Dewa Budjana's "Joged Kahyangan" or "Dancing Heaven"

Dewa Budjana; Joged Kahyangan
MonnJune Rcords MJR059

The route from pop music star to jazz master has been a long developing trend in the music of guitarist Dewa Budjana( pronounced Dew a Bu dzana) . As the lead guitarist and songwriter for the pop/rock group Gigi for the last twenty years, a wildly popular band in Indonesia, Budjana’s music has been heard by millions of adoring fans. But Budjana’s music is the distillation of many diverse influences outside of the world of rock and pop, including the fusion music of Mahavishnu and Soft Machine, and the Indonesian music rooted in his heritage and the Balinesian Hindu religion.

On Joged Kahyangan (which translates into “Dancing Heaven”) Dewa is joined with a talented group of  American, west coast based musicians including the saxophonist Bob Mintzer, the bassist Jimmy Johnson, the keyboard artist Larry Goldings and the drummer Peter Erskine. Together they who play eight compositions, all original music by Budjana. It was the guitarist’s initial email contact with drummer Erskine back in 2002 that led to a recording titled Samsara and a continued relationship. Erskine, the one time Weather Report drummer saw in Budjana a unique and creative sound that could be further developed and explored.  

At fifty years old Budjana’s music has matured, as evidenced by some of the sophisticated themes he has written for this cd.  From the opening title “Foggy Cloud,” written while in the East Javanese Mountains, you get the sense that Budjana’s music is strongly tied to memorable melodies. The ostinato phrasing is used as a structure upon which he builds tension employing various tones and textures on his guitar. On this song Budjana’s sound ranges from the smoothly slurred, studio precise lines of a Larry Carlton, to the power driven lines of early Mahavishnu, to the expansive atmospherics’ of early  Pat Metheny. The band superbly drives the rhythmic energy with taut precision and inventive soloing, especially by keyboardist Larry Goldings, whose is a fountainhead of taste and subtlety.

The title song “Joged Kahyangan” is an uplifting aural dance using a fascinating mixture of eastern and western musical styles. A Balinesian minuet if you will. Bassist Jimmy Johnson’s spritely solo on electric bass is a miniature delight.  Bob Mintzer on bass clarinet and Budjana on acoustic guitar trade elegant dance steps in magical time, as Goldings’ synthesizer work conjure a mystical backdrop. This one flows so smoothly that it requires multiple listening to appreciate all the nuances.

“Dang Hyang Story”, inspired by Budjana’s Hindu faith,  is the most purely fusion sounding composition using an exotic Middle Eastern sounding head that breaks into a more melodic core. The complex serpentine lines are done in precise unison by Mintzer on tenor, Budjana on searing electric guitar and Goldings on synthesizer. It features some rhythmically complex drum work by the impressive Peter Erskine who seems at ease with the eastern influence imbedded in Dewa's music. When he solos, Dewa’s guitar takes on a heavy fusion tone, a ripping sound that is reminiscent of early Alan Holdsworth. The composition is a powerful driven but yet strangely hopeful song, a marvelous mix of both energy and beauty.

The ballad “As You Leave My Nest” is a bit too soppy for me. Vocalist Janis Siegel lends her considerable talents to this pop oriented ballad with some soaring vocals that have an ethereal texture.

“Majik Blue” again uses a series of repeating, descending lines as the basis for the composition. Mintzer takes up soprano saxophone and Goldings trades his piano and keyboard for what sounds like a B3 organ for part of the song. Budjana sets his guitar into piercing mode and Johnson plays a brief but potent solo in a song that sounds like a tip of the hat to Weather Report. The complex repeating lines are expertly matched by the entire band in a show of precision and solidarity.

“Erskoman,” a composition dedicated to the drummer Peter Erskine, is a groove based song that has all its participants in exquisite form. Budjana’s guitar is perhaps most musical here with a pleasant, single line tone that he occasionally juxtaposes at the breaks into powerful chording and octave work. Goldings is a delight on his B3 organ, the perfect instrument on this swinging groove. Erskine lets loose with a series of syncopated breaks that demonstrates his formidable rhythmic prowess. Budjana returns with his synthesized sounding guitar pulsing out inventive lines that defy categorization or predictability. The music was mostly recorded in one or two takes. As this track ends, the running microphone catches the band acknowledging what any listener can easily surmise, this was a good take.

“Guru Mandala” is perhaps the funkiest of the songs on the cd, with Erskine’s driving back beat prominent. Budjana plays some expressive lines on what sounds like an acoustic guitar, but for the most part the song sticks to a simple repeating melodic line that fades into a eastern chant-like coda.

“Bora’s Ballad” is an instrumental version of the previous song “As You Leave My Nest” with Erskine’s barely perceptible brush work and Golding’s hushed organ work. The song offers a peaceful conclusion to an otherwise stirring album. Budjana has a delicate side to his playing, a side that is both pretty and sensitive, but that can at times border on overtly sentimental as it does here. 

Dewa Budjana has impressive skills both as a player and as a composer. On Joged Kahyangan he manages to skillfully mix the music of his native Indonesia with pop, jazz, fusion and rock into an impressive amalgam that is unique to him and worth watching as it continues to develop.

