Post by anastasia on Mar 12, 2015 9:38:25 GMT 7
Rainforest World Music Festival 2015 @ Sarawak Cultural Village, Santubong, Kuching, Sarawak (7 - 9/8/15)
The Rainforest World Music Festival is a unique festival that brings together renowned world musicians from all continents and indigenous musicians from the interiors of the mythical island of Borneo.
Its formula of three afternoons of interactive and educational workshops, ethno-musical lectures, jamming sessions and mini concerts, followed by evening performances on the main stage has proven to be a hit with the audience, who come from near and far.
The festival site is set up with a variety of food and drink stalls, an arts and crafts area as well as a counter for festival memorabilia, Sarawak souvenirs and CDs by the performing artists, thus contributing to a fun filled, wholesome festival experience for all. It is World Music festival extraordinaire set against the magnificent backdrop of the legendary Mt. Santubong.
The Rainforest World Music Festival, a not-to-be-missed occasion, guarantees a smashing time in the heart of the Borneo Jungle.
Artistes Line Up:
1Drum.org - Malaysia
Join 1Drum.org for a wonderful celebration of rhythm and spontaneous percussive beats; where everyone, young and old are invited to participate in a musical experience that is second to none. We’ll provide drums of all shapes and sizes for you to create beats that will rock the jungle! 1Drum Circle is a great way to meet like-minded people and an opportunity to reconnect with your inner rhythm.
This is your stage. Lets sing & dance, drum & chant to celebrate life thru music. Bring along your music instruments, dancing shoes, poi toys or your voice and join us. No drumming experience necessary! Drums will be provided for 100 pax per session.
Drum, Cause You Can!
www.1drum.org/
Alaverdi - Georgia
Georgian folk ensemble ALAVERDI was founded in December, 2014. Consisting of four members, the ensemble is specialized in authentic Georgian traditional folk music. Alaverdi members are also members of ethno jazz band Iriao, and independently they work as conductors and leaders in different male folk choirs.
The ensemble repertoire includes traditional musical masterpieces and church chants from different regions of Georgia, starting from the very east to the west, and differs significantly according to its complication. Besides, the ensemble performs on the most traditional folk instruments including string, wind and percussion instruments.
In general, Georgian traditional music is one of the most exceptional cultural treasuries. Unique polyphonic complication and high level musical thinking can be distinctly met in different regions of the country. They completely differ from each other and together form a world significance cultural pattern, which has also been recognized by UNESCO, in 2001, as a masterpiece of oral immaterial cultural heritage.
The word Alaverdi is a purely Georgian word and represents the highest ancient cathedral in Georgia. It dominates the surrounding landscape in a fertile river valley against the backdrop of the Caucasus Mountains.
Ensemble Members
Nugzar Kavtaradze – Vocals, traditional instruments
Bidzina Murgulia – Vocals
George Abashidze – Vocals
Mikheil Javakhishvili – Vocals
Bargou 08 - Tunisia
A musical experience in the heart of the mountains!
BARGOU 08 is born of an adventure through the almost forgotten popular musical landscapes of the north west of Tunisia, a region isolated from the rest of the country between the mountains and the Algerian border. The singer Nidhal Yahyaoui and the music producer Sofyann Ben Youssef dive into this music on the edge of marginalization and perpetuate this identity embedded within the lyrics, the melodies and the dance with generosity. An invitation to a trance that balances the spirits and lightens up the hearts, BARGOU 08 has become a front, Front Musical Populaire!
Band Members
Nidhal Yahyaoui - Vocals & Wtar
Lassaad Boughalmi - Gasba & Zokra
Imed Rezgui - Bendir
Benjamin Chaval - Drums
Sofyann Ben Youssef - Keyboards
tunisianmusicexport.org/
www.facebook.com/Bargou08
Culture Shot aka La La Li La Tam Pong - Penang, Malaysia
Imagine the melancholic sounds of an Er-hu, the strumming of a Lang Tin Tang, the melodic rhythm of a Rebana coupled with gongs, and the interlocking beats of a Gendang with a splash of Chinese cymbals. Now put all these instruments together and what you end up with is an amalgamation of ethnic sonorities, literally a melting pot of cultures. La La Li La Tam Pong is made up of 6 unique individuals:
Ang Eng Bok – main vocal, composer, Lang Ting Tang (Hokkien Yue Qing) player
M.Sivasilan- Gendang player, backing vocal
Tan Yean Chang – Er Hu Player, backing vocal
Kasiman bin Basman- Rebana player, backing vocal
Clarence Ewe -Chinese Aux percussions, backing vocal
Rebby Sim – Aux percussions , backing vocal
Though, from different races and musical training they are united by their love for music and culture. Music that’s playful in nature as the name suggests and as they put it, “with every song we try our best to serve to you with a taste of Penang” with songs closely tied to old Hokkien songs and a respective traditional tune.
www.facebook.com/cultureshot
Driss El Maloumi - Morocco
Born in 1970 in Agadir, Morocco, Driss El Maloumi is an artist who is characterized by his virtuosity and talent.
After achieving a degree in Arabic literature at the University Ibn Zuhr Agadir in 1993 and studying through a memory, a philosophical approach to music related to the form and substance in the artistic discourse, he followed a Arabic and Western classical music training. He won awardslike the First Prize in succession by the Oud, the First Prize of Development and the Award of Honorat the National Review Oud the National Conservatory of Music Rabat in 1992, 1993 and 1994.
His works traveling between different colors of contemporary music and Arabic heritage. He also finds his inspiration thanks to meeting with international artists such Jordi Saval& all Hesperion XXI (Spain), Montserrat Figueiras, with whom he collaborated on several albums, Pierre Hamon (France), KeyvanChemirani (Iran), Françoise Atlan (France), Omar Bashir (Iraq), Carlo Rizzo (Italy) and Alla (Algeria) in old, traditional or classical music and Paolo Fresu (Italy) Claude Tchamitchian (Armenia), the trio Paftrio (Italy) and Maureta Xavi (Spain) in jazz.
Driss wrote and participated in the composition of music for several shows such as Isabel “I” (musical director Jordi Saval), Love Wizard of Manuel de Falla (director: Antoine Bourseiller) Caravan Moon (Direction Conductor: Gerard Kurdjian) and Moon Bird (Director: Antoine Bourseiller) or film music as “La Source des Femmes” (Director: Radu Miahileanu).
Driss El Maloumi also plays along side poets such as Abdelatif Laâbi (Morocco) and Adonis (Syria).
He directed the jazz album « Tawada » with French artist Alban Darche in 2000. He also participated in acclaimed recordings album “Noches” Francoise Atlan in 1998 and in the recording of Laurent Voulzy’s “Lys & Love” (2011).
In 2005, he released his first album under his name called “L’Ame dansée” (Buda Musique) in duo with percussionist Lahoucine Baquir.
Everywhere the press has praised the quality, purity and delicacy of hisplaying and his music, callingit a “magician of Oud”.
By the end of 2013 he released the album “Makan” which is performed in a trio with two percussionists, Said El Maloumi & Lahoucine Baquir.
drisselmaloumi.org/
contrejour.com/
Enkh Jargal Dandarvaanchig (EPI) - Mongolia
Epi was born 1968 in Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia). He grew up in a little village near the russian border. He studied at Music-Conservatorium of Ulaanbaatar from 1990 – 1992 and his teacher was the most known and best Moorin Hoor (Horsefiddle) player in Mongolia.
During his studies Epi already played in a Moorin Hoor quintet also in the Mongolian television to keep traditional Mongolian music traditions alive. Because of his familiar backround Epi is deeply rooted into the traditional and nomadic way of life that his people live in Mongolia. (Epis father went into the steppe to raise horses, where Epi also lost his heart). In 1993 Epi went to Germany for the first time. He went there with Altain Orgil. During this first visit Epi and Rüdiger Oppermann met for the first time. Together with Rüdiger Oppermann Epi played not only in Germany but also in a lot of other european countries and the USA. The last huge Concerts brought Epi to the Expo 2002 in madrid, Gran Canaria and Paris… and a lot more…
Besides Epi is a beloved guest musician and/or singer in different music projects: together with Peter Gantzmann he celebrates the Mongolian Hip-Hop, in a Duo Rainer Granzin he enjoys showing his jazzy side. That way he was able to prove his ability to improvise in a world of modern music. His interpretation of the Mongolian folk music lets him step between two worlds and wherefore his solo CD is named “Hoirr Öngö” (between two worlds). Epi was a guest musician on different CD studio recordings. Epi the miracle voice from Mongolia is a wanderer between Cultures
With his play on the Moorin Hoor and the perfection of his Choomie singing Epis loves to melt his traditional roots with the modern and western cultured music in a brilliant improvisation.
After some tacts and tones Epi offers the smell and the beauty of the Mongolian steppe to the ears and the eyes of the audience. Epi lives in Karlsruhe (Germany) and is travelling a lot to share his passion (music) with the audience of Europe and the whole world.
Anyone who knows the funny, lovely, cheerfull way Epi is, knows that he regards also the small things in life and those obviously small things can take great effects on happy living.
www.facebook.com/enkhjargal.dandarvaanchig
Harubee - Maldives
Harubee is 16 young men exploding with energy.
Boduberu music evolved from the 11th century, brought in from the sailors traveling from parts of Africa.
It is the relief found in dance for the common people.
The songs are about everyday life, often heavy with satire.
The drumming and dancing are frenetic, crescendo-ing into immense passionate climaxes.
Band Members
Hassan Uswathullah
Mohamed Shifau
Mohamed Naushad
Ibrahim Mamdhooh
Adam Shinan
Ali Shahurathullah
Ahmed Shiham
www.harubee.com/
www.facebook.com/HarubeeBoduberu
Kapela Maliszów - Poland
Kapela Maliszów is a family band started and led by multi-instrumentalist Jan Mailsz.
The band is inspired by the traditional music of Beskid Niski and Pogorze, in South Poland.
Folk songs and dance music from Gorlice county is traditionally played with a violin, a basolia (a folk instrument similar to a cello) and a drum in, an archaic way with a great amount of freedom, joy and improvisation, not only reconstruction of old melodies.
The violin owned by the band leader used to belong to his father Jozef, who in the thirties of the 20th century played at wedding parties. Jan also inherited a drum made by his father in the fifties. The drum is still used by the band.
They call this music “Father’s notes”.
In the past Jan Malisz used to play for many years in a few local folk bands (e.g. Pogorzanie from Gorlice) and learned a lot of melodies from his older colleagues.
In 2013 they won “Stara Tradycja” (Old Tradition) Competition at “Mazurkas of the World” Festival in Warsaw.
In 2014 they took 2nd place at “Nowa Tradycja” (“New Tradition” Festival, organised by Polish Radio).In the same competition Kacper Malisz (15 years old, violin, cello, nyckelharpa) won a special prize “Golden Violin” for the best musician in the festival (!)
They’ve also taken 1st place at “Mikołajki Folkowe” 2014 Festival in Lublin . These two are the most important folk competitions in Poland.
Last year, Kapela Maliszów performed for the president of Poland Bronisław Komorowski.
Their music was posted on CDs which contained top polish musicians to promote Poland on WOMEX in 2013 and in 2014.
