I have no idea how many albums I have reviewed over the years, but it is well into the thousands, but I can honestly say that I haven’t ever come across an album quite like this. Although I have heard some of Tohpati’s previous work with simakDialog, it hadn’t prepared me for his debut work as a bandleader in his own right. He has brought together a group of traditional musicians and created a world/jazz/traditional fusion that is as deep in colours and context as it is broad. Indro Hardjodikoro (bass), Diki Suwarjiki (suling - Sundanese flute), Endang Ramdan (Indonesian percussion - kendang, gong, kenong) and Demas Narawangsa (drums, Indonesian percussion - rebana, kempluk) have combined with Tohpati to create something that is breathtaking in its’ complexity yet combine it with simplicity and traditional sounds to truly fuse together different worlds, not just of music and culture.
Tohpati can be as fluid as Holdsworth when he wishes, combining with Diki to provide a double hit of melody that as incredibly tight as they take flight, or can be in straight jazz areas with a band that is incredibly highly structured and rehearsed or then again can throw all of the rule books out of the window with an amalgam of styles and textures that is all their own. This is progressive fusion in its’ truest sense, played by masters of their craft.
www.moonjune.com
