Gugum Gumbira
Encyclopedia
Dr. Gugum Gumbira Tirasondjaja, often known just as Gugum Gumbira, is a Sundanese
composer
, orchestra
leader, choreographer, and entrepreneur
from Bandung
, West Java
, Indonesia
.
prohibited rock and roll
and other western
genres of music, and challenged Indonesian musicians to revive the indigenous arts.
Gugum Gumbira took up the challenge, and studied rural dance and festival music for twelve years. Jaipongan, or Jaipong, was the most popular result of his study, derived from the updating of a village ritual music called ketuk tilu, with moves from Pencak Silat
, the Indonesian martial art, and music from the masked theater dance, Topeng Banjet
, and the Wayang Golek
puppet theater.
In the original ketuk tilu, the group typically consists of the ketuk tilu pot-gong, other small gongs, a rebab
(spike fiddle), barrel drums, and a female singer-dancer (ronggeng
) who is often also a prostitute, who invites men to dance with her sensually. Gugum expanded the drum section as part of an urban gamelan
orchestra, sped up the music, redefined the singer as just a singer (sinden
), and came up with the catchy onomatopoeic name. Many listeners consider the music very complex, with the dynamic rhythm liable to change seemingly randomly.
Jaipongan debuted in 1974 when Pak Gugum and his gamelan and dancers first performed in public. Sporadic government attempts to suppress it due to its perceived immorality (it inherited some of the sensuality of ketuk tilu) just made it more popular. It survived even after the official Indonesian ban on foreign pop music was lifted after a few years, and became a craze in the 1980s. Since the mid-1980s Jaipongan’s importance as a social dance has waned, but it remained popular as a stage dance, performed by women, mixed couples or as a solo.
The most widely available album of Jaipongan outside Indonesia is Tonggeret by Idjah Hadidjah and Gugum Gumbira's Jugala orchestra, released in 1987, and re-released as West Java: Sundanese Jaipong and other Popular Music by Nonesuch
/Elektra Records
..
.
The Jugala orchestra includes Sundanese gamelan
instruments, drums, rebab and suling flute, and plays Jaipongan and contemporary degung music.
Sundanese people
The Sundanese are an ethnic group native to the western part of the Indonesian island of Java. They number approximately 31 million, and are the second most populous of all the nation's ethncities. The Sundanese are predominantly Muslim...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
leader, choreographer, and entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
from Bandung
Bandung
Bandung is the capital of West Java province in Indonesia, and the country's third largest city, and 2nd largest metropolitan area in Indonesia, with a population of 7.4 million in 2007. Located 768 metres above sea level, approximately 140 km southeast of Jakarta, Bandung has cooler...
, West Java
West Java
West Java , with a population of over 43 million, is the most populous and most densely populated province of Indonesia. Located on the island of Java, it is slightly smaller in area than densely populated Taiwan, but with nearly double the population...
, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
.
Jaipongan
In 1961, Indonesian President SukarnoSukarno
Sukarno, born Kusno Sosrodihardjo was the first President of Indonesia.Sukarno was the leader of his country's struggle for independence from the Netherlands and was Indonesia's first President from 1945 to 1967...
prohibited rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
and other western
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...
genres of music, and challenged Indonesian musicians to revive the indigenous arts.
Gugum Gumbira took up the challenge, and studied rural dance and festival music for twelve years. Jaipongan, or Jaipong, was the most popular result of his study, derived from the updating of a village ritual music called ketuk tilu, with moves from Pencak Silat
Pencak Silat
Pencak silat is an umbrella term for the indigenous martial arts created in Indonesia. The leading organization of pencak silat in Indonesia is IPSI...
, the Indonesian martial art, and music from the masked theater dance, Topeng Banjet
Topeng
Topeng is a dramatic form of Indonesian dance in which one or more mask-wearing, ornately-costumed performers interpret traditional narratives concerning fabled kings, heroes and myths, accompanied by gamelan music...
, and the Wayang Golek
Wayang
Wayang is a Javanese word for theatre . When the term is used to refer to kinds of puppet theatre, sometimes the puppet itself is referred to as wayang...
puppet theater.
In the original ketuk tilu, the group typically consists of the ketuk tilu pot-gong, other small gongs, a rebab
Rebab
The rebab , also rebap, rabab, rebeb, rababah, or al-rababa) is a type of string instrument so named no later than the 8th century and spread via Islamic trading routes over much of North Africa, the Middle East, parts of Europe, and the Far East...
(spike fiddle), barrel drums, and a female singer-dancer (ronggeng
Ronggeng
Ronggeng is a type of Javanese and Malay social dance in which couples exchange poetic verses as they dance to the music of a rebab or violin and a gong...
) who is often also a prostitute, who invites men to dance with her sensually. Gugum expanded the drum section as part of an urban gamelan
Gamelan
A gamelan is a musical ensemble from Indonesia, typically from the islands of Bali or Java, featuring a variety of instruments such as metallophones, xylophones, drums and gongs; bamboo flutes, bowed and plucked strings. Vocalists may also be included....
orchestra, sped up the music, redefined the singer as just a singer (sinden
Sinden
Sinden may refer to:*Sinden , British DJ, remixer and record producer Graeme Sinden**The Count & Sinden, his collaboration with Joshua "Hervé" Harvey *Donald Sinden, English stage, television and film actor...
), and came up with the catchy onomatopoeic name. Many listeners consider the music very complex, with the dynamic rhythm liable to change seemingly randomly.
Jaipongan debuted in 1974 when Pak Gugum and his gamelan and dancers first performed in public. Sporadic government attempts to suppress it due to its perceived immorality (it inherited some of the sensuality of ketuk tilu) just made it more popular. It survived even after the official Indonesian ban on foreign pop music was lifted after a few years, and became a craze in the 1980s. Since the mid-1980s Jaipongan’s importance as a social dance has waned, but it remained popular as a stage dance, performed by women, mixed couples or as a solo.
The most widely available album of Jaipongan outside Indonesia is Tonggeret by Idjah Hadidjah and Gugum Gumbira's Jugala orchestra, released in 1987, and re-released as West Java: Sundanese Jaipong and other Popular Music by Nonesuch
Nonesuch Records
Nonesuch Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Bros. Records.-Company history:Nonesuch was founded in 1964 by Jac Holzman to produce "fine records at the same price as a trade paperback", which would be half the price of a normal LP...
/Elektra Records
Elektra Records
Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009....
..
Jugala
Gugum Gumbira's Jugala Studios in Bandung serves as the base for his own Jugala orchestra and dance troupe, and has hosted and recorded many other musicians, including Sabah Habas Mustapha, and The ResidentsThe Residents
The Residents is an American art collective best known for avant-garde music and multimedia works. The first official release under the name of The Residents was in 1972, and the group has since released over sixty albums, numerous music videos and short films, three CD-ROM projects and ten DVDs....
.
The Jugala orchestra includes Sundanese gamelan
Gamelan
A gamelan is a musical ensemble from Indonesia, typically from the islands of Bali or Java, featuring a variety of instruments such as metallophones, xylophones, drums and gongs; bamboo flutes, bowed and plucked strings. Vocalists may also be included....
instruments, drums, rebab and suling flute, and plays Jaipongan and contemporary degung music.
Personal
Gugum Gumbira is married to Euis Komariah, who sings for the Jugala Orchestra. Their daughter, Mira Tejaningrum (born March 4, 1969), is a dancer and choreographer for the Jugala dance troupe.Album reviews
- Glorious Gamelan and Jaipongan Jive: They got the beat, Indonesians Rock Paper Scissors review of the Nonesuch Explorer Series album
- international titles at Aquarius Records