Steve Gadd sets the groove with "Gadditude"

The drummer Steve Gadd has been on my radar ever since I became aware of a super group formed back in the mid-seventies called Stuff. The band was formed by bassist Gordon Edwards and was made up of some of New York City's finest session players. The band included Edwards on bass, Richard Tee on keyboards, Cornell Dupree and Eric Gale on guitars and at first Chris Parker on drums, but soon Steve Gadd became the mainstay drummer of the group. Stuff  had a soulful, funky sound that was driven by Gadd's propulsive in the pocket groove.Working with a who's who in popular music and jazz, from Carly Simon and Eric Clapton to Chick Corea and Jim Hall, Steve Gadd's work was ubiquitous throughout the seventies, eighties and nineties. It was in 1975 where Steve' distinctive drum and bugle style was heard on the intro to Paul Simon's mega-hit "Fifty ways to Leave Your Lover." My personal Steve Gadd piece da resistance came in 1977, on Steely Dan's fabulous Aja.  On this pop/jazz masterpiece, Gadd's inimitable syncopated drum work in concert with Wayne Shorter's soaring saxophone solo, especially in his explosive work at the coda, cemented his reputation as a drummer of extraordinary skill, inventiveness and unerring rhythmic drive.

On Gadd's latest release, unfortunately titled Gadditude ( Who thinks up these names?),  the drummer is joined by his band mates Larry Goldings on keyboards, Michael Landau on guitars, Walt Fowler on trumpet and Jimmy Johnson on bass. Individually these guys are superb musicians. Together they have toured as the back up band for James Taylor for several years and on this album their empathetic and exceptional cohesiveness is joyfully on display.

The opening track, Michael Landau's "Africa," is a wonderfully expressive vibe, featuring Landau's wavy guitar lines, Larry Goldings, modulating organ, Jimmy Johnson's walking bass line and Gadd's understated snare shuffle. Together they create a hypnotic, unmistakably hip groove that allows Walt Fowler to play a Miles-like circa Bitches Brew muted trumpet over the top. Very mesmerizing and expertly played

On Larry Goldings tune "Ask Me" Gadd uses his signature marching snare to pilot this dreamy, slow ballad.
Goldings switches from organ to the wispier sound of the Fender Rhodes for this expressive piece. Walt Fowler's uses the warm tone of his flugelhorn in this song that recalls some of Art Farmer's later work. Guitarist Landau has a penchant for interjecting beautifully lingering notes that bend and hang in the air like anguished cries.

The group takes to Keith Jarrett's "Country" like putting on a pair of old, familiar shoes. The 3/4 shuffle created by Gadd's brushes with Johnson's slender bass lines, and Golding's gospel-like Wurlitizer work gives the well known song a solemn  and reverential sound.  Walt Fowler's trumpet work is like a ray of sunshine streaming into the chapel windows on a Sunday morning, beautiful and uplifting. Landau's distinctive country treatment on guitar is full of feeling and soul.

I have always found keyboardist Larry Goldings to be a creative well spring. On his "Cavaliero" the staccato vamp is carried by Gadd's relentlessly cadenced snare and bass drum work while Goldings plays punctuatedorgan lines. It is Landau's Ventures-like guitar sound that dominates the song, with its twangy West Coast reverb in clever contrast to Goldings blues dominated B3 growl and Fowler's Herb Alpert-like trumpet treatment on the chorus that makes for great fun and a stirring arrangement.
The funky "Green Foam" is a classic organ trio based blues that is reminiscent of some Booker T & TheMGs or Junior Wells with a direct bow of the hat to Sonny Boy Williamson's "Good Morning Little School Girl." The tune shifts to a slow smoldering blues mid-song, with some gutsy soulful guitar work by Landau that is especially tasty.

Abdullah Ibrahim's "The Mountain" is given a sauntering groove by the understated Gadd, allowing Landau and Goldings beautiful interplay to shine through. Landau's guitar sound is so fluid and slinky, at times reminding me of Dire Straights Mark Knoffler here. Larry Goldings is a superb accompanist who knows the right sound to elicit from his myriad of keyboard options at any given time.

Landau's "Who Knows Blues" is another shuffle with a down home feel. Fowler uses the muted trumpet and Golding's pulses on the Hammond B3 with Gadd and Johnson providing the backbeat. Landau takes a slow, deliberate solo that drips with the sound of Gadd's old Stuff band mate Cornell Dupree. A funky Crescent City inspired groove.

On another Keith Jarrett tune "The Wind Up", the group lets loose and has some fun. The tune opens up full speed ahead with Fowler and Landau matching lines as Gadd, Johnson and Goldings create the groove.
Johnson's bulbous bass lines are big and round as the group takes flight. Landau's guitar solo is particularly infectious as he swirls his way through the viscous groove in liquid fashion. Fowler solos over the top in a bright and punctuated style. It is Gadd and Goldings that keep this vibe going with gusto. Goldings uses the B3 to beautiful effect playing soulfully within the rhythmic lines to perfection. Steve Gadd is at his most precocious as his pointillistic playing finishes the piece. The band is heard to laugh at the end of the piece like relieved riders after a particularly harrowing amusement park ride. These guys obviously  had a lot of fun making this music and it shows.

Radiohead's spacey "Scatterbrain" finishes this rewarding album in ethereal style. The sound created by the group floats as Walt Fowler's horn soars above the atmospheric groove.

This album grows on you each time you play it. Put it on your cd player or Ipod and simply sit back and enjoy. Steve Gadd's staid, subtle performance throughout is a testament to his ability to let the music speak for itself with a total lack of hubris.