Keroncong Delight

IT’S not every day that keroncong gets the royal treatment, being performed at the Petronas Philharmonic Hall, where the great acoustics of the world class venue served to enhance the listening experience of one of the well-loved traditional Malay music genres. Originating from Java with Portuguese influences, keroncong was brought to Malaysia in the 15th Century and gained a foothold back then in Johor, Selangor and Perak.

From there on the folk music style became popular with the locals who sought to create their own compositions and add to the development of keroncong.

In an effort to preserve and showcase the beautiful music style that has endured through the ages, The Petronas Performing Arts Group performed a special concert, Keroncong Kasih: Menyusur Masa, to the delight of keroncong lovers.

Opening number Keroncong Kuala Lumpur, penned by the late great P. Ramlee which was featured in his 1968 film Anak Bapak, was a blast from the past that evoked romantic nostalgia and dreamy imagery of a bygone era. Sung by Adilla Idris, a keroncong advocate who has been singing for close to two decades, her mellifluous voice gently wove itself into the wistful music performed by a seven-man keroncong ensemble.

Led by conductor, music director and arranger Ahmad Muriz Che Rose on flute, the rest consisted of Syed Sharir Faisal Syed Hussain on bass, Abdullah Omar Abdul Wahid (cello), M Rashid Dahari (guitar) and Muhammad Radzi Abdul Wahid on violin.

The secret ingredient to the keroncong, a pair of ukulele-like instruments called the cak and the cuk, were played by Jezzriq Eddie Kismilardy Alwee Taib and Mohd Khairul Anuar Mohd Ramly respectively.
The pairing of the three- and four-stringed instruments provided the interlocking rhythmic base that kept the pace of the concert throughout the night.

Bunga Melor, another classic P. Ramlee keroncong tune, had Ismail Lassim on solo accordion to carry the instrumental in an intimate feel.

Datuk Yusni Hamid, a veteran singer with over four decades of singing experience, gave an upbeat rendition of the peppy and effervescent Ampang Pecah, which she revealed to be the original name of Kuala Kubu Baru beforehand.With a swaying voice, between a gentle drone and a sweet velvet caress, it’s no wonder that she has been rumoured to be the favourite singer of the Sultan of Pahang, Sultan Ahmad Shah, and former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who was also present at the concert.

The concert also featured a thorn among roses in the form of the multi-talented Bob Yusof, who wowed the audience with his powerful voice.

Singing the M. Nasir classic from the 1980s, Keroncong Untuk Ana, the 29-year-old Sarawakian and Akademi Fantasia alumnus proved that he was comfortable with traditional Malay tunes, and delivered an impassioned declaration of love through song.

One of the highlights of the concert was 15-year-old keroncong singer Jamilah Abu Bakar. From singing the 1970s tune Senandung Lagu Lama, popularised by Kartina Dahari, to the more contemporary Semalam Di Putrajaya, her wonderful and well-polished voice seemed to belie her youthful exterior. This girl is definitely one singer to look out for in the future.

The second half of the concert saw an orchestral ensemble accompanying the keroncong musicians that gave the songs a lush, soaring feel and also featured more contemporary numbers that we’re adapted to showcase the keroncong flavour.

One good example was the Francissca Peter classic from the 1980s, Sekadar Di Pinggiran, which featured Nasir Musiff on saxophone, that was given an instrumental and jazzy touch. Keroncong Kasih featured 20 beautiful songs in the two-hour concert that had a very calming and soothing effect and as an audience member commented, the keroncong is very halus (refined) and merdu (sweet-sounding).

By Aref Omar The New Straits Times 11 Jun 2010

Mengangkat Darjat Keroncong

 Farihad Shalla Mahmud (Berita harian 15 Jun 2010)

PADA akhir abad ke-19, muzik keroncong berkembang dan menambat hati penduduk di negara ini dari kepulauan Jawa. Di Johor terutamanya, keroncong cukup dekat di hati penggemarnya.

Buktinya, terdapat slot khas di stesen radio swasta negeri itu, Best 104 yang menyiarkan lagu keroncong. Bukan saja iramanya yang berjaya menangkap pendengaran tetapi lenggok nyanyiannya yang mendayu-dayu, boleh buat tangkai hati pendengarnya bagai dihiris-hiris.

Begitulah keramatnya irama keroncong sehingga ia pernah menjadi genre muzik yang digemari seluruh rakyat Malaysia pada dasarnya. Biarpun zaman berlalu dan pelbagai genre muzik muncul namun keroncong tak pernah mati.

