MoonJune has announced the release of the new studio album by Indonesian guitar virtuoso Tohpati. “Tribal Dance” features the world class rhythm section of Jimmy Haslip on bass and Chad Wackerman on drums. Except for a few ambient vocal samples, “Tribal Dance” is an instrumental fusion album.
Tohpati is a prominent guitarist in his native Indonesia, considered to be one of the finest guitarists in the world. His musical influences range from John Scofield to Robert Fripp, and Terje Rypdal to Pat Metheny, Tohpati’s guitar work is always fresh and unpredictable.
Tohpati Ario Hutomo (better known as Tohpati) began playing classical guitar at the age of ten, and his talents and reputation quickly flourished. While in his early twenties, he joined the Indonesian jazz band, simakDialog, in 1994. The move helped further expand and define his musical identity, as the Jakarta-based outfit is well known for their natural musical interplay and uninhibited, expansive solos.
Tohpati recorded three solo albums with Sony Music, Tohpati, Serampang Samba, and It’s Time, and played on three simakDialog albums, Lukisan, Baur and Trance/Mission prior to becoming a MoonJune artist. Since that time he has played on two more simakDialog releases, 2007’s Patahan (MJR015), and 2009’s Demi Masa (MJR024) — and released his first international album as a leader and featured artist, Tohpati Ethnomission’s “Save The Planet“.