Krakatau bands and international achievements

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KRAKATAU was founded in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia in 1985. The band started when bassist Pra Budidharma returned from Seattle. Washington, USA to begin a jazz career in Indonesia. The personnel and concept for Krakatau took shape during weekly jam sessions sponsored by the “Jazz Break” program in Bandung, a city known throughout Indonesia for its talented, accomplished musicians. Donny Soehendra, a well-known guitarist in Bandung, and a promising young piano student named Dwiki Dharmawan had been interested in starting a jazz-rock fusion oriented band, and with Pra on bass and the addition of rock drummer Budhy Haryono, Krakatau’s original lineup was complete.

The band made its international debut at the 1985 Yamaha Bands Explosion in Tokyo, Japan. There Dwiki Dharmawan won a Grand Prix as the most talented keyboard player at the contest. Some changes and additions to the band”s lineup followed as Krakatau began work on their first jazz-pop oriented recording, which was released in 1986 by Bulletin Records, a subsidiary of Billboard Indonesia. Additional players included young jazz keyboard wizard Indra Lesmana on keys and Hollywood College graduate Gilang Ramadhan on drums, replacing Budhy Haryono. Also on board was vocalist Trie Utami, who contributed her considerable talents to the album; Krakatau had previously collaborated with well-known singers Hari Mukti and Ruth Sahanaya for their live performances.

Krakatau scored several bits, including “Gemilang” and “Imaji”, both written by Dwiki Dharmawan & Mira Lesmana. “Kemelut” written by Indra & Mira Lesmana, and an instrumental cut entitled “Haiti” composed by Dwiki Dharmawan. In 1987 Krakatau released their second album, which produced the hits “La Samba Primadona” (by lndra Lesmana & Trie Utami) and “Cita Pasti” (by Dwiki Dharmawan & Trie Utami).

In 1988, Krakatau recorded the hit song “Kau Datang,” which was written by Gilang Ramadhan. Pra Budidharma and Dwiki Dharmawan and was included on the album “Kembali Satu”. After the peak performance and successful sales of “Kau Datang”, the band went through a period of transition and partial dissolution. lndra Lesmana, Gilang Ramadhan and Donny Soehendra formally resigned from Krakatau, and the remaining band members went their separate ways, for a while.

Pra Budidharma worked as an Artist & Repertoire staff member at Billboard Indonesia and from his new home base in Bandung became an independent record producer specializing m the traditional music of West Java. Trie Utami decided to embark on a solo recording career, while Dwiki Dharmawan became a respected moxie score composer and arranger. ln 1991 the Blackboard recording company made an offer to produce a Krakatau reunion album. Dwiki Dharnawan and Pra Budidharma took the deal and reunited the band”s original lineup minus guitarist Donny Soehendra and with Budhy Haryono once again on drums.

The resulting album, entitled “Let There Be Life.” was released in 1992. At their performance at the 1993 Jakarta Jazz Festival. Krakatau revealed a bold new musical direction: from jazz-pop-fusion to the traditional music of indonesia, specifically the Sundanese traditions of West Java.

Krakatau’s new musical format utilized the micro-tonal system of the ancient gamelan tradition, based on the so-called “S’lendro” scale. Their album “Mystical Mist” released in 1994. was the first to use this new format. This album’s innovative sounds were enriched by the group’s collaboration with Sundanese percussion virtuoso Adhe Rudhiana and multi-instrumentalist Yoyon Dharsono, who added traditional drums, wind, and stringed instruments to Krakatau’s mystical mix. In the years since the release of Mystical Mist the band has been further developing its sound with the help of three additional players from the College of Karawitan on gamelan instruments and percussion. Krakatau has also begun to explore and adapt musical ideas from beyond West Java, drawing inspiration from the Indonesian archipelago’s staggeringly diverse musical cultures.www.musikji.net
http://www.musikji.net/2011/02/krakatau-band-profile.html
image :wartajazz.com

Tag : music