Indonesian guitar legend of Balinese ethnic heritage and balinese Hindu faith – Dewa Budjana – marks his initial Favored Nations release in grandiose style, offering his most ambitious album to date, “Zentuary.” Supported by an all-star cast of enormous proportions – including jazz drums (and occasional pianist) legend, Jack DeJohnette (Miles Davis; over forty years on the ECM label), the iconic progressive bass and stickman, Tony Levin (Peter Gabriel; King Crimson; Stick Men), and the extraordinary superstar sideman talents of Britain’s Gary Husband (Allan Holdsworth; John McLaughlin; Billy Cobham; Jack Bruce) – Budjana offers a profusion of cross-cultural delicacies which tease, cajole, enthrall and, ultimately, satisfy listeners. Special guests include guitarist Guthrie Govan (The Aristocrats; Steven Wilson; GPS), Tim Garland (Chick Corea; Bill Bruford), Danny Markovich (Marbin), Czech Symphony Orchestra and Indonesian flutist/vocalist Saat Syah and Indonesian singers Ubiet and Risa Saraswati.
Dewa Budjana, a veteran player whose 30 years career has already been marked by collaborations with a virtual “who’s who” of jazz, fusion and prog luminaries (Peter Erskine, Vinnie Colaiuta, Antonio Sanchez, Chad Wackerman, Jimmy Johnson, Jimmy Haslip, Dave Carpenter, Reggie Hamilton, Ben Williams, Joe Locke, Larry Goldings, Janis Siegel, Dwiki Dharmawan, Ron Thal Bamblefoot, Billy Sheehan, and many others), still manages to raise the stakes and elevate the level of his game on his fifth solo album.
Aside from his renowned skills on guitar, Zentuary documents Dewa Budjana’s position as one of the genre’s most prolific, accomplished composers and arrangers. The music on this 2-CD set is a magnanimous affair, where its highly skilled participants are given ample space to create and express. The net result is a soaring, synergistic mélange of brilliant, articulate instrumental progressive rock, jazz-rock fusion and world music. After 4 successful and critically acclaimed releases on MoonJune Records (“Dawai In Paradise”, 2013; “Joged Kahyangan” in 2013, “Surya Namaskar” in 2014″, and “Hasta Karma” in 2015) this is – under the auspices of MoonJune Music and MoonJune Asia – a Favored Nations debut of the Indonesian icon not to be missed!
ALBUM TO BE RELEASED WORLDWIDE ON 1OCTOBER 14, 2016 on Steve Vai’s FAVORED NATIONS label (distributed by RED) (2CD and Digital Distribution) except in Indonesia where album is released by deMajors Records (2CD) and Dewa Budjana / MoonJune Asia (HD Download).
Also available as 3 LP 180 grams gatefold vinyl limited edition released worldwide by Audio Anatomy (Poland).
Album available on Favored Nations in stores wordlwide and online, from October 14, 2016:
AMAZON USA: www.amazon.com/Zentuary-Dewa-Budjana/dp/B01KM1V47Y
AMAZON UK: www.amazon.co.uk/Zentuary-Dewa-Budjana/dp/B01KM1V47Y
AMAZON GERMANY: www.amazon.de/Zentuary-2CD-Budjana-Dewa/dp/B01KM1V47Y
AMAZON JAPAN: www.amazon.co.jp/Zentuary-Dewa-Budjana/dp/B01KM1V47Y
DISK ONE
1. Dancing Tears 09:11
2. Solas PM 09:18
3. Lake Takengon 07:45
4. Suniakala 08:40
5. Dear Yulman 08:21
6. Crack In The Sky 07:36
DISK TWO
1. Pancaroba 08:12
2. Manhattan Temple 10:00
9. Dedariku 10:45
10. Ujung Galuh 07:05
11. Uncle Jack 10:50
12. Zentuary 02:50
DEWA BUDJANA all guitars, soundscapes
TONY LEVIN electric upright NS Design bass (all tunes; except 6 on Disk One and 6 on Disk Two),
Chapman Stick (tune 6 on Disk One)
GARY HUSBAND drums (tunes 1, 2, 4 & 6 on Disk One; 1, 4 & 5 on Disk Two),
keyboards & acoustic piano (all tunes; except 5 & 6 on Disk Two)
JACK DEJOHNETTE drums (tunes 3 & 5 on Disk One; 2 & 3 on Disk Two),
acoustic piano (tune 5 on Disk 2)
DANNY MARKOVICH curved soprano sax (tune 2 on Disk One; 4 on Disk Two)
TIM GARLAND tenor sax (tune 2 on Disk Two)
GUTHRIE GOVAN guitar solo (tune 4 on Disk One)
SAAT SYAH custom made Indonesian suling flute (tune 6 on Disk One; 3 on Disk 2)
UBIET vocals (tune 3 on Disk One)
RISA SARASWATI vocals (tune 6 on Disk One)
CZECH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA conducted by Michaela Růžičková (tune 4 on Disk One; 6 on Disk Two)
(C) Museum Gitarku/MoonJune Asia (P) Favored Nations, 2016
All composition by Dewa Budjana (except ‘Crack In The Sky’ composed by Markus Reuter & Tony Levin).
Produced by Dewa Budjana for Museum Gitarku.
Associated producer Leonardo Pavkovic for MoonJune Asia.
Executive producer IGN Bagus Wijaya Santosa.
