Live at Four Seasons

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.