Live at Orion (MJR068, 2015)
As I’ve said before in other reviews, MoonJune Records’ owner, Leonardo Pavkovic has stumbled upon a musical gold mine in Indonesia. The wealth of talent coming out of Indonesia is truly impressive. simakDialog is one of the leading fusion bands in Indonesia. Like other acts from Indonesia, they have developed a unique type of progressive fusion that blends American and British-style jazz-rock fusion with Indonesian traditional music and instruments, specially percussion.
I had the pleasure of experiencing simakDialog live at ProgDay a couple of years ago and it was a very memorable performance. This double album was recorded during the same tour, at Orion Studios in Baltimore.
simakDialog is led by composer and electric piano (Fender Rhodes) maestro, Riza Arshad. He has developed his own style, although at times you catch connections to the Canterbury sound, especially Hatfield and the North and National Health.
In addition to Arshad, the group features celebrated guitarist Tohpati who has a separate solo career. He delivers outstanding performances as well as captivating interplay with Arshad’s electric piano.
The rhythm section provides a solid indonesian perspective, with Endang Ramdan and Erlan Suwardana on Sudanese kendang percussion, together with Cucu Kurnia on metal percussion and the skilled bass of Rudy Zulkarnaen.Uruguayan guitarist Beledo joined the band for two pieces on disc 1.
The lineup on Live at Orion includes Riza Arshad on Fender Rhodes electric piano; Tohpati on electric guitar; Rudy Zulkarnaen on bass; Endang Ramdan on Sundanese kendang percussion; Erlan Suwardana on Sundanese kendang percussion; Cucu Kurnia on assorted metal percussion.
simakDialog’s Live at Orion delivers state of the art Indonesian fusion alchemy.
Buy Live at Orion