Jakarta - March 2008

Dateline: Monday, 3/10, 7:17am - Well folks, back on the road again; this time, Jakarta, Indonesia with the Ron King Big Band. We've spent a little over a week here performing in & around the Java Jazz Festival. The festival, held at a  massive  convention center  in downtown  Jakarta, is the fourth such one they've had here and appears to be growing in popularity (both with fans and performers). This year's lineup included Jeff Lorber, The Manahattan Transfer, Lee Ritenour, The Crusaders (with Steve Gadd!), and many others.

The big band got busy almost from day one. In addition to performing our own music, we had been chosen to back up two other artists with quite different but equally satisfying acts. A fellow from Las Vegas, Gary Anthony, did a tribute to Frank Sinatra that was a real gas to play. The charts were very accurate takedowns of many of his classic arrangements and, as I expected, the band played the hell out of them. What a treat to be sharing the stage with such fine musicians! Mining similar territory but perhaps a different vein was singer Renee Olstead; a very young & talented vocalist riding the current wave of youthful jazz & swing performers. She sang  tunes very much from the American songbook with one notable exception - a tune she composed - that was really a nice tune. It was encouraging to see someone step outside of the box a little and present something new.

In addition to all that, Ron broke off the rhythm section to do a couple of shows as a quartet. A nice thing as it allowed the four of us to stretch out a bit in ways the big band repertoire doesn't allow. I must mention at this point the incredible musicianship of my cohorts in the rhythm section; Cho (as he's known) on piano, and Jamey Tate on drums. These guys really can play just about anything and do it with the ultimate in musicality.

The festival reminded me of the North Sea Jazz Festival in it's gargantuan production with several venues simultaneously presenting various performances under one roof. That is to say, not in the same hall but all within the confines of the convention center. Despite the separation of various-sized rooms & halls, it can get a bit cacophonous and can be - with the enormous crowds - a real assault on the senses. I began to wonder what was really the attraction; the music or the "scene" itself as it reminded me ofa really crowded shopping mall where, with no real intent involved, people just go to hang out.

I can't say much about Jakarta itself as I rarely ventured outside the hotel. Partly because I didn't see much that compelled me and partly because the promoters themselves, all locals, suggested we don't. I took that as a good piece of advice.

We ended our run here backing the Sinatra guy last night in one of the larger venues. It was literally a foot race to get seats when they opened the doors. You'd think Frank himself was appearing! The band, undoubtedly feeling just a little beat up after such a busy rehearsal & performance schedule, rose to the occasion and served up the kind of swinging affair that we all knew was called for. The crowd - with many of the women in semi-traditional Muslim head dress - sang along with several of the tunes and cheered wildly for every song. It was really great. We ended with My Way (naturally) and, for an encore we did New York, New York (naturally). As I looked out upon this huge crowd singing along, smiles on their faces, I couldn't help wondering how many of them cheered when the planes hit.

I am excited to be heading home after a truly enjoyable and rewarding musical experience. I think (I hope) it's made me a better musician.

Until next time...

Your friendly neighborhood bassist,
Adam