The smile that is across his solos, the sometimes pugilistic attack, the open-heartedness, never afraid to play pretty but also never afraid to drop a dissonance, sweet-and-sour ….
— John Hardaker, Australian Jazz.net
One of ishs’s greatest strengths is his ability to improvise his way around the kind of harmonic intricacies …
— Mandy Stefanakis, Loud Mouth
With over ten albums/EPs bearing his name, Indonesia-born ade ishs celebrates stylistic diversity as reflected in his eclectic repertoire. His music has been described as “strong … and beautiful” (Ivan Lloyd, ABC Jazz, November 2013), “very uplifting” (Jazzwise, UK, March 2015), and “incredibly evocative” (Loudmouth, Australia, May 2021). More recently, “the pianist radiates as he stretches along the harmonic progressions” (Jazz and Beyond, Australia, July 2021) and “ishs’s compositions stand out as well-constructed and tuneful” (Dingo Australian Jazz Journal, October 2021).
After living his formative years in Indonesia, ade migrated to Melbourne, Australia. He has performed with Dung Nguyen (Way Out West — Australia), Geoff Kluke (Australia), Daigo Nakai (Germany), Benny Likumahuwa (Indonesia), Candra Malik (Indonesia), Reyharp (Britain), Zamil Idris (Malaysia), and many other musicians in Australia and Indonesia of various genres.
He has been invited to play at such prestigious festivals as Melbourne International Jazz Festival, Ubud Village Jazz Festival, Wangaratta Festival of Jazz & Blues, and St Kilda Festival. He also served as the musical director of Celebration of Indonesia 2017, a musical depicting various Eastern Indonesian cultures in the forms of music, dance, and drama showcased to a packed crowd at the Melbourne Town Hall. In 2017–2021, Melbourne’s Radio 3ZZZ Indonesian program had him as a regular guest music expert.
Since mid-2021, ade now lives in the Australian island state of Tasmania’s north-western rural area.
ade ishs is one of the most engaging live jazz performers I have encountered. There is no distance between ade and his audience. Everyone is invited in and embraced by the charm of his personality, the accessibility and richness of his music and the fluidity of his improvisation which seems to respond not only to what is happening in ade’s mind and heart but to what is happening in the audience’s heart.
— Simon Williams, Inner FM Melbourne
… I have become a great admirer of his approach and desire to succeed as a contemporary jazz pianist.
— Steve Sedergreen