Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Dewa Budjana: Zentuary
Dewa Budjana: Zentuary
Still, while the expansive breadth and depth of Zentuary may have seemed somehow inevitable, nothing could have prepared even the most ardent fan for this impressive collection of twelve new Budjana compositions, delivered by an exceptional core group featuring keyboardist/drummer
Gary Husband
drumsb.1960
Tony Levin
bassb.1946
Jack DeJohnette
drumsb.1942
Budjana's compositions are as detailed, finely honed and richly designed as ever, but Zentuary also features some of his most open-ended work to date. The easygoing groove and singable theme to "Uncle Jack," for example, deceptively bookends an 11-minute collective blowout, where DeJohnette puts down his drum sticks and, bolstered by Husband's equally inimitable kit work, moves to piano for the flat-out freest track of the set. Ebbing and flowing with a chemistry all the more remarkable for a core group of musicians—well-known names all—who have never played together before in any permutation or combination, it's a clear demonstration of Budjana's increasing comfort in such improv-heavy environs.
Still, Budjana—a star in his homeland as a member of Gigi, the rock/pop band together now for more than a quarter century—continues to demonstrate a particular strength in conceptualizing music on a grander scale. Its basic tracks were laid down in Woodstock, NY's Dreamland Studios in January, 2016, but were completed, over the ensuing months, in studio locales from the United States and United Kingdom to Indonesia and the Czech Republic.
If this is starting to sounds more like a James Bond film than a jazz recording, fear not: Budjana's comfort with both the more traditional jazz vernacular and the multiplicity of musical touchstones found at home in Indonesia renders Zentuary an album with broad appeal...but it's still undeniably a jazz record, albeit of the most modern kind. Its irrepressible energy and electrified performances definitely lean towards fusion, despite somehow transcending the high octane, high velocity music that's come to define the genre. Budjana's hailing from the world's largest island country—with more than 13,000 islands and a population of over 260 million people representing approximately 300 distinct native ethnic groups and 742 different languages and dialects—no doubt contributes to Zentuary's compelling suite of pan-cultural compositions, but it's just as much about how they're lifted off the printed page to picturesque life by Budjana, Husband, Levin and DeJohnette.
Zentuary's opener, "Dancing Tear," begins with a soundscape of plaintive vocals layered atop fretless nylon-string guitar and synth bolstered by Husband and Levin's foreboding rhythm section work. But within a mere sixty seconds everything changes as a more frenetic vibe emerges, with Levin's electric upright and Husband's effusive kit work driving a thematic, arpeggio-driven construct clearly referencing
John McLaughlin
guitarb.1942
Budjana takes the first solo, and it's a career-defining turn that still, fuzz-toned and staggeringly virtuosic as it is, never dissolves into flashy excess; instead, it's one of the most impassioned, beautifully constructed solos he's ever delivered—and it's still just Zentuary's first track. If there are any suggestions that his masterful technique is relegated solely to overdriven electric instruments, Budjana immediately follows that solo with a second, this time on nylon-string guitar, building to its own thrilling climax. Husband closes the tune with a synth solo of epic
Mahavishnu Orchestra
band / ensemble / orchestrab.1971
John McLaughlin
guitarb.1942
Knotty contrapuntal ideas mesh with the complex polyrhythms that drive Zentuary's largely episodic writing. Zentuary may shine a strong spotlight on Budjana, but it also provides plenty of space for Husband—a musician who first garnered a reputation for his unrelenting virtuosity behind the drum kit, but who has increasingly proven just as impressive on keyboards, whether it's contributing a motif-driven acoustic piano solo to the ferocious "Solas PM" (also featuring fellow Moonjune label mate/soprano saxophonist Danny Markovitch) or mind-bending synthesizer work on the following "Lake Takengon," where DeJohnette assumes Zentuary's drum chair for the first time on the record, demonstrating that as stylistically far-reaching as his reputation has long been considered, at nearly 75 he still has the capacity to surprise in the best of ways.
The album's more aggressive stance finally takes a breather on "Sunikala," with its more ambling groove driven as much by Levin's muscular but spare bass lines as it is Husband's similarly spartan backbeat. Introducing the first of two appearances by the Czech Symphony Orchestra, its lush textures lean more towards a progressive rock feel...no surprise, given Levin's long association with the genre as a member, in addition to his tenure with Peter Gabriel, of all but one
King Crimson
band / ensemble / orchestrab.1969
Steven Wilson
composer / conductorb.1967
Beyond contributing a wonderfully finger-picked acoustic guitar solo that follows Govan on "Sunikala," the idea that Budjana would recruit such a highly regarded, masterful and evocative guitarist—truly a guitarist's guitarist—into his own project only speaks to the Indonesian's innate humility and desire to do everything possible to serve the music. By this time in his relatively short career on the international jazz scene, he's already well past the need to prove himself, but recruiting a guitarist of Govan's repute is as much a reflection of Budjana the man as it is Budjana the musician.