Justeru, untuk menyemarakkan irama yang lahir dari bunyian tujuh alat muzik seperti biola, flute, gitar, cak, cuk, cello dan double bass, Kumpulan Seni Persembahan Petronas (KSPP) atas inisiatifnya mempersembahkan Keroncong Kasih - Menyusur Zaman yang diadakan di Dewan Filharmonik Petronas (DFP), baru-baru ini selama dua hari berturut-turut.

Sebaik menjejakkan kaki di kawasan lobi, kelihatan penonton dari pelbagai lapisan usia di pintu masuk DFP. Masing-masing terpancar perasaan teruja dan tidak sabar untuk menyaksikan persembahan bermula. Pemandangan itu sekali gus memadamkan sangkaan awal mengatakan keroncong hanya diminati golongan berusia saja.

Saat pengacara memberikan kata-kata aluan, penonton memberikan sepenuh perhatian apa yang berlaku di atas pentas. Selepas seorang demi seorang pemuzik tampil di atas pentas, maka konsert bermula.

Memulakan persembahan ialah Adilla Idris dengan mengalunkan lagu Keroncong Kuala Lumpur yang dicipta oleh Tan Sri P Ramlee. Tidak dinafikan, vokal Adilla sebati dalam irama yang mendayu itu sekali gus membuat penonton larut dibuai keasyikan melodi berkenaan.
Selepas Adilla, giliran penyanyi cilik yang usianya baru mencecah 15 tahun. Adik Jamilah Abu Bakar membuktikan bahawa lagu keroncong bukanlah milik mutlak mereka yang berusia. Mungkin dari segi pengalaman, penyanyi ini masih hijau namun dari segi vokal, jika diberi masa dan terus diasah, tidak mustahil dia boleh menjadi penyanyi lagu keroncong yang disegani.

Lagu Senandung Lagu Lama yang pernah dipopularkan oleh Kartina Dahari, 15 tahun lalu disampaikannya dengan berkesan termasuk tiga lagu lain seperti Aku dan Dia, Semalam di Putrajaya dan Selamat Tinggal Bungaku.

Keindahan melodi keroncong terus dinikmati menerusi nyanyian Bob Yusof yang diketahui mempunyai mutu vokal yang hebat. Bermula dengan lagu Keroncong Untuk Ana, sehinggalah paduan suaranya dengan penyanyi malar segar, Datuk Yusni Hamid menerusi lagu Uda dan Dara, semuanya amat menghiburkan. Nyanyiannya umpama satu rintihan yang sukar untuk digambarkan dengan kata-kata.

Paling dinanti-nanti, pastinya persembahan Yusni yang menyampaikan beberapa buah lagu pada malam itu. Tidak keterlaluan andai dikatakan, keroncong memang sesuai dengan vokalnya yang gemersik itu. Perasaan dibuai rasa syahdu sewaktu penyanyi ini menyampaikan lagu Tinggallah dan Pergi, lagu ciptaan Aizat yang digubah susunannya menjadi irama keroncong.

Bersesuaian dengan namanya konsert Keroncong Kasih - Menyusuri Zaman yang memakan masa dua jam itu turut menyajikan lagu dari pelbagai era, sejajar dengan objektifnya untuk menarik perhatian generasi lama supaya menghayati kembali muzik itu dan semoga generasi masa kini dapat mendekatkan diri seterusnya mengenali irama yang tak lapuk dek hujan dan tak lekang dek panas.

Persembahan malam itu dibahagikan kepada dua segmen. Segmen pertama, hadirin diperdengarkan dengan lagu keroncong yang diiringi ensembel keroncong. Segmen kedua, menyaksikan penonton dihiburkan dengan persembahan bentuk simfoni orkestra dan lebih bersifat kontemporari hasil pimpinan konduktor dan pengarah muzik DFP, Ahmad Muriz Che Rose. Semua muzik keroncong ini digubah semula oleh 10 penggubah KSPP dengan bantuan tokoh muzik keroncong terkenal, Mahzan Manan.

Apa yang pasti, usaha KSPP melalui penerbitnya Hartini Abdullah wajar mendapat pujian kerana ia bukan saja menyemarakkan lagi muzik keroncong tetapi juga mengangkat darjat martabat muzik itu ke tempat yang lebih tinggi dan berprestij. 

