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p crooner with fourteen albums to his credit who really captivated mak minah s romantic rustic soul electro acoustic group unimas comprising students and lecturers from the universiti malaysia sarawak s faculty of applied and creative arts a bidayuh group sape ulu and voice of the usun apau representing sarawak s bidayuh kenyah and penan tribes much as i would have liked to sample the tribal offerings slotted early in the evening s schedule they were over and done with by the time we arrived at the sarawak cultural village venue of the rainforest world music festival whose patron the sarawak tourism board organizing committee and consultant randy raine reusch deserve a huge round of applause for a job very well done no mike fright for minah w tarman excitement fairly crackled on the second night from my perspective not least because akar umbi was scheduled to perform with dr wan zawawi s anak dayung group but around noon that same day rafique and i had been roped into backing zuriani with approximately 44 minutes to learn and rehearse two of her songs alhamdulillah and candle dance and we d only just met at dinner two evenings ago well we had two other last minute recruits anak dayung s trusty gambus and tabla player yahya ibrahim on loan from the army band orkes tentera darat and johari morshidi a spirited gendang player with tuku kame the sarawak cultural village s resident ethnic fusion orchestra led by flautist narawi hj rashidi tuku kame s star asset however appears to be jerry kamit jeff beck of the electrified sape and a thoroughly urbane young iban wait make that three daredevil recruits adorable ainal johari s nine year old true blue trooper son was game enough to back us up on auxiliary percussion and what a natural born show stopper young ainal turned out to be now you may ask who is zuriani khalid and rightly so for this enchanting and talented singer songwriter record producer and multi instrumentalist has been living and working in the u s for the last 16 years within months of her return to malaysia zuriani was busy producing big name local artists like siti nurhaliza ella ziana zain fauziah latiff farra and kool it s been two years since my last public performance zuriani confessed and i don t want to make a complete fool of myself the symphonic orchestral backing she had earlier envisaged for her songs wasn t working out zuriani felt that a smaller tighter back up group might just about pull through if she did only two numbers instead of six i guess we all need anecdotes that can be passed on to our grandchildren the night of dangerous living we got on stage checked out the mikes zuriani glided confidently to stage centre as the emcee introduced her and it went down like ice cream on a hot day the audience loved zuriani we all loved zuriani the queen of malaysia s nascent world music scene minah angong belting it out wayne tarman this little incident precipitated a two day sulk from another queen mak minah was somewhat miffed that her two musical knights errant were publicly championing another diva and refused to talk with rafique and me until we were airborne on the flight home as it turned out mak minah stole the show as soon as she began belting out hutan manao a big hit when she first performed it four years ago at the shah alam stadium and when she did the joget with wan zawawi during the instrumental breaks the crowd went wild young men rushed the stage showering her with flowers plucked from nearby shrubbery cameras flashed and whirred furiously throughout the akar umbi number antares on balinese flute wayne tarman fortunately wan zawawi s two songs from his debut dayung album were very warmly received including the spontaneous hologram video clip i inserted in the middle of mencari amerika when after prancing sweatily around for a couple of minutes i was inspired to sniff my armpits and announce the new world odor the nuradee brothers kuching fan club let out a roar of appreciation when wan gave over the stage to these phenomenal singing siblings from singapore their hit diam silence met with noisy applause after the set everyone was grinning broadly especially ken linang a soulful blues guitarist unearthed in kuching by our anthropologist friend and concert facilitator good old dr wan earlier i had been absolutely enthralled by badan budaya melanau and the powerful ritual trance dance performed by their shaman i was told by some locals that this was indeed a rare treat to be witnessing an authentic melanau ritual on a concert stage as the ancient sounding court orchestra played i was transported back a thousand years to angkor wat in cambodia bali in indonesia pagan in burma and palenque in central america then the shaman entered deeper into his trance and began stomping on bits of broken ceramic the musicians seemed really charged by the ritual the badan budaya melanau troupe even had special helpers on standby just in case the shaman failed to emerge from his