Another year, another successful staging of the Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF).

Once more, large crowds of revelers gathered at the foothills of Mount Santubong in Sarawak Cultural Village for an extravaganza of music from around the world.

Sarawak Urban Development and Tourism Minister Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh described music as common language that could bring the world together when he launched the ninth RWMF on July 6, and this was amply demonstrated throughout the next three days of the festival.

Not only did it feature musicians and artistes from across the globe, it also drew a multicultural, international audience clearly intent on enjoying themselves to the full.

Nor were they disappointed: the festival line-up was its usual electric mix of performers from the spiritual music of Tengir Too from Kyrgyzstan and hauntingly beautiful throat-singing of Mongolian group Egschiglen to lively folk songs from Canadian trio Genticorum and wild gypsy music from French band Les Yeux Noirs.

There were also memorable performances from Mali diva Nahawa Doumbia, ably accompanied by her band on traditional African instruments, the Austrian quarter hotel Palindrone who played all manner of European folk music and the Peatbog Faeries from Scotland with their fusion of Celtic and modern music.

Music from another rainforest was performed by Madagascan singer and multi-instrumentalist Kilema while groovy Latin American and Caribbean tunes were provided by Calle Sur.

Traditional Asian music was represented by the energetic Chungmyung Art Troupe from Korea, who played four different kinds of percussion instruments in an ancient art form known as “samul nori”, as well as local groups from Sarawak and peninsula.

The latter included “sape” musicians, a Bidayuh bamboo band, the Kuching Oriental Traditional Orchestra, the Malaysia Dhol Federation and Istana Budaya’s Istamuzika.

Through the daytime interactive workshop sessions, the performers got to share their musical knowledge and experiences with one another as well as the audience, resulting in some band members being invited to do impromptu guest spots with another band.

The performers clearly loved being at the festival, with more than one shouting out on stage, “We love you Sarawak!” to loud cheers from the audience.

Many had also learnt to say “Terima Kasih”, which brought even more applause from the enthusiastic crowd.

Following established festival tradition, all 15 groups came on stage together or a spontaneous burst of music to bring the curtains down on the ninth RWMF.

As next year will be the festival’s 10^th anniversary, fans can expect a bigger and better show come July 13-15, 2007.

By Sharon Ling

www.thestar.com.my