Levin's reputation has, for the past four decades, been largely in the progressive rock sphere, so it's easy to forget that he first emerged as a jazz bassist in the mid-to-late '60s, with an early career résumé filled with impressive names ranging from
Mike Mainieri
vibraphoneb.1938
Buddy Rich
drums1917 - 1987
"
data-original-title="" title="">Deodato to 
Herbie Mann
flute1930 - 2003
Ben Sidran
piano and vocalsb.1943
Gary Burton
vibraphoneb.1943
If it's true that we are all the confluence of our own lives' experiences, then Levin is but one of Zentuary's many examples of how these exceptional players prove not just capable of bringing any and all of their extant career work to bear, but are equally adept at meeting new contexts head on, in this case Budjana's infusion of Gamelan—though, in Levin's case, his early days in Crimson were informed by this specifically Javanese and Balinese music—and other musical concepts unique to Indonesia.
But it works both ways. Budjana's writing and playing may be inextricably tied to the music of his homeland, but it's equally true that this increasingly exceptional guitarist and composer—who, like many other aspiring guitarists found in countries around the world that may be separated by culture, language, religion and more, must have spent countless hours woodshedding the music of personal heroes—reflects, with Zentuary, a multitude of references including John McLaughlin/Mahavishnu Orchestra as well as the under-the-hood detail of
Pat Metheny
guitarb.1954
Lyle Mays
keyboards1953 - 2020
Instead, all the influences that have played a part in shaping Budjana's emerging music have now become subsumed in that very confluence of life experiences that define the guitarist's work. Budjana's writing is stronger than ever, as is his playing, which goes far beyond actual notes played—though his ability to be both pyrotechnic and eminently musical remains specifically impressive—and is, indeed, as much about his astute choices of instruments and/or sonic alterations, whether it's delay, reverb, distortion or even a touch of ring modulation, applied to a variety of electric and acoustic instruments.
The end result—with additional guest appearances from one of Britain's most impressive saxophonists,
Tim Garland
clarinet, bassb.1966
Bill Frisell
guitar, electricb.1951
Peter Erskine
drumsb.1954
Nils Petter Molvaer
trumpetb.1960
If Zentuary represents Budjana's fullest delivery on promises made with Dawai in Paradise, Joged Kahyangan, Surya Namaskar and Hasta Karma, this career milestone also portends new promises upon which this increasingly impressive guitarist, composer and bandleader will, no doubt, continue to deliver in the years to come. ">
Track Listing
CD1: Dancing Tears; Solas PM; Lake Takengon; Sunikala; Dear Yulman; Rerengat Langit (Crack in the Sky). CD2: Pancaroba; Manhattan Temple; Dedariku; Ujung Galuh; Uncle Jack; Zentuary.
Personnel
Dewa Budjana
guitar, electricDewa Budjana: all guitars, soundscapes; Tony Levin: electric upright NS Design bass (CD1#1-5, CD2#1-5), Chapman Stick (CD1#6); Gary Husband: drums (CD1#1-2, CD1#4, CD1#6, CD2#1, CD2#4-5); keyboards and acoustic piano (CD1, CD2#1-4); Jack DeJohnette: drums (CD1#3, CD1#5, CD2#2-3), acoustic piano (CD2#5); Danny Markovitch: curved soprano saxophone (CD1#2, CD2#4); Tim Garland: tenor saxophone (CD2#2); Guthrie Govan: guitar solo (CD1#4); Saat Syah: custom-made Indonesian suling flute (CD1#6, CD2#3); Ubiet: vocals (CD1#3); Risa Saraswati: vocals (CD1#6); Czech Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Michaela R??i?ková: orchestra (CD1#4, CD2#6).
Album information
Title: Zentuary | Year Released: 2016 | Record Label: Favored Nations
Tags
Dewa Budjana
CD/LP/Track Review
John Kelman
Favored Nations
Gary Husband
Tony Levin
Jack DeJohnette
john mclaughlin
Mahavishnu Orchestra
King Crimson
steven wilson
Mike Mainieri
Buddy Rich
Deodato
Herbie Mann
ben sidran
Gary Burton
pat metheny
Lyle Mays
Tim Garland
Bill Frisell
Peter Erskine
Nils Petter Molvaer
Zentuary
Comments
PREVIOUS / NEXT
Support All About Jazz
All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.
Go Ad Free!
To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.Showcase
Buy Now
Featured
Darwin AI: Surivior Choice
By Alex Otey buyGiveaway
