A Journey

A Journey by the next generation of jazz pianist, David Manuhutu, is a 40 minutes long album that asserts his name in the Indonesian jazz repertoire. Initially felt as a great backgroud-filling music companion due to its crisp and clear collaboration of the instruments, it unexpectedly turn into a comprehensive sound and a meticoulous recording.



Recorded mostly in New York studios, this album do not only bring Western classic jazz feel, but the Bandung musician inserts his local identity utilizing Kendang and Suling by Endang Rukandi, exemplified by the Sundanese arrangement in Bubuy Bulan. The involvement of David's father, a guitarist Venche Manuhutu, on this album has added such influence. More than traditional characteristics, the album present modern creation of jazz in David's three original pieces in A Journey, Princess of Surakarta, and Hit.

The album cover shows big credit to two guitarists Adam Rogers and Peter Bernstein. Fairly speaking, their roles can be found in four out of seven songs in the album. like in the nine-minute first song who bears the same name as the album or the last piece, Bulan Pake Pajong, where Rogers showed an intricate and resolute style, or Bernstein's gripping play in Leila and Hit. David's intense play are shown in Princess of Surakarta and Bulan Pake Pajong. 

Commenting the album release, Krakatau member Dwiki Dharmawan, who has increasingly gone solo with a self-released album, admitted to having watched David's journey from the early years until he took scholarship program on postgraduate music study in Boston. He further said that David plays the musical selection wholeheartedly, uniting authenticity and perfection.