The Story Behind The Sydney Reunion Album From Indra Lesmana And Three Australian Jazz Musicians

Sydney Reunion Project (YouTube Indra Lesmana) recording sessions

JAKARTA - Indra Lesmana introduced a new music project called the Sydney Reunion Project, a jazz quartet consisting of Indra Lesmana (keyboards), Steve Hunter (bass), Dale total (saxophone), and Andy Gander (drums).

This music project has produced an album containing ten instrumental works. The launch was carried out through a show at the Sydney Opera House today, Monday, September 23.

Indra Lesmana told how this music project could happen, which started with his friendship with Australian jazz musicians since the 1980s, when he took a music study at the Conservatory of Music in Sydney.

"I have to go back a bit far. So, the year '79 is the end or the beginning of '80 I moved to Australia with my family. I got a scholarship after being accepted into an institution called the Conservatory of Music in Sydney," said Indra Lesmana, starting his story with VOI through a recent virtual interview.

"During my studies in Australia, I not only studied music, but I also did a lot of performance, work, have bands, and so on," he continued.

At that time, Indra began his music career in Australia, which made him get acquainted with many musicians there.

Pendek cerita, setelah selesai studi, saya sempat pergi ke Amerika untuk melanjutkan karier musik saya di Amerika. Kemudian saya kembali ke Indonesia untuk membantu ayah saya membuka sekolah musik, tuturnya.

"I had several reunions with my Australian friends. But the reunion was stopped for a long time. In Australia, I last played together with friends in 1982".

Well, a few months ago I went to Sydney with the intention of taking a vacation with my wife and children. But it turns out that my presence there was anticipated by many people, many of my friends, because I used to have a lot of friends in Sydney. So indirectly I started to have a reunion with friends in Sydney. "

Indra's meeting with his friends came up with the idea of doing a recording, which was then fully supported by the Indonesian diaspora in Australia.

In the end, recording sessions for Indra, Steve, Dale, and Andy's new albums in Sydney last May.

The three musicians mentioned above are jazz musicians who are widely known in Australia, who have also been friends with Indra since the 1980s.

'Steve Hunter is an electric bass player, my old friend in the Nebula band. The one who played the saxophone was Dale airing, he was in the same group as me, the name of the band Children of Fantasy, was also in the '80s too," said Indra.

"We know the drummer from the '80s too, but I never had time to band with him. This is the first opportunity for me to finally play with him, his name is Andrew Gander or known as Andy Gander."

The album 'Sydney Reunion' presents ten instrumental works with a thick jazz feel of fusion. Indra wrote five songs, while the rest was written by Steve Hunter, Andy Gander, and Dale totaling.

"There are ten songs. So, I composed five songs, then other friends wanted to contribute too," said Indra.

"Not only as players, but they want to contribute as songwriters, so Steve Hunter contributes two songs, Andy Gander contributes one song, and Daletama contributes two songs," he added.

So far, a work entitled 'Fairlight' from the Sydney Reunion album has been released through a digital music platform. A music video showing live footage last May also appeared on Indra Lesmana's YouTube channel.

The launch of the 'Sydney Reunion' is accompanied by the release of a physical album in a compact disc (CD) format. Meanwhile, the vinyl forman will be presented in the near future.

For Indra Lesmana, this album is becoming more special, because it has been the 100th release for almost five decades of his music journey.

The music project, which is fully supported by the Indonesian diaspora in Australia, Ivan Paulus and his wife Shirley Lim, is also seen as a celebration of 75 years of diplomatic relations between Indonesia and Australia through music.

"Indonesia and Australia have an extraordinary history related to diplomatic relations in art, especially music. Therefore, I strongly underline that this work also commemorates 75 years of diplomacy in relations between Indonesia and Australia, because this relationship has also been running for quite a long time," concluded Indra Lesmana.