Serambi Jazz Mei 2011 - Sandy Winarta Quartet,Benny Likumahuwa Jazz Connection

Sandy Winarta Quartet

(Text taken from jazzuality.com, photos from my own collection)

Speaking of a phenomena, Sandy Winarta is one of the most interesting phenomenas in Indonesian jazz. “He is now an important icon in our jazz scene, someone to look up to for the next generations.” said Riza Arshad. The native Balinese son Sandy Winarta actually started with organ electone before he switched to drums after he finished high school. He registered at the Australian Institute of Music in Sydney majoring drums-performance and obtained his Bachelor of Music Performance in 2004.

With the smaller group he stated to have a slightly different concept. It’s still holding the concept of twisting standards into a whole different nuances, only it’s set to be cooler. Sandy will bring back his quartet for Serambi Jazz this month with a big change on the formation. Andy Gomez will sit behind the keyboard, Robert Mulyarahardja on guitar and Chaka Priambudi on contrabass. Standing tall as one of the most versatile drummers and composers in Indonesia besides his other activities like doing lots of workshops, teaching and working on his “learn how to play drums” website, it’s exactly a perfect time for us to see this wiz that can make his drum sings and communicates fluently.

Benny Likumahuwa Jazz Connection

(Text taken from jazzuality.com, photos from my own collection)

Benny Likumahuwa has an illustrious career, but until now he likes it better to be called a freelancer. His children are following his footsteps as well. Jilly Likumahuwa stands as an artist who deeply submerges into the Brazilian cultures (music and capoeira) and Barry Likumahuwa is one of the most popular jazz musicians at present, especially among youngsters.

One of the group he’s established a couple of years ago and still active until now is Benny Likumahuwa Jazz Connection. This is the group where he shows his happiness by playing with young guns. It’s more than a project, because the Benny Likumahuwa Jazz Connection is also used as a ground zero for appreciation, a place to learn and sharing ideas, besides of being a bridge crossing generations and a body where we can still see his everlasting contributions in jazz and our music history in general. While rooted on mainstream jazz, along with the younger partners such as his own son Barry Likumahuwa (bass), Donny Joesran (keyboard), Indra Aziz (vocal & sax) and Dimas Pradipta (drums), Benny uses his weapons such as trombone, saxes, flute and bass to bring more colors into the concept, from neo-bop, Latins, swing, fusion and funk. This is not a surprise since he teams up with young musicians with different backgrounds. “With all said, this group is highly suitable for jazz aficionados in our nation and really deserves to be given a shot at the Serambi Jazz stage”, said the conceptor Riza Arshad.