Day One of the Penang World Music Festival 2014 featured a good spread of international artistes, with African and Asian bands stealing the limelight (see my article https://worldmusiccentral.org/2014/05/25/penang-world-music-festival-2014-day-one-african-and-asian-showcase). Day Two, kicking off on an equally hot but mercifully rain-free day, had bands from Europe and Brazil drawing the most applause.
The evening performances kicked off with Kien Lim, a folk-rocker in Malaysia who also spent a few years gigging in the UK, accompanied by Penang drummer Jordan James Scully. They were followed by dancers from the troupe Temple of Fine Arts, and then four instrumentalists from the Lin Na Guqin Arts Institute in China. The guqin is regarded as one of the world’s oldest string instruments.
The much-awaited flamenco group took the stage next and really got the crowd going: Davila Trio, with members from France, Spain and Turkey. Luis Davila Oria is a Spanish guitar virtuoso, whose dexterity and passion belies his youthfulness. He showcased a range of original compositions inspired by the ancient tradition of flamenco music.
Luis has also managed the musical production of the television program “Musica Al Grano.” He trained at the Fundacion Cristina Heeren with flamenco masters such as Niño de Pura, Eduardo Rebollar and Pedro Sierra. In partnership with Raul Mico, Luis set up a show entitled “Callejon de Las Moradas” in tribute to the great flamenco singer “Camaron de la Isla.”
Playing in Malaysia for the first time, the charismatic Luis was accompanied on cajon by Ercan Dursun from Turkey and Elena Cueto on cello; Elena also performed two spectacular dances which drew rousing applause for sheer passion and grace.
Another trio, Alvorada Pé Vermei, took the next stage immediately after, and wowed the crowd with creative percussion and a backdrop of videos showing life in Minas Gerais, Brazil. For the the last 10 years, the trio has been showcasing Brazilian tribal rhythms such as caboclinhas, caipiras, candombes, moçambiques and capoeiras. Their latest project “Cawuco”, explores the musical transitions and arrangements of the metropolitan area of Belo Horizonte which also includes urban choros, sambas and caipirismos.
Alvorada dazzled the crowd on the drums and his innovative use of dropping a bunch of keys on the snare drum for percussive effect, a wide range of rattles, twirling pipes, and scatting along with his drums. With his bearded looks he almost came across as the ‘mad professor on drums!’ The band’s vocalist also brought her newborn baby on stage later; some of the visuals had showcased her when she was carrying her child, and the crowd loudly applauded mother and child.
The pace changed with the next band: Dikir Barat from Kelantan, Malaysia. Over a dozen musicians filled the stage, with some vocalists and percussionists sitting on the floor. Two lead singers led the group in a range of devotional and popular songs in a local style reminiscent of qawwali, with a wide range of creative clapping gestures. One piece even had a passage delivered in rap style, and another was set to a lambada rhythm; both got the crowd to their feet.
The percussive levels notched up even more with the next two Indian bands on stage, tribal percussion group Dollu Kunita from rural Karnataka in south India and the Kacchi Godhi horse dancers from Rajasthan. The dance is performed by men on dummy horses, and the troupe also threw in a few bhangra and Bollywood tracks for audience delight.
Two European bands led the show to its final climax: Ewa Bulhak & The Ple Ple Band from Poland, and Bulgara from Bulgaria. The repertoire of Ewa Konstancja Bulhak and Ple Ple Band consists of Slavic traditional tunes as well as Polish folk music. They were led by the energetic Ewa Konstancja Bulhak, an actress and vocalist from the National Theatre in Warsaw.
Accordionist Robert Lipka, guitarist Maciej Kierzkowski and percussionist Adam Szuraj kept the crowd on their feet with high-energy performances, and the audience joined in a range of circle dances singing the chorus “Oira Oira.” Ewa was on her feet dancing for the whole set, singing and playing the tambourine, and ending the set with a loud “Shhhhhh!”
The final performance was by world fusion band Bulgara from Bulgaria, which blended Bulgarian folk music with rock, jazz and funk. Over the last dozen years, the band has won a range of awards including the Askeer Theatre Award, and their music has been featured in the film “Beyond the Line.”
The high-energy music was at the crossroads of folk, gypsy and Middle Eastern sounds, with instruments across the board. The duets and call-and-response sessions between flute and ukulele, and the simultaneous riffs with bass and flute, drew a standing ovation.
All bands from both days of performance came on stage for the grand finale, and the audience rewarded them many hearty rounds of applause.
I picked up a good stack of CDs from the artistes during their morning press conferences, which should keep me busy with reviews for a few weeks. We look forward already to next year’s edition of the Penang World Music Festival with its superb mix of workshops, evening performances, local food delights and spectacular forest backdrops!
Author: Madanmohan Rao
Madanmohan Rao is an author and media consultant from Bangalore, and global correspondent for world music and jazz for World Music Central and Jazzuality. He has written over 15 books on media, management and culture, and is research director for YourStory Media. Madan was formerly World Music Editor at Rave magazine and RJ at WorldSpace, and can be followed on Twitter at @MadanRao.
