S03 E01: Kuntari

LAUT LOUD (((~~~)))

LAUT LOUD (((~~~)))

Where there was melody and grace, there were now chaotic horn freakouts, intense rhythms, and a deeply disturbing take on the guitar.

It bordered on madness, and he knew it.

There was a time when Tesla Manaf was Indonesian jazz's golden boy. His sophisticated licks and virtuosic guitar playing led to comparisons to Pat Metheny, a series of well-received albums, and tours abroad. Then, of course, he decided to rip it up and start all over again.

He picked up the cornet -- an instrument he had never even touched before -- rebranded himself as Kuntari, and threw the smooth jazz playbook out the window.

His 2021 album, Last Boy Picked, is a prime example of this enlightenment. He rented a house, brought a bass player and two drummers who’d never met before, and locked them up for a non-stop, three day session. The result was dubbed Album of The Year by several high-end national media.

Arriving onboard Arka Kinari mid-tour, he found himself in unfamiliar surroundings. Semarang's harbor -- one of the busiest in Central Java -- has experienced periodic floods and the entire coastline is slowly sinking to the sea. Amidst this macabre backdrop, his music becomes the soundtrack of encroaching doom.