BTB – For one night only, one of Bali’s leading gamelan ensembles – Semara Ratih will share a stage with Denmark’s New Jungle Orchestra on Saturday, January 14, 2006 at Pura Dalem in Ubud.
Guaranteed to be a musical event not soon to be forgotten, East meets West in a traditional Indonesian performance setting pregnant with the promise of the birth of a new musical sound incubated during a series historic recording sessions now underway.
New Jungle Orchestra
Founded in 1980, the New Jungle Orchestra drew its name and early inspiration from the “jungle” sound then being pioneered by the renowned Duke Ellington Orchestra. Hard if not impossible to classify musically, the past three decades of music making and recording have been influenced by the music of Charles Mingus, Gil Evans, Carla Bley and more recent encounter with non-Western world music. These twelve talented musicians, who have recently performed before Queen Margharita of Denmark and the Emperor of Japan, are led by composer-performer, Ivan Hansen, a long-time student of Balinese gamelan.
Semara Ratih
Now celebrating the 17th year since its founding, Semara Ratih was initially formed by students and teachers of Bali’s famed University of Fine Arts (STSI – now, ISI) seeking to explore gamelan music beyond the srict confines of ritual and temple performances. Impeccable in their presentation of traditional Balinese music, Semara Ratih equally excels when they venture into new and experimental forms of both music and dance.
Much in demand both in Bali and their frequent overseas performances, Semara Ratih has played with the New Jungle Orchestra during their frequent stops in Copenhagen.
One Night Only
The combined concert by New Jungle Orchestra and Semara Ratih will feature solo performances from both groups and a number of new collaborative compositions. Promising to be both amusing and stimulating, one of the combined numbers is a musical simulation of a cockfight between two saxophones, set against a kecak dance background. In another number, Bali’s premier young Baris dancer A. Anom will perform with the Danish group’s percussionist – a dancer from Ghana.
