Spreading the fire earlier is very important for one big event. This is needed to set our mood before the time when it finally kicks off. It’s also important to spread the news to all the jazz lovers out there in particular, or just about any music lovers in general. Kampoeng Jazz 2010 is coming in a little bit more than a month from now, and the organizers, the Student Executive Board of Law Faculty of Padjadjaran University Bandung understand it very well. So here it goes, they held the pre-event at the popular hang out place for the youngsters and the young at hearts, SOHO Cafe at Ciwalk. From the afternoon until close to midnight, approximately 7 hours straight we were having some rundowns. Not only to announce the upcoming Kampoeng Jazz Festival which will going to be held on May 8, 2010, but also to select 4 bands to perform in the main event from the whole participating bands. There were 15 auditioning band for this occasion, and it’s been simply a pleasure for us to see there are actually many bands in Bandung who have their passion in jazz.
Before we get down to see these 15 auditioning bands and how they performed, let’s bring our memory back to last year, May 2009 when the Kampoeng Jazz 2009 was on. It was a full package of nonstop jazz action from the afternoon until midnight. From local Bandung talents to the nation’s top performers were all up on stage one after another to give their tasteful jazz to the audience. Chalk for Cheese, Sekapur Sirih, Soulvibe and Barry Likumahuwa Project were among the lineups that made the event went successful. (Check out the full report of last year’s Kampoeng Jazz here). For this year we believe it’s going to be bigger and better. The theme gets heavier now, “Proud of Indonesian Jazz for Nation, for Nature, for Culture”. We could see it by taking a peek into the projected lineups for this year. It’s still tentative though, so it should still be off the record. We will give the complete information about it once we get the final confirmation by the organizers.
For the audition, the panel of judges consisted of 3 person. Deden Achmad Chaerudin representing The Law Faculty of Padjadjaran University Bandung, Dwicahya Yuniman the coordinator of KlabJazz and myself, Riandy Kurniawan. It’s not an easy task I tell you, since the 15 performing bands were showing their best in various genres. Right after the show opened by the MCs, the bands got their chance one by one. Some were great, some were off keys, but we could understand that it might came from the nerve and other problems. Chicken Runway was the first band to open the audition. They dare enough to bring their own songs in funky acid jazz style. Mongol n Copskwat appeared unplugged since some of their members were unable to come due to the exams they were having in campus at the same time. US Band replaced them bringing funky groove jazz with cool rockin’ guitar. Senandung Pagi & Secangkir Kopi was the next band bringing the current jazzy groove, followed by Cameo, a cool fusion band taking on the famous song of Karimata, “Take Off to Padang”. Unfortunately for Cameo, they had to perform incomplete because their bass player just got an accident.
Gurilem appeared by bringing contemporary progressive fusion with ethnic flavor. They appeared uniquely with batik. The formation was including kendang or the ethnic drum, presenting two songs with unique titles, “Telor Ceplok” (in English: sunny side up egg) I and II. The next band was Nameno, consisted of 6 personnels including one female drummer. They could deliver the delicious chunky 70’s flavor but still staying current at the same time. One of the song they gave was the surprising version of Maroon 5’s “Sunday Morning” that was brought in the popular indie style, the style that ’s currently trending in Indonesia. Bumi Kutapaki seemed to be one of the most favorite among the crowds, as they got huge pops by their supporters even before they started to perform, especially by one of their vocalist, a very cute young girl named Shasa. Playing in the field of current pop jazz, funky groove style, and the crowds really bought it. Juicy Luicy surprised everyone by the spontaneous performance of the kendang player who moved and danced under the stage, while the band gave the their theme in the cool soulfunk like the one we all loved back in the 70’s. Appearing with complete lineups including trumpet, saxophone and trombone, they then gave a smooth performance in the style of current acid jazz style.
After the 20 minutes break, the audition was on again. Jong Java appeared first with the unique sound of flute that brought our mind back to the pop jazzy style in the 70’s. Interestingly they delivered the famous heroic song “Halo Halo Bandung” in the style we never heard before. The night then turned into heavy blues with a band that uniquely choose the term from poker as their name, Royal Flush. It was really hot and they really gave a different taste as the blues is back as the current trend now in Indonesian music scene. Groove was on again with the next band, Tap a Jam. Flav’foa was next with a standout saxophonist. Another blues band appeared. It was Elm Street, presenting the heavy side of blues. The guitarist played amazingly and reminded me of Jimi Hendrix type of sound. De’Natu closed the audition with a unique style of music, including violin and percussions to use as the instruments.
As the panel of judges went out to discuss about which 4 bands would be selected to join the Kampoeng Jazz festival 2010, two guest bands were on stage to entertain the audiences. First it was Russel and Electric Bird bringing their distinct style in groovy funk fusion. The audiences couldn’t hold themselves from approaching the stage. The next guest band was G/E/T, and they described how crazy the world of jazz could be if you let one loose. They are going to release their first debut album soon, so it was nice for us to hear some of the songs taken from the album. Among them include “Migrain” and “Sekapur Sirih”.
The moment everyone were waiting for had finally came. The judges came forward to announce 4 selected bands to perform at Kampoeng Jazz 2010. It was hard indeed to decide 4 bands among 15 good auditioning bands, but the decision still has to be made. Here are the picks:
- Juicy Luicy
- Gurilem
- Bumi Kutapaki
- Royal Flush
The decision was made based on the quality, various genres selections, technique, creativity and of course the likeability. Congratulation for all the winners!
It’s been a tremendous night for Kampoeng Jazz 2010 to start their roadshow. Props and cheers to all the auditioning bands for giving out their best tonight. We are happy to see many of the bands dare to perform with their own original songs, and also showing their passions to choose jazz as their music style. Once again Congratulation for the winners, hope you will shine brighter in the near future. For the band who didn’t make it, don’t be upset. Keep your spirit lifted up and hope you succeed in the next attempt. The heat is on, get ready to have the second Kampoeng Jazz. Let’s paint Bandung with multi-color jazz flavor!
