GAMELAN and ETHIOJAZZ: Sekar Enggal featuring Hendrawati and Byron Wallen

Gamelan Sekar Enggal is the UK's foremost ensemble for the Sundanese music of West Java. This concert includes a variety of traditional gamelan degung (gong chime ensemble) and tembang Sunda (songs with flute and zither) repertoire featuring the renowned Sundanese vocalist Hendrawati.

In addition, the group will feature special guest Byron Wallen, the highly acclaimed trumpet player, in several examples of Ethiojazz. This fusion of traditions is made possible by the happy accident that the Ethiopian ambassel scale corresponds closely to the sorog pentatonic scale used in gamelan degung. Byron directs his own Gayan Gamelan Ensemble, and performs frequently with the legendary vibraphonist Mulatu Astatke, pioneer of Ethiojazz.

Sekar Enggal was founded by Simon Cook in 1986. He started playing gamelan in the Netherlands in 1979, and later lived in Indonesia for 12 years, specialising in the study of Sundanese music.  www.sekarenggal.co.uk