Muzik Keroncong Belum Terpinggir

Sungguh mengagumkan!

Itulah kesimpulan yang dapat dibuat di atas sambutan luar-biasa peminat-peminat keroncong yang memenuhi hampir setiap tempat duduk berbayar di Dewan Philharmonik Petronas pada hari pertama dan kedua Konsert Keroncong Kasih Menyusur Zaman yang dianjurkan oleh Kumpulan Persembahan Kesenian Petronas (PPAG) pada 7 Jun 2010.

Yang lebih menceriakan sebahagian besar daripada penonton adalah anak-anak muda dan penuntut-penuntut sekolah. Labih menggembirakan lagi sebilangan penonton konsert ini adalah dari golongan orang-orang keturunan Cina dan orang-orang Eropah.

Terima kasih khas kepada Y. Bhg. Tun Dr Mahathir dan Tun Dr Siti Hasmah yang sudi hadir menyemarakkan lagi semangat pemuzik dan penyanyi.


Kreativiti PPAG yang mempelbagaikan rentak muzik keroncong dan memilih lagu-lagu dari keroncong malar segar sehingga kepada lagu-lagu pop modern dikeroncongkan menarik perhatian penonton.

Yakinlah irama muzik keroncong tidak akan terpinggir jika usaha-usaha sebigini diteruskan dan disambut oleh Kementerian Kebudayaan dan Kesenian yang selama ini dingin.

Showbiz: A keroncong dream come true

New Straits Times 2010/06/03

Share |

Her songs are already popular on YouTube. Now, teen singing sensation Jamilah Abu Bakar will get to perform with her idols in a tribute concert to traditional music, writes DENNIS CHUA


TEENAGE singing sensation Jamilah Abu Bakar is set to join veteran keroncong stars Datuk Yusni Hamid and Adilla Idris and Sarawak’s pop king Bob Yusof in a tribute to traditional music at Dewan Filharmonik Petronas, KLCC. A student at Sekolah Menengah Taman Tasik Ampang, the 15-year-old’s renditions of Asli music are popular on YouTube. She also represented the country at the International Children’s Festival in Turkey three years ago.

Jamilah of Bagan Serai, Perak, the seventh of nine siblings, aspires to become a traditional pop singer and music educationist.

She will be singing alongside Yusni — one of her idols who also include Datuk Sharifah Aini and Datuk Siti Nurhaliza — in the concert Keroncong Kasih — Menyusur Zaman on June 7 and 8.
Like Yusni, Adilla and Bob, Jamilah is also making her debut at DFP.

“It’s been my dream to sing alongside Kak Yusni. She’s the queen of keroncong music,” she says.

Jamilah learnt to sing at seven. With encouragement from her parents Abu Bakar Ismail and Kamariah Che Soh, she started taking part in contests. At 10, she sang in the Education Ministry’s Royal Concert at Putra World Trade Centre before the 12th Yang Di-Pertuan Agong, Raja of Perlis Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Syed Putra Jamalullail and then Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein.
She then trained under keroncong masters Abdullah Safri, Mahzan Manan, Rahim Anuar and the late Wawang Wijaya and won the Selangor Schools Talent Contest in 2006.

The following year, she won Bintang Kecil RTM Selangor FM, and two years later, Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre’s Johan KLPaC and the Selangor-level Patriotic Songs Contest.

She also performed at two National Day celebrations — Shah Alam in 2006 and Kuala Lumpur in 2008.
“Asli music is my first love, but I also sing contemporary ballads and pop songs. I’d love to sing in more than two languages,” she says, adding that she plans to sing in Hindi, Japanese and Chinese.

Concert producer Hartini Abdullah says the show, a first for DFP, will be divided into two parts: the first features seven musicians, and the second, a 20-piece orchestra.

There will be 20 songs. Music director Ahmad Muriz Che Rose says Yusni will sing the award-winning Pergi, made popular by Aizat Amdan, keroncong-style while Bob will reinterpret Anuar Zain’s Mungkin and Tan Sri P. Ramlee’s Pahlawanku.

Adilla says fans can also look forward to her rendition of Saleem’s Bukan Aku Tak Cinta.

.

KERONCONG NIGHTS

Keroncong nights
By AZHARIAH KAMIN
entertainment@thestar.com.my

The upcoming Keroncong Kasih – Menyusur Zaman concert series is a labour of love meant to keep a folk genre alive.

