Sambasunda Quintet

The Sambasunda collective of Bandung has gained international attention for its fresh, groundbreaking approach to the traditional music of West Java, releasing a series of albums boldly bringing together pan-Indonesian styles and instruments with added global percussion. This album is a specially commissioned project performed by a 'chamber ensemble' comprising Sambasunda founding members Ismet Ruchimat, Yadi Cahyadi, Asep Yana and Budi Sofyan with new singing discovery Neng Dini Andriati. It reflects an enduring classical tradition of Sundanese music while at the same time creating something fresh, modern and original. The music is centred on the kacapi, a boat-shaped zither whose mellifluous tones have been heard in Sunda (West Java) for centuries. It's a haunting and evocative sound which connects to the Sundanese soul and perfectly accompanies the sung poetry which often describes feelings of displacement, longing and melancholy. The kacapi has been described as the ancestral ship which transports its listener home to the mythical golden age of the ancient Javanese kingdom of Pajajaran. From the days of its use in the courts of the regional nobility, from where the still-popular classical style of Tembang Sunda developed, to its twentieth-century migration to the fast-growing capital city of Bandung, where new urbanized styles came into being, it has been a key instrument of Sundanese musical culture. Even in modern productions of pop-Sunda music, synthesizers often emulate the sound and style of traditional kacapi playing.

The instrumentation of the Sambasunda Quintet follows the Tembang Sunda tradition, using up to three kacapis, augmented by violin and suling (bamboo flute) accompanied by a female singer. The addition of the khendangdrums - a large barrel-shaped drum played at both ends with various tones elicited by pressure of the foot and three smaller high-pitched drums known as kulenter- is a contemporary touch, and, although some of the compositions are based on standards from the Tembang Sunda repertoire, they are performed with a distinctly urban rhythmic accent. The whole is suffused with a contemporary awareness of global sounds, from the local and international pop music prevalent in Bandung, to the influences of the group's interactions with international artists they have met and performed with at major music festivals around the world. This is most apparent in the instrumental piece 'Paddy Pergi Ke Bandung' ('Paddy Goes To Bandung'), which, as the title suggests, is a playful collision of Irish and Javanese themes. But, as those already familiar with Sundanese music will notice, an innovative spirit abounds throughout, and the spiritual leader at the Sambasunda centre is Ismet Ruchimat. He started his career in 1989 in Gugum Gumbira's famous Jugala Orchestra, becoming its musical director before taking up a post at Bandung's STSI arts college, from whose alumni the Sambasunda ensemble is formed.

This, then, is the roots sound of Bandung, the bustling capital city and cultural centre of West Java, university town and magnet for a young generation logged into the global cultural network. Here there is any number of contemporary pop bands to be found, from shoegazers to headbangers. Sambasunda lead the field in applying that urban energy to the multifarious traditional music of the Indonesian archipelago. With this special project, the Sambasunda Quintet further explores the unique musical heritage of their home region.