Popular musicians from the city will perform as part of the Java Jazz Festival at Jakarta next weekend

A simple vision has worked its way into the hearts of millions of music lovers across the world. Indonesian Peter F Gontha saw music as an international language that could draw people from all over the world to come together to work in peace and harmony. That’s the thought that led to the beginning of one of the most popular music festivals — the Java Jazz Festival. It’s that time of year when the best jazz musicians from across the globe travel to Jakarta, Indonesia, for the three-day festival to be held from March 6 to 8. This time around, a host of Bangalore’s talented lot will also be seen performing on the same stage. Music groups Moon Arra — that features musicians Prakash Sontakke and jazz duo Jagadish MR and Madhuri, Prasanna, and Purple Circle — that features musicians Keith Peters, Milli, Sumith Ramachandran, Ravichandra Kulur and Hamesh, and Thermal and a Quarter will be a part of this year’s festival.

“We are looking forward to being a part of the festival. The fact that we will share a platform with music legends like Dave Weckl and Simon Phillips and the like, is in itself a great honour. We will also be launching our fourth album — This Is It — at the festival. We are a jazz-rock band as our songs have a lot of elements of jazz. We have two shows lined up in Jakarta before the festival begins. As part of the festival, we will have musician Jeff Peters performing our songs with us,” reveals Bruce Lee Mani of Thermal and a Quarter.

There’s some great news for music lovers here. India Tales is partnering with Java Jazz Festival to bring the festival to India in March next year. The India Jazz Festival will feature performances by 120 bands from across the globe. “The IJF aims to position Indian music as India’s most enjoyed cultural export, after curry,” says Sachin Gopalan, an NRI from Jakarta, who has been closely working with the annual Java Jazz Festival.

Kavya Christopher/ DNA-Daily News & Analysis Source: 3D Syndication