JakJazz 2012 kicks off today

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Entertainment | Fri, October 19 2012, 11:21 AM

Ninety performers, eight stages. JakJazz 2012 jazz festival started today.

The on-and-off jazz festival, which runs from Friday to Sunday at the Istora Senayan Jakarta, will see performances of world-class jazz musicians, including Incognito, Mezzoforte, Jeff Lorber Fusion, Tetsuo Sakurai and Curtiz King. A handful of local musicians like Tohpati, Barry Likumahuwa Project, Syaharani & The Queen Fireworks and Lala Suwages, will also be going on stage during the festival.

“We aim to revive the spirit of JakJazz, just like the 1988 JakJazz [the first edition of JakJazz],” Djarum Super 90Mild Jakarta International Jazz Festival (JakJazz 2012) project manager Moko Yunus said on Thursday as quoted by tempo.co.

To attract visitors, the committee has prepared various side arts and performances, including Street Fashion Show, capoeira dance performance, mural demonstration, a photo exhibition themed “Indonesian Jazz Stars” and the screening of the movie History of Jazz.

As there will be no special performances which require special tickets, the committee has set a flat ticket price of Rp 500,000 (US$52.16).

The JakJazz jazz festival, which was first founded by Indonesian jazz legend Ireng Maulana in 1988, is dubbed the pioneer in jazz festivals in the country. Since then, the festivals were held annually from 1993 to 1995 and then from 2006 to 2010. (swd)