Band Members
Edyta Marć
Zuzanna Malisz
Jan Malisz
Kacper Malisz
kapelamaliszow.com/
soundcloud.com/kapela-malisz-w
myspace.com/kapelamaliszow/music/songs
www.facebook.com/pages/Kapela-Malisz%C3%B3w/165767020113113
Kenwy Yang-Qin Ensemble - Sarawak, Malaysia
The yangqin or the hammered dulcimer of China originally came from Persia, and it’s characterized for its bright tones yet extreme expressive range.
Ken Wy is a master at this instrument and has established a Music & Arts Academy in Kuching.
He brings an impressive ensemble of yangqins and percussion to the festival playing a range of traditional Chinese songs.
Kobagi Kecak - Indonesia
Komunitas Badan Gila (Crazy Body Community), more commonly known as Kobagi, was formed in 2008 in the village of Sebatu, Bali, Indonesia. Its sixteen members include farmers, labourers, entrepreneurs, teachers and civil servants. The members’ various artistic activities have included Balinese masked dance, the processional ensemble balaganjur, puppetry, and contemporary music, combined to create their unique performance style they call Angga Suara Murti. Kobagi fuse the western influence of body percussion with Balinese music (including tembang, genjek and kecak), by using their own bodies as their primary instruments, accompanied by pieces of bamboo used as stamping tubes. The initial impetus for their current style came from French artist Gregoire Gensse (known locally in Bali as Made Bagus), after he saw the group perform Winara Konye, a piece composed by Kobagi’s leader, I Wayan Sutapa, at a contemporary music showcase at the Denpasar Art Center 2007.
Gensse guided the group on body percussion techniques through rigorous rehearsals during his time in Bali, and the group has since developed an exciting and vibrant style of performance that celebrates intercultural creative exchange. Angga Suara Murti may be performed in both sacred and secular contexts, and Kobagi is in high demand for ceremonies, exhibitions, concerts, and festivals throughout Bali.
Kobo Town - Trinidad / Tobago
Founded by Trinidadian/Canadian songwriter Drew Gonsalves, Kobo Town is named after the historic neighborhood in Port-of-Spain where calypso was born amid the boastful, humorous and militant chants of roaming stick-fighters. Situated near the fishermen’s wharf, the area was a site of constant defiance and conflict, a place where sticks and stones, songs and verses clashed with the bayonets and batons of colonial rule.
Gonsalves grew up in a middle class neighborhood in Diego Martin, a town just outside of Trinidad’s biggest city, Port of Spain. “Diego Martin is a valley in the northern range, which is very green with a little contaminated river running through it, and that was the playground of our youth,” Gonsalves recalls. His mother is originally from Quebec City, Canada and had met Drew’s father in Barbados on a trip when he was visiting family. A few days later, they were engaged and she came to Trinidad where Gonsalves was born. “In Trinidad, we were surrounded by calypso – Kitchener lived up the street from me – but like most kids of my age, I was not interested in it,” Gonsalves recalls. While rock and heavy metal was considered cool by his friends, “I secretly liked calypso, but I was discrete about it.”
When he was 13, Drew’s mother fled what had become an abusive marriage and he and his siblings went with her to Ottawa, Canada. The sudden move to a new (and cold) world where he didn’t fit in led Gonsalves to cultivate a deep nostalgia for the land of his birth. “My curiosity about Trinidad led me to read a lot about the Caribbean and its history, the kind of legacy it bestowed upon us. When I first returned to Trinidad I was eighteen and I went back to visit my father for the summer. Going back with older eyes, I was more able to place in context all of the things that I took for granted when I was growing up.”
“On that first trip home my father took me to Lord Kitchener’s Calypso Revue tent, held in the Oil Workers Trade Union Hall in Port of Spain,” remembers Gonsalves, “I was blown away by the cleverness and the wit of these calypsonians and also their engaging interplay with the audience. I had never experienced anything like it and, from that point on, calypso was always on my mind.”
Gonsalves started writing his own calypsos and visiting calypso tents every time he visited Trinidad. In 2004, he put together Kobo Town with some fellow Trini expats in Toronto and some musicians from his first band, Outcry, a rock-reggae group with calypso and West Indian folk influences. Early 2007 saw the release of Kobo Town’s debut album Independence, which was recorded between Toronto, Ottawa and Port-of-Spain with Trinidadian producer Lyndon Livingstone. Nominated for an Indie award, a Canadian Folk Music Award, and an International Folk Alliance award, the record received very positive reviews from the international music press as well as frequent airplay on the CBC and college stations throughout Canada.
Some traditionalists, however, carped about the new elements Gonsalves included in his music. “I’m not sure I should call it calypso,” he says. “It is calypso inspired and derived, but it’s a conscious departure from the way it developed back home. Calypso is the folk music of urban Trinidad, but it has always drawn on outside influences, from big band and jazz in the 30s and 40s, to funk and disco in the 70s and 80s. It’s hard to pin down pure calypso. For me, the calypsonian is a singing newspaperman commenting on the events of the day, with an attitude halfway between court jester and griot.”
Kobo Town’s music came to the attention of Cumbancha founder and Putumayo researcher Jacob Edgar, and he introduced Gonsalves to Belizean producer Ivan Duran who had earned acclaim for his work on the Andy Palacio & The Garifuna Collective album Wátina. Duran, who runs the label and production company Stonetree, shares with Kobo Town the commitment to revive the folkloric music of the West Indies by taking it in new creative directions. The result of their four-year collaboration is Jumbie in the Jukebox, which was recorded in Belize, Montreal, Toronto and Trinidad.
“Ivan and I wanted this album to be a contemporary expression that said something about Caribbean music, our heritage, and the potential for a new voice that resonates with people today,” Gonsalves declares. “We made a conscious effort, but one that was quite natural in its own way, to make the music different, a bit more intense. This album is a small, heartfelt tribute to the spirits – both remembered and forgotten – who have gone before us, whose songs and sounds have never lost their power to enchant.”
Band Members
Drew Gonsalves - Lead Vocals, Cuatro, Guitar
Robert Milicevic - Drums
Derek Thorne - Percussions
Linsey Wellman - Flute, Saxophone
Roger Williams - Bass
Patrick Giunta - Guitar
Cesco Emmanuel - Lead Guitar
Jan Morgan - Trumpet
kobotown.com/
twitter.com/kobotown
www.facebook.com/kobotown
Korrontzi - Spain
Korrontzi (Mungia, Biscay, Basque Counry, 2004) rank number 6 in “European World Music Charts” for the month of February 2014. The fact that Korrontzi reach number 6 in “European World Music Charts” is especially important for the band because this ranking has (and gives) international fame. The most popular radios have received Basque folk band Korrontzi’s new album, “Tradition 2.1”, with great admiration and affection. In this fourth record, Korontzi gives us a cosmopolitan vision, a Basque traditional music seen from the angle of a trikitixa merging with music from very different cultures and countries. Trikitixa is the heart and root of their music. There are sixteen varied songs always filled with the same cheerfulness. Flamenco mixed with fandango, Portuguese fado and porrusalda, arin-arin and Italian sounds, biribilketa and Galician music, Sicily merging with the joyful kalejira, Sardinia, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Scotland, Asturias, Catalonia, France… Javier Limón was in charge of postproduction.
This experiment increased Korrontzi’s knowledge and skills at every stage of their prolific touring and helped the band, under the supervision of Agus Barandiaran, become the most representative and singular Basque folk band and the ambassadors of Basque Country cultural legacy during the most famous folk festivals in the world. Korrontzi folk band is, in conclusion, a reflection on folk tradition with touches of contemporary rhythms which stretch their hands towards world music.
www.korrontzi.net/
twitter.com/korrontzi
www.facebook.com/pages/Korrontzi-Folk/960901977277922
Lan E Tuyang - Sarawak, Malaysia
Lead by Mathew Ngau, the master sape player and story teller, this band has been touring Europe several times in the last couple of years.
Mathew Ngau Jau, leader of Lan E Tuyang, has been playing the sape or the boat shaped lute of Sarawak since he was little. Not only is he an accomplished musician on the instrument, he also makes sapes, paints, dances, and is an expert on the blowpipe.
This is music of the Kenyah from the Orang Ulu tribe in Sarawak – the lonely strains of the boat lute with the dances of the warriors.
twitter.com/LanEtuyang
www.facebook.com/pages/Lan-E-Tuyang/310041972374139
Le Blanc Bros Cajun Band - Australia
A fine tribute to the music & language of the Cajuns – Le Blanc Bros Cajun Band play the traditional music of southern Louisiana.
The band was formed in 2009 through a mutual obsession with authentic Cajun music. Geoff and Andrew Le Blanc (who are descendants of the Acadians) perform Cajun songs and dance music with energy and style. Accompanied by a band of fiddlers, double bass and Cajun triangle players, they present a relaxed acoustic concert performance to delight audiences young and old.
Cajun music, like its black cousin Zydeco, is much more than an obscure folk form. It is a living popular dance music that has evolved over the centuries to its current form. Le Blanc Bros Cajun Band continues the age-old tradition of playing Louisiana French music. From soulful waltzes to lively two-steps and Creole blues, their repertoire tells of good times and hard times – a clear reflection of the Cajun people. The songs are performed in Cajun French.
Seeking out recordings of the greats, travelling to Louisiana and meeting living legends of Cajun music has motivated band members to learn, practise and teach. Their many influences include The Balfa Brothers, fiddle players Dennis McGee, Wade Frugé & Canray Fontenot, and accordion players Nathan Abshire, Ray Abshire Lawrence Walker, Amédé Ardoin, Bois-Sec Ardoin and Marc Savoy.
Andrew & Geoff Le Blanc have been enthusiastic, active performers and session players at many festivals around Australia and the world over in the last thirty years including The National Folk Festival, Kelly Country Pick, Blackwood & Yarra Junction Fiddler Conventions, Harrietville Bluegrass & Country Music Convention, Woodford, Port Fairy, Nannup, Cygnet, Fairbridge, Newstead LIVE and Brunswick Music Festival, Tahora Festival (NZ) and Wellington Folk Festival (NZ) to name a few.
Le Blanc Bros Cajun Band is inspired to share with you their Cajun music and heritage.
Band Members
Andrew Le Blanc
Geoff Le Blanc
Richard Klein
Kimberley Wheeler
www.facebook.com/pages/Le-Blanc-Bros-Cajun-Band/195317920514198
Lindigo - Reunion Island
Lindigo: Mi Lé Sek Mi Léin
Before going on stage Olivier Araste, the charismatic and powerful lead singer of the band Lindigo, always leaves in the dressing room an offering to his ancestors. At the heart of the trance, vigorously induced by his group and their frenzied rhythms played on the roulèr, the pikèr and kayamb, and at the core of their chants, whirl the invited spirits of the ancestors, giving the band’s eight members energy, faith and courage… A “feeling as strong as chilli” according to Olivier. While deeply rooted in solid traditions and its homeland, Madagascar, and cultivated in the sugarcane fields, their maloya is also part of the present, swaying with its load of positive vibrations and setting the discos alight while exalting the servis kabaré, the ceremony in honour of the ancestors inherited from Malagasy and African slaves.
