March 19th, 2010
So we all know that a particularly much anticipated music festival was back in town and by the time you read this column, you would have rocked to the sounds of The Go! Team or grooved to the lovey-dovey ballads from Mr. Babyface (does he still look like a baby after all this time ? Manface perhaps ?)
But we ain’t gonna talk about that here cuz I COULDN’T GET ANY TICKETS. Nada. Zilch. Most of the shows I was planning to catch were all sold out before I could spell M-O-S-A-I-C.
So what’s a music-starved Man About Town going to do? Round up some of his clubbing kakis and hop off to the friendly city of Jakarta where the Java Jazz Festival was taking place. Before you all go asking why do I have to fly all the way there to catch some acts that are probably playing at Mosaic? Well, that was precisely the point. Most of them are playing at Mosaic and guess what … it’s bloody cheaper to see it there. Manface, I mean Babyface, was there, John Legend, Toni Braxton, Lee Ritenour, the works … and we only paid about $70 for a three-day pass (yes, $70). And that’s not including the extra $50 and $25 for John’s and Toni’s special gigs.
Never mind all that waiting in Jakarta’s notorious jams and the long queues everywhere. Never mind that we all look unfab and disheveled after hours sitting in the cab, cursing at the traffic and holding our pee in. About the waiting part, I have to admit that Indonesians are quite a patient lot. People can sit and gridlocked in cars for up to hours, going precisely nowhere fast in devices originally designed to make movement easier. They’ll quietly wait in line even if it’s a 100-people deep and not a sound of complaint.
Well enough about that. The Java Jazz Festival was well, like how a music festival should be. People of all ages coming together to listen to music. Imagine ZoukOut, with the different stages but indoors and all at the price of one ticket. That one ticket could get you watching gigs from the legendary George Duke with Christian McBride slapping the bass, Lee Ritenour, the Roy Hargrove Quintet, Jazzanova (the whole band!), Nathan Haines with Vanessa Freeman, Rufus Feat. Sly Stone, Randy Brecker, Bill Evans and even Sheila Majid. Yes, we caught all that.
What would it take for us to have a similar festival that’s easy on the wallet and family-friendly? Whole Indo families complete with baby strollers and grandparents were seen rocking to Rufus’ “Ain’t Nobody” and Duke’s “My Piano” at Java Jazz. We used to have WOMAD but that quickly faded away. Don’t get me wrong. I love Mosaic and I religiously try to attend most of the shows as much as I can but catching five shows here can burn a serious hole in my wallet. Seriously, what would it take for us to have something similar where even non-aficionados will be exposed to great music at a fraction of the cost? More sponsors? More funding?
But hey, at least we have a music festival to brag about.
Zaki Jufri on
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