Java

SambaSunda is a modern Indonesian collective of musicians, organized by Ismet Ruchimat in 1998. His experience in Norway expanded his musical vision to bring contemporary sounds to traditional Javanese instruments. The group's name came after their first album, adopting the title of a track from that recording. Sunda is the comparatively sparse region of Java with its own traditional forms that differ from the more familiar and formal Javanese court music, but over the years the group included styles and rhythms from Bali, Arabia, Latin America, and Europe. SambaSunda once comprised over 16 members, but for this album we hear a five-person chamber ensemble, led by Ismet Ruchimat himself. Also in contrast to previous albums, there is no gamelan of metallophones. Instead, the baritone boat-shaped zither, the kacapi indung, and its higher pitched variant, the kacapi rincik, are featured. Also present are the large khendang and smaller kulenter drums, a violin, and the suling bamboo flute. The group introduces haunting vocalist Neng Dini Andriati. Even though some tracks are traditional in melody, the arrangements and instrumental harmonies are very modern. SambaSunda helped pioneer contemporary fusion in Indonesia, and this album will probably have similar influence. Track 5, Serat Salira, is an unusual, very slow and beautiful ballad that contrasts sharply with the fast and funky tunes of earlier albums. The following track, however, takes a wild leap to Ireland, or rather, as the title indicates, an Irishman goes to Sunda. While characteristic of SambaSunda's playfulness, I believe that it is an intrusion to the overall tone of the album; it is only six of the album's generous 73 minutes. I find it interesting that SambaSunda's global vision, indeed much of world music today, is reflected in the credits: recorded and mixed in various sites in Germany, mastered and published in England, and manufactured in Hong Kong. The album was produced and mixed by Colin Bass [aka Sabah Habas Mustapha], English rock and world music musician, songwriter, and record producer. This worthy album should delight world music aficionados.

The music of Sunda (West Java) has some very distinctive qualities that set it apart from the well-known court gamelan of Central Java. The ensembles are generally smaller, the pieces shorter, the music less "majestic" and more mysterious. The vocal style is incredibly refined and elegant, and there are a seemingly endless number of genres-within-genres, many of them firmly rooted in traditional music while blurring into more popular styles.

University-trained and groomed in the fertile studio scene of Bandung, SambaSunda is a group of young musicians who combine the musical traditions of Sunda with other elements such as Brazilian samba and tango rhythms. While the main group is a larger gamelan-style ensemble, the Quintet heard here is a subset specializing in a more intimate style loosely based on Kacapi Suling, a genre that features the plucked zither (kacapi) and bamboo flute (suling) and is in turn related to Tembang Sunda, the great classical chamber/vocal music of Sunda. In addition to the kacapi and suling, there are tuned hand drums borrowed from the more pop-oriented (and Indian-influenced) jaipong style, a Western violin replacing the traditional spike fiddle (rebab), and the lovely voice of Neng Dini Andriati (who has apparently since been replaced by Indo-pop star Rita Tila). The music is quite cosmopolitan, demonstrating a variety of influences in both sound and structure and using rhythms that are not at all common to the tradition. Half of the pieces are traditional, given contemporary arrangements by group leader Ismet Ruchimat. Two tracks are arrangements of pieces by the group's mentor, the great Gugum Gumbira of Jugala Orchestra fame. The remaining four pieces are originals composed by Ruchimat and other group members.

While much of the music adheres to genre conventions, a few pieces stand out for their divergence. The most obvious is "Paddy Pergi Ke Bandung" (Paddy Goes to Bandung), which starts out with the suling emulating a penny whistle and the violin playing a lively Irish fiddle tune before giving way to several other sections of various character. I can't say it's my favorite here, but it's done very well and would sound right at home on a Penguin Cafe Orchestra album. "Jaleuleu Ja" is a traditional children's song, here arranged for a stripped down instrumentation of three interweaving kacapi with lively jaipongan-style drumming and vocal chorus, and maybe a touch of the pop dangdut style. The haunting Gumbira composition "Serat Salira" is a real showcase for Ms. Andriati's voice, heard mostly alone for the first minute and a half as she expertly sounds like a mournful suling, before the kacapi and real suling join in sparingly.

The album is beautifully recorded, and every instrument is heard clearly in the mix. Those familiar with vintage Indonesian cassette releases may miss their charming use of extreme echo and distorted drums, but the music deserves an up-to-date treatment and benefits from the extra care given to it. Overall this is a fine introduction to a style of music unfamiliar to most Westerners, presented in a way that makes it quite accessible. Those wishing to dig deeper are encouraged to seek out the music of some of the great older singers such as Idjah Hadidjah, Euis Komariah, and Ida Widawati.