trance in the time allotted the mia traditional orchestra in this instance mia stands for malaysian institute of art not missing in action performed a scientific synthesis of asian and european chamber music arranged by ace flautist yii kah hoe adventurously combining the sounds of the sarawakian sape with the malay rebana and serunai and the chinese pipa and dize with the more familiar cello saxophone violin and piano the hardworking ensemble impressed with their meticulous discipline even a 3 minute blackout in the middle of their set failed to deter them from completing their performance with a flourish the mia contingent was extremely diligent in recording audio samples and making detailed notes all throughout the afternoon workshops held in conjunction with the festival so the outing for them was also a field research expedition while waiting to go on i was able to catch only snatches of various other performances like the unimas gamelan group and the kumpulan gendang melayu asli the sarawak cultural village seems to have become the unnatural habitat of traditional groups who now earn their keep playing to tourist audiences while their musicianship remains at a high level one cannot help but sense that for many of these players music is now essentially just a job qiu xia he pipa virtuoso wayne tarman asza a crafty and inventive vancouver based acoustic quartet was the last featured act on the festival bill with qiu xia he pronounced chu sha a chinese pipa virtuoso lending her oriental charm and grace and consummate skill uruguayan percussionist extraordinaire joseph pepe danza contributing his wild latin exuberance and wonderful rhythm quebecois flamenco jazz ace guitarist andre thibault adding a stylish dash of gallic flair passion and humor and master musician and multi instrumentalist randy raine reusch who claims aristocratic flemish descent providing the musical navigation and networking asza is the quintessential multi ethnic embodiment of world music which randy defines as the music of or resulting from traditional or indigenous cultures which means that world music is not a new musical genre randy points out in his program notes as festival consultant but one as old as humanity itself yet world music cds have been outselling rock classical and jazz cds in the west for a number of years and this trend is now starting to appear in asia randy is an old hand in the music business with heavy duty connections to a wide selection of top players around the world as a musician he has been there done that and now delights in his precious collection of weird musical instruments between pepe and me we have over 700 instruments in our warehouse randy says matter of factly his collection of personal anecdotes is equally impressive john cage cooked lunch for me two days before he died pepe danza ace percussionist rafique rashid what about asza s music well i thought they were a perfect music festival item the group offers a very palatable mix of musical innovation with occasional displays of superb musicianship a mature theatrical sense an easygoing humorous rapport with their audience and the asza sound is guaranteed to stimulate the most stultified musical imagination it was great to hear the canadian group asza fy a well known dayak ditty during the intro randy bowed his sape like a viola to delightful effect inspiring fresh options for contemporary as well as traditional musicians when it came time for the grand finale all the performers were invited on stage for an impromptu jam session conducted by pepe danza usually these are somewhat cacophonous affairs but so high and happy was the entire ensemble that for over twenty minutes everyone played and sang in perfect magical harmony even the solemn faced melanau drummers were grinning and the shaman flashed me a small knowing smile when our eyes fleetingly connected and midway through the finale we all did a countdown for merdeka never has the word freedom rung truer than on that unforgettable night when performers and audience joined their spirits in uninhibited euphoric celebration under the ancient and benign gaze of mount santubong an abridged version of this article was published in the november 1998 issue of men s review share this share on x opens in new window x share on facebook opens in new window facebook like loading leave a comment posted in festivals malaysian arts culture music and tagged akar umbi anak dayung dr wan zawawi ibrahim minah angong rainforest world music festival randy raine reusch sarawak tourism board bookmark the permalink the salieri syndrome revisited posted on february 8 2020 by antares maitreya f murray abraham as antonio salieri i saw miloš forman s film of peter shaffer s amadeus five times at the same cinema and i ve watched the vcd at home at least three times what impressed me most was f murray abraham s oscar winning portrayal of antonio salieri court composer to the hapsburg emperor joseph ii today everybody agrees that wolfgang amadeus mozart was a