There’s a lot of a spirituality coming into the
surroundings of finding the inner self. And music is an excellent and important way to find
calm, patience, and the language of Jazz, easily fits into those perfect
elements to find peace. You need an atmosphere where it is very relaxing and have tranquility
on searching for your own true identity of who you are. Indonesian guitarist Dewa
Budjana is back again this year with the release and follow up to Surya Namaskar with Hasta Karma from the MoonJune label and he has brought a superb
line-up to help him out on the album.
He brought along Vibraphonist Joe Locke, Ben Williams (Pat Methney) on Upright Bass, and Antonio Sanchez on Drums, who
received a Golden Globe nomination and won the Austin Film Critics Award, and
the 19th Annual Satellite Awards to name a few for Best Score with Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of
Ignorance). And guest musician Indra Lesmana on Keybaords to help along on
the three tracks and Dewa's grandmother, Jro Ktut Sidemen on vocals.
There are six compositions on the album to go deep into and
Dewa endures the spiritual minds in the pieces. And for me, it’s hard to pick a
favorite track on here, not just because it’s a great album, but it’s also a
touching, pure, innovative work he has brought into. Not to mention three
highlights on here. The 11-minute piece, Ruang
Dialisis, is a memorial composition that Dewa wrote it as a dedication to
his father.
It has a soundscape/ambient introduction that he does along
with a crying solo on his guitar on the whammy bar as Joe Locke’s vibraphone’s
an amazing improvisation and he and Sanchez give Budjana a helping hand. As
Dewa’s grandmother, Jro Ktut Sidemen does the chanting in the styles of Mamuit
as it is a traditional funeral song that she sings and originally appeared on
Dewa’s debut album eighteen years ago.
It gives the composition a beautiful and mourning arrangement that gives
it a moving surrounding. Desember is
a transformation of a melodic turned hard rock piece. It resembles a reminiscent
of Deep Purple’s Machine Head-era as
he challenges the styles of both Ritchie Blackmore and Frank Zappa with a screeching
solo before Locke comes in with some laid-back beauty as it ends in an
ascending finale in a different minor key.
But it’s Just Kidung that
is a real treat. It has this ‘80s Smooth Jazz introduction with the Eastern
tone in the pentatonic scale with a beat per minute of 86. It’s a slowed down
groove in the B section as Lesmana gets in those synths on his keyboard to
create those funky sounds. But in the midsection, it’s very ambient and
laid-back as Ben Williams takes his upright bass to a style of Avishai Cohen,
Jimmy Garrison, and Charles Mingus.
Improvisation is a chance to give Williams, Lesmana, and
Sanchez to go into free rein as Dewa lets them go into the area of creating
different ideas in their instruments. But Lesmana, he is really playing the
piano like a conductor. Almost as if he is doing a classical jazz touch of
Keith Tippett and Thelonious Monk before the ending is like the rain is coming
down as Dewa is in full circle with them to close off the piece with a warmth sunrise.
This is my third time listening to Hasta Karma. And MoonJune Records have knocked it out again in the
ballpark for a home run with this. Dewa really has done a superb job along with
both Locke, Williams, Sanchez, and Lesmana showed a lot of potential and
strength in their ideas to come along for the mystical wonders. Warmth,
sincerity, and internal, Hasta Karma is
a journey you will embrace the adventures of Dewa Budjana’s music.
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