The Influence of Javanese Music on Early Jazz
“Jazz has borrowed from other genres of music and also has lent itself to other genres of music.” – Herbie...
Arts/Entertainment
Art Appreciation: Meet Bruce Carpenter
Author and co-author of more than 20 books and numerous articles on Indonesian art, culture and history, Bruce W. Carpenter...
The Mapping of Java
The islands of Java and Bali located 8 degrees south of the Equator in the Indian Ocean are two of...
Kamasan: An Ancient Living Tradition
Imagine you are a master Balinese painter, and your King has recently commissioned you to do a piece of work....
Bali to London Blues: Erik Sondhy
London Blues, released on the IndoJazzia Musik label in May, is an extraordinary collection of solo pieces by Bali’s own...
Jakarta Players to Stage Sarah Ruhl’s ‘Eurydice’
The Jakarta Players will perform “Eurydice”, a contemporary reimagination of the Greek tragedy of Eurydice and Orpheus by playwright Sarah...
Art Spaces in Bali
When thinking of Bali’s premier art and cultural destinations, immediately the tourist Mecca of Ubud springs to mind. For those...
Sax in the City: PT Java Festival Production
The Jakarta International Java Jazz Festival debuted in 2005, staging 146 shows which were visited by 47,500 festival-goers. Arguably the...
The Kids Went Wild in Batavia
“The memory of things gone is important to a jazz musician.” – Louis Armstrong Joey Alexander’s nomination for two Grammy...
Mama Says Relax
OK, I’ll admit it; I’ve been on a bit of a Will Meyrick-athon of late. He’s a busy guy, so...
Jalan Jalan – A Novel of Indonesia
Mike Stoner Tuttle Publishing 2016 ISBN 978-0-8048-4629-5 The dozen or so books about Indonesia that I’ve reviewed, most for these...
Filling the Grill
In the early ‘90s, I was working in sales and marketing at the Sari Pan Pacific Hotel in Jakarta. Our...
A Brief History of Indonesia
A Brief History of Indonesia by Tim Hannigan pub. Tuttle 2015 pp.288 ISBN 978-0-8048-4476-5 (pbk) ISBN 978-0-4629-1716-7(ebook) The sub-title is far...
A World of Tradition
I love traditions. Family traditions, national traditions, anything that is traditional in the true sense of the word. I guess...
Serving the Greater Good: Meet Michael Franti
Michael Franti is an internationally-acclaimed musician and lead vocalist of Michael Franti and Spearhead, who is also a global activist...
Heads Up, Tourist Extortion in Bali Still Business as Usual
The island’s image as an attractive holiday destination may be marred by a tradition of local authorities taking cash off...
Jakarta Jive, Bali Blues
Living through interesting times and recording them as an observer, albeit with a strong attachment, offers a value not only...
Theatre with a Difference: The Jakarta Players
Breaking the monotonous routine of movie-bingeing and mall-hopping, Jakartans have the opportunity to watch a highly captivating play for a...
All That Jazz
“If you have to ask what jazz is, you’ll never know.” ? Louis Armstrong En route to the eleventh annual Java Jazz...
They’re Playing Our Song!
Every couple has a song which means something special to them. Maybe it’s the song that was playing when they...
The Death of the Movie Star
Of all the great technological advancements that have taken place in the history of mankind, the ability to record things...