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12-14 July 2002

The Rainforest World Music Festival is a unique festival that brings together on the same stage renowned world musicians from all continents and indigenous musicians from the interiors of the mythical island of Borneo.

The 3 days festival is held at the Sarawak Cultural Village, a living museum where the traditional habitats of Sarawak’s major ethnic groups have been lovingly reproduced. Set amid lush rainforest greenery at the foothills of jungle clad Mount Santubong, and a stone’s throw away from the beach resorts of the Santubong peninsula, the village provides the ideal venue for this festival that celebrates nature, ethnic music and the indigenous cultures of the world.

Its formula of afternoon interactive 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, a hodgepodge of locals, expatriates and a growing number of tourists from near and far.

The festival Village has 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, all this contributing to a fun filled, wholesome festival experience.

This year again, children workshops, dance workshops and story telling are among the many festival activities. And after the live music is over around midnight, the fun will go on with our own World Music Dance Party !  

The Rainforest World Music Festival : a not to be missed occasion guaranteeing a smashing time in the heart of the Borneo Jungle !

Zimbabwe’s number one a capella song and dance group BLACK UMFOLOSI will be performing at this year’s Rainforest World Music Festival.

They are based in Bulawayo and their name is taken from the Umfolosi River that flows through the natal Province of South Africa.

The group came together when they were between the ages of 8 and 16 while entertaining themselves and fellow mates at school. All were self-trained. Their first performance was in support of the school football team. From there they moved to local festivals, to international fairs, and are now a global name in the music industry. Everywhere they go, it is usually a standing ovation and they have been everywhere from the Millennium Dome to the JFK Centre to the Royal Festival Hall.

There’s something unmistakably spiritual about their unaccompanied songs. They are sung in close rich harmony and address general human concerns – love, family….as well as strong social messages about war, apartheid, environment, AIDS. It is also a means of reviving the Ndebele culture and introducing it abroad. The music borrows heavily from Ndebele warrior songs with their accompaniment of drums, ululation, trills and whoops.

And then there are the dances – from the spectacular Zulu war dance to the Ambhiza harvest dance of the Kalanga people, and the delightful gumboot dance which originated in the diamond and gold mines of South Africa. Traditional styles and rituals of Africa are flavoured with contemporary styles. Intricate rhythms that are synonymous with African music are mixed with unusual harmonies and all put together with clicking, clapping and shouting.

To watch them is to experience powerful energy that radiates from the 11 men. Their costumes are stunning…..though they are just as attractive as bare torso-ed, very athletic miners! The pounding of their feet can be more powerful than any drumming.

Apart from their dynamic stage presentations, they also excel in dance or song workshops where they encourage the audience to take part or ask questions about Zimbabwe and their culture.

African groups at past Rainforest Festivals have always been much loved. There had been many requests for the organisers to bring in an a capella  group and we are now delighted that BLACK UMFOLOSI will be bringing us their special brand of magic, gentleness of spirit, joy in singing and exuberance in dance.

Be sure not to miss their evening performance at the Sarawak Cultural Village but watch this space for schedules of the special workshops they will be giving at the longhouses of the Village. This is one sure act that will appeal to the children as well.

One of the most exciting bands to arrive on the European neo-traditional scene in a long time, is a group from Naples who call themselves SPACCANAPOLI.

The nucleus of the group is composed of Monica Pinto (lead vocals) Marcello Colasurdo, Antonio Fraioli (violin, piano, percussion), Oscar Montalbano (acoustic guitar, bass) and Emilio DeMatteo (acoustic and electric guitars).

They play traditional Neopolitan forms, including the region's famous dances like the exciting tarantella and tamurriata, play on the big tambourine called a tammorra, and use an assortment of traditional and not-so-traditional instruments. All in all, their aim is to kick up a mighty musical ruckus with their percussive guitars, throbbing electric bass,  strident violins, swirling pipes and pounding drums.

