image: Pein Lee/Sarawak Tourism Board
Having
witnessed the 15th edition this year, there is no arguing that RWMF
is a big success for the Sarawak Tourism Board. Since its fledgling start in
1997 this annual global event has soared its way to the Top 25 Best International
Festivals today, according to renowned magazine Songlines.
In
fact, I am rather surprised that they did not leverage on the 15th
anniversary to hype up their marketing efforts. Did you know that Heineken has
been the one and only beer partner from year one?
It
is indeed a joyous celebration of world ethnic music with a global audience and
the huge turnout each year bears testimony to its immense appeal. Attendees are
exposed to the traditions and cultures of various countries not only through the
presentations of the musicians during the concerts but also via personal
interaction during the daytime workshops on their music and dance.
What
makes RWMF stand out is the unique collaboration of its musicians in some of
their stage performances and workshops. They were truly communicating through
music.
image: Pein Lee/Sarawak Tourism Board
Visitors
were treated to an afternoon full of fun on Saturday, July 14th when the Dewan
Lagenda at Sarawak Cultural Village (SCV) was jam packed with festival goers
eager to learn the Bhangra and Bollywood dance at the Now You Can Dance Like the Stars workshop. Malaysia’s Diplomats of
Drum thumped their dhols and taught their dance moves.
Next,
the Theatre stage presented Angling their
Angklungs. This interactive workshop led by Narawi Rashidi featured the
bamboo instruments which are found throughout Malaysia and Indonesia.
The
bamboo tubes are carefully carved and cut by a master craftsman to produce
certain notes when the bamboo frame is shaken or tapped. Each Angklung produces
only a single note or chord, so several players must coordinate in order to
play a melody.
After
a demonstration by the pros, Angklungs were distributed to members of the
audience and Rashidi taught the participants how to play their Angklungs to
make sweet music.
The
Angklungs were soon replaced by another percussive instrument, the rare Txalaparta
which almost became extinct 60 years ago. The original instrument consisted of
several wooden beams struck vertically by sticks, always performed by two
musicians.
According
to Harkaitz Martinez de San Vicente of Oreka TX, its origin is undocumented,
but it’s commonly believed that apple cider makers in Spain’s Basque Country
used the wooden beams to press the apples, following a certain rhythm.
Today’s
new breeds of Basque musicians have not only reinvented the Txalaparta but have
also introduced new materials. Harkaitz and his fellow performer Mikel Ugarte
Azurmendi brought three versions to RWMF – wooden, stone and plastic. Although the
original Txalapartas were not tuned, the ones used now are tuned so that
performers can play alongside other musical instruments.
image: Veronica Ng
Here’s
the video Oreka Tx played in the background during their gig. The audience
lapped up the way the two musicians played - energetic, strong and very joyful,
evoking feelings of happiness just by watching them play. Again, it really felt
like they are communicating through their music.
Another
popular workshop featured the intriguing Balafon, played by the Diabate
brothers, Mamadou & Seydou. They played as one, truly communicating through
their music. The other instruments were the Kulintangan and Cak Lempong, played
by Rajwan Juni from Rythm of Borneo and then there was the Mouth Organ/Harmonica,
played by Conrad Molleson.
The
Breath of Fire workshop highlighted wind
instruments like flutes, alboka, madeira, daegeum and sogeum, played masterfully
by talented performers David Synak, Jean Michel Ducau, Raimundo Teixeira Neves
and Seongwon Kim.
The
Brass Instrument workshop, Metal In My
Mouth had Thiery Courdouzy on Saxophone, Sebastien Boyer on the Tuba and Barbaro
Garcia the Trumpet player from La Zikabilo teaching participants their
breathing and blowing techniques.
Then
the concert proper started at 7:30pm with a distinct Sarawak flavor of the Sape
and Warrior Dance, followed by a young band called Nading Rhapsody, winners of
this year’s talent contest. These guys fused traditional Iban, Bidayuh, Orang
Ulu and Malay rhythms with modern elements.
Palestinian
ensemble Le Trio Joubran delighted the audience with their contemporary Arabic
music interspersed with influences of flamenco, all played on three Ouds and a
ripping percussion beat.
image: Pein Lee/Sarawak Tourism Board
Definitely
the highlight of the night was the gig by the String Sisters. This female band
featured top folk violinist Annbjorg Lien of Norway, fiddler and vocalist
Mairead Ni Mhanonaig of legendary Irish band Altan, American fiddler Liz
Carroll of Cherish the Ladies fame, American fiddler Liz Knowles who plays for
Riverdance Scottish musician Catriona MacDonald of Blazin’ Fiddles and Vamm,
Swedish fiddler and vocalist Emma Harderlin of Garmarna and Triakel.
