images by Veronica Ng
What
do Malaysians do at a music festival in Penang? Why they gorge themselves on
freshly barbequed satay and crispy succulent fried chicken and down it with
cool coconut juice, of course. Who can blame them? This is after all
Penang, home of delicious street fare.
Speaking
of Penang, The Penang World Music Festival stormed back after a 3 year break bigger
and better than ever before with a diverse genre of musical mélange of
international and local musicians amidst the lush beauty of nature at Quarry
Park, Penang Botanic Gardens.
The
lineup featured musicians from 12 groups from all over the world including Turkey,
Iran, Portugal, Philippines, West Africa and of course homegrown Malaysian
talent.
On
the first day of the festival on March 30th, Turkish band the Alp
Bora Quartet played the music of Anatolia. Their music was indeed serene, a great
warm up for what was in store for us.
The
2nd group Oratnitza featured a mixed genre of Bulgarian, dubstep,
drum ‘n’ bass and Aboriginal music. The heart of their music is the hypnotic drone
of not one but two didgeridoo (played by the same guy, mind you) interwoven
with the orthodox chanting of classical Bulgarian Mother and Daughter female
singers. Oratnitza is currently rocking the Bulgarian youth.
Next
act up was world-jazz fusion group Rimba, an 8 piece band from Sabah that
cranked up the crowd with a mix of modern instruments intertwined with
traditional ones. Their traditional Sumazau dance finally broke the ice and got
us flapping like giant birds too.
Picking
up the cue and upping the ante, Philippine ethnic rock band Kalayo was fronted
by an energetic woman who owned the stage with her frenetic style and proved to
be the highlight of day 1. Kalayo was definitely a hit with the crowd.
Dagaya
from Japan proved to be the most stunning audiovisual experience of the night as
their members were dressed in traditional gear while thumping beats on their
Taiko Drums.
Their
exact precision, expert timing and experience enabled each band member to perform
a lengthy drum solo, accompanied by the soulful melody of the Japanese Shakuhachi
(flute). The frenzied finale consisted of an outstanding synchronized drumming interwoven
with skillful plucking of the Shamisen (stringed Japanese instrument).
Mu
from Portugal featured the element of dance prominently in their performance,
with vocalist and dancer Helena Madeira fronting. We travelled to several
different cultures across traditional/fusion sounds as the band members played
various truly unusual instruments from all over the world including India,
Switzerland, Egypt, Brazil, Morocco and Australia.
For
the grand finale of day one we were lucky enough to see MU’s skillful players
on both the Bulbul Tarang, (stringed North Indian instrument) and the seldom-heard
folk instrument Hurdy Gurdy, a medieval stringed instrument played by turning a
rosined wheel with a crank and depressing keys connected to tangents on the
strings.
A
fitting end indeed, and an excellent appetizer to whet our anticipation for the
next day. My only grouse was the inexplicable absence of a music journalist’s
staple food during festivals - beer. Yup, no beer on sale.
Things
were looking up on day two as the packed audience appeared to be ready to party
as soon as Nasout from Iran took to the stage. Could this have any connection
with the fact that the organizers thankfully rectified the absence of beer? Your
guess is as good as mine.
Nasout
is led by a big, quiet bespectacled hat wearing gentleman with a chest-length
grizzly beard. Talk about appearances being deceptive, He displayed incredible
talent on the metal ringed Daf, one of the most ancient frame drums in Asia,
creating both a drumming and tambourine effect.
As
a Persian instrument in 20th century, it is considered a Sufi instrument to be
played during the Zikr ceremony. With the haunting Tulum, an inflatable Turkish
bagpipe, Nasout proved a great start.
KimiDjabaté
from Guinea-Bissau in West Africa came minus 3 members of his band due to an
immigration problem. As is the nature of musicians, the show went on as musicians
from Kalayo, Rimba and Mu graciously helped Kimi with his performance. Minus
his shirt, Kimi played his Xylophone and thumped on drums churning out beautifully
groovy music to sway to.
By
now familiar to Malaysians, Andean Band Inka Marka were togged out in their
trademark colorful robes and straw hats, their music imbued with the spirit of
their forefathers and tinged with the sweeping chimes of the pan flute.
Malaysia’s
very own multiple award winning 8 piece band Akasha soon had the crowd eating
out of their hands with their upbeat fusion of classical Indian, Malay, Chinese
and just about everything else imaginable, all played at a seemingly psychotic
pace led by Sitar Maestro Kumar Karthigesu.
Guitarist
and composer Jamie Wilson cheekily quipped, “We’re the only band listed in the Guinness
book of records where each band member is sitting. We have no visual appeal”.
Sitting
they may be, but that didn’t stop these superbly talented boys from scatting, careening
and slaloming from Jazz to Country to Irish to Malay to Indian and Latin, switching
from orthodox to classical to blues and rock, moving seamlessly as one explosive
soundbite powered by Greg Henderson’s thumping acoustic bass.
Imagine
(yes, pun intended) the sitar transitioning into Michael Jackson’s ‘Beat It’ whipping
the crowd into a frenzy, only to have Akasha flirt with us by switching to a table
powered rendition of Deep Purple’s ‘Smoke on the Water’. Without a doubt, Akasha
were the stars of the night, ending with chants of ‘we want more’ and a queue at their merchandise and CD stall.
Predictably,
the night then took a dip when Brazilian act Dendê and Band sadly lacked the musical
chops to connect with the crowd, despite Dende making a valiant effort to
mingle with the audience and urging them to sing and dance along with him.
Indonesian
8 piece band Saharadja fared slightly better with their blend of ethnic
Balinese and operatic rock. They also played a diverse range of instruments
including the trumpet, electric violin, didgeridoo, sitar, djembe, sarod,
darabuka, Irish tin whistle, congas, fretless bass, drums and a large
assortment of percussion instruments, and Australian violinist Helga Sedli proved
to be not only a great performer but also easy on the eyes, we still failed
to regain our musical high.
The
festival’s finale was a jam session of all 12 bands, with musicians and their traditional
instruments, in their traditional clothes, jamming in a joyful celebration of
life, of music and of new friendships formed.
Frigglive
has attended countless music festivals over the years, and it must be said that
the much awaited return of the Penang World Music Festival 2013 was a huge
success. This should come as no surprise as it was managed by event management consultant
UCSI Communications Sdn Bhd, a company helmed by Gracie Geikie where Artistic Director Amir Yussuf and her dedicated
team are renowned for their meticulous attention to detail.
