Bali: Balinese Music and Musicians

Balinese culture is a rich, sophisticated tapestry that is formed of many interlocking strands, styles, and traditions. Since my first visit to Bali in 1981, I’ve found gamelan music to be soothing, spellbinding, and challenging. Hearing it always grounds me in a specific, enchanting and absorbing world.

During my most recent trips to Bali in 2013-14 it’s been such a pleasure to learn more about the variety of Balinese musical styles, and to get to know—and play with—some excellent Balinese musicians.

In September I made time to learn more about the Balinese suling (bamboo flute). I enjoyed a two-hour lesson, then, with I Wayan Karta, a suling master and bamboo flute maker. My time with him focused on the circular breathing technique used by suling players. I also bought a flute from him, tuned to play western music.

Our exceedingly well connected guide and driver, Ida Bagus Oka, found an alto sax for me to play. (I later helped him buy a new one of his own.) It was great to sit in with a couple of very talented Balinese blues bands based in Ubud: Moko’s Blues Band (featuring Komang, the Taj Mahal of Bali) and the more youthful Cool Tones Blues Band, featuring the tasteful and very soulful Agung on guitar.

What a pleasure it is to play with both groups! Komang and Agung are exceptionally warm and welcoming guys—and wonderful artists, deeply rooted in the American blues tradition. As young men they discovered that blues music let them express their individuality more fully than they could do playing the gamelan music that they cut (and filed!) their teeth on.

I was also delighted to meet Jelle (a.k.a. Jelle Oortman Gerlings), a Julliard-trained Dutch saxophonist (turned television and film director), who generously loaned me a Mark VI tenor to play while I'm in Ubud. Now I can play tenor and alto at the same time—something perhaps never seen before in these parts!

It was great fun to have sons Jonathan and David join me, sitting in with the Cool Tone guys, at their regular gig at Ubud’s Siam Sally restaurant and bar. Wonderful food and atmosphere! The Henderson family was a hit, with both the band and the customers.

Even more challenging, and fulfilling, was the chance all three of us had to work with I Wayan Sudirana. Sudi, a native of Ubud, has recently returned from a 10-year stint in Vancouver. There he earned a Ph.D. in ethnomusicology and worked with the university's gamelan. During his sojourn in North America he also played with a number of other gamelan groups and world music ensembles.

Sudi is a consummate musician, composer, and teacher. Chok Wa, the member of Ubud’s royal family who is the local patron of Balinese performing arts, invited us three Henderson boys to take part in a New Year’s Eve music “collaboration,” led by Sudi. We went to three, three-hour rehearsals, with a rotating cast of Balinese performers, at the beautiful “new palace” for performing arts, which Chok Wa is constructing on the edge of one of Ubud’s most spectacular ravines. In a previous post I described playing Chok Wa's wooden saxophone in this same setting last September.

Rehearsals took place on Chok Wa’s stunning porch (the most beautiful rehearsal space I’ve ever seen!), where we drank coffee, watched the sun set, and admired the statues, waterfalls, and nearby rice terraces. We improvised together, shared teaching techniques (such as rolling large wooden dice to signal spontaneous changes in the group’s rhythm or pitch), and worked on one of Sudi’s compositions.

That piece, “Kaju Fenny,” is probably the most rhythmically challenging music I’ve ever attempted to perform. Basically written in seven (actually 21/8), much of it has a two-against-three feeling. Plus, there are quite a few meter changes (to 12/8, 18/8, and 27/8). Solos are played over a cycle of measures that “count down”: 7 measures, 6 measures, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1. Then the cycle repeats. Perhaps most amazing is how singable the melody is. This piece is truly a gem!

But Jonathan (on bass), Dave (on cajon), and I (on alto) really had to woodshed our parts! I’m glad we had each other to rely on—and partners who were willing for us to arrange our vacation schedule to accommodate rehearsals both at Chok Wa’s palace and in our hotel rooms.

By the evening of the performance, the piece was sounding pretty good. Playing melody lines with the sax were a western-tuned, small xylophone (played by a guy who, in an hour, learned by ear and by heart the part that took me three days to almost play right!), and a violin played by a Balinese woman of Chinese descent. For the performance Sudi decided to play cheng cheng (cymbal pairs on a stand), although over the course of the rehearsals he performed and taught parts of his composition on suling, xylophone, voice, and various percussion instruments.

The only disappointment was that New Year’s Eve turned out to be excessively rainy. The large and beautiful outdoor stage at the Lotus Café in Ubud had been prepared with lights and a sound system for our performance. However, the weather did not cooperate. After waiting for two hours, hoping the skies would clear, the musicians (about 20 in number and carrying a variety of western, eastern, and Balinese instruments) retreated to a nearby, closed Starbuck’s, where we proceeded to entertain ourselves (within earshot of the Lotus Café customers). What a memorable session it was! We played Sudi’s piece and maybe a dozen others. 

Balinese are soft-spoken people, and their vocal styles tend to reflect this cultural preference. Dave’s approach to singing is quite the opposite—but people loved it. A spoken word artist was inspired (perhaps even challenged) to offer poetic reflections on the new year. The highlight of the evening for me was sharing a version of “St. Thomas,” which included a reference to “Auld Lang Syne.” After Jonathan had played a beautiful bass solo, and the instrumental theme was ready to restate, the Balinese musicians spontaneously added a “kecak” rhythm to our performance. It was so cool I almost couldn’t play out the head!

For Jon, Dave, and me (and, I think, for the Balinese musicians too), New Year’s 2014 was a memorable one. Food came out at midnight, and we wrapped up our “show” as fireworks burst overhead with everybody toasting both the new year and the universal spirit of the rhythm, melody, and harmony that brought us all together.