ROBERTO MAGRIS REMINESCES ABOUT LIVE IN INDONESIA

This recording captures my Italian quartet live in Jakarta, Indonesia. The group was active from 2003 to 2008 with me on piano, Ettore Martin on tenor saxophone, Danilo Gallo on bass and Enzo Carpentieri on drums. Having toured Europe, Asia and Australia, the quartet touched base in Indonesia in 2004.

I have a great memory of our visit there, as we found an active jazz scene that we hadn’t expected. We held a masterclass for the jazz department at the Conservatory in Jakarta that was packed with students keen on jazz. We quickly realized that jazz was truly appreciated in Indonesia not only in Jakarta but also in Bali where I played at a jam session with some very nice local musicians. Some years later, I wasn’t so surprised to hear that a young Indonesian pianist named Joey Alexander was so successful. On the other hand, I remembered clarinetist Tony Scott recorded a album with some Indonesian musicians back in the 1960’s.

This concert was held in a large theater in Jakarta.  All in all, it was a successful performance. The only odd thing is that the sound engineer only recorded the second set of our concert. Nonetheless, the set is quite satisfying with our usual program, plus several classic Italian pop-songs that I arranged in a modern jazz style.

In addition to meeting many wonderful people, I had the chance to visit some parts of Indonesia. I really enjoyed a beautiful country rich in history, archeological sites, wildlife, beaches and music! Drummer Enzo Carpentieri was so interested in the native gamelan music (and me too), that he bought some Balinese percussion instruments and from that moment on, he began to incorporate them into his playing. Those instruments added some beautiful colors to the music heard on my 2005 session Love is Passing Thru (JM-23). 

I hope that you will truly appreciate the music’s spirit as well as the creativity of the musicians as we do what we do best — simply making music.

Roberto Magris