THE traditional Malay music called keroncong can be current and cool — it just awaits a new generation to embrace it.

As a part of initiatives to bring the music to the big stage and simultaneously create awareness, the Petronas Performing Arts Group (PPAG) will be staging a two-night concert series dubbed Keroncong Kasih - Menyusur Zaman at Dewan Filharmonik Petronas (DFP), Kuala Lumpur, June 7-8.

For the uninitiated, keroncong was introduced to the land in the 19th century by immigrants from Java. This strain of folk music gained prominence early on in states like Johor, Selangor and Perak.

Initially, only keroncong from Indonesia were played but later on, the locals became immersed in the music. After WWII, we saw the emergence of local keroncong composers like Tan Sri P. Ramlee, Zubir Said, Ahmad Jaafar, Johar Bahar, Ariff Ahmad, Inom Yon, Ahmad Hashim and Mahzan Manan.


It is believed that the name keroncong is derived from the jingling sound of the kerincing rebana, as heard in the rhythmic background to the music created by the interlocking of instruments playing on or off the beat.

After the introduction of the music by Indonesian immigrants here, the keroncong genre, later in the years, established its own local flavour and characteristics. To make the music more enticing and relevant to a modern day audience, contemporary elements have been added to keroncong performances. With that in mind, PPAG is all set to delight the masses with its own take on the keroncong idiom.

The performances of Keroncong Kasih – Menyusur Zaman will feature renowned songstress Datuk Yusni Hamid. Yusni’s calibre as an evergreen singer with four decades of experience under her belt has made her a good choice for these concerts at DFP.

“When we initially looked at the popular keroncong songs which we are familiar with, we discovered that many of them were Indonesian. We were caught in between performing a keroncong concert featuring popular Indonesian compositions or to focus mainly on Malaysian (compositions),” explained the show’s musical director Ahmad Muriz Che Rose.

“In the end, we decided to feature Malaysian keroncong compositions and also contemporary songs which we re-arranged with a keroncong feel,” he added. “As this is our first ever keroncong concert, we are equally nervous and excited to see how the audience will react to it.

“We know for a fact that keroncong music has its own following, but we are hoping many young fans will turn up as we are having pop-edged keroncong material on the bill,” said concert producer Hartini Abdullah.

She revealed that among the popular songs to be performed in the keroncong style are Anuar Zain’s Mungkin and Aizat’s award-winning Pergi.

How much work was put into these upcoming concerts?

Ahmad Muriz said that his arrangers and musicians started practising for the concert two months ago.

“I took it upon myself to make a new arrangements for Mungkin, Semalam Di Putrajaya and Pergi. So yes, I’m nervous to see the outcome on the night. On top of being the musical director, I will also be playing (in the concerts) too,” he further explained.

Any good concert needs a good setlist with balance and audience connection. Ahmad Muriz reckons he has found it for the DFP concerts.

Among other songs to be performed during the two-night concert series are Alunan Biola, Aku Dan Dia, Bunga Melur, Hujan, Dari Hati Ke Hati, Tinggalah, Sayang Di Sayang, Pahlawanku, Uda Dan Dara, Kini Hatiku Telah Tertawan and Keroncong Untuk Ana.

“After looking at the line-up for the night, I’m confident that the singers will perform their best. We have two hours to entertain on each night, that’s a lot of keroncong.” He also added that having established musician Mahzan Manan to guide and oversee the creation of keroncong music by the 31-piece ensemble gives the musicians another boost.

“Mahzan is an established songwriter and he knows keroncong music. In fact, he’s very passionate about keroncong. And to have him around for our current twice-a-week practice sessions is a great experience.”

Mahzan, 76, was very active in music in the 1980s and he was responsible for several hits back then (Kemana Ku Bawa Diri and Hati Seorang Kekasih) by singer-actress Noorkumalasari and Lagu Anak Desa by the late Datuk Sudirman Hj Arshad.

“We are very lucky to have him. Having a living legend like him watching our every move (playing the instruments in keroncong) is priceless and an invaluable experience,” concluded Ahmad Muriz.

Tickets for the Keroncong Kasih – Menyu­sur Zaman concerts at Dewan Filharmonik Petronas on June 7 and 8 are priced at RM15, RM30, RM59 and RM60, and can be booked at % 03-2051 7007 / fax: 03-2051 7077 / e- mail: dfp_boxoffice@petronas.com.my