Young jazz singer lives up Indonesian ethnic songs

Diah Ayu Lestari and her band Good Guys whom together they promoted Indonesian folk songs in 2013 Tong Tong Fair in Den Haag, staged an energic live ethnic songs from Kalimantan and Sulawesi following her second album Ethnic Jazz Indonesia whose track list includes traditional songs spanning across the west to east territorial boundaries of the country. In Galeri Indonesia Kaya, 12 July, standing behind the modern interpretation of Dayak dancers with mostly quick tempo, her natural and powerful voice reintroduced traditionally familiar songs such as Ampar Pisang and O Inani Keke in delightful pop jazz arrangement. 

But it was not the "pseudo-familiarity" that drives her intention to use North Sulawesi song Si PatoKaan or South Sulawesi's Anging Mamiri, for actually it was the slowly diminishing appreciation amid the predominant global popular songs that raises her awareness. Despite the bold move in venturing deep into a less-likely area to garner wide popularity in what is already a segmented field of music, many claimed her the youngest jazz singer in the country today for the notable achievements.

Diah Ayu Lestari's songwriting talent which was spotted at the small age of 13 led her to producing her first album Talk to Me with jazz and R&B arrangement, involving some well-known jazz musicians such as Dian Pramana Poetra.

Borneo to Celebes Ethnic Jazz, Galeri Indonesia Kaya, 12 July 2015

Photographs by Purnadi Phan, courtesy of think archipelago