You
just can’t simply call this one as moderate jazz album. In contrast, I’d call
this a premium, state of the art jazz manifestation in Indonesia.
Idang Rasjidi has
always put himself as uncompromising as ever in every time of moment, given the
fact that he is one of Indonesia’s 21
st century jazz puritans. Just
take a look at the very first contemplative opening song, Padamu Negeri, a
strong pick of a patriotic anthem to put up with. The spell-binding maestro’s
fingers force us to look at this album in an enormously more intense manner. It
definitely requires special attention. Neither I can say the reason is because
Idang plays too persistently, nor each tracks are overly composed. Regardless
any of that, this album demands full account because Idang, pointing out his
firm fashion, shares immense details throughout melodies composition and chord
progression. Especially the second part, it is particularly very popular in
Blue Moon and the consecutive song, Autumn Leaves. The chords run too
extensively, and concentrated, that you, I, and arguably anyone else, would be
frantic of knowing that the song has been reconstructed so unrecognizably compared
to the original form. The point to some could mean a tour the force, others
would possibly think worth blessing. Autumn Leaves opens our viewpoint of the
drastic change that the players could render, primarily on the tenor sax’s
improvised melody, without leaving the trace of other pillar instruments.
The
next three songs are sort of a chain reaction, in terms of the laid back swing
style they endorse. Stella By Starlight brings on a drifting piano’s melodies
as sole dominant instrument. There is also drum improvised session in the
middle, where the rhythm goes off the beat. Summertime still depends on
unchallenging piano keys, but even more detail this particular time. A bluesy
feel leans forward in The days of Wine and Roses. In this track, Idang gives a
more constrained play. In the back, the bass beat grows punchy, proving a more
essential role. As a result, the rhythm follows up more convincingly than the
previous songs. You Don’t Know What Love Is has dense structure in arrangement.
Every major instrument has its role on the go, constituted by varied tone out
of piano, bass, and drum. It is sort of a classy, elegant old style swing track
which draws straightforward, imposing, yet irresistible tone lines. The
unrivaled harmony is arguably the best seen, you cannot found anywhere else in
other track. Noted as having the longest playtime, the song by all means causes
a great influence to audience. The twists, the ups and downs, the dynamic flows
are the key factors of why this song is a second to none.
Approaching the near
end, the self-composed Blues at Four Seasons really mimics the message of the title.
The tempo flies moderate and determined. The rhythm is very constant,
uplifting. On one side, the melody is a little more complicated. But fairly
speaking, that is the way things should be, isn’t it? In several cases, we need
to be outrun by a set of less ordinary harmony. Another self-written track in
this album is Java Talk. As the last song, Java Talk gives an effect of
surprise, of which presents fusion jazz, or in a better way, ethnic jazz, down
to the center. Finally, this album generally puts up specific idea. The
conventional melody becomes much subtler as richly new and syncopated variation
take place. Idang tells you about his decent way of defining jazz. And that is
through untime improvisation.