A Maloya childhood
Flash back. The story begins in Paniandy, a neighbourhood of Bras-‐Panon, a small town in the east of the island. Olivier was already grooving to maloya in his mother’s womb. A curious child, he tasted all the ingredients of this music, a mixture of Malgasy, African and Indian heritage… He soon refined his appetite, learning the basics, the secrets, and playing every day, to forge his art and his ears. On the guitar, the accordion, the drums, in a variety of Reunion groups, the young prodigy practised his scales. In 1999, he formed Lindigo, soon joined by other “dalons”, his friends from Paniandy. Fast forward to 2004: their first album called Misaotra Mama (Thank you Mother), recorded after several warm-‐up tours playing in balls and neighbourhood parties, pays homage to Madagascar, the Great Island, the land of heritage, the promised land. Two years later, Zanatany (Local Child) confirmed their talent: they were the revelation of Sakifo, took Africolor by storm, then conquered the radio with their hit La Kazanou. Then came Lafrikindmada (2008), a salute to Reunion’s many faces. And finally Maloya Power (2012), ploughing their furrow ever deeper.
Raised fist
So here we are today, with the release of their fifth album, a symbolic number: “The fifth is the little finger that bends closed. It’s the clenched fist”, says Olivier. In Mi lé Sek Mi lé (I am what I am) we stop posing, we stop the distorted rhetoric and tread a radical, rebellious and socially committed path, paved with the flagstones of healthy anger. And so we revive the spirit of maloya: the combat – for recognition of our music, our island, our history, our family, our ancestors. Enough softening of the conscience, enough simple explosions of joy: it is time to take a stand. I was born maloya, I breathe maloya, I will die maloya. Now I give voice to the load weighing down my heart with this music that runs through my veins.” In this album, his voice seems even more personal. And more intimate. Laid bare, his heart beats with rants and heartache; his art tells of his observations of his artist’s life, its troubles, its stories, sometimes without tenderness or indulgence. Is Mi lé Sek Mi lé the album of maturity? Assuredly, as Lindigo looks at his reflection and makes his mark, with a pot pourri all his own.
Between roots and protest: finding his way
Right from the beginning, the group chose to leave the ways of childhood, the studious treading of the paths of heritage, to come of age and carve its own tools. “In 2004, the year of the release of our first album, Lo Rwa Kaf and Granmoun Lélé departed. Orphaned by our mentors, we have faithfully followed in their footsteps. We have progressively added our own ingredients, giving musical muscle to our name, on our island and beyond…”. Across the globe, from Brazil to Australia, from the United States to the Czech Republic, from Japan to the cows in Paniandy’s courtyard, from jam sessions with South African Skip and Die or La Yegros from Argentina, to their musical encounters with jazz saxophonist Guillaume Perret, and reggae star Winston McAnuff…..Lindigo is forging ahead with the flag of maloya held high, both deeply rooted and travelling afar.
Between the intimacy of their ceremonies and their political stance, Olivier’s direct lyrics breathe personal experience, telling in a few verses Reunion’s symbolic stories of complex sentiments, like the traditional parabolérs. “I build my songs, like parts of the servis, my school, my life, my element”, says Olivier. “My lyrics are based on questions and anwers: four phrases repeated for hours. To the question: where is your song? I reply: my soul is singing!”.
The vibration of the courtyard
The three-‐day recording in a courtyard in Sainte-‐Suzanne was direct, raw and simple, full of “roots” and “earth” sounds, with chaises longues, bird song and moringueurs (Reunion wrestlers) for a “warrior” competitiveness…The recording session was filled by friends, nephews, nieces, children, granmouns, for extra good vibes. At the controls, just as for their last album, reigned Fixi, Java’s amazing accordionist. “He is like the mechanic revving up the motor”, says Olivier. “Before we went at 120; now we go at 240!” The group wrote this fifth album with their foot hard down on the pedal…..A chapter coloured by strong political commitment, rebellious and militant. With a huge smile, Olivier concludes: “My heart is light once again. This album has been therapeutic…”
www.facebook.com/pages/LiNDiGo/56010702229?__tn__=C
Mah Meri - Malaysia
The Orang Asli are the indigenous people from Peninsular Malaysia who have been living there since even before 1000 BC.
They were traditionally animists led by their shamans, and the Mah Meri show their reverence for this from their carvings of spirit animals.
They come to the festival with their fearsome masks, log drums, ladies in mengkuang skirts, and bring with them the ancient rites and folklore that they still maintain in their community in Carey Island.
Ndima - Ongo Brazzaville
Traditionally nomadic, Pygmies are nowadays in the process of settlement. They live in the forests of Africa between the Atlantic Ocean and the big Lakes, and left according to the geographical areas in various groups in particular Baka, Bambuti, Batwa, Babongo, Efé and others.
In Republic of the Congo, we count several groups of pygmies among which aka where from are native the musicians of the Group Ndima.
Who are Pygmies aka and how do they live?
Hunters-gatherers, they are easily recognizable by their short size and their traditional housing environment established by huts in log. The esthetic expressions such the physical scarifications also allow to identify them. They live in the forest of the North of the Republic of the Congo and the South of the Centrafrique. They speak the aka language and live a life altered culturally, further to the increasing influence of the modernism in rural areas, and further to the rarity of certain foodstuffs in the forest today, which is more and more destroyed by the farmers and the foresters.
Members of a minority and marginalized,aka pygmies maintain bad relationships with their neighbors majority and slave master Bantus. They maintain with the latter relationships of clientele and exercise for their account various economic tasks: hunt, fishing, collect some honey, work in plantations and transport diverse loads.
Children of the forest, the Aka know how to take care of their environment because their life in all its aspects depends on it. To feed, they hunt animals and to edible vegetables which grow to their reach. They look after themselves with plants and with diverse essences, the virtues of which they know well. They also make use of it in their love life to conquer love of a woman, a man or to strengthen the marital union. Diverse objects are made with vegetables to be of use to the hunting, to the cooking, to the harvest of the honey…
Pygmies aka are people who practices the music on a daily basis. It is bound to diverse circumstances appropriate to their community. We find in their directory of the musics reserved for the spirits of the forest, among which each bears a name and materializes through a plant mask to appear in public, to participate in the event for which it is invited: rite of hunting or cure, raised by mourning, musics of entertainment, those linked to the divination, to the sexuality.
Aka practises the complex and rich contrapuntal, technical polyphony which they learn since their early childhood and which distinguishes their music of that of their neighbors called Bantu or big black. They also make use of the jodel – the alternation of the voice(vote) of head and the voice(vote) of breast, which also establishes(constitutes) an identity element.
The varied rhythmic formulae which support the dances show too the wealth of the culture pygmy aka, which nowadays is endangered.
This is the way the Group Ndima, consisted of musicians pygmies aka of the village Kombola, Republic of the Congo, attempts to promote and to protect through shows(entertainments), recordings and diverse meetings, their musical heritage(holdings).
Through this show(entertainment) of singings(songs) and dances, ” Moakanandima ” – Literally The pygmy aka in the forest, the musicians of Ndima invite the public of the Festival of the imagination in a journey in the depths of the equatorial forest, in a meeting of pygmies
Presentation Des Artestis Du Group Ndima
Angelique Manongo
Singer and dancer within the Group Ndima a co-founder is in 2003, Angelica MANONGO is and will stay together with Emilie KOULE, the feminine voices which made known on the national level, the polyphonic music pygmy which was for a long time underestimated by the Congoleses. She participated in the realization of both phonographic works of the Group Ndima, the first one was published in 2003 with the support of Unesco and the Japanese Government. Admirable by her artistic and human qualities, she is a character who knows how to give the senseto the group.
The birth of her last child did not allow her to participate in both European tours of the Group Ndima in 2012 and 2013. But she came on the 2014 tour and the public European could discover its talent in the execution of the various dances aka, as well as in the use of the yodel and the counterpoint, the complex processes which distinguish their music of that of their black big neighbors (the Bantus)
Micheline Mokoma
Recruited to participate in the tour 2013 of the Group Ndima in Switzerland, Micheline MOKOMA,seized the opportunity that was given to her. She knows how to captivate the public by her fitness to sing by making of the yodel. She also has the perfect control of the singing in counterpoint, technical which she learnt since her childhood by imitating her elder daughters. Accustomed as all the pygmies aka to participate in the community musical activities,MichelineMOKOMA discovers other cultures through the tours of the Group Ndima, and likes to emphasize the musical inheritance which she owes to her ancestors.
Henriette Potolo
POTOLO arises from a mixed couple, a Bantufather and a pygmymother. She received an akaeducation. She is used to sing and dance during the activities of her community. Often assuring office of “Ndzamba”, aka word which indicates the person who intones the singing, Henriette arranges undeniable qualities to lead and execute uninhibitedly the contrapuntal, traditional polyphonytechnicof the singing ofaka pygmy.
Olivier Maniale
Singer, dancer, percussionist, harpist, flutist … Olivier MANIALE is a one-man band. Endowed with a remarkable courage and with good qualities of communication which distinguish him from his peers, he proved several times that the group can count on him during the shows and the workshops. His artistic qualities confer him the leader’s status. His presence is an asset for the success of Ndima on tour.
Dopo Koudzedze
He is the youngest of the Group. Skillful percussionist, the keys of the various rhythmic formulae of the directory of Ndima are in his hands. Tireless and requiring, he looks after the good execution by his peers of the polyrhythms who accompany the singings and the dances. Its presence and its dexterity to put in vibration its drum of preference ” Ngué “, aka wordthat indicatesthe mother of drums, reassure his parteners.
Michel Kossi
Hunter-gatherer just like his parents as well as his peers, Michel Kossipractices the music for cultural and economic needs of his community. Percussionist, player of the musical bow, the hooked harp, the harp-zither, he is also a singer and a dancer. Its artistic qualities and his passion for its culture make that he is omnipresent in the activities of the group Ndima.
Sorel Eta
Self-taught ethnologist and manager of the group Ndima, Sorel ETA studies with passion the culture ofaka pygmies, community that he met in 1996 in the forest of the North of the Republic of the Congo. He is used to saying that is trainedat ” the University of the forest ” by his professors: the aka pygmies. He creates in 2003 the group Ndima( the forest), with which he intendsto emphasize the aka musicians, their musical heritage, to favor the cultural exchanges with other artists, and to promote the dialogue of culture between pygmies and other peoples. His knowledge of the environment of aka life allows him to present communications on this endangered culture, and to coordinate the shows of the group Ndima.
Summary of the show
Moakanandima or the aka pygmy in the forest ” is a journey in the depths of the equatorial forest. This show, of a duration of sixty minutes, invites the public to make a dive in the history in the discovery of the aka man and of its musical heritage that is nowadays endangered.
” Moakanandima “, it is also the discovery of the voices of aka pygmies and mainly the complex vocal techniques such as the counterpoint and the yodel, the specificities of their musical genrecompared with the music of their neighbors, the Bantu.
Moakanandima, it is still the expression of the mesmerizing melodies of chordophones as harp-zither ” mondoumein “, and the musical bow ” mbela “, instruments having the peculiarity to be of use to aka in the hunting.
Moakanandima, is finally the wealth and the complexity of the rhythmic formulae of drums evoking diverse circumstances of the everyday life of pygmies aka.
Through a diversified directory, the musicians of the group Ndima intend to give a representative outline of their music and their tradition
Sangpuy - Taiwan
Sangpuy is an old soul in a young body. His unique voice evokes the quietness of the spirit, the blessings of ancestors long gone, the origins of life.
He comes from an ancient tribe who lived where the mountain meets the ocean.
