Laut Loud (((~~~))) Kuntari {S03E01}

For this third season of Laut Loud , the cultural sailing vessel Arka Kinari navigated the mangroves, muck, and megacities of Java’s northern coastline to find the most singular music. Thank you for sharing and subscribing.

(EN)
There was a time when Tesla Manaf was Indonesian jazz's golden boy. His sophisticated licks and virtuosic guitar playing led to comparisons to Pat Metheny, a series of well-received albums, and tours abroad. Then, of course, he decided to rip it up and start all over again.

He picked up the cornet -- an instrument he had never even touched before -- rebranded himself as Kuntari, and threw the smooth jazz playbook out the window. Where there was melody and grace, there were now chaotic horn freakouts, intense rhythms, and a deeply disturbing take on the guitar. It bordered on madness, and he knew it.

His 2021 album, Last Boy Picked, is a prime example of this enlightenment. He rented a house, brought a bass player and two drummers who’d never met before, and locked them up for a non-stop, three day session. The result was dubbed Album of The Year by several high-end national media.

Arriving onboard Arka Kinari mid-tour, he found himself in unfamiliar surroundings. Semarang's harbor -- one of the busiest in Central Java -- has experienced periodic floods and the entire coastline is slowly sinking to the sea. Amidst this macabre backdrop, his music becomes the soundtrack of encroaching doom.

(ID)
Ada masa ketika Tesla Manaf menjadi anak emas Jazz Indonesia. Permainan gitarnya layaknya sang virtuoso Pat Metheny, albumnya melejit dan lalu tur secara internasional. Tentu saja selanjutnya dia meruntuhkan segala upayanya di masa lalu, memutuskan untuk mengulang dari nol.

Dia memilih cornet, instrumen musik yang tidak pernah disentuh sebelumnya, menyebut dirinya Kuntari, memalingkan diri dari pakem jazz yang selama ini dia pegang. Melodi yang mengalun, hentakan suara musik tiup yang chaos, ritme intens dan genjrengan gitar yang cenderung nyeleneh. Dia tau betul kalau karyanya sungguh mendekati gila.

Albumnya di 2021, Last Boy Picked, merupakan pencerahan perdananya. Dia menyewa sebuah rumah, melibatkan pemain bass dan dua drummer yang tidak saling kenal sebelumnya, mengunci diri bersama dalam tiga hari full session. Hasilnya, Album of The Year bagi beberapa media nasional yang terpercaya.

Di tengah pelayaran Arka Kinari, sampailah dia dengan sekitaran yang tidak pernah dialami sebelumnya. Pelabuhan Semarang, salah satu titik temu terpenting dunia pelayaran di Jawa Tengah yang secara periodik mengalami banjir dan garis pesisirnya perlahan ditelan laut Jawa. Dengan latar yang katastropik, musiknya menjadi soundtrack perubahan iklim yang semakin nyata.

LAUT LOUD is a series of online concerts aboard the cultural sailing vessel Arka Kinari. On each sailing season, the crew collaborates with local musicians and filmmakers to archive underground, avant-garde, and traditional sounds from barely charted ports around Indonesia.

ARKA KINARI is a floating cultural platform to sound the alarm on climate change and build networks of resilience in coastal communities. Traveling by sail and powered by renewable energy, it is both method and message. Laut Loud Season three was made possible with the support of Liminous Foundation.

In ports Arka Kinari transforms into a stage for a bespoke audiovisual performance by the artists Filastine & Nova, as well as hosting workshops, talks, and concerts by local musicians. Arka Kinari has sailed over thirty thousand nautical miles, stopped in twenty-three nations, and is currently touring her home waters of the Indonesian archipelago.

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