The Rhythm of Indonesia juga menampilkan Ita Purnamasari, istri Dwiki, dengan lagu Bengawan Solo. Ita akan berduet dengan penyanyi China. “Tetapi, Ita nyanyi dalam bahasa Indonesia,” lanjut Dwiki.

Source: http://www.kompas.co.id/ver1/Hiburan/0711/03/061827.htm

It’s halfway through the summer, yet the weather in Toronto still makes the people there shiver. For the members of Krakatau, mostly living in Bandung, maybe this kind of weather suits them more instead of the blazing heat of summer.

THIS famous Indonesian jazz group performs in two prestigious places in Toronto. The first is the Toronto Jazz Festival (TJF), which presents big names, such as Oscar Peterson, Gary Burton, Jean Luc Ponty, Stanley Clark, Al Dimeola, John Scofield, George Benson, Wynton Marsalis, Joey De Francesco, and Michel Camilo, along with numerous local jazz musicians, such as the group of jazz lecturers at the University of Toronto and York University. Krakatau’s second performance takes place in the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM), an influential center for music activities in Canada. These performances are part of the Krakatau North America Tour 2004, journeying through several cities since June 3 to August 19, 2004.

In TJF (sponsored by TD Canada Trust), Krakatau performs in the center of the festival location, which is at a stage in Nathan Philips Square in front of City Hall. The performance of this famous Indonesian group was not held in the main stage, but it is still a meaningful breakthrough for the Indonesian jazz scene. The audience was willing to soak up the sun in the middle of the day, enthusiastically welcoming Krakatau. Most of them actually said that this is the best jazz group they’ve ever seen. Some audience at RCM also gave the same comment. Moreover, there are a few people who came from out of town just to see Krakatau.

What’s interesting to observe from this event is how the jazz fans (including the local jazz musicians among the audience) in this cultural country of Canada can enjoy the problematic music of Krakatau. First of all, Krakatau’s musical notes are built based on the Sundanese pentatonic element, which may not be easily accepted by the ears of jazz lovers in Canada. Besides that, when the music glides to the improvisation part, the notes used by Dwiki Dharmawan (keyboard), Pra Budi Dharma (bass), Zainal Arifin (multi-synchronized bonang), Yayon Dharsono (vocal, traditional flute, and rebab), and Ubiet (vocal) are no longer heard as pentatonic music, that perhaps is easier to digest. At the moment, the notes they used has transformed into microtonal notes because they combine slendro, pelog, madenda, and matraman notes, all in one octave. The consequence of this combination is the changes of the pitch of each notes in their instruments that are no longer fixated on the international pitch (piano).

As the result, their music in these improvisation parts sounded melodically chaotic, going round and round, and difficult to digest. In the first two songs, the audience in the front stage of Nathan Philip Square looked like they’re having difficulties in following the flow and direction of Krakatau’s music. At the same time, their repertoire didn’t help. Their songs dramaturgy in the beginning felt slow. Especially for Bebuka, which is played as the opening song, the intro is a bit too long. Besides that, they didn’t succeed in getting a good sound balance and quality even though they brought two sound engineers from Indonesia (or perhaps that was the reason?).

Krakatau’s music does offer a new challenge, not only for the listener and sound engineers (who are probably not used to traditional instruments), but also for the Krakatau members themselves. By leaning on the original Sundanese pentatonic notes, their music automatically are dwelling in the heterophonic (multi-layer) music area of gamelan. Meanwhile, their songs are still created with the pattern of homophonic music (melody and accord) of the west. Dwiki and Pra, who are the motor of Krakatau, are aware of this, but it seems that they have not managed to find the right solution for it. At the moment, what’s heard from Krakatau is some sort of dualism. During the song (melody), their music is thick with Sundanese pentatonic. However, when it’s improvisation time, their music changes into “just intonation” jazz music that floats around (not modal, not tonal, and also not atonal).

