Jakarta Fans, Jason Mraz Is Yours This Week

Katrin Figge

After a debut performance at the Jakarta International Java Jazz Festival in 2009 and a show last November in Bali, American singer-songwriter Jason Mraz will stop in Indonesia again on Friday, much to the delight of his fans in Jakarta who felt like they missed out a couple of months ago.

The concert in Jakarta is part of Mraz’s Asian tour to promote his new album, “Love Is a Four Letter Word,” according to music promoters Asia Live, BlackRock Entertainment and Marygops Studios. The singer will celebrate his 35th birthday one day after the show.

Mraz grew up in Virginia and first became involved with music by performing in school musicals. He cites singer-songwriter Dave Matthews as one of his biggest influences.

“Through Matthews, I started listening to jazz because suddenly there was a saxophone in my life,” Mraz once said in an interview with the Los Angeles Daily News. “I really love writing lyrics. I love words and internal rhymes. I think of lyrics as a very rhythmic instrument and to twist a message around in there is fun. That’s where I really get the most pleasure.”

After graduating from high school, Mraz moved to New York, where he enrolled at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy. But he soon dropped out when he discovered his love for playing the guitar. Instead of sitting in classrooms, he spent his days in Central Park, playing, busking and refining his skills.

Mraz then continued his journey to San Diego, where his talent soon earned him a weekly gig at Java Joe’s, a coffeehouse that previously kick-started the career of songstress Jewel.

It didn’t take long for him to gain a loyal fan base, and word spread about the young man who combined witty lyrics with pleasant music up to a point where his shows were sold out one-and-a-half years in advance.

In 2001, he released the acoustic live album “Live at Java Joe’s,” and a year after that he was signed by record company Elektra Records.

Mraz’ first full-length studio album, “Waiting for My Rocket to Come” (2002), put him in the spotlight as an up-and-coming force in music, featuring hit singles “The Remedy (I Won’t Worry)” and “You and I Both.”

Despite this success, it was the feel-good, easygoing song “I’m Yours” on his album “We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things.” (2008) that marked his transition from regular artist to a superstar. That album also featured “Lucky,” a duet with Colbie Caillat, which became another chart-topper and earned Mraz and Caillat a Grammy for best pop collaboration with vocals in 2010.

The concert album, “Jason Mraz’s Beautiful Mess — Live on Earth,” was released in 2009, followed by his fourth studio album, “Love Is a Four Letter Word,” in 2012, which continues his successful run of extremely popular music.

Caroline Sullivan of the Guardian in Britain wrote that the album “is pure, undemanding pleasure: his voice has a natural affinity with elegant lounge-jazz and introspective folk-blues, as well as the delicately hewn soft rock that made his name.”

Despite having conquered the music world, Mraz has retained a reputation of being low-key and humble.

He once said in an interview with People magazine that he wasn’t interested in leading the wild and crazy life of a rock star. Instead, he said: “My dream is to live in a house by the sea with a cat.”
Jason Mraz : Love Is a Four Letter Word

FridayLapangan D Senayan, Gelora Bung KarnoSouth JakartaTel. 021 828 2137Tickets from Rp 420,000 ($45)