RWMF Round-Up
With members of Layatharanga & Debu after the "Rhythm Masters" workshopRWMF Day 3 (11 July)
The day started out pretty warm and sunny. I managed to attend all three workshops on the final day of RWMF. The first was called “Konnakol” (the Indian art of vocal percussion), and it was out of this world!
This was the one workshop that actually felt like a workshop because the audience was taken through a step-by-step introduction to the art of konnakol by members of Layatharanga. We got to “sing” along to the basic syllables that make up the beat in konnakol i.e. tha, dhi, thom and nam. They also taught us how to count beats using claps and our fingers, which we all had fun trying out.
The Musafir Gypsies of Rajasthan were also present to give us a taste of North Indian percussions -- with a brilliant flurry of castanets to boot! The castanet player had a beautiful way of getting lost in the beats he was click-clacking out on the diminutive instrument.
It was onto the “Mondial Blues” workshop next with members of Watussi, Bakih, De Temps Antan (Canada), Debu, Kimura-Ono Duo (Japan), Reelroad'b (Russia), Novalima (Peru) and Farafina. What we got to hear was a perky mix of blues tunes from around the world ... Yes, quite a paradox: chirpy blues music!
Hendri Lamiri from Indonesian group, Debu, stole the show with his violin solo during the workshop. As workshop leader, Oscar Jimenez from Watussi said: he's the Jimi Hendrix of violinists.
The workshop ended with all the musicians jamming to one of my favourite Afro-Cuban songs: Chan Chan. I loved the way that they all made the song their own, right down to the unique sounds of the traditional Japanese shamisen!
It was on to more percussions next at the last workshop for the day. It was a toss up between "Percussionistas" and "Rhythm Masters", but the latter won because it featured members of Layatharanga. I'm biased, what can I say? ;)
Featuring members of Bakih, Bisserov Sisters, Watussi, Debu, Farafina, Layatharanga, Minuit Guibolles, Shanbehzadeh Ensemble and Yerboli (China), the workshop was held in the Iban Longhouse, and the percussive beats reverberated throughout the entire structure!
The clouds started rolling in towards the evening and it began to rain just as the first band took to the stage. Local band Pingasan'K did us proud with their rousing performance that set the mood for the rest of the night.
For me, the highlight of the final night's performances was definitely the Musafir Gypsies of Rajasthan who brought along a couple of dancers. The ladies thrilled the crowd with a display of extreme flexibility (bending over backwards to pick up a ring with each eyelid!) and balance (dancing on the edge of a sword and on broken glass).
The rain caused some of the electrical equipment to malfunction. As a result, those of us who had taken shelter in the media hut were asked to make way for the back-up equipment to be set up. Thankfully, I had brought my raincoat along, so my friend and I trudged our way over to the food tent, trying not to get too soaked in the process.
We spent the rest of the night watching the performances on the projector screen in the food tent as the rain refused to let up, and I wasn’t too keen on joining the crowd in the mud. I was cold and wet, and I had a trans-continental flight to catch the next day, so I wasn’t too keen on sticking around till the finale. We left just before midnight and caught the shuttle bus back to town.
Again?
Did I enjoy myself at the RWMF? Yes.
Would I go for next year’s festival? Maybe not.
Why? Well, if they continue to raise the ticket prices, I won’t be able to afford it (I met a Brit-living-in-Sarawak who told me that tickets for the first festival were only RM30!). Paying close to RM1,000 for this year’s festival (tickets alone were RM300!) already put a sizeable dent in my finances.
The other thing that put me off was the mud. It was EVERYWHERE! The ground got all mucked up when it rained and, although the large congregation of mud-bunnies there will tell you that it’s all in the name of fun, I’m just not into it getting covered in goop. I’d rather enjoy the music minus the gunk.
In terms of the band line-up, some were a hit with me, while I wasn’t really too crazy about some others. But that’s subjective. It would have been nice to have had a bigger Malaysian presence in the line-up – there were only two bands from Sarawak this year: Bakih and Pingasan’K. I mean, shouldn’t we be using the festival as a platform to promote Malaysian music to the world?
