Founded in Bandung, West Java (Indonesia) in 1985, they made their international debut at the Yamaha Bands Explosion in Tokyo, Japan.
Their music is very distinctive as it uses an ancient Gamelan tonal system called s’lendro, found in Karawitan traditional music of Sunda, Java and Bali. Juxtaposed upon this, Krakatau adapts western diatonic elements which is energized by modern feels of jazz, rock and pop fused with various ethnic rhythms of Indonesian music.
Dwiki Dharmawan plays keyboards and synthesizers and is also one of the founding members of Krakatau; he was classically trained at a young age and winner of the Grand Prix in Japan in 1985. He is also conductor and composer of the Indonesian Art Orchestra, director of the Farabi Music Educational Centre in Jakarta and Chairman of Jakarta World Music Festival 2003.
Pra Budidharma graduated from Seattle, USA and plays guitar and bass while working as a producer specializing in recordings for West Javanese traditional music.
Main singer and dynamo of the group, Trie Utami, has won awards in Romania and Kuala Lumpur.
Zainal Arifin uses bonangs and sarons of the gamelan family as well as many other percussion instruments.
Adhe Rudhiana and Gilang Ramadhan handles the gendangs and percussion while Yoyon Dharsono plays virtually any instrument handed to him.
One of them is the Sundanese tarompet, a double reed instrument which is a more brittle version of a clarinet. It is commonly associated with the traditional martial art known as pencak silat.
Another is the suling or bamboo flute that comes in different lengths, as well as the bangsing which is more popular in the city of Cirebon.
Discography:
Krakatau (1986)
Krakatau (1987)
Kembali Satu (Bulletin Records, 1990)
Let There Be Life (1992)
Mystical Mist (Aquarius, 1994)
Magical Match (2000)
Rhythms Of Reformation – Percussion Pieces By Krakatau (Musikita, 2005)
2 Worlds (Musikita, 2006)
Chapter One album (DSS Records, 2016)
Indonesia Asi
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.
