Jazz in Indonesia is a growing, evolving entity that incorporates the archipelago’s traditions, and constantly evades definition.

Indonesian jazz performers are known for fusing the archipelago’s rich, traditional sounds into their music.

Some music experts say that the resulting mix is worthy of its own genre, while musicians ― reluctant to fence in their art form ― simply say that “jazz is jazz.”

Prominent drummer Gilang Ramadhan acknowledges that there are a lot of Indonesian jazz musicians who experiment with traditional Indonesian elements while exploring the broader, more global avenues of jazz, including himself. He admits it is hard to know what to call it exactly.

“Some have described it as ‘ethno jazz’, which in certain respects is an acceptable labeling,” Gilang said during a discussion in South Jakarta recently.

Ever since its emergence at the beginning of the 20th century ―born out of a mix of African and European music traditions ― in the US’ south, jazz has been introduced, evolved and rediscovered throughout the world.

The musical style has spawned many subgenres, like big band swing, bebop and further branches that include avant-garde jazz, Afro-Cuban jazz, Latin jazz, soul jazz, jazz fusion and acid jazz.

“Jazz isn’t limited to a particular style or arena, and jazz musicians tend to always be creative, breaking new ground,” Gilang said.

With improvisation being a key element of the genre, jazz musicians will always aspire to put forth varied interpretations of what jazz means to them personally, he said. And one’s background plays a big role in this regard.

“It’s only natural then that Indonesian jazz musicians look to our own musical roots for inspiration. It’s all around us, it’s what we were born into and raised with,” Gilang said.

Besides, he said, the archipelago boasts a rich musical tradition that just begs to be explored.

“There’s so much to be inspired by, from Sabang to Merauke, from Bali, West Java, Central Java, Sulawesi. One region alone contains so many musical tones and shades,” he said.

Gilang explained that foreign audiences respond very well to the inclusion of traditional elements in performances. “I only have to use a rhythm from Balinese music as an add-on to my playing and jaws will drop,” he said. “And it’s great because you have so much to choose from.”

The musician, however, did not specify whether he thought Indonesian jazz could come to comprise a distinct genre on its own within the jazz spectrum. “Most of us playing jazz in Indonesia tinker with traditional music, let’s just put it that way,” he said.

These sentiments were reiterated by rising young jazz musician Barry Likumahuwa, who said he doesn’t necessarily identify with the term ‘Indonesian jazz’.

“What would be more correct would be ‘jazz in Indonesia’ or ‘jazz that grows in Indonesia’,” said the bassist.

Barry gave an example of how a karawitan ― a classic traditional Javanese music ensemble ― thriving in California would not be called a Californian karawitan.

“It would be funny to call the music Indonesian jazz. It’s jazz music played with an Indonesian flavour,” Barry said.

He pointed out that not all experiments using traditional Indonesian music worked in jazz.

“There’s a lot to consider: different rhythms, different music scales, different patterns, among other things. A successful performance would need to result in seamless, fluid music; it’s not enough to merely attach traditional music to jazz,” said Barry, whose father is the prominent jazz musician Benny Likumahuwa.

“However, I don’t think we need to over-complicate this. Let jazz be jazz,” he said.

Agus Setiawan, activist and founder of jazz portal wartajazz.com, said he agreed that a distinct ‘Indonesian jazz’ label does not exist. “It’s something used by music journalists to describe jazz played by our musicians,” Agus said. He considers the label as part of an effort by the music community and supporters to make space for Indonesian jazz musicians.

“It’s less about Indonesian jazz as a genre, but more of an attempt to distinguish the jazz produced here,” he said.

Senior music journalist Frans Sartono said that the inclination towards incorporating traditional musical elements into jazz performances signified a healthy evolution, a continual process. “I see Indonesian jazz musicians looking for identity and this affinity is part of the process,” Frans said.

Although it might appear to be a new trend, Frans said that this kind of fusion has a longer history than one might assume. “The legendary Indonesian jazz pianist Bubi Chen was among the pioneers to use traditional elements in jazz performances,” he said.

Bubi, who died last year at the age of 74, was widely known in Australia, Europe and the United States, particularly during the 1960s.

Bubi and another jazz legend, Jack Lesmana, was credited as having introducted a noticeably Indonesian flavour to jazz music, a feat especially at a time when western music was discouraged by then president Sukarno.

Together with the Indonesian All Stars, which included Maryono, Benny Mustafa, Kiboud Maulana and Jopie, Bubi and Jack recorded the phenomenal album “Djanger Bali”, which mixed jazz with Indonesian traditional music, after attending the Berlin Jazz Festival in 1967.

“I don’t see why there is a hesistancy in using the term ‘Indonesian jazz’,” Frans said. “It’s a way to set our musicians apart, to mark them as something different, something special, which they are.” 

By Andreas D. Arditya

(Jakarta Post)