Posted on Friday, 1st August 2008 by Auw Jimmy

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Artist: Gesang, Nuning, Waldjinah
Album: Bengawan Solo
Publisher: JVC Record
Recording Technology: -

About this album:
According to Wikipedia, Kroncong is the name of a ukulele-type instrument and an Indonesian musical style that typically makes use of the Kroncong, a flute, and a female singer. And this album is an audiophile-grade Kroncong!

All the singers (Gesang, Nuning, and Waldjinah) are famous Kroncong singer in Indonesia. Gesang, though quite old, still has enough breathe to give emotional touch on this album. I think this is his last “best” Kroncong album recorded. Nuning (and especially) Waldjinah are well known as two famous female Kroncong singer. We could find a lot of their albums in local, but none in audiophile-grade like this album.

This album was recorded on JVC Victor Studio, Tokyo on April 1994 and remastered on April 2000, also on the same place. Again, I would like to highlight (again!) the quality of this album. This is one of the rarely superb recorded Kroncong album.

All of the songs are very famous and popular. Maybe not for teenagers, but for your father/mother or grandfather/mother. Some of the famous tracks are “Bengawan Solo”, “Jembatan Merah”, “Walang Kekek”, and “Kroncong Moritsuko”. The instruments are very natural, soft, and also details. Musicality is superb. Vocal is deadly locked on the center, combined with instruments around.

At first track, Nuning will impress you with “Kroncong Moritsuko”. Don’t underestimate this Krocong style, because this kind of music contains a lot of combination from low to high frequency. The low instrument plays between 30-150 Hz with soft but deep power, while the high frequency may reach 10 kHz with active harmonics up to 20 kHz. With good filter, this album could maintain high frequency up to 20 kHz with no sharp roll-off before it.

Next, Waldjinah combined with Nuning perform very well on famous “Kroncong Kemayoran”. This track is faster than before. You can use it to test the tightness and speed of your low frequency drivers. Pay attention that Kroncong is not an easy kind of music to be reproduced in most system due to complex traditional instruments inside.

We jump to track #5 with song “Bengawan Solo”. Gesang also performs very well on the first half of this track, while Waldjinah continues on the second half. This is a classic and very famous song in Indonesia. This song was created on 1940 on the riverside of Bengawan Solo. Gesang was fishing and dazed, forecasting the flow of Bengawan Solo river, far away to the sea.

And finally, we jump to track #10, again with Gesang and famous “Jembatan Merah”. Gesang still shows his magic at his age, although we can hear his short breathe. With good control, he could maintain his breathe to give his best performance.

Conclusion:
I can’t say more. This is an absolutely recommended album for an audiophile who loves Kroncong also. This album is so expensive, hardly to find. Perhaps as difficult as finding Three Blind Mice recording.

Sound Quality: 5 of 5 Stars
Song Popularity/Arrangement (subjective): 4.75 of 5 Stars

Recommendation: 5 of 5 stars.

Track list:
01. Kroncong Moritsuko
02. Kroncong Kemayoran
03. Stambul Bunga Mawar
04. Bunga Anggrek
05. Bengawan Solo
06. Putri Solo
07. Yen Ing Tawang
08. Walang Kekek
09. Kalung Mutiara
10. Jembatan Merah
11. Bengawan Solo



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Posted in CD/DVD Review | Comments (12)

12 Responses to “Gesang, Nuning, Waldjinah: Bengawan Solo”

  1. wendo Says:
    August 5th, 2008 at 21:51

    Fabulous review!! how’s on earth you can found this rare Album, Jimmy?
    I couldn’t agree more with you, about how complex and detailed Kroncong Music can give on superb audiophile grade album like this. Whew



  2. Jimmy’s Junkyard » Blog Archive » Waldjinah: Sings Gesang Says:
    August 5th, 2008 at 23:39

    [...] Jimmy’s Junkyard « Gesang, Nuning, Waldjinah: Bengawan Solo [...]



  3. Pary Says:
    August 9th, 2008 at 23:12

    Where do I can buy this CD? It must be a tremendous present for my parent if I could have it.



  4. Jason Says:
    September 30th, 2008 at 15:14

    Bro, its been great fun reading and learning from your blog; like the simplicity yet informative style of writing; do keep it up.
    A few of us from Singapore are very interested in this cd but have been difficult to find.
    May I know where did you buy it?
    We are all into ICE and have been always on a lookout for good cds.
    Cheers bro!



  5. Jimmy Auw Says:
    September 30th, 2008 at 23:30

    Hi,
    I bought it on farsidemusic.com but no stock since few months ago.
    Thanks.



  6. denging Says:
    November 20th, 2008 at 13:17

    bang jim, nyari cd-cd di atas itu di mana ya bang? dutasuara kah? thx bang…



  7. enoch Says:
    December 22nd, 2008 at 19:49

    like Bang Jimmy said this is the best audhiophile for kroncong song, i like the music, nice, and warms. especially Waldjinah “cengkok” it’s details. i bought this CD in 2002, lost this CD in my home and finally found again.
    enoch-jakarta



  8. Jimmy’s Junkyard » Blog Archive » Good Bye Eyang Gesang (and also Fritz Sennheiser) Says:
    May 20th, 2010 at 21:42

    [...] First is Gesang Martohartono (1 October 1917 – 20 May 2010), a renowned Indonesia singer and songwriter, especially in kroncong style. He was famous throughout Asia, not just in his own country, Indonesia. His most famous song was Bengawan Solo. One of his best recording was recorded by JVC Japan here. [...]



  9. Anthony Says:
    January 29th, 2011 at 15:12

    pak dimana saya bisa beli cd ini ya? lokasi saya dibandung. Apa cd nya berminat dijual? trims



  10. Auw Jimmy Says:
    January 29th, 2011 at 21:07

    Halo,
    CD ini beli di farsidemusic atau amazon germany (keduanya online). Harga+ongkos kirim sekitar 30-an Euro atau lebih kalo tidak salah ingat.
    Thanks.



  11. Fred McCoy Says:
    February 5th, 2011 at 17:35

    Ini kali yak yg namanya ‘Ancient Artefact’? hehe..barang purbakala nan sakti..

    Hais…Keroncong, mendayu-dayu menghanyutkan…Orang2 bilang musik norak/kampungan, tapi tetep aja ngedengerinnya entah bisa jadi tenang damai menghanyutkan… Mengandung magic apa kayaknya yak, entah ada gelombang apa gitu heheh…’Bengawan Solo’, asalmuasal katanya si alm.Mbah lagi ngedeprok duduk santai di pinggir sungai, trus bersenandung corat-coret di kertas bungkus rokok…eeh tau2 jadi lagu masterpiece terkenal ke seluruh belahan planet…saktilah bener2…priceless huhu…

    Thanks 4 review Mr.Jimmy, salut n demen banget baca tulisan u!



  12. Auw Jimmy Says:
    February 5th, 2011 at 17:59

    Halo,
    Ini menunjukkan bahwa banyak karya bangsa kita yang bisa diexplorasi dan berkelas dunia. Dan musik keroncong bisa dijadikan reference bagi audiophile, tidak hanya di Indonesia, tapi juga di dunia. Sayang tidak banyak yang menyadari dan menghargai itu.
    Thanks.



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