Balinese Guitar Maestro DEWA BUDJANA released MAHANDINI a new studio album on MoonJune Records featuring special guest JORDAN RUDESS, MOHINI DEY, MARCO MINNEMANN
DEWA BUDJANA – guitars, soundscapes JORDAN RUDESS – keyboards MARCO MINNEMANN – drums MOHINI DEY – bass guitar, konnakol
Special appearances: JOHN FRUSCIANTE – vocals on “Crowded”and “Zone”, and guitar fill on “Crowded” coda MIKE STERN – 1st guitar solo on “ILW” SOIMAH PANCAWATI – lead vocal on “Hyang Giri”
Special appearance on the vinyl bonus track: DIMAWAN KRISNOWO ADJI – cello on “Mahandini Acoustic” ADRIAN MUHAMMAD – vibraphone on “Mahandini Acoustic”
1. Crowded (feat. John Frusciante) 05:55 2. Queen Kanya 06:59 3. Hyang Giri (feat. Soimah Pancawati) 07:44 4. Jung Oman 06:52 5. ILW (feat. Mike Stern) 06:39 6. Mahandini 08:17 7. Zone (feat. John Frusciante) 05:56
Special appearances: JOHN FRUSCIANTE – vocals on “Crowded“and “Zone”, and guitar fill on “Crowded” coda MIKE STERN – 1st guitar solo on “ILW” SOIMAH PANCAWATI – lead vocal on “Hyang Giri”
“Queen Kanya”, “Hyang Giri”, “Jung Oman”, “Mahandini Acoustic” composed, arranged and produced by Dewa Budjana (Temple Island Music). “ILW”, “Mahandini” composed and arranged by Dewa Budjana (Temple Island Music), produced by Jimmy Haslip. “Crowded” and Zone” composed by John Frusciante, lyrics by John Frusciante (Niandra La Des Music), and produced and arranged by Dewa Budjana. Mike Stern’s guitar solo part on “ILW” written by Jimmy Haslip (J Haslip LaViera Music BMI). Konnakol on “Queen Kanya” arranged by Mohini Dey & Marco Minneman. Lyrics on “Hyang Giri” written by Soimah Pancawati. Gamelan on “Hyang Giri”: Sang Made Swastama, Bayu Priyanka, Ngakan Agus Suputra, Dika Santika, Sang Made Martawan, Nyoman Pande Anom, Wayan Swastama.
All tracks recorded by Prashant Aswani at Steakhouse Studio, Los Angeles, CA, January 24, 2018. Post production and additional overdubs by Dewa Budjana recorded at Temple Island Studio, Jakarta, Indonesia. Soimah Pancawati vocals recorded by Bintang Indrianto at Coda Studio, Jakarta, Indonesia. Mixed & Mastered by Rich Breen & Jimmy Haslip at Dogmatic Sound, Burbank, CA, March, 2018.
Dewa Budjana uses exclusively Kiesel guitars and D’Addario strings. Jordan Rudess uses Korg keyboards and GeoShred. Mohini Dey uses Mayones bass, MarkBass amps, GruvGear, S.I.T. strings. Marco Minnemann uses DW Drums, Zidjian cymbals, ProMark signature sticks.
Studio photos: Randy Edwards. Guitar tech: Thomas Nordegg. Fractal programmer: Rosh Roslin. Musicians & studio coordinator: Kris Clearhout. Album artwoork by Aga Dilaga.
International release (outside of Indonesia) executive production by Leonardo Pavkovic for MoonJune Music.
Vinyl edition coordinator Tom Redecker for Shack Media/Freiland.
There can be few British bands that can say that they have had as much impact on music as the mighty Softs, and here a mere 37 years after their last studio album they are back with a new one. Originally formed in 1966, with their debut album in 1968, they have continued to be at the cutting edge of fusion and have had some incredible musicians pass through their ranks. The band officially disbanded in 1978, then reformed briefly in 1981 and then 1984 before returning as SoftWare in 1999, which in turn became Soft Works, before morphing into Soft Machine Legacy in 2004, and then at the end of 2015, they decided to drop the word “Legacy”. But given that guitarist John Etheridge, bassist Roy Babbington and drummer John Marshall were all in the same line-up(s) in the Seventies, they have a more than valid claim to the name. The only member of the band who wasn’t involved back then is Theo Travis, who provides sax, flute and Fender Rhodes. But, he joined Soft Machine Legacy as long ago as 2006, when he replaced Elton Dean after he had passed away.
