Beledo - Dreamland Mechanism

Ella Fitzgerald said that “Music is the universal language. It brings us closer together.” That’s what music great. It can be your best friend, your companion, and to play it. That and Beledo’s debut from MoonJune Records entitled, Dreamland Mechanism which is released this year. The album is a star-studded album that features people like Dewa Budjana, Gary Husband (Soft Machine Legacy, Quincy Jones, Gary Moore), Lincoln Goines (Dizzy Gillespie, The Avengers, Sonny Rollins, and Elaine Elias), and Rudy Zulkarnaen to name a few.

Beledo himself is a multi-instrumentalist who doesn’t just plays guitar, but plays; piano, keyboards, violin, and accordion. The album itself is a combination between World Music, Prog, Flamenco, and Jazz Fusion. So prepare yourself for a journey from the man himself as he takes you into different worlds that again makes Music, a universal language.

Pieces like Marilyn’s Escapade which is dedicated to his late friend, Marilyn Rubine, who passed away a few years ago. It showcases Beledo’s inspirations of his own Piano Concerto between the styles of Vince Guaraldi, George Gershwin, and Keith Emerson. It is a smooth, melodic, and voyage journey featuring a beautiful finale between the Accordion and the Violin. Then there’s Lucila. With a composition between the musical sounds of both Indonesia and Flamenco genre. It’s a strange twist, but it works generally well with an electrical voltage.

Beledo transforms himself into Ottmar Liebert and his classical guitar carries the Tango and eclectic dances as both Cucu Kurnia and Endang Ramdan who both play the Sundanese Kendang Percussion on the track, you could imagine the joy recording the track as Beledo is smiling and having a great time working with the two together as if they were making magic.

Then on the other three tracks, the trio between him, bassist Lincoln Goines, and drummer Gary Husband is almost as if they had done a session in a smaller studio between all three. On Big Brother Calling they do this reminiscent of Stanley Clarke’s School Days-era meets Rush’s Moving Pictures-era as there if is a Alex Lifeson channeling momentum as if it sounds like a mid-tempo version of YYZ.

However on Sudden Voyage, Beledo brings the techniques to an exquisite adventure with his guitar solo while Mercury in Retrograde is a revolutionary composition as he captures the vision of the 22^nd century. But the real kick is Budjanaji. Here, Beledo and Dewa create more magic in a gentle relax atmospheric composition. And the two of them work well as a team and they blend creating mysterious conceptual improvisations as partners.

MoonJune Records again, never disappoints me. Beledo’s Dreamland Mechanism is a superlative feature. I can’t wait to hear more of what Beledo will do next of his virtuosity and powerful imagination that is brilliant and spectacular. So be prepare to enjoy the sounds of World Music, Jazz Fusion, and Progressive Rock and exploring the musical language adventure of Dreamland Mechanism.