David Foster and friends wow festival-goers
JAKARTA - Canadian-born composer and producer David Foster jazzed up the 12th Jakarta International Java Jazz Festival on Saturday and Sunday.
The hall was packed when Foster greeted the audience as he entered the stage for his special show on Saturday: “It's so nice to be back at the Java Jazz!”
Foster kicked off the concert with the powerful 'Winter Games' composition. He was warm-hearted and threw a lot of jokes throughout the show, giving the concert a lively and intimate touch.
Foster later introduced Dutch jazz singer Berget Lewis, who amazed the audience with her powerful voice and brought to life Foster's familiar songs, including Toni Braxton's "Unbreak My Heart”, Chaka Khan's “Through the Fire” and Jennifer Hudson's “And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going”, which was taken from the motion picture adaptation of the Broadway musical Dreamgirls.
Sitting behind a grand piano, Foster played some of his most popular songs, such as “Glory of Love”, “Hard to Say I'm Sorry” and “Love Theme from St. Elmo's Fire”.
Indonesian singer Lea Simanjuntak entertained the audience afterward with challenging high-pitched songs including Celine Dion's “The Power of Love”, Whitney Houston's “I Have Nothing”, which was immediately followed by “I Will Always Love You”, a soundtrack from the popular 1992 film The Bodyguard. Wearing a glittery silver dress, Lea wowed the entire hall with her ability to hit the high-notes perfectly.
Grammy-winning trumpeter Chris Botti later took to the stage as a surprise and was welcomed with a big cheer from the crowd. He played a full version of “Love Theme from St. Elmo's Fire”.
American R&B artist Eric Benét came up next, singing a few of Foster's sing-along songs, including All-4-One's “I Swear”, Peter Cetera's “Glory of Love” and Earth, Wind, and Fire's “After the Love Has Gone”. Benét also sang his own “The Last Time”, written by himself in collaboration with David Foster and Foster's daughter Amy.
Berget Lewis then came back on stage, hitting the beat with Cheryl Lynn's famous disco song “Got to Be Real”, which had the crowd dancing, followed by Benét, who wrapped up the night with Al Jarreau’s upbeat songs “Mornin'” and “Georgy Porgy”.