Naples has always been  an astonishing mix of folk culture, and music and dance are an essential part of it. SPACCANAPOLI takes its name from an old market street that quite literally splits the old quarter of the city in two (Spaccanapoli means "split Naples" in dialect). The band's sound is as gritty, flamboyant, and lyrical as any of the street life on that ancient road.

SPACCANAPOLI introduces tough-minded socialist themes into its throbbing street rhythms coupled with sweet and passionate melodies. They have developed their own style through listening to old street singers, taking part in traditional festivals and studying ancient myths.

Italy has always been associated with hot and red blooded charms…and Naples, while steeped in ancient Mediterranean culture, is the place which is the most vibrant and intense.

SPACCANAPOLI is all this and more.

They brought down the house at WOMAD….If you’re ready to dance your soul out, .don’t miss them at the Rainforest World Music Festival this year.

What do you get when you juxtapose the Brazilian surdo, the Indian tabla and taviel, the Malay kompang and gendang, the Trinidad steel pan, the African djembe, Native American pow-wow drum and a hodge-podge of common household utensils?

The answer – THE ASEANA PERCUSSION UNIT.

This 8 member group of musicians who are based in Kuala Lumpur, are banging their way to people’s hearts. Give them anything that can make a sound, be it garbage can covers or broomsticks, they will find a rhythm for it.

 They were formed in 1998 by Edwin Nathaniel, Shahrin Hamid, Kirubakaran and Philip Robert, and expanded from there.

Rhythm is the easiest way of communication that transcends all barriers. Their regular shows at The Actors’ Studio Bangsar are always presenting new and unexpected ideas to wow the audience.

So the ASEANA PERCUSSION UNIT is now bringing their irresistible brand of humour and brash showmanship to Kuching, Sarawak for the 5^th Rainforest World Music Festival held at the Sarawak Cultural Village in July this year.

“We just want to play” manager Paul Augustin says. Everything they do is based on rhythm though they sometimes dose it with some melodic instruments. They fuse and re-fuse so many different types of styles that it’s hard to know what’s coming, going, and when. And that is the core of the attractiveness of the APU.

They grab anything they can that will serve their purpose and have no time for any kind of snobbery. To experiment with whatever they lay their hands on…that’s the way they are going.

A big part of the Rainforest Festival’s aims is to bring together as many different styles of music as possible. THE ASEANA PERCUSSION UNIT seems to be doing that all within themselves with their blend of Eastern and Western instruments.

It’s going to be fun setting them loose on the international musicians coming in. It will be Malaysian-style tongue-in-cheek “Rojak” and it will be a riot.

Don’t miss also, the interactive workshops the APU will be doing in the afternoons. They would be delighted if each member of the audience brought about something, anything that can make a sound. If you forget, a flower pot will do just fine.

At long last the classical music of India will make its appearance at the Rainforest World Music Festival, in the person of AVIJIT GHOSH, a young and talented master of the Sarod.

Born in Kolkata in a music loving family, Avijit was inducted into Indian Classical Music under the influence of his uncle Sitar master Pt. Ranjan Ganguly.

Avijit started learning Sarod in 1990 under the guidance of the late Prof. Dhyanesh Khan, son of the legendary maestro Ustad Ali Akbar Khan of Maihar Gharana. Presently, Avijit is a disciple of Ustad Ashish Khan. He also receives guidance from Pt. Tejendra Mazumdar.

Under such brilliant guidance, it is not surprising that Avijit secured the first position in the All India Radio competition in 1996 and also received the President's Gold Medal.

Discerning audiences at the festival can thus be assured that they will enjoy a Sarod recital of the highest quality. Sarod is an Indian classical music instrument. It originates from the Senya rebab, an Indo-Persian instrument played in India from the 16th to the 19th century.

Rajasthani, followed by Bengali instrument makers have definitely changed its shape to achieve its present form, though it has kept from its ancestor some characteristics : it is made of one piece of carved wood, the neck is fretless and the bridge is seated on a skin stretched on the body of the instrument.

