So far, 2016 has been so good to me. Especially around these times I’ve been spending in Jakarta, where it’s been three months since I “moved” here to find a better life. 

Mungkin kalo ada yg liat postingan saya belakangan, saya jarang update, tapi sekali posting soal konser, temen-temen saya sampe bilang saya anaknya “hura-hura” banget akhir-akhir ini. Hahah!  Demi apapun enggak. I am that kind of person that goes to concert only on really special event. It means, the musician/event has to be on my planned-list. And with His mercy, I got the chances to watch THREE of them in these three months! Two months ago I (finally) watched Java Jazz Festival. Bayangin aja Java Jazz sudah belasan tahun ada di Indonesia dan baru bisa nonton tahun ini. Trus kemaren, hari Minggu, bisa nonton Joey Alexander yang KEBETULAN main ke Jakarta pas saya lagi ada disini. Dan tadi malam, akhirnya bisa nonton Monita Tahalea, the singer I’ve been loving since 2011. 

It seems like everything has written in my hand by God. Call me lebay, but the thing is, I ran out of ticket from such a time already. Pengumuman konser Dandelion by Monita Tahalea udah ada sejak beberapa waktu lalu, dan saya memang lengah ga langsung pesan tiketnya. Mungkin kemarin saya bener-bener sibuk jadi ga sempat beli tiketnya. Atau lupa karena udah beli tiket Joey Alexander yang cuma beda seminggu. Akhirnya dua minggu sebelum hari H, liat komen-komenan di IG yang mengeluhkan tiket habis, akhirnya saya pun mengecek semua tempat/web penjualan, dan ternyata beneran abis. Akhirnya sampe mention-mention Monita dan hubungin cp yang dikasih, udah keabisan juga katanya sampe spot lesehan. Sedih banget sih, soalnya saya emang beneran ngefans sama dia dan musiknya dari dulu. Kebeneran, pas saya lagi di Jakarta, eh Monita menggelar konser tunggal perdananya. We’re meant to be! Halah. Singkat cerita, saya tetap ngotot mau nyari tiket, kalo perlu datang on the spot dan membujuk abang-abangnya biar boleh masuk. Selain itu saya juga nyuruh temen saya si Brian si anak gaul Jakarta buat cariin, kali-kali aja ya kan, walau katanya udah habis dimana-mana. Dan, ini kenapa saya bilang Tuhan (selalu) baik, jangan tanya dapat darimana, si Brian berhasil dapat tiketnya. Saya malas nanya dia how? and where?, yang jelas dapat, mari kita pergi menengok Dandelion. Yey.

Everyone remembers the day they met their idol, if of course they ever got the chance to. Few days ago was one of the best thing that ever happened to me.

Almost two years ago, I was browsing through Youtube and accidentally clicking on the suggested channel. I looked at the video title, and he was a kid with a piano, a boy, around 9 or 10. A kid good at piano, is nothing new. So many kids are good at piano. I look on the sidebar of the channel, it filled with videos of his rendition of so many classic jazz anthems. Then I thought, 'Ok, lets see.'

He sat down on the piano bench, cranked way up, looked at the keyboard, and launched into a tune that turned me upside and down. He not only nailed it, he did it with great stylistic flair.

His name is Joey Alexander, and he's Indonesian.

I instantly gone a lil bit dizzy after watching the 1st video, and can't stop looking for others. He's really awesome, his skill was unbelievable, actually I don't know much about piano technique, but I am sure not every most senior piano player out there can do like he does. Because it's jazz. Jazz is very hard, if you can't get the "feels", you can't get it right. And he got the soul, man. A kid at that age, playing like a reincarnation of Thelonius Monk and his class.. I am out of words.

He became quite a phenomenon on the Youtube and jazz lovers around the world, they applaud him and established him as a "prodigy". And he's Indonesian, how cool is that? God. I instantly fell in love.

Last Sunday was such a special day for me. I have been collecting Joey's videos for a couple of time now. I have already talked about how much I love him and his music to Randi, my college junior and Kak Doni, my choir coach, (because no one knew Joey that day, and these guys has same taste with me), but yesterday gave me a whole new perspective. I had the opportunity to go to Joey Alexander Concert in Jakarta. I feel so lucky knowing that I (accidentally) have been working here for almost 3 months no. It was like God and the universe conspire to make me happy. Hahaha

Fyi, Joey is based in USA now, his schedule is full of so many jazz festivals, even the most prestigious ones (I am really happy for that, he's too good to stay in Indonesia), especially after his unbelievable performance as the youngest Grammy nominee at Grammy Awards 2016. A year ago while listen to him, I really want to watch him live, and I thought it was a tiny chance. Turns out, I happen to be in the right city at the right timing.

I had a really good seat, where I can see Joey clearly from the best side. When he came into the stage, I was so ecstatic!

Joey spoke like the child that he is, a bit awkward in front of all of the adults. But every time he sat down to play, he was simply brilliant. His technique was beyond dazzling, just like in the videos. His dynamics were also excellent; he knew when to be subtle and when to build to a crescendo. I love that he played many songs from his album, like the infamous "My Favorite Things", the challenging "Giant Steps", and my fav from his album, his rendition of The Sound of Music's best, "Over The Rainbow". A very beautiful ballad and God knows how much I love that song, even more after Joey play his version.

The sound was very awesome also because its supported by the HD facility at the hall. I can really catch the dynamics perfectly, and the beautiful sounding of drum-bass-piano. Ear-gasm at its best...

I hope I will watch Joey's concert again, but in other side of the world. USA, the land of jazz, would be perfect. I save this in my pray. May God bless you Joey, with health and prosperity, so we can meet again sometime. 

*the photos are all mine, taken with phone camera, but some of them are also taken from Google*