Maybe I’ll go to the Miri Jazz Festival next year … Just to experience something different, and mud-free.
The day started out pretty warm and sunny. I managed to attend all three workshops on the final day of RWMF. The first was called “Konnakol” (the Indian art of vocal percussion), and it was out of this world!
This was the one workshop that actually felt like a workshop because the audience was taken through a step-by-step introduction to the art of konnakol by members of Layatharanga. We got to “sing” along to the basic syllables that make up the beat in konnakol i.e. tha, dhi, thom and nam. They also taught us how to count beats using claps and our fingers, which we all had fun trying out.
The Musafir Gypsies of Rajasthan were also present to give us a taste of North Indian percussions -- with a brilliant flurry of castanets to boot! The castanet player had a beautiful way of getting lost in the beats he was click-clacking out on the diminutive instrument.
It was onto the “Mondial Blues” workshop next with members of Watussi, Bakih, De Temps Antan (Canada), Debu, Kimura-Ono Duo (Japan), Reelroad'b (Russia), Novalima (Peru) and Farafina. What we got to hear was a perky mix of blues tunes from around the world ... Yes, quite a paradox: chirpy blues music!
Hendri Lamiri from Indonesian group, Debu, stole the show with his violin solo during the workshop. As workshop leader, Oscar Jimenez from Watussi said: he's the Jimi Hendrix of violinists.
The workshop ended with all the musicians jamming to one of my favourite Afro-Cuban songs: Chan Chan. I loved the way that they all made the song their own, right down to the unique sounds of the traditional Japanese shamisen!
It was on to more percussions next at the last workshop for the day. It was a toss up between "Percussionistas" and "Rhythm Masters", but the latter won because it featured members of Layatharanga. I'm biased, what can I say? ;)
Featuring members of Bakih, Bisserov Sisters, Watussi, Debu, Farafina, Layatharanga, Minuit Guibolles, Shanbehzadeh Ensemble and Yerboli (China), the workshop was held in the Iban Longhouse, and the percussive beats reverberated throughout the entire structure!
The clouds started rolling in towards the evening and it began to rain just as the first band took to the stage. Local band Pingasan'K did us proud with their rousing performance that set the mood for the rest of the night.
For me, the highlight of the final night's performances was definitely the Musafir Gypsies of Rajasthan who brought along a couple of dancers. The ladies thrilled the crowd with a display of extreme flexibility (bending over backwards to pick up a ring with each eyelid!) and balance (dancing on the edge of a sword and on broken glass).
The rain caused some of the electrical equipment to malfunction. As a result, those of us who had taken shelter in the media hut were asked to make way for the back-up equipment to be set up. Thankfully, I had brought my raincoat along, so my friend and I trudged our way over to the food tent, trying not to get too soaked in the process.
We spent the rest of the night watching the performances on the projector screen in the food tent as the rain refused to let up, and I wasn’t too keen on joining the crowd in the mud. I was cold and wet, and I had a trans-continental flight to catch the next day, so I wasn’t too keen on sticking around till the finale. We left just before midnight and caught the shuttle bus back to town.
Again?
Did I enjoy myself at the RWMF? Yes.
Would I go for next year’s festival? Maybe not.
Why? Well, if they continue to raise the ticket prices, I won’t be able to afford it (I met a Brit-living-in-Sarawak who told me that tickets for the first festival were only RM30!). Paying close to RM1,000 for this year’s festival (tickets alone were RM300!) already put a sizeable dent in my finances.
The other thing that put me off was the mud. It was EVERYWHERE! The ground got all mucked up when it rained and, although the large congregation of mud-bunnies there will tell you that it’s all in the name of fun, I’m just not into it getting covered in goop. I’d rather enjoy the music minus the gunk.
In terms of the band line-up, some were a hit with me, while I wasn’t really too crazy about some others. But that’s subjective. It would have been nice to have had a bigger Malaysian presence in the line-up – there were only two bands from Sarawak this year: Bakih and Pingasan’K. I mean, shouldn’t we be using the festival as a platform to promote Malaysian music to the world?
Maybe I’ll go to the Miri Jazz Festival next year … Just to experience something different, and mud-free.
