Maintaining Idealism, Line Up Ubud Village Jazz Festival 100 Percent Jazz Musician

Astrid Sulaiman (central), Vice President of Ubud Village Jazz Festival at the FJI Jazz Summit 2024 (Ivan Two Men/VOI)

The eleventh Ubud Village Jazz Festival (UVJF) will last for three days at Sthala Ubud Bali, Gianyar which starts tomorrow Friday, August 2 to Sunday, August 4.

Astrid Sulaiman, a musician who is also Vice President of UVJF, said that this year's event still brings the idealism of the initiators, where all performers are jazz musicians, both from within and outside the country.

"We have a background from the art community, so for us nothing to lose, the important thing is that our idealism is going, the festival is going," Astrid Sulaiman said when met after the 2024 FJI Jazz Summit in Thamrin, Central Jakarta recently.

UvJF doesn't want to include a line-up outside the jazz genre, which may be more pop, as they still want to be a platform for jazz musicians who don't have many chances of appearing at music festivals.

"What is the goal of UVJF, why isn't there a famous name in Indonesia, because there are many platforms that are popular," said Astrid.

There are a lot of music festivals in Indonesia, and they already have fields for these musicians (populars). While jazz musicians who are called underrecognizable, they don't have a platform to express their ideas," Astrid continued.

Behind that, said Astrid, jazz connoisseurs in Bali are also quite interested in what UVJF has to offer so far. This can be seen from the increasing number of visitors every year.

This year, UVJF will present Adien Fazmail Quinteto, Benny Irawan Trio, Gustu Brahmana, Fawr, Galaxy Big Band, Rason, Rodrigo Parejo Quartet, and many other names.

For this year's event and in the future, Astrid hopes that the idealism carried by UVJF can survive and be supported by many parties.

The hope is that the festival will survive and bring color to jazz in Indonesia. And hopefully this will not be affected by other festivals. And we still want to get sponsors who understand the purpose of this festival, not only the commercial side, but there are things behind it that must be supported.