Actually the jazz development nowadays has traveled so far. Some jazz groups, like Orchestre National de Jazz de France (that performed on the same stage) played “jazz” music that is a collage of various genres, just like John Zorn’s music, America’s experimental music icon who’s rising at the moment. But the difference between him and Krakatau is, although their music constantly change, it has a distinct form and shape, not floating here and there. If we listen carefully, free jazz music such as Cecil Taylor or Rosco Mitchell still have this quality. My point of view is still based on the ear (“modern”) in measuring whether a music is good or not. Perhaps in this “post-modern era”, the music lovers have to resynchronize their hearing to be able to digest the music that offers new phenomena like Krakatau.

Unrelated to the aesthetic issue, Krakatau’s performance at TJF intrigued famous Toronto jazz radio, Jazz FM, and jazz critics, the Jazz Times magazine to interview them. In the Jazz FM broadcast the next day, they begin airing the interview with, “Krakatau’s emergence shows how eclectic TJF is. This band managed to amaze the audience on the second day of the festival “. What’s interesting is how Ron Davis, the group performing after Krakatau, sometimes leans to the atmosphere of Sundanese pentatonic notes used by Krakatau. Before the festival, Ron Davis, Toronto’s well-known jazz pianist, was frequently invited for jam sessions in the recording studio by Krakatau, and he really admires this Indonesian group.

The struggle of Krakatau, motored by Dwiki Dharmawan and Pra Budi Dharma, for these 20 years have not failed them. Their tour to the northern part of America (USA and Canada) have received exciting welcome. It was said that in Vancouver they were very successful. I received an e-mail from Pra Budi Dharma from there saying, “We were having a blast in Vancouver!! There are about 45.000 people here with many support from the Indonesians here…crazy!! Because this is our last gig, we played to our limit, letting ourselves go with the audience’s emotion… The point is everyone’s happy, so the committee asked us to play for them again next year in the Vancouver Jazz Festival”.

So, I think Krakatau has successfully open the international door for other Indonesian jazz groups. The problem now is (1) who’s able to keep playing in one group for that long? and (2) who’s able to perform with their own music style, and not copying other country’s style?

Franki Raden,

Khusus pada komposisi Menjemput Harapan dan Tarek Pukat, suara merdu Rafli akan berpadu dengan olah musik apik personel Krakatau. “Dua komposisi itu memang bernuansa etnik Aceh. Kebetulan karakter suara Rafly cocok dengan musik etnik Krakatau,” ujar Dwiki tadi malam.

Karakter suara musisi asli Tanah Rencong itu tak hanya dinilai cocok dengan karakter musik Krakatau. Bahkan, kata Dwiki, suara Rafli pun pas ketika dipasangkan dengan Ubiet, vokalis Krakatau. Kebetulan Ubiet pun besar di Aceh meski dia lahir di Jakarta. Nah, duet Ubiet dan Rafli itu bakal bisa dinikmati pada komposisi Tarek Pukat.

Pada pertunjukan nanti, Ubiet juga akan bernyanyi pada lagu Bunga Tembaga. “Di antara sembilan komposisi itu, empat yang memakai vokal,” terang Dwiki. Lalu, pada lima komposisi berikutnya, Krakatau menyuguhkan kepiawaian mereka meracik instrumen etnik dan jazz.

Krakatau beranggota tujuh orang. Mereka adalah Dwiki Dharmawan (keyboard dan syntesizer), Pra Budi Dharma (electric fretless bass), Adhe Rudhiana (kendang dan perkusi), Yoyon Dharsono (suling, rebab, siter), Zainal Arifin (gamelan dan perkusi), Gerry Herbb (drum), dan Ubiet (vokal).

“Mereka sedianya ditampilkan pada penutupan FSS. Tetapi, karena berbenturan dengan jadwal tur ke Eropa, Krakatau akhirnya tampil pada pembukaan,” ujar PO Musik Nasar Bathati.(ode)