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There’s so much incredible jazz and fusion talent coming out of Indonesia these days, now you can add one more to the list in pianist Sri Hanuraga, who comes out in force on his new album, “To the Universe”, only his second album to date. This time out, Hanuraga is joined by the European rhythm section of Mattia Magatelli on bass, and Kristijan Krajncan on drums. Flautist Rodrigo Parejo Mateos also appears on a couple cuts as well. Like so much jazz these days, this album is very eclectic as Sri combines post bop, modern fusion and Indonesian roots music to achieve his own personal hybrids. Still, there are familiar elements to Sri’s playing, he favors a strong sharp sound in the right hand, which recalls similar pianists such as Chick Corea and Vijay Iyer, but he can also be very lyrical, along the lines of Kieth Jarret and Brad Mehldau. In his own words, McCoy Tyner and Herbie Hancock are other pianists Sri admires.
“To the Universe” opens with jagged dissonance and the modern post bop sounds of “Teka-teki”. This track establishes the sound of much of the album, but the following three tracks might throw you a curve. The three part “Ever Changing” suite features two tracks of flute folk melodies that almost sound new age, followed by the harsh electronic jazz rock sounds of the third part. These three tracks are good in themselves, but they almost sound like they belong to a different album compared to the other seven tracks. For the remaining six tracks, Sri gets back on the Indo/post bop/fusion acoustic sounds that opened the album. Some album highlights include the moody ‘Mehldauish’ ballad “To the Universe”, and the syncopated gamelin influenced contrapuntal rhythms on “Suave Ora Jamu”.
Overall this is a good CD and should appeal to fans of modern acoustic piano jazz, but the three odd cuts might throw you off on first listen, they just don’t seem to fit the overall direction of the album.