He sings songs from ancient ceremonies where gods of the natural world were revered and respected.
www.facebook.com/Sangpuy
Sarawak Cultural Village - Sarawak, Malaysia
“Penjan Kasih” dance group has performed internationally and an awards winning cultural dancers led by the choreographer Mr. Othman Hassan. The artistes are the resident dancers and musicians of the international acclaimed living museum, the Sarawak Cultural Village of Sarawak, East Malaysia.
Sayu Ateng… Echoes Of Borneo - Sarawak, Malaysia
In Borneo, among the Orang Ulu people, Sayu Ateng means “welcome”. This 8-member group has been making waves in the local, regional and international music scene.
All over the world, the old musicians and their knowledge of the lore and songs of their countries have been dying out. Ancient and antique instruments lie forgotten and the younger generations very often are not interested in learning how to play them. That is not the case of Sayu Ateng. The musicians have found a sound that is refreshingly modern yet full of traditional Sarawak flavour. They have mixed and matched traditional instruments with contemporary ones, composed their own lyrics and melodies and based their songs on the nature, landscapes and folk stories of Sarawak.
The music is evocative and graceful in the simplicity of its design. The melodies are steeped in Sarawak tradition and create a very distinct sound that is unmistakably Borneo. Rhythms are fluid yet strong? Mixing world beat with the subtle intonations of the rainforest.
Sayu Ateng, a eight piece band, cuts a cool swathe with a little bit of contemporary pop sound tectures and World Beat Music while never straying far from its principal roots of Sarawak. Taking ancient and modern sounds and fusing them with their own infectious character, the original sound and lyrics are based on the historical make-up of Sarawak.
The band members share a passion for the rich musical heritage of the various ethnic groups and consists of Jeffery Mozallan (Back-up Vocal, Bassist & Sape), Mohamad Faizal Jamil (Vocalist & Acoustic Guitarist), Ismail Idris (Gendang Melayu & percussion), Shamsul Idzam Jamil (Back-up Vocal & Violin), Mohiden Bujang (Back-up Vocal, Gendang & percussion), Abdullah Azan Kadir (Bamboo Flute), Mohd. Khairil Zikri Jeffery (Engkromong, Gong and Rain Sticks) and Mohamad Kedari Abu Bakar (Acoustic Guitar).
The band leader Jeffery Mozallan and original member of the Sayu Ateng was first established in December 1998 as Ismail Idris and Single Mohiden is they who are responsible for bringing the golden Sayu Ateng once a singer who has a remarkable voice Hidahri Hipni. After Hidahri died, his place was taken over by his nephew Jamil Mohamad Faizal so like his voice with the late Hidahri. Similarly, the presence of members of the new group has added further confidence to revive the spirit of Sayu Ateng.
Sayu Ateng first performance was at the Rainforest World Music Festival 1999.
Catching up on the global music scene with their musical flavor offering diverse musical beats that moves along the rhythm of rainforest and exciting indigenous cultures of Sarawak.
Shooglenifty - Scotland
Scotland’s Acid croft pioneers Shooglenifty kicked off their 25th Anniversary year with a jumping sell-out gig at Glasgow’s Old Fruitmarket. Snake-hipped fiddle-toting Highland front man Angus R Grant still rules the roost after a quarter century, but he has been joined centre stage by fiery young mandolinist Ewan MacPherson and ‘puirt a beul’ vocalist Kaela Rowan. It’s a potent mix that has invigorated a band that still retains four of its original members: Angus, Garry Finlayson on electric and acoustic banjo, Malcolm Crosbie on guitars, and James Mackintosh on percussion. The seventh member is their bass player of over a decade Quee Macarthur.
The Shoogles can’t think of a better way to continue their anniversary celebrations than an appearance at the Rainforest Festival. They have been regulars in Borneo since the Festival’s inception, and never have to think twice when receiving an invitation to play. Expect to hear the exquisite traditional sounding tunes of their homeland fused with devilishly dirty rhythms, and, thanks to their globetrotting adventures a rich back catalogue of international influences. There will be dancing.
Band Members
Angus R Grant
James Mackintosh
Malcolm Crosbie
Quee MacArthur
Ewan MacPherson
Garry Finlayson
and Kaela Rowan
www.shooglenifty.com/
twitter.com/shooglegigs
www.facebook.com/shooglenifty.scotland
Son De Madera - Mexico
on de Madera trio is an artistic group specializing in the interpretation and composition of a traditional genre of southern Mexico called Son Jarocho. Founded in 1990, they are internationally known as the best proposal of Son Jarocho today. The group’s work is distinguished by the cultivation of music, poetry of the Son Jarocho as a living tradition in constant movement and transformation without losing its essence. The sounds that they interpret come from a tradition that is transmitted by memory and oral tradition to which Son de Madera has brought itss talent and inspiration adding improvisation as the basis of the show.
They have recorded 7 albums, of which “Sones de mi tierra” was produced by the Smithsonian.
Son de Madera has appeared in major forums at national and international level and highlights as the Glatt&Verkhert Festival in Austria, the Paris Autumn Festival and the Smithsonian Folk Festival in Washington-live festival.
Band Members
Ramón Gutiérrez - Guitarra de son, guitarra de alambre, mandolina y canto
Tereso Vega - Jarana tercera, pandero jarocho y canto
Aleph Castañeda - Contrabajo y canto
Natalia Arroyo - Violín y canto
www.facebook.com/sondemadera
Sona Jobarteh - Gambia/United Kingdom
Sona Jobarteh is the first female Kora virtuoso to come from a west African Griot family. Breaking away from tradition, she is a modern day pioneer in an ancient, male-dominated hereditary tradition that has been exclusively handed down from father to son for the past seven centuries.
The Kora is a 21 stringed African harp, and is one of the most important instruments belonging to the Manding peoples of West Africa. It can be found in Gambia, Senegal, Mali, Guinea and Guinea-Bissau. The kora, along with a handful of other instruments, belongs exclusively to the griot families of west Africa. Only those who are born into one of these families have the exclusive right to take up these instruments professionally. Sona, who was born into one of the five principal West African Griot families, has become the first in her long family line to break from tradition by taking up this instrument professionally as a female
Her family carries a heavy reputation for renowned Kora masters, one being her Grandfather, Amadu Bansang Joberteh who was a Master Griot and remains a leading icon in Gambia’s cultural and musical history. Her cousin Toumani Diabaté is also known worldwide for his mastery of the Kora. Taught to play the kora at the age of four by her elder brother Tunde Jegede, Sona started her musical journey at a very young age, later further developing her expertise under the tutorship of her father Sanjally Jobarteh.
The years spent working as a musician in the UK training in Classical institutions such as the Royal College of Music and Purcell School of music, as well as being a permanent member of her brother’s internationally acclaimed ACM Ensemble allowed Sona to become immersed in a world of musical diversity many could only dream of. Sona was able to work alongside internationally acclaimed artists such as Oumou Sangaré, Toumani Diabaté, Kasse Mady Diabaté and The BBC Symphony Orchestra. These many influences have come together to form one of most exciting new talents from the West African Griot tradition to hit the stage in recent years.
Sona has an effortless ability to blend different musical styles, not just between the West and Africa, but also between West African musical genres. She uses her innovative stance to talk about issues to do with cultural identity, gender, love and respect whilst still referencing and rooting herself firmly in her traditional cultural heritage. Sona represents her tradition in a way that is easily accessible to her audiences from around the world, who are drawn in by her captivating voice, strong rhythms and catchy melodies.
One of Sona’s most captivating qualities is her voice. Although only pursuing her ability to sing later in life, she has fast been gaining a reputation for her voice alone. Most recently Sona’s vocals were featured in the Hollywood blockbuster movie “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom” which was released in the United Kingdom in January 2014.
In 2010 Sona composed the film score to the Multi-Award winning documentary film “The Motherland”, directed by Owen Alik Shahadah. For the accomplishment of this score Sona invented a new instrument which she named the ‘Nkora’. Drawing on her skills as a producer, singer and multi-instrumentalist this body of work sees Sona pioneering a new genre in Africa cinematic music.
Over the past four years Sona has been carefully piecing together her band. Forming a UK-based band that is both sympathetic and sensitive to the subtle idioms of the Kora repertoire has not been an easy task, but Sona has now put together a group of inspiring musicians from different parts of Africa who manage to render her music beautifully onstage, whilst still embodying each of their own diverse musical identities. Whether the full band or a smaller acoustic ensemble, this group of musicians never fail to bring a rich, revitalising energy to the stage.
Her latest album, released in 2011 entitled “Fasiya” is a landmark not only in her musical journey, but in the continuously evolving tradition that she is a product of. Into this album Sona has poured not only her abilities as a multi-instrumentalist and composer, but also her competence as a keen producer. Working in both Gambia and the UK Sona pieced together the many elements she needed to produce a work of art that would reflect her unique position in this tradition as a both a preserver and innovator.
As an ardent advocator of tradition Sona has been working on setting up Gambia’s first manding music school alongside her father Sanjally Jobarteh over the past year which is dedicated to cultivating knowledge and expertise in traditional music and culture amongst the next generation of young Gambians. Named after her grandfather Amadu Bansang Jobarteh, Sona’s intent is for the success of this school to stand as an enduring testament to the invaluable legacy he left behind.
www.sonajobarteh.com/
twitter.com/sonajobarteh
www.facebook.com/sonajobarteh
uKanDanZ - France / Ethiopia
uKanDanZ plays an unique style. It’s an unusual meeting between an electric quartet from France and Asnake Guebreye’s terrific voice. This charismatic lead singer originates from the vibrant music scene in Addis Abeba.
Their music is inspired by traditional and popular Ethiopian songs. uKanDanZ is a blast of real energy and emotion. Ethiopia meets rock, jazz, and noise…
With impertinence, they rock it wildly. No compromise. Guitar, saxophone, bass, drums and vocals shake the roof. Experience it yourself… and be overwhelmed.
At this moment uKanDanz is working on a new album, to be released in April 2015.
Band Members
Asnake Guebreye – Vocals
Damien Cluzel – Guitar
Benoit Lecomte – Bass
Lionel Martin – Tenor sax
Guilhem Meier – Drums
www.ukandanz.com/
www.facebook.com/ukandanzband
Online Artistes Line Up: rwmf.net/artist_year/2015/
Programme:
Online Programme: rwmf.net/showtimes/
Programme - Day 1:
Friday, 7th August, 2015
Programme - Day 2:
Saturday, 8th August, 2015
Programme - Day 3:
Sunday, 9th August, 2015
Ticketing Information:
Ticket Prices:
Adult (1 day pass) = RM 110.00 - Door Sales RM 130.00
Adult (3 days pass) = RM 300.00 - Door Sales RM 340.00
Child (1 day pass) = RM 50 - Door Sales RM 60.00
Child (3 day pass) = RM 130 - Door Sales RM 160.00
Family package per day = RM 220.00 - Door Sales RM 265.00
(2 adult + 2 child tickets)
Child ticket - 12 years old.
Online Booking: rwmf.net/tickets/
Online Packages: rwmf.net/packages/
For More Information:
Phone: +6082 423600
Fax : +6082 416700
URL: rwmf.net / sarawaktourism.com/
TW: twitter.com/SarawakTravel
FB: www.facebook.com/visitsarawak / www.facebook.com/groups/rwmf2004/10153610858560039/?ref=notif¬if_t=group_activity / www.facebook.com/events/1442549296069018/
The Rainforest World Music Festival is a unique festival that brings together renowned world musicians from all continents and indigenous musicians from the interiors of the mythical island of Borneo.
