Penang World Music Festival 2012 - Aseana Percussion Unit

By Anthony Tan

Get Ready To Rock With Aseana Percussion Unit From Malaysia

My first encounter with the group Aseana Percussion Unit aka APU was when I was the Event and Exhibition Manager of a Malay national newspaper group and given the task to organise the first anniversary celebration of yachtsman Datuk Azhar Mansor's triumphant return from his solo voyage at Awana Porto Malai, Langkawi

I had engaged the APU to provide music for the evening function and asked them to play music that was popular at the places along the route taken by Datuk Azhar when he was circumnavigating the globe.

My next project with them was getting them to be the band in attendance for the eFest soft launch at Putra World Trade Centre, which was officiated by then Tourism Minister, Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Panglima Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir.

APU was formed in 1998 when four guys got together. It was led by Edwin Nathaniel with the thought of experimenting on blending the sounds and rhythms of different types of drums and percussions.

One of the APU members I find a cut above is Kirubakaran aka Kiruba who comes from a long line of Indian classical musicians as his grandfather was a master musician of Indian percussion and taught Kiruba the fundamentals of the art. Watch out for him and see him “talk” to you using his fingers on the tablas.

Over the years, APU has grown to have 10-11 of highly skilled percussionists and musicians, who have been invited to perform in many major international music festivals.

I can’t wait to rock and swing with Aseana Percussion Unit at the Penang World Music Festival to be held at the Quarry Recreational Park in Botanic Garden from 30th March to 1st April 2012.

See APU's preview below.

Borneo Jazz 2011 - Hello Borneo Jazz, goodbye Miri International Jazz Festival

Following the growing success of the Miri International Jazz Festival after five years, the organiser, Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) has decided to adopt a new title, ‘Borneo Jazz’ (BJ) this year.

Minister of Tourism and Heritage for Sarawak, Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Dr George Chan, who announced this, said the rationale for the name change was to capitalise on the destination Borneo, a name which is associated with the images of a magical destination and to reflect the vibrancy of this festival altogether.

STB is now in the midst of reorganisation to further improve its overall tourism activities and see BJ become a viable commercial venture.

Effective 2011, BJ will be managed by STB subsidiary STB Leisure & Properties. With this move, STB will focus on the marketing and promotion of the event itself and tourism.

It has kick-started BJ’s transformation by extending the festival to become a three-day event with its Opening Night on Friday (12 May) having new features with activities happening around a few venues in the resort city of Miri.

The epicentre of the BJ’s happenings remains at the Parkcity Everly Hotel from 13-14 May. There will also be musical meetings on the Saturday afternoon of the festival followed by a Sunday Matinee.

According to STB chief executive officer Dato’ Rashid Khan, the board aims to attract 10,500 visitors to BJ with 60% of the crowd expected to be foreigners.

“STB is working with the private sectors to design tour packages to attract jazz enthusiasts from Peninsular Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, Australia and Europe.

“With these packages, the visitors would be able to attend the festival at night, while during the day they can visit places of interest or participate in the local activities.”

Besides good jazz music and great company, he added, “We will also have stalls selling a wide variety of local and fusion food and beverages as well as festival memorabilia at the venue”.

BJ will have performances from various countries that will feature a wide range of jazz genre from gypsy jazz to traditional jazz. Grammy nominated Maria Muldur from the United States will be main attraction among the BJ performing groups.

Other selected jazz groups are Cunha & Piper from Brazil, SIU2 from Hong Kong, State of Monc from Holland, Les Doigts De L'Homme from France, Yuichiro Tokuda's RALYZZ DIG from Japan, Dhruv from India, Miri born Victor Yong, the Electric Carnival from Malaysia/Canada and C'QUENCE, a mixed group from Malaysia, Columbia, Venezuela, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

With BJ expected to be “sold out” music festival, it is advisable to book your admission tickets and confirmed your accommodation early to avoid last minute rush and disappointment.

Visit www.jazzborneo.com, email info@jazzborneo.com or call the Miri Visitors Information Centre at +6 085-434180 / 81 for more details.

Tickets will also be available at the Visitors’ Information Centre in Kuching, Sibu and Miri from March onwards.