Kenny Jo: Indonesia's Louis Armstrong
by Farah 'Fairy' Mahdzan (30-Nov-2004) | Readers Say

He made his way on stage that night dressed in a simple black suit and a white turtle-neck. He held onto his soprano saxophone steadfast and confident. Kenny Jo, the emcee introduced him as. The audience couldn't help but smile and assume him a fan of the famous saxophonist, Kenny G.

And then the humble Ambonese man started to croon "What a Wonderful World."

The audience and I gawked, to say the least.

The similarity in voice and tone of Kenny Jo to that of the late Louis Armstrong was uncanny! He sounded exactly like the original singer of the tune, down to the last octave.

Kenny Jo went on to entertain folks all night long with renditions of classic jazz songs in his especially bass voice, which included a duet with Ika Putri to sing Nat King Cole's Unforgettable.

When the night was over, I had a little chat with him to find out more about this relatively unknown jazz performer. If you were a jazz lover in Indonesia chances are you would have heard him play at various jazz shows such as the Jazz Merah Putih back in 1999.

But if you were more familiar with Indonesian mainstream music, perhaps knowing that he played the flute for Dewa's Risalah Hati song on their Bintang Lima album would make you sit up and take note.

Kenny Jo has also played the saxophone and other wind instruments for such artists as Reza and Malaysia's very own Siti Nurhaliza.

"I also make regular appearances at Indonesian military base camps. There is something about a male singer with a deep voice who plays the saxophone that military folks like; it's all very jantan (masculine) and they like to associate with that type of classic entertainment. Military men would no sooner boo rock singers with long hair off stage because it is definitely not their type of music," he muses.

Because of his unique and distinct voice, Kenny Jo has also lent his talent to various TV and radio advertisements such as for Kopi Kapal Api (I had a sachet of this stuff in my goody bag and asked him to pose with it).

The most prominent commercial Kenny Jo has ever done was one for Mortein insect spray. A few times for me he recited the lines for this commercial as the cartoon mosquito named Louis (or was it Luigi?) with the deep growly voice. The Indonesians around me who were familiar with this TV ad laughed upon hearing Kenny Jo stringing out the script word for word. I could only smile in amusement and appreciation.

I asked the man how he liked Malaysia.

"Oh, I've been here on several occasions to perform for private functions, it's been good every time. I also came to Malaysia once with my best friend (the late singer) Broery Marantika.

"I like Malaysia, tata tertibnya bagus, it's very orderly here compared to Jakarta. But I don't quite like some of the regulations, for example I can't smoke in the malls and there is the need to wear safety belts in cars and such," this Frank Sinatra admirer poked.

"Lah, I thought the Indonesian government had already implemented the seatbelt law now in Jakarta, Pak?" I asked, confused.

"Iya makanya! (Exactly!)" the funny man chortled.

Regrettably I had missed out on catching his real name, since Kenny Jo is obviously the Indonesian man's stage name. We asked Kenny Jo if he had ever met his idol, Kenny G.

"Iya pernah! I met the saxophonist when he came to Indonesia to perform a few years ago," he reminisced proudly.

"And what did Kenny G have to say about your playing?" We had to know.

"Wah, Kenny G malah bilang that my playing completely overshadowed his skills," he joked.

"What about solo albums, Pak? Surely you have a few in your name?"

Kenny Jo says: "I don't have any and I don't plan to release any. I much prefer to play as guest musician on other artists' albums. I like to be well-known yes, but I don't want to be famous. My philosophy is low profile, high profit!"

Related stories:
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Ika: Surabaya's Singing Sweetheart

Readers' Comments: 6 entries

#5	Adhimas	9-Jul-2006, 15:05 MYT
Orangya cool abiz.... Gue nggak tau dia orang mana. Tapi kalo di jawa pasti dipanggil Kanijo

#2	Fairy	19-Oct-2004, 07:13 MYT
Yeah, I was hoping he'd have his own solo albums. Pity. Oh well that means we'll have to track him down on every artist's album he's ever performed for ey?

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