Its formula of three afternoons of interactive and educational workshops, ethno-musical lectures, jamming sessions and mini concerts, followed by evening performances on the main stage has proven to be a hit with the audience, who come from near and far.
The festival site is set up with a variety of food and drink stalls, an arts and crafts area as well as a counter for festival memorabilia, Sarawak souvenirs and CDs by the performing artists, thus contributing to a fun filled, wholesome festival experience for all. It is World Music festival extraordinaire set against the magnificent backdrop of the legendary Mt. Santubong.
The Rainforest World Music Festival, a not-to-be-missed occasion, guarantees a smashing time in the heart of the Borneo Jungle.
Artistes Line Up:
1Drum.org - Malaysia
Join 1Drum.org for a wonderful celebration of rhythm and spontaneous percussive beats; where everyone, young and old are invited to participate in a musical experience that is second to none. We’ll provide drums of all shapes and sizes for you to create beats that will rock the jungle! 1Drum Circle is a great way to meet like-minded people and an opportunity to reconnect with your inner rhythm.
This is your stage. Lets sing & dance, drum & chant to celebrate life thru music. Bring along your music instruments, dancing shoes, poi toys or your voice and join us. No drumming experience necessary! Drums will be provided for 100 pax per session.
Drum, Cause You Can!
www.1drum.org/
Alaverdi - Georgia
Georgian folk ensemble ALAVERDI was founded in December, 2014. Consisting of four members, the ensemble is specialized in authentic Georgian traditional folk music. Alaverdi members are also members of ethno jazz band Iriao, and independently they work as conductors and leaders in different male folk choirs.
The ensemble repertoire includes traditional musical masterpieces and church chants from different regions of Georgia, starting from the very east to the west, and differs significantly according to its complication. Besides, the ensemble performs on the most traditional folk instruments including string, wind and percussion instruments.
In general, Georgian traditional music is one of the most exceptional cultural treasuries. Unique polyphonic complication and high level musical thinking can be distinctly met in different regions of the country. They completely differ from each other and together form a world significance cultural pattern, which has also been recognized by UNESCO, in 2001, as a masterpiece of oral immaterial cultural heritage.
The word Alaverdi is a purely Georgian word and represents the highest ancient cathedral in Georgia. It dominates the surrounding landscape in a fertile river valley against the backdrop of the Caucasus Mountains.
Ensemble Members
Nugzar Kavtaradze – Vocals, traditional instruments
Bidzina Murgulia – Vocals
George Abashidze – Vocals
Mikheil Javakhishvili – Vocals
Bargou 08 - Tunisia
A musical experience in the heart of the mountains!
BARGOU 08 is born of an adventure through the almost forgotten popular musical landscapes of the north west of Tunisia, a region isolated from the rest of the country between the mountains and the Algerian border. The singer Nidhal Yahyaoui and the music producer Sofyann Ben Youssef dive into this music on the edge of marginalization and perpetuate this identity embedded within the lyrics, the melodies and the dance with generosity. An invitation to a trance that balances the spirits and lightens up the hearts, BARGOU 08 has become a front, Front Musical Populaire!
Band Members
Nidhal Yahyaoui - Vocals & Wtar
Lassaad Boughalmi - Gasba & Zokra
Imed Rezgui - Bendir
Benjamin Chaval - Drums
Sofyann Ben Youssef - Keyboards
tunisianmusicexport.org/
www.facebook.com/Bargou08
Culture Shot aka La La Li La Tam Pong - Penang, Malaysia
Imagine the melancholic sounds of an Er-hu, the strumming of a Lang Tin Tang, the melodic rhythm of a Rebana coupled with gongs, and the interlocking beats of a Gendang with a splash of Chinese cymbals. Now put all these instruments together and what you end up with is an amalgamation of ethnic sonorities, literally a melting pot of cultures. La La Li La Tam Pong is made up of 6 unique individuals:
Ang Eng Bok – main vocal, composer, Lang Ting Tang (Hokkien Yue Qing) player
M.Sivasilan- Gendang player, backing vocal
Tan Yean Chang – Er Hu Player, backing vocal
Kasiman bin Basman- Rebana player, backing vocal
Clarence Ewe -Chinese Aux percussions, backing vocal
Rebby Sim – Aux percussions , backing vocal
Though, from different races and musical training they are united by their love for music and culture. Music that’s playful in nature as the name suggests and as they put it, “with every song we try our best to serve to you with a taste of Penang” with songs closely tied to old Hokkien songs and a respective traditional tune.
www.facebook.com/cultureshot
Driss El Maloumi - Morocco
Born in 1970 in Agadir, Morocco, Driss El Maloumi is an artist who is characterized by his virtuosity and talent.
After achieving a degree in Arabic literature at the University Ibn Zuhr Agadir in 1993 and studying through a memory, a philosophical approach to music related to the form and substance in the artistic discourse, he followed a Arabic and Western classical music training. He won awardslike the First Prize in succession by the Oud, the First Prize of Development and the Award of Honorat the National Review Oud the National Conservatory of Music Rabat in 1992, 1993 and 1994.
His works traveling between different colors of contemporary music and Arabic heritage. He also finds his inspiration thanks to meeting with international artists such Jordi Saval& all Hesperion XXI (Spain), Montserrat Figueiras, with whom he collaborated on several albums, Pierre Hamon (France), KeyvanChemirani (Iran), Françoise Atlan (France), Omar Bashir (Iraq), Carlo Rizzo (Italy) and Alla (Algeria) in old, traditional or classical music and Paolo Fresu (Italy) Claude Tchamitchian (Armenia), the trio Paftrio (Italy) and Maureta Xavi (Spain) in jazz.
Driss wrote and participated in the composition of music for several shows such as Isabel “I” (musical director Jordi Saval), Love Wizard of Manuel de Falla (director: Antoine Bourseiller) Caravan Moon (Direction Conductor: Gerard Kurdjian) and Moon Bird (Director: Antoine Bourseiller) or film music as “La Source des Femmes” (Director: Radu Miahileanu).
Driss El Maloumi also plays along side poets such as Abdelatif Laâbi (Morocco) and Adonis (Syria).
He directed the jazz album « Tawada » with French artist Alban Darche in 2000. He also participated in acclaimed recordings album “Noches” Francoise Atlan in 1998 and in the recording of Laurent Voulzy’s “Lys & Love” (2011).
In 2005, he released his first album under his name called “L’Ame dansée” (Buda Musique) in duo with percussionist Lahoucine Baquir.
Everywhere the press has praised the quality, purity and delicacy of hisplaying and his music, callingit a “magician of Oud”.
By the end of 2013 he released the album “Makan” which is performed in a trio with two percussionists, Said El Maloumi & Lahoucine Baquir.
drisselmaloumi.org/
contrejour.com/
Enkh Jargal Dandarvaanchig (EPI) - Mongolia
Epi was born 1968 in Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia). He grew up in a little village near the russian border. He studied at Music-Conservatorium of Ulaanbaatar from 1990 – 1992 and his teacher was the most known and best Moorin Hoor (Horsefiddle) player in Mongolia.
During his studies Epi already played in a Moorin Hoor quintet also in the Mongolian television to keep traditional Mongolian music traditions alive. Because of his familiar backround Epi is deeply rooted into the traditional and nomadic way of life that his people live in Mongolia. (Epis father went into the steppe to raise horses, where Epi also lost his heart). In 1993 Epi went to Germany for the first time. He went there with Altain Orgil. During this first visit Epi and Rüdiger Oppermann met for the first time. Together with Rüdiger Oppermann Epi played not only in Germany but also in a lot of other european countries and the USA. The last huge Concerts brought Epi to the Expo 2002 in madrid, Gran Canaria and Paris… and a lot more…
Besides Epi is a beloved guest musician and/or singer in different music projects: together with Peter Gantzmann he celebrates the Mongolian Hip-Hop, in a Duo Rainer Granzin he enjoys showing his jazzy side. That way he was able to prove his ability to improvise in a world of modern music. His interpretation of the Mongolian folk music lets him step between two worlds and wherefore his solo CD is named “Hoirr Öngö” (between two worlds). Epi was a guest musician on different CD studio recordings. Epi the miracle voice from Mongolia is a wanderer between Cultures
With his play on the Moorin Hoor and the perfection of his Choomie singing Epis loves to melt his traditional roots with the modern and western cultured music in a brilliant improvisation.
After some tacts and tones Epi offers the smell and the beauty of the Mongolian steppe to the ears and the eyes of the audience. Epi lives in Karlsruhe (Germany) and is travelling a lot to share his passion (music) with the audience of Europe and the whole world.
Anyone who knows the funny, lovely, cheerfull way Epi is, knows that he regards also the small things in life and those obviously small things can take great effects on happy living.
www.facebook.com/enkhjargal.dandarvaanchig
Harubee - Maldives
Harubee is 16 young men exploding with energy.
Boduberu music evolved from the 11th century, brought in from the sailors traveling from parts of Africa.
It is the relief found in dance for the common people.
The songs are about everyday life, often heavy with satire.
The drumming and dancing are frenetic, crescendo-ing into immense passionate climaxes.
Band Members
Hassan Uswathullah
Mohamed Shifau
Mohamed Naushad
Ibrahim Mamdhooh
Adam Shinan
Ali Shahurathullah
Ahmed Shiham
www.harubee.com/
www.facebook.com/HarubeeBoduberu
Kapela Maliszów - Poland
Kapela Maliszów is a family band started and led by multi-instrumentalist Jan Mailsz.
The band is inspired by the traditional music of Beskid Niski and Pogorze, in South Poland.
Folk songs and dance music from Gorlice county is traditionally played with a violin, a basolia (a folk instrument similar to a cello) and a drum in, an archaic way with a great amount of freedom, joy and improvisation, not only reconstruction of old melodies.
The violin owned by the band leader used to belong to his father Jozef, who in the thirties of the 20th century played at wedding parties. Jan also inherited a drum made by his father in the fifties. The drum is still used by the band.
They call this music “Father’s notes”.
In the past Jan Malisz used to play for many years in a few local folk bands (e.g. Pogorzanie from Gorlice) and learned a lot of melodies from his older colleagues.
In 2013 they won “Stara Tradycja” (Old Tradition) Competition at “Mazurkas of the World” Festival in Warsaw.
In 2014 they took 2nd place at “Nowa Tradycja” (“New Tradition” Festival, organised by Polish Radio).In the same competition Kacper Malisz (15 years old, violin, cello, nyckelharpa) won a special prize “Golden Violin” for the best musician in the festival (!)
They’ve also taken 1st place at “Mikołajki Folkowe” 2014 Festival in Lublin . These two are the most important folk competitions in Poland.
Last year, Kapela Maliszów performed for the president of Poland Bronisław Komorowski.
Their music was posted on CDs which contained top polish musicians to promote Poland on WOMEX in 2013 and in 2014.
