Dewa Budjana

dewabudjana.com

Having had a grip on guitar for the first time at the age of eleven, the Bali-born Dewa Budjana's pursuit of music career urged him to leave his hometown to Surabaya, and further to Jakarta in 1980. After years of relentless struggle, he met the big figure in Indonesian music industry Jack Lesmana. It was during this period that Dewa got deeper affection to jazz, owing to Jack's influence.

He had a chance to play in North Sea Jazz in 1994. At the same year GIGI was born, and they steadily turned into a huge Indonesian pop rock band, producing some 20 albums and regularly topped the local music chart for many years. Since the beginning he knew that GIGI required his full time work, so he left other projects the band he used to be part of. But he only made exception to playing occasionally with other jazz musicians.

Dewa released his first solo album Nusa Damai in 1997, containing his stocked recordings since 1994. This album brought a noticeable shift in his musical character from rock to progressive jazz. Making albums one after another, his tendency has moved to more bold and traditional, maximizing indigeneous harmony and ethnical instruments. This distinctive preference gains him popularity in international stage. Many of his solo albums are produced in the US. Many regard his style as analogous to America's Keith Jarrett, Pat Metheny, and Chick Corea, with only different cultural expression.

In early 2015, he again flew to the US to make two simultaneous solo albums, which he hopes to release in 2016.    

                                                                                                                        

Album

Joged Kahyangan                                     Dawai in Paradise

   

Surya Namaskar