The Best of 83-94

A portfolio of Indonesia’s post development jazz talent at the time, Indra Lesmana released a dense album containing his renowned tracks. It occurs that his early artworks have a strong basis in certain section he widely stands on, that is smooth jazz. Today’s jazz listener might not approve of this album being categorized as jazz. The notion is well understandable in the absence of improvisations, values of irregularities and unpredictability upon the music in general, and every track in specific. Indra played a definitely patterned jazz style, an over-patterned, abruptly speaking, so that it raised assumptions that he was a commercial oriented musician. Or whether he was driven by collective market interest back in the days, it was rather hard to say. Still, I retain the notion that Indra’s major influence in the gradual development of jazz after his predecessors has to be taken into account. This album of his recorded some parts of it, albeit what it lacks of in some musical structures, which I put it as jazz in pop, and not the other way around. Instances begin with Kehadiran, Aku Ingin and Cerita Lalu, the three among other songs well connected to his success. 

Indra also brings singers not associated with with jazz those are Titi DJ and Sophia Latjuba  to accompany him in several songs, such as the pop upbeat Dunia Boleh Tertawa the mellow melody Keinginan, and Hanya Untukmu. I am not quite sure if the term “less is more” is applicable here, but seriously I have so little to say toward this album. Overall, Indra serves a mouthful of pop taste to supposedly his spectators. Somehow he puts himself similarly to well considered jazz singers (in a way) at the same time like Fariz RM, Dian Pramana Putra, or Utha Likumahuwa, to whom I could not care less about the reputation. Later on another occasion discussing his other albums in the following years, I would be glad to reveal that Indra actually does have a plenty to speak of than this.