Band Members
Edyta Marć
Zuzanna Malisz
Jan Malisz
Kacper Malisz
kapelamaliszow.com/
soundcloud.com/kapela-malisz-w
myspace.com/kapelamaliszow/music/songs
www.facebook.com/pages/Kapela-Malisz%C3%B3w/165767020113113
Kenwy Yang-Qin Ensemble - Sarawak, Malaysia
The yangqin or the hammered dulcimer of China originally came from Persia, and it’s characterized for its bright tones yet extreme expressive range.
Ken Wy is a master at this instrument and has established a Music & Arts Academy in Kuching.
He brings an impressive ensemble of yangqins and percussion to the festival playing a range of traditional Chinese songs.
Kobagi Kecak - Indonesia
Komunitas Badan Gila (Crazy Body Community), more commonly known as Kobagi, was formed in 2008 in the village of Sebatu, Bali, Indonesia. Its sixteen members include farmers, labourers, entrepreneurs, teachers and civil servants. The members’ various artistic activities have included Balinese masked dance, the processional ensemble balaganjur, puppetry, and contemporary music, combined to create their unique performance style they call Angga Suara Murti. Kobagi fuse the western influence of body percussion with Balinese music (including tembang, genjek and kecak), by using their own bodies as their primary instruments, accompanied by pieces of bamboo used as stamping tubes. The initial impetus for their current style came from French artist Gregoire Gensse (known locally in Bali as Made Bagus), after he saw the group perform Winara Konye, a piece composed by Kobagi’s leader, I Wayan Sutapa, at a contemporary music showcase at the Denpasar Art Center 2007.
Gensse guided the group on body percussion techniques through rigorous rehearsals during his time in Bali, and the group has since developed an exciting and vibrant style of performance that celebrates intercultural creative exchange. Angga Suara Murti may be performed in both sacred and secular contexts, and Kobagi is in high demand for ceremonies, exhibitions, concerts, and festivals throughout Bali.
Kobo Town - Trinidad / Tobago
Founded by Trinidadian/Canadian songwriter Drew Gonsalves, Kobo Town is named after the historic neighborhood in Port-of-Spain where calypso was born amid the boastful, humorous and militant chants of roaming stick-fighters. Situated near the fishermen’s wharf, the area was a site of constant defiance and conflict, a place where sticks and stones, songs and verses clashed with the bayonets and batons of colonial rule.
Gonsalves grew up in a middle class neighborhood in Diego Martin, a town just outside of Trinidad’s biggest city, Port of Spain. “Diego Martin is a valley in the northern range, which is very green with a little contaminated river running through it, and that was the playground of our youth,” Gonsalves recalls. His mother is originally from Quebec City, Canada and had met Drew’s father in Barbados on a trip when he was visiting family. A few days later, they were engaged and she came to Trinidad where Gonsalves was born. “In Trinidad, we were surrounded by calypso – Kitchener lived up the street from me – but like most kids of my age, I was not interested in it,” Gonsalves recalls. While rock and heavy metal was considered cool by his friends, “I secretly liked calypso, but I was discrete about it.”
When he was 13, Drew’s mother fled what had become an abusive marriage and he and his siblings went with her to Ottawa, Canada. The sudden move to a new (and cold) world where he didn’t fit in led Gonsalves to cultivate a deep nostalgia for the land of his birth. “My curiosity about Trinidad led me to read a lot about the Caribbean and its history, the kind of legacy it bestowed upon us. When I first returned to Trinidad I was eighteen and I went back to visit my father for the summer. Going back with older eyes, I was more able to place in context all of the things that I took for granted when I was growing up.”
“On that first trip home my father took me to Lord Kitchener’s Calypso Revue tent, held in the Oil Workers Trade Union Hall in Port of Spain,” remembers Gonsalves, “I was blown away by the cleverness and the wit of these calypsonians and also their engaging interplay with the audience. I had never experienced anything like it and, from that point on, calypso was always on my mind.”
Gonsalves started writing his own calypsos and visiting calypso tents every time he visited Trinidad. In 2004, he put together Kobo Town with some fellow Trini expats in Toronto and some musicians from his first band, Outcry, a rock-reggae group with calypso and West Indian folk influences. Early 2007 saw the release of Kobo Town’s debut album Independence, which was recorded between Toronto, Ottawa and Port-of-Spain with Trinidadian producer Lyndon Livingstone. Nominated for an Indie award, a Canadian Folk Music Award, and an International Folk Alliance award, the record received very positive reviews from the international music press as well as frequent airplay on the CBC and college stations throughout Canada.
Some traditionalists, however, carped about the new elements Gonsalves included in his music. “I’m not sure I should call it calypso,” he says. “It is calypso inspired and derived, but it’s a conscious departure from the way it developed back home. Calypso is the folk music of urban Trinidad, but it has always drawn on outside influences, from big band and jazz in the 30s and 40s, to funk and disco in the 70s and 80s. It’s hard to pin down pure calypso. For me, the calypsonian is a singing newspaperman commenting on the events of the day, with an attitude halfway between court jester and griot.”
Kobo Town’s music came to the attention of Cumbancha founder and Putumayo researcher Jacob Edgar, and he introduced Gonsalves to Belizean producer Ivan Duran who had earned acclaim for his work on the Andy Palacio & The Garifuna Collective album Wátina. Duran, who runs the label and production company Stonetree, shares with Kobo Town the commitment to revive the folkloric music of the West Indies by taking it in new creative directions. The result of their four-year collaboration is Jumbie in the Jukebox, which was recorded in Belize, Montreal, Toronto and Trinidad.
“Ivan and I wanted this album to be a contemporary expression that said something about Caribbean music, our heritage, and the potential for a new voice that resonates with people today,” Gonsalves declares. “We made a conscious effort, but one that was quite natural in its own way, to make the music different, a bit more intense. This album is a small, heartfelt tribute to the spirits – both remembered and forgotten – who have gone before us, whose songs and sounds have never lost their power to enchant.”
Band Members
Drew Gonsalves - Lead Vocals, Cuatro, Guitar
Robert Milicevic - Drums
Derek Thorne - Percussions
Linsey Wellman - Flute, Saxophone
Roger Williams - Bass
Patrick Giunta - Guitar
Cesco Emmanuel - Lead Guitar
Jan Morgan - Trumpet
kobotown.com/
twitter.com/kobotown
www.facebook.com/kobotown
Korrontzi - Spain
Korrontzi (Mungia, Biscay, Basque Counry, 2004) rank number 6 in “European World Music Charts” for the month of February 2014. The fact that Korrontzi reach number 6 in “European World Music Charts” is especially important for the band because this ranking has (and gives) international fame. The most popular radios have received Basque folk band Korrontzi’s new album, “Tradition 2.1”, with great admiration and affection. In this fourth record, Korontzi gives us a cosmopolitan vision, a Basque traditional music seen from the angle of a trikitixa merging with music from very different cultures and countries. Trikitixa is the heart and root of their music. There are sixteen varied songs always filled with the same cheerfulness. Flamenco mixed with fandango, Portuguese fado and porrusalda, arin-arin and Italian sounds, biribilketa and Galician music, Sicily merging with the joyful kalejira, Sardinia, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Scotland, Asturias, Catalonia, France… Javier Limón was in charge of postproduction.
This experiment increased Korrontzi’s knowledge and skills at every stage of their prolific touring and helped the band, under the supervision of Agus Barandiaran, become the most representative and singular Basque folk band and the ambassadors of Basque Country cultural legacy during the most famous folk festivals in the world. Korrontzi folk band is, in conclusion, a reflection on folk tradition with touches of contemporary rhythms which stretch their hands towards world music.
www.korrontzi.net/
twitter.com/korrontzi
www.facebook.com/pages/Korrontzi-Folk/960901977277922
Lan E Tuyang - Sarawak, Malaysia
Lead by Mathew Ngau, the master sape player and story teller, this band has been touring Europe several times in the last couple of years.
Mathew Ngau Jau, leader of Lan E Tuyang, has been playing the sape or the boat shaped lute of Sarawak since he was little. Not only is he an accomplished musician on the instrument, he also makes sapes, paints, dances, and is an expert on the blowpipe.
This is music of the Kenyah from the Orang Ulu tribe in Sarawak – the lonely strains of the boat lute with the dances of the warriors.
twitter.com/LanEtuyang
www.facebook.com/pages/Lan-E-Tuyang/310041972374139
Le Blanc Bros Cajun Band - Australia
A fine tribute to the music & language of the Cajuns – Le Blanc Bros Cajun Band play the traditional music of southern Louisiana.
The band was formed in 2009 through a mutual obsession with authentic Cajun music. Geoff and Andrew Le Blanc (who are descendants of the Acadians) perform Cajun songs and dance music with energy and style. Accompanied by a band of fiddlers, double bass and Cajun triangle players, they present a relaxed acoustic concert performance to delight audiences young and old.
Cajun music, like its black cousin Zydeco, is much more than an obscure folk form. It is a living popular dance music that has evolved over the centuries to its current form. Le Blanc Bros Cajun Band continues the age-old tradition of playing Louisiana French music. From soulful waltzes to lively two-steps and Creole blues, their repertoire tells of good times and hard times – a clear reflection of the Cajun people. The songs are performed in Cajun French.
Seeking out recordings of the greats, travelling to Louisiana and meeting living legends of Cajun music has motivated band members to learn, practise and teach. Their many influences include The Balfa Brothers, fiddle players Dennis McGee, Wade Frugé & Canray Fontenot, and accordion players Nathan Abshire, Ray Abshire Lawrence Walker, Amédé Ardoin, Bois-Sec Ardoin and Marc Savoy.
Andrew & Geoff Le Blanc have been enthusiastic, active performers and session players at many festivals around Australia and the world over in the last thirty years including The National Folk Festival, Kelly Country Pick, Blackwood & Yarra Junction Fiddler Conventions, Harrietville Bluegrass & Country Music Convention, Woodford, Port Fairy, Nannup, Cygnet, Fairbridge, Newstead LIVE and Brunswick Music Festival, Tahora Festival (NZ) and Wellington Folk Festival (NZ) to name a few.
Le Blanc Bros Cajun Band is inspired to share with you their Cajun music and heritage.
Band Members
Andrew Le Blanc
Geoff Le Blanc
Richard Klein
Kimberley Wheeler
www.facebook.com/pages/Le-Blanc-Bros-Cajun-Band/195317920514198
Lindigo - Reunion Island
Lindigo: Mi Lé Sek Mi Léin
Before going on stage Olivier Araste, the charismatic and powerful lead singer of the band Lindigo, always leaves in the dressing room an offering to his ancestors. At the heart of the trance, vigorously induced by his group and their frenzied rhythms played on the roulèr, the pikèr and kayamb, and at the core of their chants, whirl the invited spirits of the ancestors, giving the band’s eight members energy, faith and courage… A “feeling as strong as chilli” according to Olivier. While deeply rooted in solid traditions and its homeland, Madagascar, and cultivated in the sugarcane fields, their maloya is also part of the present, swaying with its load of positive vibrations and setting the discos alight while exalting the servis kabaré, the ceremony in honour of the ancestors inherited from Malagasy and African slaves.
