Hamed Nikpay on the Road
By: Artin Amirian Los Angeles, California
Wednesday, October 07, 2009
On Saturday, Oct 3 2009, I walked into the Ebell Theatre to see “Hamed Nikpay’s all is calm on the road” concert with no pre-conceived notions, I had heard a few of his songs but live performance is absolutely a different experience and can be tense and unsatisfying. I walked in there with curiosity and doubt, wondering about the musical arrangements, instrumentation and setup.
8:30ish Hamed started his journey. Being a performer myself, it was what I have been waiting to see after a decade of listening to music in diverse genres. I had always imagined and fantasized about the clash of Persian traditional music and Flamenco; and the big question was, how would anyone fuse them so that the final sound would be a harmonious blend while respecting the foundation of both genres? What Hamed created that night was a perfect, refined fusion of two styles; and after such a long wait, I found my answer in a performance which was created, conducted and performed by Hamed Nikpay.


The music workshops are an essential element at the Rainforest World Music Festival in Sarawak (Malaysia). Each day there are several sets of workshops at three separate venues simultaneously at the Sarawak Cultural Village. That is nine per day; a total of 27 exciting workshops in 3 days.
The third and last day of the 2009 Rainforest World Music Festival started with the daily press conference at 11 am with Malaysian band Asika, Polish group St. Nicholas Orchestra, Korean ensemble Noreum Machi, French Gypsy-wing combo Poum Tchack and Finnish quartet Jouhiorkesteri. A second press conference was held at Sarawak Cultural Village with the Minister of Urban Development and Tourism Sarawak, YB Datuk Michael Manyin anak Jawong, festival chairman Ben Jimbau and festival PR director Letitia Samuel. Minister Jawong confirmed that this year's festival met the goals of the organizers.
The second day at the Rainforest World Music Festival on Saturday, July 11, started with the daily press conference at the Santubong Kuching Resort. The artists represented included Sarawakian acts Kinabalu Merdu Sound and Lan-E Tuyang, Hungarian group Muzsikas, Chilean legend Inti-Illimani, Chinese string ensemble sensation Red Chamber and the mesmerizing musicians from Bali, Sekaa Jaya Jengala. Later in the afternoon, the festival performers carried out more fascinating workshops, focusing on mouth organs, strings, Maori culture, drums and lots more.
I had the pleasure of attending the 2009 edition of the Rainforest World Music Festival which is held at Sarawak Cultural Village in the Malaysian section of the legendary island of Borneo. The venue for the festival is a living museum, located on the foothills of Mount Santubong, that replicates the heritage of the major tribal groups in Sarawak. It is located about a half an hour's drive (35 km) from Sarawak's capital, Kuching.
Locos Por Juana, one of the hottest Latin alternative rock bands in the United States visited
World music festival WOMAD Abu Dhabi attracted 80,000 people, who attended the three-day celebration of world music in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain. This the first WOMAD (World of Music Arts and Dance) festival in the Middle East region and it was brought to Abu Dhabi by ADACH (Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage). Ther festival was held last week, April 23-25.
Duke University’s Duke Performances Presents featured the unlikely pairing of Richie Havens and Rachid Taha for its April 16th Speak Truth to Power concert in