Anyone who admits to enjoying Canterbury progressive rock or fusion will have multiple Soft Machine albums in their collection, and this one fits right in. John Etheridge is an incredible guitarist, and it takes someone very special indeed to step into the shoes of Allan Holdsworth, not once but twice. He is lyrical, dramatic, restrained yet over the top, simple yet complex, allowing the music to take him where it will. Every musician is an absolute master of his craft, and they push the envelope in so many ways. Jazz, prog, fusion, call it whatever you like but this is intricately crafted music that is both awe-inspiring yet inviting, eclectic yet so very easy to get inside of, and the more time spent with it the greater the rewards. Some of these guys are nearly 80 years old now, yet show no sign at all of slowing down. This is an essential purchase.
Some years ago I was lucky enough to come across the debut album from Yagull, ‘Films’. At that point in their career the band was Sasha Markovic on guitars, bass, percussion, voice and keyboards with a few guests on some of the songs. There were a couple of co-writes, two cover versions (incredible takes on “White Room” and “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath”) , but the rest were all written by Markovic. I was immediately taken by the acoustic “post-rock chamber soundtrack”, and likened them to Karda Estra. But when they returned with their second album, ‘Kai’, the group had doubled in size to a duo as Markovic had been joined by pianist Kana Kamitsubo, who is also his wife (they names the album and title track after their son, who was born in 2014). This time around there is only one song credited just to Markovic, and sometimes he is credited after his wife, plus there are another couple of covers.
Guests again feature on some of the songs, most notably Moonjune artists Beledo and Dewa Budjana, but I found that it is the songs where it is just the two of them where they come across best. There is no need at all for anything special, just an acoustic guitar and piano, played by two people who know each other intimately and can accompany the other in perfect harmony. This is restful music, and when Budjana made his appearance on electric guitar on “Blossom” I was actually quite disappointed. I have been a fan of Budjana’s for years, but to my ears his delicate electric guitar was out of place on this acoustic album. The interplay between the two musicians in simply beautiful, there is no other word for it, and I would have preferred to have heard an album filled just with their songs, with no other musicians, as there is no need for the purity of their sound to be messed with. Again there are two cover versions of classic rock songs, but this time they don’t work quite as well. Of the two, “Wishing Well” is well worth hearing, with some wonderful guitar, but “Burn” doesn’t really gel as it should.
But overall this is still an incredible album, and if they trust themselves and record a full album of their own material, with no outside “help”, then the next one could be very, very special indeed. http://www.yagull.com/
special guests DEWI GITA, SA’AT SYAH, ADE RUDIANA & more
Riding the momentum of 2016’s groundbreaking critically heralded release, “Pasar Klewer” – an album awarded a 5-star review by Downbeat, All About Jazz, and numerous others – MoonJune Records is proud to present the new album by the iconic keyboardist, composer, and producer, Dwiki Dharmawan. Drawing from both his extensive jazz influences and his rich cultural heritage, the Indonesian maestro delivers yet another spellbinding masterwork!
Brimming with adventurous compositions, ingenious arrangements and superlative performances, “Rumah Batu” (meaning “the stone house” in Indonesian Bahasa language) almost defies categorization – eclipsing both progressive jazz and world music genres. While a score of diverse ethnic flavors abounds throughout, within its nucleus resides the free-spirited, unpretentious essence that epitomizes the greatest jazz.
Augmented by a stellar cast of players, vastly international in scope, including the enigmatic French virtuoso, of Vietnamese descent, Nguyên Lê, on guitar; legendary flamenco fretless bassist, Spain’s Carles Benavent; the extraordinary flutist, also from Indonesia, Sa’at Syah, and; the proven progressive backbone of fellow Israeli-born, UK transplants, Yaron Stavi [on upright bass (yes: the album features twin basses!)] and (supreme drummer) Asaf Sirkis – this landmark recording offers an intimate glimpse into Dwiki’s unparalleled genius as player, arranger, and songwriter.
The album chronicles yet another magical session created and captured at the already-infamous La Casa Murada / The Stone House (Rumah Batu!). Situated in the tranquil, picturesque setting of the Catalan wine region of Penedès, Spain, the studio’s recordings seem to take on a life of their own; and Rumah Batu is certainly no exception: articulating jazz’s continuing evolution in the 21st century.
For those who wondered what jazz messenger Dwiki Dharmawan could possibly conjure as a follow-up to Rumah Batu’s unanimously praised predecessor, prepare to be amazed and perplexed — and escorted on a musical sojourn unlike any the genre has ever witnessed!
The first featuring video related to Dwiki Dharmawan’s Rumah Batu album is of the tune “Impenan”. The world has to hear this amazing Indonesian singer, originally from the most musical city of Indonesia, Bandung, the capital of Sunda region, which is also Dwiki Dharmawan’s hometown. This is a shorter version (4:17) of the full-length tune on the album (8:20) Direct link to purchase CD and 24bit HD Download:
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