divinely inspired genius a few of us know he died a pauper at 35 and was buried in a mass grave and that his monumental musical legacy lay largely forgotten for more than 70 years until ludwig von köchel published a descriptive catalogue of the 626 works mozart composed in his short but intense career portrait of wolfgang amadeus mozart in shaffer s fictionalization of mozart s story salieri s professional envy of the gifted upstart becomes the central motif of the drama salieri is one of a small handful of academic musicians with sufficient savvy to appreciate the full extent of the man s extraordinary talent but he chooses to thwart mozart s destiny in every way possible nevertheless mozart succeeds in seizing a brief burst of popularity with his vibrant operas the pious salieri eventually loses his faith in god and murders mozart by posing as an anonymous count and commissioning a requiem with an impossible deadline and a monetary reward mozart couldn t possibly refuse being in heavy debt owing to his hedonistic habits salieri thereby pushes the already frail genius beyond the edge of exhaustion to an untimely demise for his efforts salieri ends his days in an insane asylum where he pontificates about the rectitude of mediocrity and blesses his fellow inmates for their lacklustre and wasted lives two centuries down the line nobody remembers a single melody written by antonio salieri while amadeus triggered a worldwide mozart revival which would have made wolfie posthumously richer than lord andrew lloyd webber sir paul mccartney and sir elton john combined god bless the mediocre the theme of genius unrecognized and unrewarded i must confess has obsessed me for the greater part of my early life in my schooldays only three teachers noticed i was a precocious kid and one of them happened to be a peace corps volunteer from baltimore this may have encouraged me to spend a year in the u s as an exchange student and it was then that i finally received the ego nourishment my soul craved ironic that the glitzy culture that spawned coca cola mcdonald s and pre emptive war has also provided me with the greatest amount of positive feedback perhaps the land of superlatives got that way by giving its kids the hearty encouragement all kids require to grow up brimming over with initiative and innovative chutzpah my own initiation into adulthood in malaysia taught me not to bother applying for a government grant unless i snip off my foreskin which brings us to the malaysian dilemma here we are a feudal society abruptly thrust into the digital age by market forces that emphasize competition over cooperation no matter how often we yell malaysia boleh and no matter how much official sponsorship is invested in some guy who sails solo around the world to claim his datukship or that well heeled lady who solo trekked across the antarctic only to have her victory inundated by the most spectacular tsunami within memory we ve shot ourselves in the foot so many times one could remark that our national ego has clay pigeon feet at least we can brag about our fantastic marksmanship it s no mean feat you know to shoot your own foot when you have to crane your neck just to see where your feet are well burp there are no starving hordes in evidence in potbellyland and that s something we can be proud of without even trying lord farquaard in shrek so are we really doomed to remain a mediocracy forever is there no cure for the salieri syndrome indeed there is you only have to take a stiff swig of this ancient chinese prescription one does not grow taller by chopping off other people s heads that s right folks ego insecurity breeds jealousy which is i keep reminding people especially my wife the root of all evil for that matter one does not grow taller by wearing platform shoes either but that s an entirely different disease called tlfc the lord farquaard complex which can be easily treated with a little bit of dragon magic originally published in the april 2005 issue of vida share this share on x opens in new window x share on facebook opens in new window facebook like loading leave a comment posted in film and tagged amadeus antonio salieri f murrat abraham miloš forman peter shaffer bookmark the permalink birds of a feather posted on september 5 2018 by antares maitreya fancy poultry still chirpy after 15 years antares takes a tentative nibble at fancy poultry s first gig fancy poultry is what they call themselves four very yummy chicks and a couple of not too macho guys with delicious voices and a burning desire to entertain their debut at the actors studio was a one night stand with a cutesy rhyming name strings and tones from multiple zones the evening s fare a couple of evergreens a dash of bossa nova a touch of gospel a bit of song and dance some recycled pop tunes done a capella even a tribal chant and the 007 theme a pretty eclectic mix but that s what they promised and that s exactly what they delivered they opene...
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