Anak Swarasanti's Adventures

These are some of Gamelan Anak Swarasanti's performances... Click on the pictures for more details.

Central Park Music Series, San Mateo, July 14 2002 The City of San Mateo invited us to be part of their summer concert series in the beautiful Central Park of San Mateo. It was a scorchingly hot day, but we had a great time with a fabulous audience. Another opportunity to play with our new fuller ensemble, which sounded really good.

Health and Harmony Festival, Santa Rosa, June 8 2002 World-renowned DJ Lorin invited us to play with him as part of his Bassnectar live set at the Santa Rosa Health and Harmony Festival. It was one of the most exciting and energetic performances we've ever played.

Center for Conscious Living, Santa Cruz, March 22 2002 In March we were invited to inaugurate a series of concerts of Music of the World's Peoples at the Center for Conscious Living in Santa Cruz. With a beautiful setting, a fascinated and appreciative audience, and - with our new members - a fuller ensemble than we've ever had before, this was one of our most memorable performances.

First Night, Santa Cruz, December 31 2001 After a long break from performing, we debuted our new, larger group at the Santa Cruz First Night Procession with the marching gamelan beleganjur. We were surprised and honored when the First Night Committee asked us to lead the parade!

Dance for Tibetans 2000, October 14 2000 The Dance for Tibetans 2000 was a benefit for a number of Tibetan health programs, held at Cabrillo College in Aptos, near Santa Cruz. We felt very honored to play for this great cause.

Hollister Music Festival, September 8 2000 We were invited to be the featured artists at the closing night of the San Benito County Arts Council Summer Music Program in Hollister. For this performance we were delighted to have with us our friend Pak Made Surya, an amazing dancer from Bali.

Camp Harmony 2000, August 19 2000 Camp Harmony 2000 was held at a ranch near Chico. This was our longest set ever - 3 hours. We started with a marching gamelan procession which was a real highlight. AndyW joined us once again on electronics.

Seabright Circus Solstice Parade, June 24 2000 The Seabright Circus Solstice Parade was a procession through the streets of Santa Cruz, featuring floats, circus performers, and all kinds of performing artists. We brought the beleganjur and played non-stop for over an hour.

Warmth, March 25 2000 Warmth's "Transitions" was a very special evening for us. The Warmth organizers had planned the event making the gamelan an integral part of the evening's proceedings. We played for a very special meditation ceremony at midnight, which was a key part of the evening and set the tone for the rest of the event. The artwork and visuals were breathtaking, like this projection which hung above our heads as we played, as a huge backdrop to the gamelan.

Children of the Sun, February 11 2000 Children of the Sun's "Sunshine of Your Love" was a pre-Valentine's Day celebration held in San Jose at a rather interesting venue...

Camp Harmony campout, August 14 1999 Camp Harmony was held in the same breathtaking location as the Harmony 4x4 event two years earlier, in the high Sierra mountains. We took eight people this time, playing partly a set of traditional pieces as well as extended versions with electronics. We got a great reception and some lovely reviews. This time we played with our friend AndyW, who accompanied us on Moog, electronic treatments, and tabla.

Food Bin, Santa Cruz, August 30 1998

The Food Bin/Herb Room - a popular Santa Cruz store - asked us to do a free concert on a sunny Sunday afternoon in the little garden adjoining the store. We had just received our new set of marching gamelan (beleganjur) instruments from Bali, and had invited our friend Nyoman Wenten up to Santa Cruz for a beleganjur workshop that weekend, so only one day after we first started to play the beleganjur we were performing on it! Fortunately it went beautifully - the beleganjur is a fabulous addition to our group, with crashing cymbals and spooky reyong interlock. This gig was a really informal, fun afternoon and a nice opportunity to play with Pak Wenten and his wife Ibu Nanik in an informal setting - it all felt very Balinese.

Harmony 5-Year Anniversary, July 10 1998 The Harmony 5-Year Anniversary was another beautiful open-air event held in typical Harmony style, with amazing props (imagine a 16-foot high Stonehenge circle, and a 12-foot high flower garden!), and the wonderful Harmony vibe amongst the rolling hills of golden grass east of San Francisco. We played with an even smaller group this time - only five players - but it came out fine. Just as we were finishing, at around 2:15am, the police decided to shut the event down. Oh well....

Unity, June 27 1998

Unity was a huge benefit party in Oakland - we played with Rob Rayle again - a similar set to the one we played at Expansion2.0 in the ambient room amidst a background of beautiful psychedelic art. It was a smaller group this time due to summer vacations, but it turned out beautifully.

CD Recording Session, May 1998

Charles Uzzell-Edwards was really excited about the gamelan after playing with us at Expansion, and we thought about recording a CD together. We recorded our set at UCSC in May 1998, but Charles eventually felt that the gamelan stood on its own and suggested that we put it out as it was. This became our first CD - Gamelan Anak Swarasanti.

Expansion2.0, February 28 1998

Anak Swarasanti's next performance was at the Expansion2.0 party held at Organic Online in San Francisco. This time we brought a bigger group of about twelve players, so the sound was very different. Playing with us was noted Bay Area ambient musician Charles Uzzell-Edwards (fax records), who added some nice minimal electronics. We played a fifty minute set which was remarkably tight and got an incredible response from the audience. This was an indoor event, with fabulous artwork as a backdrop. It was at this event that the personnel for Anak Swarasanti's main incarnation was established.

Harmony 4x4, August 1997

Gamelan Anak Swarasanti's first performance was at the Harmony 4x4 weekend in the Sierra Mountains, not far from Lake Tahoe. The setting was magical - an open-air site amidst beautiful mountains and forests. We took a small group, hastily assembled for the occasion, and played a long trancey set for two hours, accompanied in part by Rob Rayle and later Randy Cone on electronic keyboards. Randy had set up the ambient space in which we played with a huge white parachute as a canopy, with our Balinese umbrellas and temple flags to add to the ambience. It was one of our favourite performances ever in an unforgettable setting, and gave us a glimpse of what we could do in an extended experimental format.

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