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simakDialog

Patahan

MoonJune Records MJR015

Occupying musical territory loosely designated as 'fusion' courtesy of its use of synthesisers, fretless electric bass and electric/synth guitar, simakDialog play a lively, percussion-driven amalgam of Pat Metheny-like accessible airiness and multi-textured jazz-rock occasionally proclaiming its south-east Asian origins through its use of the kendang hand drum and the odd Indonesian lyric.

This is not the sort of fusion that specialises in tricksy, turn-on-a-dime themes in esoteric time signatures, but music relying on linear explorations and subtle variations of texture for its considerable effect; composer/leader Riza Arshad is a highly accomplished soloist, fluent but cogent, and in guitarist Tohpati Ario Hutomo he has a perfect foil (the accompanying press release compares their relationship ‰ perceptively enough ‰ to that between Metheny and Lyle Mays).

Fleshed out with the aforementioned percussion and the odd vocal, wordless and otherwise, this is intriguing and compelling music from a part of the world that attracts too little attention from the jazz-listening public.