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 workshops have various themes. For example, at the 2009 festival, the workshops featured included the following: Fiddle Dee Dee (Bowed Instruments), Oudly Familiar (Variations of the ancient oud / lute),  Bahasa Musik, Dance, Dance, Dance!, Fusionistas - Hot mix of cultures, Droning on (Bagpipes and more), Gypsy Jam, Drooling Banjos (Banjos and beyond), Groovin’ (Drummers and Drums), Free the Reed (Mouth organs to Accordions), Hit Makers (Instruments that are struck), Eclectricity (Great music on interesting instruments), Little Wonders (Amazing Small Strings), One-Sided Percussion (Pyrotechnics on frame drums and tambourines), Double Duty (Multi-instrumentalists), Soul of the Maori (Moana & the Tribe),  Hot Pickers, Trans-Afrique (One end of Africa to the other), Ancient Modern (Traditions moving into the future), Voice of My People (Voices from around the world), Guitar Oh!, Bamboozled (Amazing Instruments made from Bamboo), All Keyed Up (Keyboards and more), High Strung (Strings with energy), I’ve Got Rhythm (World rhythm masters), Women’s Voices, and Blowin in the Wind (Wind instruments).

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.

The Visitors Information Counter (VIC) in Kuching had run out of the Saturday tickets a few days earlier, meeting the expectations of the organizers of the 12th edition of the Rainforest World Music Festival. The economic downturn and the H1N1 flu concerns did not scare away the public, although Malaysian authorities asked concert-goers to stay away from the festival if they had flu-like symptoms. As a precaution, masks were handed out to the public at the festival entrances.

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. 

To travel to the festival, you can fly directly to Kuching from cities such as Singapore, Hong Kong (China) and Jakarta (Indonesia) although the majority of the international travelers arrive via Malaysia's thriving capital, Kuala Lumpur. There are many options for lodging, including hotels, apartments, budget hotels and resorts. I stayed at the beautiful Santubong Kuching Resort, which is where the musicians, media, festival staff and many concert-goers stay at. It is located on the coast, overlooking the South China Sea, about a 10 minute drive from Sarawak Cultural Village, and next to the Damai Golf and Country Club, an 18 hole, par 72 course, designed by Arnold Palmer.

Locos Por Juana, one of the hottest Latin alternative rock bands in the United States visited Durham (North Carolina) to perform at the Taste of Durham festival on Saturday, May 23rd. There has been a lot of talk about the multinational Miami-based band and they did not disappoint the multiethnic crowd in Durham. Locos Por Juana combines infectious energy rock with infectious Latin rhythms from the Caribbean and South America, as well as reggae, hip hop and American funk. In December of 2008, the band was nominated for "Best Latín Rock Or Alternative Album" for their album titled “ La Verdad”.

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.

“We couldn’t have asked for a more successful event. Every evening exceeded our expectations with cultures and people from around the globe joining together to celebrate world music,” said Abdulla Salim Al Amri, Director of Culture and Arts Department, Abu Dhabi.

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 Durham, North Carolina. Drawing on a shared background of musical activism by the 1960s folk icon Havens and the French-Algerian rocker Taha, the concert attracted an equally diverse audience of students, folk devotees and Middle Eastern music enthusiasts. Audience members at Duke’s Page Auditorium found themselves at the crossroads between East and West, between the past and present and between old struggles and new ones, reveling in the unifying celebration of music.
 
 Mr. Havens, part of the legendary 1960s Greenwich Village folk scene and 1969 Woodstock’s opening act, took the first set, drifting elegantly to center stage with all the power and surety of a veteran performer. Artfully adept at storytelling, Mr. Havens opened with a brief story about his beginnings in the coffeehouses in New York and how easy it was to get lyrics to a song one admired – all fourteen versions. Then, brushing his long, ringed fingers across the strings of his guitar, Mr. Havens launched into “All Along the Watchtower” to the crowd’s delight.