JACK HOOKER

Indonesian Gamelan + Talempong Music 

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Gamelan

Jack has been involved with gamelan music for many years, performing with the ensembles Gamelan Padhang Moncar (Javanese) and Gamelan Taniwha Jaya (Balinese). Highlights of his time in these groups include performances at WOMAD and Homegrown (which featured a unique collaboration with the electronic band Minuit), multiple wayang kulit performances with Ki Joko Susilo (an eighth-generation dhalang / shadow puppet master), and contributing to the soundtrack of the feature film The Hobbit.

 

In 2013, the two groups toured Indonesia, performing new compositions alongside traditional works in several cities — Jakarta, Yogyakarta (where they performed at the Yogyakarta International Gamelan Festival), Surakarta, Malang, and Bali. Jack performed with both ensembles and composed two pieces—Green River and SZUNN—which were featured throughout the tour. A recording of these works, Naga: New Music for Gamelan, was released by Rattle Records. ​

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Jack’s primary teachers have been Budi Putra for Javanese gamelan—where he has focused on playing bonang panerus and gambang—and Wayan Gde Yudane and Gareth Farr for Balinese gamelan. The ensembles are both based out of The New Zealand School of Music—Te Kōkī.

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​​​​Gamelan New Zealand Website.

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Talempong

In 2016, Jack was awarded an Indonesian Arts and Culture Scholarship by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia. The four month residency was spent in Padang, West Sumatra, living and studying with the Syofyani Dance and Music Ensemble—the oldest Minangkabau arts community in West Sumatra. During this time, Jack learned to play the talempong—a traditional Minangkabau gong instrument—and performed with the group at concerts, weddings, parades, and numerous other events. While there, he purchased a full 16-note melody set and shipped it back to Aotearoa. He continues to play talempong for occasional performances, playing both traditional works—particularly Tari Piring and talempong pacik—and using them in new pieces.