A Maloya childhood
Flash back. The story begins in Paniandy, a neighbourhood of Bras-‐Panon, a small town in the east of the island. Olivier was already grooving to maloya in his mother’s womb. A curious child, he tasted all the ingredients of this music, a mixture of Malgasy, African and Indian heritage… He soon refined his appetite, learning the basics, the secrets, and playing every day, to forge his art and his ears. On the guitar, the accordion, the drums, in a variety of Reunion groups, the young prodigy practised his scales. In 1999, he formed Lindigo, soon joined by other “dalons”, his friends from Paniandy. Fast forward to 2004: their first album called Misaotra Mama (Thank you Mother), recorded after several warm-‐up tours playing in balls and neighbourhood parties, pays homage to Madagascar, the Great Island, the land of heritage, the promised land. Two years later, Zanatany (Local Child) confirmed their talent: they were the revelation of Sakifo, took Africolor by storm, then conquered the radio with their hit La Kazanou. Then came Lafrikindmada (2008), a salute to Reunion’s many faces. And finally Maloya Power (2012), ploughing their furrow ever deeper.
Raised fist
So here we are today, with the release of their fifth album, a symbolic number: “The fifth is the little finger that bends closed. It’s the clenched fist”, says Olivier. In Mi lé Sek Mi lé (I am what I am) we stop posing, we stop the distorted rhetoric and tread a radical, rebellious and socially committed path, paved with the flagstones of healthy anger. And so we revive the spirit of maloya: the combat – for recognition of our music, our island, our history, our family, our ancestors. Enough softening of the conscience, enough simple explosions of joy: it is time to take a stand. I was born maloya, I breathe maloya, I will die maloya. Now I give voice to the load weighing down my heart with this music that runs through my veins.” In this album, his voice seems even more personal. And more intimate. Laid bare, his heart beats with rants and heartache; his art tells of his observations of his artist’s life, its troubles, its stories, sometimes without tenderness or indulgence. Is Mi lé Sek Mi lé the album of maturity? Assuredly, as Lindigo looks at his reflection and makes his mark, with a pot pourri all his own.
Between roots and protest: finding his way
Right from the beginning, the group chose to leave the ways of childhood, the studious treading of the paths of heritage, to come of age and carve its own tools. “In 2004, the year of the release of our first album, Lo Rwa Kaf and Granmoun Lélé departed. Orphaned by our mentors, we have faithfully followed in their footsteps. We have progressively added our own ingredients, giving musical muscle to our name, on our island and beyond…”. Across the globe, from Brazil to Australia, from the United States to the Czech Republic, from Japan to the cows in Paniandy’s courtyard, from jam sessions with South African Skip and Die or La Yegros from Argentina, to their musical encounters with jazz saxophonist Guillaume Perret, and reggae star Winston McAnuff…..Lindigo is forging ahead with the flag of maloya held high, both deeply rooted and travelling afar.
Between the intimacy of their ceremonies and their political stance, Olivier’s direct lyrics breathe personal experience, telling in a few verses Reunion’s symbolic stories of complex sentiments, like the traditional parabolérs. “I build my songs, like parts of the servis, my school, my life, my element”, says Olivier. “My lyrics are based on questions and anwers: four phrases repeated for hours. To the question: where is your song? I reply: my soul is singing!”.
The vibration of the courtyard
The three-‐day recording in a courtyard in Sainte-‐Suzanne was direct, raw and simple, full of “roots” and “earth” sounds, with chaises longues, bird song and moringueurs (Reunion wrestlers) for a “warrior” competitiveness…The recording session was filled by friends, nephews, nieces, children, granmouns, for extra good vibes. At the controls, just as for their last album, reigned Fixi, Java’s amazing accordionist. “He is like the mechanic revving up the motor”, says Olivier. “Before we went at 120; now we go at 240!” The group wrote this fifth album with their foot hard down on the pedal…..A chapter coloured by strong political commitment, rebellious and militant. With a huge smile, Olivier concludes: “My heart is light once again. This album has been therapeutic…”
www.facebook.com/pages/LiNDiGo/56010702229?__tn__=C
Mah Meri - Malaysia
The Orang Asli are the indigenous people from Peninsular Malaysia who have been living there since even before 1000 BC.
They were traditionally animists led by their shamans, and the Mah Meri show their reverence for this from their carvings of spirit animals.
They come to the festival with their fearsome masks, log drums, ladies in mengkuang skirts, and bring with them the ancient rites and folklore that they still maintain in their community in Carey Island.
Ndima - Ongo Brazzaville
Traditionally nomadic, Pygmies are nowadays in the process of settlement. They live in the forests of Africa between the Atlantic Ocean and the big Lakes, and left according to the geographical areas in various groups in particular Baka, Bambuti, Batwa, Babongo, Efé and others.
In Republic of the Congo, we count several groups of pygmies among which aka where from are native the musicians of the Group Ndima.
Who are Pygmies aka and how do they live?
Hunters-gatherers, they are easily recognizable by their short size and their traditional housing environment established by huts in log. The esthetic expressions such the physical scarifications also allow to identify them. They live in the forest of the North of the Republic of the Congo and the South of the Centrafrique. They speak the aka language and live a life altered culturally, further to the increasing influence of the modernism in rural areas, and further to the rarity of certain foodstuffs in the forest today, which is more and more destroyed by the farmers and the foresters.
Members of a minority and marginalized,aka pygmies maintain bad relationships with their neighbors majority and slave master Bantus. They maintain with the latter relationships of clientele and exercise for their account various economic tasks: hunt, fishing, collect some honey, work in plantations and transport diverse loads.
Children of the forest, the Aka know how to take care of their environment because their life in all its aspects depends on it. To feed, they hunt animals and to edible vegetables which grow to their reach. They look after themselves with plants and with diverse essences, the virtues of which they know well. They also make use of it in their love life to conquer love of a woman, a man or to strengthen the marital union. Diverse objects are made with vegetables to be of use to the hunting, to the cooking, to the harvest of the honey…
Pygmies aka are people who practices the music on a daily basis. It is bound to diverse circumstances appropriate to their community. We find in their directory of the musics reserved for the spirits of the forest, among which each bears a name and materializes through a plant mask to appear in public, to participate in the event for which it is invited: rite of hunting or cure, raised by mourning, musics of entertainment, those linked to the divination, to the sexuality.
Aka practises the complex and rich contrapuntal, technical polyphony which they learn since their early childhood and which distinguishes their music of that of their neighbors called Bantu or big black. They also make use of the jodel – the alternation of the voice(vote) of head and the voice(vote) of breast, which also establishes(constitutes) an identity element.
The varied rhythmic formulae which support the dances show too the wealth of the culture pygmy aka, which nowadays is endangered.
This is the way the Group Ndima, consisted of musicians pygmies aka of the village Kombola, Republic of the Congo, attempts to promote and to protect through shows(entertainments), recordings and diverse meetings, their musical heritage(holdings).
Through this show(entertainment) of singings(songs) and dances, ” Moakanandima ” – Literally The pygmy aka in the forest, the musicians of Ndima invite the public of the Festival of the imagination in a journey in the depths of the equatorial forest, in a meeting of pygmies
Presentation Des Artestis Du Group Ndima
Angelique Manongo
Singer and dancer within the Group Ndima a co-founder is in 2003, Angelica MANONGO is and will stay together with Emilie KOULE, the feminine voices which made known on the national level, the polyphonic music pygmy which was for a long time underestimated by the Congoleses. She participated in the realization of both phonographic works of the Group Ndima, the first one was published in 2003 with the support of Unesco and the Japanese Government. Admirable by her artistic and human qualities, she is a character who knows how to give the senseto the group.
The birth of her last child did not allow her to participate in both European tours of the Group Ndima in 2012 and 2013. But she came on the 2014 tour and the public European could discover its talent in the execution of the various dances aka, as well as in the use of the yodel and the counterpoint, the complex processes which distinguish their music of that of their black big neighbors (the Bantus)
Micheline Mokoma
Recruited to participate in the tour 2013 of the Group Ndima in Switzerland, Micheline MOKOMA,seized the opportunity that was given to her. She knows how to captivate the public by her fitness to sing by making of the yodel. She also has the perfect control of the singing in counterpoint, technical which she learnt since her childhood by imitating her elder daughters. Accustomed as all the pygmies aka to participate in the community musical activities,MichelineMOKOMA discovers other cultures through the tours of the Group Ndima, and likes to emphasize the musical inheritance which she owes to her ancestors.
Henriette Potolo
POTOLO arises from a mixed couple, a Bantufather and a pygmymother. She received an akaeducation. She is used to sing and dance during the activities of her community. Often assuring office of “Ndzamba”, aka word which indicates the person who intones the singing, Henriette arranges undeniable qualities to lead and execute uninhibitedly the contrapuntal, traditional polyphonytechnicof the singing ofaka pygmy.
Olivier Maniale
Singer, dancer, percussionist, harpist, flutist … Olivier MANIALE is a one-man band. Endowed with a remarkable courage and with good qualities of communication which distinguish him from his peers, he proved several times that the group can count on him during the shows and the workshops. His artistic qualities confer him the leader’s status. His presence is an asset for the success of Ndima on tour.
Dopo Koudzedze
He is the youngest of the Group. Skillful percussionist, the keys of the various rhythmic formulae of the directory of Ndima are in his hands. Tireless and requiring, he looks after the good execution by his peers of the polyrhythms who accompany the singings and the dances. Its presence and its dexterity to put in vibration its drum of preference ” Ngué “, aka wordthat indicatesthe mother of drums, reassure his parteners.
Michel Kossi
Hunter-gatherer just like his parents as well as his peers, Michel Kossipractices the music for cultural and economic needs of his community. Percussionist, player of the musical bow, the hooked harp, the harp-zither, he is also a singer and a dancer. Its artistic qualities and his passion for its culture make that he is omnipresent in the activities of the group Ndima.
Sorel Eta
Self-taught ethnologist and manager of the group Ndima, Sorel ETA studies with passion the culture ofaka pygmies, community that he met in 1996 in the forest of the North of the Republic of the Congo. He is used to saying that is trainedat ” the University of the forest ” by his professors: the aka pygmies. He creates in 2003 the group Ndima( the forest), with which he intendsto emphasize the aka musicians, their musical heritage, to favor the cultural exchanges with other artists, and to promote the dialogue of culture between pygmies and other peoples. His knowledge of the environment of aka life allows him to present communications on this endangered culture, and to coordinate the shows of the group Ndima.
Summary of the show
Moakanandima or the aka pygmy in the forest ” is a journey in the depths of the equatorial forest. This show, of a duration of sixty minutes, invites the public to make a dive in the history in the discovery of the aka man and of its musical heritage that is nowadays endangered.
” Moakanandima “, it is also the discovery of the voices of aka pygmies and mainly the complex vocal techniques such as the counterpoint and the yodel, the specificities of their musical genrecompared with the music of their neighbors, the Bantu.
Moakanandima, it is still the expression of the mesmerizing melodies of chordophones as harp-zither ” mondoumein “, and the musical bow ” mbela “, instruments having the peculiarity to be of use to aka in the hunting.
Moakanandima, is finally the wealth and the complexity of the rhythmic formulae of drums evoking diverse circumstances of the everyday life of pygmies aka.
Through a diversified directory, the musicians of the group Ndima intend to give a representative outline of their music and their tradition
Sangpuy - Taiwan
Sangpuy is an old soul in a young body. His unique voice evokes the quietness of the spirit, the blessings of ancestors long gone, the origins of life.
He comes from an ancient tribe who lived where the mountain meets the ocean.
