OT: Origins of the title JAM KARET

["Rick Walker \(loop.pool\)" <GLOBAL@cruzio.com>]

Alex Stahl wrote about the band Djam Karet (the indonesian proper 
spelling).

Djam Karet means 'time is rubber' and refers to the elastic quality of time
when you live in the tropics.

The first time I heard it, I was touring as a dancer in the first American
theatre troupe to perform in Bali, Indonesia.   I had to meet a Balinese 
man
in the market of
Denpassar so that he could help me get my visa extended and we agreed to
meet at
noon in the market place.  My visa was to run out the next day, I was low 
on
money and Denpassar was pretty far from Ubud where I was staying so I had
some major anxiety when he failed to appear at noon, and then one , two
three and finally four o'clock.  At five o'clock he appeared and I was
pretty pissed off and said
"where the hell have you been?  We agreed to meet here at noon".

    He just shrugged his shoulders, giggled guilessly and said
"Djam Karet".   It diffused the situation (my uptightness at least) and I
got my
visa extended but I was really taken with the whole concept and so in
1989 we wrote a tune in my world fusion band, Worlds Collide called Jam
Karet (a pun on jamming).

For the intro to the tune I had our bassist, Ernie Provencher (who I miss
dearly) play long rubbery glissandos on the track.  I turned off the volume
of the original tracks (my brother Bill playing a  taqsim (unmetered
improvisatioin) on a gamelan-esque metallaphone patch on his guitar
synthesizer so that Ernie's parts were completely random.  We went on to do
a long piece with an ersatz-ketchak (or monkey chant) that I multitracked 
my
own vocals over.  I'm rather proud of that piece of music.  I don't think 
it
sounds like anything out at the time (or maybe even since).

Anyway,  Max Valentino heard that story years ago and also loved the 
concept
and has done a really cool solo bass track on his new CD borrowing the 
title
and using the same Balines Pelog scale with prepared Bass (alligator clips
and such).  Check it out.

    Our CD  "Everything's Changing in the Global Village" is long out of
print but I will happily burn a copy and supply artwork for the CD if 
anyone
is interested
in hearing it for $15 (shipping included).  We go all over the planet and
shamelessly fuse many different styles (with some degree of knowledge of 
the
traditional aspects of the music I might add for all you purists out 
there).
With the exception of the
slightly dated new agey opening track (New Age radio were the only stations
playing creative instrumental music at the time and it was the last time I
ever make a decision based on purely commercial considerations for the rest
of my life, thank god), the record holds up pretty well I think.   I'm 
still
proud of it.


If anyone is interested,
just send a check or money order to

Rick Walker
412 Darwin Street
Santa Cruz, California
95062-2629