SMS Online - The Rainforest World Music Festival 2003

The Kayan and the Kenyah live in the upper rivers of Sarawak. A group of them from Belaga will be bringing a slice of their culture in the shape of the Parap to the festival. They are among those in Sarawak who are still culturally strong in practicing the parap which is as traditional and authentic as it was during the time of their ancestors.

Parap is a folklore song sung mainly among the Kayan-Kenyah tribes. It is a song relating expressions of love, happiness, loneliness and anger. It also extols the beauty of nature and all living things.

In olden days, parap is normally sung as a means to praise, to apologise or as encouragement to a person in which the parap is dedicated to. That is why parap has a significant role in the Kayan Kenyah culture.

However, nowadays it is mainly sung for merry-making and festivities, especially in weddings, where it is a means to advise the newlywed couple of life ahead. And, to add colours to the festivity mood, rice wine is served at the ending of the rituals.

There are no instruments used in this social means of merry making. It is in the form of pantun or poems which are mostly improvised and intended as a means of a message or a narration. The lead singer in a parap could be either man or woman whereas the backup singers could be a mixture of both.

The duration of a parap can vary from few minutes to few hours depending on the lead singer. In order for the parap to be more 'colourful' and prolong, the backup singers will have to cheer up the lead singer in between.

The beginning and the ending of a parap are always done with a 'lalu' which could give a 'key' or a 'code' for the lead singer.

At the festival the BELAGA ASAP GROUP will bring to the audience an insight to their way of life - from farming, fishing, hunting, and how their new settlement at Asap has changed all that.

It will truly be a meeting of cultures at the festival which has been hosted, sponsored and thoroughly supported by the Sarawak Tourism Board and the Ministry of Tourism for the last 6 years. These Kenyahs and Kayans will be performing alongside many international musicians.

FIVE LADIES OF MARRAKECH AT THE RAINFOREST WORLD MUSIC FESTIVAL

It has seemed that there are always more male musicians at the Rainforest World Music Festival than females in the past.

This July, BNET MARRAKECH from Morocco is a 5 woman group who will bring Berber, Chaabi, Rai and Gnawa songs from their country.

The “girls of Marrakech” are mixed Berbers originally coming from villages near Taroudant in the fertile plains of the Houara, south-east of Marrakech.

Berbers lived in north Africa long before the arrival of the Arabs, and their culture probably dates back more than 4,000 years. Berber states known as Mauritania and Numidia existed in classical times.

Between the 11th and 13th centuries, two great Berber dynasties - the Almoravids and the Almohads – controlled large parts of Spain, as well as north-west Africa. Today, there are substantial Berber populations in Morocco and Algeria, plus smaller numbers in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt.

Berbers are identified primarily by language but also by traditional customs and culture - such as the distinctive music and dancees.

The ancient Berber culture is extrordinarily rich and diverse, with a variety of musical styles. These range from bagpipes and oboe (Celtic style) to pentatonic music (reminiscent of Chinese music) - all combined with African rhythms and a very important stock of authentic oral literature. These traditions have been kept alive by small bands of musicians who travel from village to village, as they have for centuries, to entertain at weddings and other social occasions with their songs, tales, and poetry.

Gnawa is a term used to define both a Moroccan music style and a Muslim religious brotherhood that invokes God and many prophets.

The origin of Gnawa music originally comes from West Africa, south of the Sahara. Over 500 years ago, slavery, conscription and trade brought people from West Africa to North Africa. When they got to the north, they brought their music with them which was called Gnawa. Gnawa song texts contain many references to the privations of exile and slavery.

These 5 women of BNET MARRAKECH have learnt singing since childhood and have been performing mostly for religious functions like marriages, births and circumcisions.

Their songs are sung in the Moroccan-Arabic vernacular language to the accompaniment of the forceful and hypnotic drumming of skin and metallic percussion.

Malika Mahjoubi is a Sheirat – the feminine of Sheikh – who perform love dances and sings to entertain and are often supposed to be courtesans. She is the lead singer of the group – conducting the show with irresistible magnetism and charm. She has been known to do sudden summersaults on stage!

Aziza Ait-Zouin plays the kamanche or Arabic violin as well as the oud. She is the rock of the group with a huge repertoire of different styles especially the Gnawa songs.

Fatima Bakkou has a strong and beautiful voice and is an enthusiastic drummer showing great virtuosity in playing quaint drums like the tubsil and the traiar.

Halima Chamkhi plays the Berber dadour and the darabouka while Fatima Malih is a keen specialist of Chaabi songs.

To listen to their music encompasses more than just their singing and instruments. It weaves into the world or spirituality and Sufism. They go into a state of trance and is heavily spiced with mysticism and poetry.

At the Rainforest World Music Festival, BNET MARRAKECH will be on mainstage for an evening performance as well as conducting workshops in the afternoons.

They are also henna specialists and will probably be available at one of the booths if you are looking for exotic and exquisite artwork to be painted on your body. In fact, they also conduct wedding programmes in Marrakech where they will adorn a bride-to-be with dazzling creations with their henna. If you happen to be planning a wedding around the dates of the festival and would require the services of these women, here is your big chance!

BNET MARRAKECH will be an experience not to be missed.

OMAR PENE and the super diamono BRINGS M’BALAX MUSIC TO THE RAINFOREST WORLD MUSIC FESTIVAL

African music is perhaps the most accessible and popular genre of the world music scene.

This year, coming to the Rainforest World Music Festival is one of Senegal’s top groups – OMAR PENE.

Vocalist and composer Omar Pene has played a pivotal role in the evolution of Senegal's music. One of the few Senegalese musicians to rival Youssou N'Dour, Pene and his band Super Diamano have influenced the music of their homeland for more than a quarter of a century. While their roots remain in the traditional mbalax rhythms of Senegal, Pene and Super Diamano blend a global range of influences, including reggae and jazz, into their turbo-charged dance music.

Raised in Dakar's working class section, Derkle, Pene has been singing most of his life. Joining his first band, Cad, in 1975, he remained with the group for a few months. Together with bandmates Cheikh Diagne, Bassirou Diagne, and Bazlo Diagne, he joined with members of Tropical Jazz De Dakar, including guitar and harmonica player and vocalist Ismael Lo, to form Super Diamano. Initially tied to Senegal's traditional music, the group moved towards a harder-edged electric sound with the addition of jazz fusion-influenced keyboardist Adama Faye.

Omar Pene has generated his own style of vocal delivery to carry the lyrics of the songs he has written for the band. His beautiful, haunting melodies and the sophisticated arrangements bear witness to the fact that good music is a universal language that draws people together.

The main drum of the Senegalese M'balax, the sabar is a drum of more than a metre and is used to party! Its single head is beaten by the left hand while the right hand provides syncopation with a tiny stick. Lots of music and dances are baed around the beat of these drums in West Africa, such as the highly charged dance "le ventilateur".

There will be 8 band members coming in this group. Omar Pene is of course the lead vocalist backed up by 2 singers – Gueye Diarra and Koite Dieynaba. Conare Mamadou, also affectionately known as Doudou, and Diop Pape Dembel are on guitar and bass respectively, while drums and percussion are handled by Diagne El Hadi Ousmane (Lappa) and Papa N’Diaye.

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