Rockin' in the Rainforest! Borneo
Peregrina's Journey
Peter and Margie Benziger
Tue 31 Jul 2012 05:29
01:33.5N 110:24.3E
Rockin’ in the
Rainforest
Once in
awhile, you manage to be at the right place at the right time.
It’s not
always easy when you depend on the wind and the weather to chart your
course. In truth, it’s
almost impossible to have a “schedule” when you make a sailboat your home as
well as your main source of transportation.
But, sometimes, it works and, recently, we found ourselves in Borneo
just in time for the 15th Rainforest World Music Festival. Website: www.rwmf.net
The Festival
is held at the Sarawak Cultural Village, an authentic living museum featuring
the traditional dwellings of the many different peoples of the Malaysian
province of Sarawak on Borneo. It is at
the foot of the majestic Mount Santubong - just four kilometers from the
village of Santubong where Peregrina was anchored in the river.
We paid $100 each for a three-day pass to the Festival
which ran from July 13-15th.
On the first day, Peter and I wore our vintage tie-dyed T-shirts just so
we could embarrass our children with this photo. Our friends, Betty and Charlie Preen from
Australia are with us.
We
hitchhiked to the Cultural Village and back home each night to the anchorage. There were small vans charging 5 ringgits
($1.66) each way that we could wave down but, most times, we were picked up by
locals attending the concert or vendors heading to/from the event. They were delighted to offer us rides and
fascinated that we had come half-way around the world to visit Borneo. The Malays are some of the friendliest
people you will ever meet and the whole weekend was just a love-fest from the
moment we stuck out our thumbs Friday morning until the last note was played
and we headed back to Peregrina Sunday night.
I cannot
imagine a more spectacular venue for a celebration of international music and
culture. During the day, we attended a
slew of workshops with musicians from over twenty countries around the world. These were held in authentic re-creations of
the longhouses and tall houses of the various ethnic communities in Sarawak as
well as in an acoustically perfect amphitheater and a beautiful lakeside
pavilion.
Here's one of the tall houses workshops built at the side of the
mountain and another with Peter and I waiting for the workshop to begin.
In between the workshops, we strolled around
the lake investigating the various craft booths, cultural exhibits and food
stalls. Often chatting with the
musicians who, unlike any concert I have ever attended, were found all day long
mixing with the concert-goers in the public areas and attending the
workshops! It was just amazing to be so
up close and personal with these incredibly talented individuals who were just
as anxious as we were to learn about instruments brought from different
countries that most of us had never even seen or heard before!
We were told
that the area in front of the main Jungle Stage and the smaller Tree Stage (off
to the right) could accommodate up to 8,000 people. Here’s what it looked like during the day!
Once the sun
went down, sending a rosy farewell that was reflected on the mountain and the rainforest
surrounding us, we settled into folding chairs and tarpaulins on a little hill
to the left side of the Jungle Stage. Here’s what that same venue looked like once
the music began to play!
During the
day, there were three venues offering workshops all afternoon. The hardest decision was choosing which ones
to attend. We sat in on SHANTA, a master
class with Samuel Dass (sitar) and Prakash Kandasamy (tablas) who are
considered among the best in the world.
Then we
watched musicians from Sweden, Scotland, Mongolia, and Malaysia as they
demonstrated LONG STROKES on bowed stringed instruments. Here the performers were responding questions
from the audience.
The crowd favorite of
the entire weekend turned out to be KHUSAGTUN, a six-member ensemble from
Mongolia who displayed very unique horse head fiddles and a zither and
demonstrated the incredible art of throat singing in a workshop called HIGHS
& LOWS.
These are
nomadic people and the name comes from the cart that their horses pull as they
travel with their families across the country.
Their music was evocative of the thunderous hoof beats of horses in the
vast open plains of their homeland and their musical/vocal skills were
astounding!
I can't seem to insert one of our videos in this email but you can hear
them in this YouTube clip from Human Planet.
It’s from a concert at Albert Hall in London. Go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQkrsdjJB2s&feature=share and slide the cursor to 1:45 minutes
to start. Throat singing is taught to young boys (mostly) starting at about 12 years of age. It comes from deep down inside the stomach and then reverberates in the throat. You'll hear dual tones reaching incredible highs and lows at the same time. Just amazing!!!
Moving on,
we listened to the pounding HEARTBEATS OF SOUTHEAST ASIA with the Diplomats of
Drum from Malaysia and then SIX OF THE BEST – four guitar players from
String Sisters, (Norway) and La Zikabilo (France) who all play 6-string guitars. The bongo player was extra.
There was a
wild brass instrument session called METAL IN MY MOUTH with members of
Cankiisou from the Czech Republic, Kanda Bongo Man and La Zikabilo and an
all-star jam session for plucked string instruments called FINGERS AND THUMBS
with 18 musicians representing almost all the bands on the schedule and some
incredible instruments that most of us had never seen before. Here are two band members from Mamadou
Diabate’s Percussion Mania in Burkina Faso who played the N’goni, a beautiful
instrument made out of a gourd.
There were
dance workshops where we attempted to FLIRT LIKE A BRAZILIAN and HIP, HIP, HIP…
THE CONGOLESE KWASA KWASA - a “booty” dance to end all ifs, ands or butts! Believe
me, you DON’T want to see pictures of us at those workshops!!
Finally,
there was THUNDER IN THE JUNGLE with drums and percussion instruments from
around the world. Words cannot describe what thunder we're talking here...
And, those were just
the workshops we attended! There were so
many others that we wished we could have sat in on but, so little time...
The most
amazing thing to see was these world class musicians sitting in absolute awe of
each other’s individual genius! There
were no “egos” here. No religious or political
divisions. No VIP treatment necessary and no burly security personnel guarding
the “talent.” We had all come for the
music and the respect and camaraderie was universal.
The evening
performances were non-stop from 7:30pm-12:30am with bands alternating
constantly from one stage to the other.
From our vantage point on the hill, we could see both stages with an
unobstructed view and relax comfortably in our chairs and tarpaulins. (We called it the Senior Citizen
Section!) But, whenever we wanted to
feel more of the intensity of the concert, we would weave our way down to the
front of the stage where several thousand people jammed forward to experience
the full force of the music. If you
timed it right, you could manage to get yourself right upfront of one stage
while the band was playing on the other.
We watched Cankiisou from about five rows back and, believe me, those
Czech boys ROCKED!!! Here’s the lead
singer with his incredible saxophone player.
As each
evening’s line-up moved along, the pulsing beat of the music thundered louder
and louder and the final performances of headliners Zee Avi, (Malaysia) La
Zikabilo, (France) Cankiisou, (Czech Republic) Mamadou Diabate’s Percussion
Mania, (Burkina Faso) and Kanda Bongo Man (Congo) were awesome! The ground below our feet was shaking and we
danced like there was no tomorrow! I felt like I was back in the 60’s….and then “tomorrow”
came and I realized that I actually WAS in my 60’s!
Whoa!!!
Where did the time go?
No worries,
mate! This just might have been one of
the best déjà vu moments of my life! And, you know what? I’ve
still got the moves! I’ve still got the
beat! I’ve still got IT – whatever IT
is!!!
Heck, I
might be a little tired…a little sore…but pretty darn happy to still be rockin’
and rollin’ in Borneo with my best buddy, Peter Benziger!
Life is Good!!!