Accompanied by his Tabla player from Kolkata, AVIJIT GHOSH will bring to the festival refined music of the highest level, to be listened in respectful silence and magically feel transported to the golden era of the Moghuls…

The Garifuna, also known as the Garinagu, are direct descendants of the “Island Caribs” and a group of African  slaves who escaped two ship-wrecked Spanish slave ships near St. Vincent in 1635. The Island Caribs were descendants of South American Indians known as Arawaks and  another group, the Caribs, who migrated from South America to the Caribbean. Through the mixture of these cultures as well as the influence of European settlers in the Americas, the Garifuna obtained a diverse culture that incorporates African traditions of music, dance, religious rites, and ceremonies, Native American cultivation, hunting, and fishing techniques; and a French and Arawak influenced language.

The Garifuna culture displays many influences of its African heritage, and this is extremely evident when comparing their music with the indigenous music of the African societies from which their ancestors originated.

One of the closing acts at the Rainforest Festival this year will be the GARIFUNA ALL STAR BAND  – a once in a lifetime collaboration of the biggest stars of Garifuna music who are based in Belize and Central America. For the first time, these musicians from diverse backgrounds are unified into a dynamic group to portray their vibrant traditional culture.

The Garifuna style of music relies heavily on call and response patterns.  These patterns are less overlapping than many traditional ones found in Africa, but none the less the Garifunas’ “leader/chorus organization” is very consistent with those of African styles. Garifuna music relies heavily on the drum, and in many instances their music is dictated by it.  

The drums of the Garifuna are usually made of hardwoods that are uniformly shaped and carved out in the centres. The ends of the drums, whether it be one or two, are covered with skins from the peccary, deer, or sheep.  These drums are always played with the hands, and some drummers have been known to wrap metal wires around the drumheads to give them a snare-like sound. Some musicians accompany the drums with gourd shakers called sisira, and even instruments like the guitar, flute, and violin have been adopted from early French, English, and Spanish folk music, as well as, Jamaican and Haitian Afro-Caribbean styles.

Garifuna songs and dance are an integral part of their culture.  These songs and dance styles  display a wide range of subjects like work songs, social dances, and ancestral traditions. A  very popular dance style   is called the punta which is usually  performed at wakes, holidays and parties. This involves a lot of hip movements.

The GARIFUNA ALL STAR BAND will be featuring a lot of the modern fusion of this aggressive punta rock as well as the intense semi-sacred Hungu-Hungu. Also in their music is the “Latin-Blues” paranda style.

ANDY PALACIO is Belize’s most internationally top billin Punta Rocker. His very unique and danceable styles combine Garifuna rhythms and melodies with contemporary world beat arrangements.

PAUL NABOR is 75 years old and a legend in Paranda – songs accompanied by drumming, percussion and acoustic guitar, very much like the Caribbean Calypso. He is also a sort of spiritual leader with the voice of age and wisdom. Though nominally Roman Catholic, many Garifuna practice African spiritual traditions. The dugu, honoring the Garinagu ancestors is the most important, where feasting, music and dance go on for days. He is also the last living Parandero in Punta Gorda, a small coastal village in southern Belize. Still, he is one of the hardest-working men in the region: he wakes up at five every morning to fish in the Caribbean, and in the evenings he serves as religious leader at the old wooden Garifuna temple before his gigs at the local club, which often run nearly into the next morning.

AURELIO MARTINEZ comes from the Honduras and is like a modern day troubadour with his guitar and socially conscious lyrics.

These three stars are coming in with a 10 member back up band to consolidate the reputation of the Rainforest World Music Festival, backed by the Sarawak Tourism Board and the Ministry of Tourism, as the biggest party in the region.

Listen out for the unique colours of the turtle-shell percussion. Don’t miss the workshops that will feature the culture and colours of these wonderful men of the Garifuna. Be prepared to laugh and cry and dance.

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