Music of the Rainforest

Compiled by JASON CHEAH

It is time to take a sneak peek at who from the global scene of World Music are coming to this year’s Rainforest World Music Festival, to be staged from July 8 to 10 in Santubong, Sarawak.

In fact, a significant portion of the line-up to date has been confirmed by the organisers.

A look at the websites of some of the acts scheduled to grace themselves at the foot of Mount Santubong this year already sees them blocking those significant dates in their tour schedules.

Early confirmations include the new voice of Qawwali, Faiz Ali Faiz. Highly regarded as the successor of the late and legendary Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, he was a nominee in the just concluded BBC World Music Awards 2005.

Also from Asia and North Africa, Iranian Kurdish family the Kamkars is also set to please with traditional Persian and Kurdish poignant melodies and uplifting rhythms, while Algerian Djamel Laroussi is expected to offer an exciting and catchy mix of Algerian rai with influences of jazz, blues and reggae.

On an American note, artistes from all the way North in Canada to South in Bolivia are also confirmed to date, including Juno Award winner Le Vent Du Nord from Canada with its roots from the province of Quebec, Latin Grammy Award nominee Petrona Martinez from Colombia and Belize’s Florencia Mess and the Maya Kek’chi Strings.

European offerings will most likely include interesting crossovers, including the unlikely Celtic music-Polish band combination of Shannon, Italian gypsy outfit Acquaragia Drom, and quirky comedy and song routines from Britain’s The Old Rope String Band.

From Africa, Cote d’Ivoire song, dance and musicians collective Yelemba D’Abidjan, who have made a recent appearance at the Womad Festival in Reading, England, is expected to come.

On the home front, we will get to see the return of sape maestro Jerry Kamit, as well as the increasingly popular Sarawak outfit Tuku Kame, among other Malaysian collectives and cultural groups.

Of course, these are just the early confirmation and just like any festival, one can expect there will be more to come.

Nevertheless, diversity looks to be the key in artiste and the reputation of an artiste in the world music circuit range from off the mainstream to some already breaking in.

Organised by the Sarawak Tourism Board (STB), the festival attracted 20,000 people last year, half of whom were Malaysians.

This year, the STB is expected to sell up to 8,000 entrance tickets for each nightly show to ensure better crowd control and for the comfort and safety of music lovers.

There will not be three-day passes like in the previous festivals. Instead, daily tickets of RM60 (adults) and RM30 (children aged between three and 12 years) will be on sale. For each show, admission is limited to 7,000 adults and 1,000 children.

There will also be the usual daytime events (from 2pm to 4.30pm) comprising interactive music workshops, ethno-music lectures, jam sessions and mini-performances.

Tickets can be obtained from Visitors’ Information Centres in Kuching (082-410944 (city)/082-450944 (Kuching Airport), Sibu (084-340980), Miri (085-434181), at the Sarawak Tourism Board Office, Kuching (082-423600) and the Sarawak Cultural Village ( 082-846411).

Courtesy of The Star

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