The
String Sisters, accompanied by a Scottish-Norwegian band that included James
MacKintosh, David Milligan, Conrad Ivitsky and Tore Bruvoll proceeded to play a
lively and captivating mix of contemporary folk music based on Irish,
Norwegian, Scottish and Swedish traditions.
Then
Rhythm of Borneo, last year’s talent search champions, rocked the festival with
its gong driven fusion of Borneo music combined with rock and jazz fusion.
Another
high point was French band La Zikabilo, led by Cuban singer and
multi-instrumentalist Bárbaro Teuntor Garcia playing a dynamite mix of Cuban
and Gypsy brass band music.
The
closing act was USA based Sarawak girl singer-songwriter Zee Avi. The local
celebrity presented a set of folk-pop songs accompanied by various native drums
and an electric sape performed by one of the American members of her band.
It
was the turn of percussion and global rhythms to dominate the last day of RWMF.
Pan-Asian fusion band HATA, powered by skillful
Korean musicians led by Lui Park, were joined by instrumentalists from
Azerbaijan, Turkey, Malaysia and Taiwan. They combined instrumental virtuosity
with inspired fusion pieces.
For
me as a Malaysian, watching Samuel Dass and Prakash perform Indian classical
music on sitar and tabla in tandem with the other multi-talented musicians was
inspiring. The fusion they produced from their impromptu interplay of their
traditional musical instruments was awesome and for a brief spell the world was
indeed one as music transcended race, religion, color, culture and boundaries.
Expectedly,
Mamadou Diabate was one of the highlights of the evening. They were all about
color, vibrancy and the joy of life, the way only West Africans can celebrate
life itself.
The
balafons are like a big xylophone and their performance were very hypnotic. You
just can't tear your eyes away while they are playing, as their precision and hand-eye
coordination is just mesmerizing.
The
last gig was by UK-based Kanda Bongo Man. This charismatic singer created one
of the signatures of modern dance from Congo known as Kwasa Kwasa and his super
agile hip-swinging female dancers showed the audience that dancing means it’s
time for some good fun.
The
legendary group jam at the end of the festival did produce the expected
fireworks, but those of us staying at One Santubong Hotel were privileged to an
after party started by Mamadou and Seydou with various other musicians joining
in that lasted till the wee hours. Man, did we rumble in the jungle!
The
only glitch to RWMF 2012 was the traffic jam to SCV, especially on the second
night when the gridlock was about five kilometers long. Despite ample shuttles
to and fro the festival site, picking up people from different parts of the
city, the locals still preferred to use their own cars, and park on BOTH sides
of the road, causing a nasty jam.
More
effort should be put into persuading Kuching folks to use public transport next
year, perhaps introducing a “No car zone” and incorporating shuttle fares in
the ticket price.
In
all fairness the organizers did their best to ease the congestion to SCV, and
perhaps the traffic snarl is the trade off for success. Speaking of success, it
is inevitable that a long running music festival will begin losing steam after a
number of years. Kudos to Sarawak Tourism Board for being proactive and
activating the reinvention by bringing back Artistic Director Yeoh Jun Lin to
breathe an air of freshness into RWMF.
Frigglive.com
thanks our generous hosts - Dato Rashid Khan, Sarawak Tourism Board, the
organizers, musicians, performers, crew, volunteers and security of Rainforest
World Music Festival 2012, Emcee extraordinaire Hendrick Foh, Sound Maestro Niall Macaulay Photomeister Pein Lee, Ms Angelina Bateman, Ms Pauline Lim, Ms Catharina
Tipong, Mr Mark Justin Sylvester and Mr. Nazrieman Bujang of STB, the staff and
volunteers at the RWMF media center, Santubong Cultural Village, Heineken, Sarawak
Forestry, Mr Oswald Braken Tisen, Ms Elaine Tan, Mr Michael Tsan, our always bubbly guide Mr Eric Yap, Diethelm
Travel, and all the wonderful people of Sarawak who have now become our friends.
Kudos
also to everyone who had made RWMF 2012 the most talked about weekend around the
globe.