He sings songs from ancient ceremonies where gods of the natural world were revered and respected.
www.facebook.com/Sangpuy
Sarawak Cultural Village - Sarawak, Malaysia
“Penjan Kasih” dance group has performed internationally and an awards winning cultural dancers led by the choreographer Mr. Othman Hassan. The artistes are the resident dancers and musicians of the international acclaimed living museum, the Sarawak Cultural Village of Sarawak, East Malaysia.
Sayu Ateng… Echoes Of Borneo - Sarawak, Malaysia
In Borneo, among the Orang Ulu people, Sayu Ateng means “welcome”. This 8-member group has been making waves in the local, regional and international music scene.
All over the world, the old musicians and their knowledge of the lore and songs of their countries have been dying out. Ancient and antique instruments lie forgotten and the younger generations very often are not interested in learning how to play them. That is not the case of Sayu Ateng. The musicians have found a sound that is refreshingly modern yet full of traditional Sarawak flavour. They have mixed and matched traditional instruments with contemporary ones, composed their own lyrics and melodies and based their songs on the nature, landscapes and folk stories of Sarawak.
The music is evocative and graceful in the simplicity of its design. The melodies are steeped in Sarawak tradition and create a very distinct sound that is unmistakably Borneo. Rhythms are fluid yet strong? Mixing world beat with the subtle intonations of the rainforest.
Sayu Ateng, a eight piece band, cuts a cool swathe with a little bit of contemporary pop sound tectures and World Beat Music while never straying far from its principal roots of Sarawak. Taking ancient and modern sounds and fusing them with their own infectious character, the original sound and lyrics are based on the historical make-up of Sarawak.
The band members share a passion for the rich musical heritage of the various ethnic groups and consists of Jeffery Mozallan (Back-up Vocal, Bassist & Sape), Mohamad Faizal Jamil (Vocalist & Acoustic Guitarist), Ismail Idris (Gendang Melayu & percussion), Shamsul Idzam Jamil (Back-up Vocal & Violin), Mohiden Bujang (Back-up Vocal, Gendang & percussion), Abdullah Azan Kadir (Bamboo Flute), Mohd. Khairil Zikri Jeffery (Engkromong, Gong and Rain Sticks) and Mohamad Kedari Abu Bakar (Acoustic Guitar).
The band leader Jeffery Mozallan and original member of the Sayu Ateng was first established in December 1998 as Ismail Idris and Single Mohiden is they who are responsible for bringing the golden Sayu Ateng once a singer who has a remarkable voice Hidahri Hipni. After Hidahri died, his place was taken over by his nephew Jamil Mohamad Faizal so like his voice with the late Hidahri. Similarly, the presence of members of the new group has added further confidence to revive the spirit of Sayu Ateng.
Sayu Ateng first performance was at the Rainforest World Music Festival 1999.
Catching up on the global music scene with their musical flavor offering diverse musical beats that moves along the rhythm of rainforest and exciting indigenous cultures of Sarawak.
Shooglenifty - Scotland
Scotland’s Acid croft pioneers Shooglenifty kicked off their 25th Anniversary year with a jumping sell-out gig at Glasgow’s Old Fruitmarket. Snake-hipped fiddle-toting Highland front man Angus R Grant still rules the roost after a quarter century, but he has been joined centre stage by fiery young mandolinist Ewan MacPherson and ‘puirt a beul’ vocalist Kaela Rowan. It’s a potent mix that has invigorated a band that still retains four of its original members: Angus, Garry Finlayson on electric and acoustic banjo, Malcolm Crosbie on guitars, and James Mackintosh on percussion. The seventh member is their bass player of over a decade Quee Macarthur.
The Shoogles can’t think of a better way to continue their anniversary celebrations than an appearance at the Rainforest Festival. They have been regulars in Borneo since the Festival’s inception, and never have to think twice when receiving an invitation to play. Expect to hear the exquisite traditional sounding tunes of their homeland fused with devilishly dirty rhythms, and, thanks to their globetrotting adventures a rich back catalogue of international influences. There will be dancing.
Band Members
Angus R Grant
James Mackintosh
Malcolm Crosbie
Quee MacArthur
Ewan MacPherson
Garry Finlayson
and Kaela Rowan
www.shooglenifty.com/
twitter.com/shooglegigs
www.facebook.com/shooglenifty.scotland
Son De Madera - Mexico
on de Madera trio is an artistic group specializing in the interpretation and composition of a traditional genre of southern Mexico called Son Jarocho. Founded in 1990, they are internationally known as the best proposal of Son Jarocho today. The group’s work is distinguished by the cultivation of music, poetry of the Son Jarocho as a living tradition in constant movement and transformation without losing its essence. The sounds that they interpret come from a tradition that is transmitted by memory and oral tradition to which Son de Madera has brought itss talent and inspiration adding improvisation as the basis of the show.
They have recorded 7 albums, of which “Sones de mi tierra” was produced by the Smithsonian.
Son de Madera has appeared in major forums at national and international level and highlights as the Glatt&Verkhert Festival in Austria, the Paris Autumn Festival and the Smithsonian Folk Festival in Washington-live festival.
Band Members
Ramón Gutiérrez - Guitarra de son, guitarra de alambre, mandolina y canto
Tereso Vega - Jarana tercera, pandero jarocho y canto
Aleph Castañeda - Contrabajo y canto
Natalia Arroyo - Violín y canto
www.facebook.com/sondemadera
Sona Jobarteh - Gambia/United Kingdom
Sona Jobarteh is the first female Kora virtuoso to come from a west African Griot family. Breaking away from tradition, she is a modern day pioneer in an ancient, male-dominated hereditary tradition that has been exclusively handed down from father to son for the past seven centuries.
The Kora is a 21 stringed African harp, and is one of the most important instruments belonging to the Manding peoples of West Africa. It can be found in Gambia, Senegal, Mali, Guinea and Guinea-Bissau. The kora, along with a handful of other instruments, belongs exclusively to the griot families of west Africa. Only those who are born into one of these families have the exclusive right to take up these instruments professionally. Sona, who was born into one of the five principal West African Griot families, has become the first in her long family line to break from tradition by taking up this instrument professionally as a female
Her family carries a heavy reputation for renowned Kora masters, one being her Grandfather, Amadu Bansang Joberteh who was a Master Griot and remains a leading icon in Gambia’s cultural and musical history. Her cousin Toumani Diabaté is also known worldwide for his mastery of the Kora. Taught to play the kora at the age of four by her elder brother Tunde Jegede, Sona started her musical journey at a very young age, later further developing her expertise under the tutorship of her father Sanjally Jobarteh.
The years spent working as a musician in the UK training in Classical institutions such as the Royal College of Music and Purcell School of music, as well as being a permanent member of her brother’s internationally acclaimed ACM Ensemble allowed Sona to become immersed in a world of musical diversity many could only dream of. Sona was able to work alongside internationally acclaimed artists such as Oumou Sangaré, Toumani Diabaté, Kasse Mady Diabaté and The BBC Symphony Orchestra. These many influences have come together to form one of most exciting new talents from the West African Griot tradition to hit the stage in recent years.
Sona has an effortless ability to blend different musical styles, not just between the West and Africa, but also between West African musical genres. She uses her innovative stance to talk about issues to do with cultural identity, gender, love and respect whilst still referencing and rooting herself firmly in her traditional cultural heritage. Sona represents her tradition in a way that is easily accessible to her audiences from around the world, who are drawn in by her captivating voice, strong rhythms and catchy melodies.
One of Sona’s most captivating qualities is her voice. Although only pursuing her ability to sing later in life, she has fast been gaining a reputation for her voice alone. Most recently Sona’s vocals were featured in the Hollywood blockbuster movie “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom” which was released in the United Kingdom in January 2014.
In 2010 Sona composed the film score to the Multi-Award winning documentary film “The Motherland”, directed by Owen Alik Shahadah. For the accomplishment of this score Sona invented a new instrument which she named the ‘Nkora’. Drawing on her skills as a producer, singer and multi-instrumentalist this body of work sees Sona pioneering a new genre in Africa cinematic music.
Over the past four years Sona has been carefully piecing together her band. Forming a UK-based band that is both sympathetic and sensitive to the subtle idioms of the Kora repertoire has not been an easy task, but Sona has now put together a group of inspiring musicians from different parts of Africa who manage to render her music beautifully onstage, whilst still embodying each of their own diverse musical identities. Whether the full band or a smaller acoustic ensemble, this group of musicians never fail to bring a rich, revitalising energy to the stage.
Her latest album, released in 2011 entitled “Fasiya” is a landmark not only in her musical journey, but in the continuously evolving tradition that she is a product of. Into this album Sona has poured not only her abilities as a multi-instrumentalist and composer, but also her competence as a keen producer. Working in both Gambia and the UK Sona pieced together the many elements she needed to produce a work of art that would reflect her unique position in this tradition as a both a preserver and innovator.
As an ardent advocator of tradition Sona has been working on setting up Gambia’s first manding music school alongside her father Sanjally Jobarteh over the past year which is dedicated to cultivating knowledge and expertise in traditional music and culture amongst the next generation of young Gambians. Named after her grandfather Amadu Bansang Jobarteh, Sona’s intent is for the success of this school to stand as an enduring testament to the invaluable legacy he left behind.
www.sonajobarteh.com/
twitter.com/sonajobarteh
www.facebook.com/sonajobarteh
uKanDanZ - France / Ethiopia
uKanDanZ plays an unique style. It’s an unusual meeting between an electric quartet from France and Asnake Guebreye’s terrific voice. This charismatic lead singer originates from the vibrant music scene in Addis Abeba.
Their music is inspired by traditional and popular Ethiopian songs. uKanDanZ is a blast of real energy and emotion. Ethiopia meets rock, jazz, and noise…
With impertinence, they rock it wildly. No compromise. Guitar, saxophone, bass, drums and vocals shake the roof. Experience it yourself… and be overwhelmed.
At this moment uKanDanz is working on a new album, to be released in April 2015.
Band Members
Asnake Guebreye – Vocals
Damien Cluzel – Guitar
Benoit Lecomte – Bass
Lionel Martin – Tenor sax
Guilhem Meier – Drums
www.ukandanz.com/
www.facebook.com/ukandanzband
Online Artistes Line Up: rwmf.net/artist_year/2015/
Programme:
Online Programme: rwmf.net/showtimes/
Programme - Day 1:
Friday, 7th August, 2015
Programme - Day 2:
Saturday, 8th August, 2015
Programme - Day 3:
Sunday, 9th August, 2015
Ticketing Information:
Ticket Prices:
Adult (1 day pass) = RM 110.00 - Door Sales RM 130.00
Adult (3 days pass) = RM 300.00 - Door Sales RM 340.00
Child (1 day pass) = RM 50 - Door Sales RM 60.00
Child (3 day pass) = RM 130 - Door Sales RM 160.00
Family package per day = RM 220.00 - Door Sales RM 265.00
(2 adult + 2 child tickets)
Child ticket - 12 years old.
Online Booking: rwmf.net/tickets/
Online Packages: rwmf.net/packages/
For More Information:
Phone: +6082 423600
Fax : +6082 416700
URL: rwmf.net / sarawaktourism.com/
TW: twitter.com/SarawakTravel
FB: www.facebook.com/visitsarawak / www.facebook.com/groups/rwmf2004/10153610858560039/?ref=notif¬if_t=group_activity / www.facebook.com/events/1442549296069018/
