Penang World Music Festival 2012 - for the 3rd time

By Anthony Tan

Penang hosted its first Penang World Music Festival (PWMF) in 2007 and the following year. It stopped for three years after that. This year, the state government decided to resuscitate the PWMF and join the big league of music festivals around the world.

Malaysia is well known for its music fests. They include the award-winning Rainforest World Music Festival, Borneo Jazz Festival (formerly known as the Miri International Jazz Festival) and the Penang Jazz Festival.

The PWMF will return to be “bigger and better” when it is staged open air at the picturesque Quarry Recreational Park in Botanical Garden, Penang from 30 March to 1 April 2012.

The Penang’s Tourism Development and Culture Office is the organiser while UCSI Communications Sdn Bhd (UComms) is the event management consultant.

A line up of 18 international music groups has been selected from Africa, Australia, the Philippines, Colombia, South Korea, Russia, Mongolia, Bali and Malaysia with the genre ranging from the blues to salsa, reggae and traditional music.

The international bands include Maite Hontele from Colombia, Kalja Riddim Klan (Vanuatu), Gus Teja World Music (Bali), Beoga (Ireland), Tori Ensemble (South Korea) and Wild Marmalade (Australia).

They will be joined by Malaysian bands such as the Aseana Percussion Unit from Kuala Lumpur, Didit Dinai (Sarawak), Penang Dhol Blasters (Penang), Kumpulan Minang Moh (Negeri Sembilan) and Geng Wak Long (Kelantan).

For the event to be successful, sponsors and local support are vital. Hard Rock Hotel, Penang is the official hotel for the PWMF while Discovery Overland Holidays is the official tour operator.

PWMF is also supported by KDU College, Penang Campus, Penang Global Tourism and Virtual Malaysia. KDU College will assist in providing more than 100 volunteers to run the festival while Virtual Malaysia will provide the IT support.

Let me share with you some previews of the participating groups at this year’s PWMF. Please take note, these are samples clips and the performing groups may not play same the pieces at PWMF.

Tori Ensemble (South Korea) is a world music project group, comprising of four Korean traditional musicians. Combining meditative melody of royal court music with the dynamic and rough rhythm of folk, Tori Ensemble has cleverly re-arranged it into a new modern sound. Making use of Korea’s diverse traditional music, the band is harmonising Eastern with Western forms, concocting a new sound of beautiful music that can be appreciated by people of all ages and origins.




Maite Hontelé - Interview clip
Maite Hontele (Colombia) grew up surrounded by music especially the sound of son, salsa and changui beats. Being a daughter of a musician, it was only natural that Maite joined a brass band in her neighbourhood, playing the trumpet at the tender age of 14. Later on she joined bigger bands and performed in various concerts and festivals around Colombia. Now she is settled in Colombia and began a project name Lledgo’ la Mona, Tributo a la musica Colombiana.




Altan Urag (Mongolian) is Monglian folk rock band that was formed in 2002. As the band members were trained in classical Mongolian music, Altan Urag musical style is very unique after they blended in the traditional tunes with contemporary influences.
Formed in 2002, Altan Urag will showcase some of the most unique instruments from Mongolia and their performances also include throat singing.




Wild Marmalade(Australia)is an energetic trance, drum and Didjeridoo band based in Byron Bay, Australia. Playing "totally live" without using any electronic machines, Wild Marmalade’s music is inspired by dance music. Blending the ancient sounds of the didjeridoo with contemborary dance beats, their sound is a meeting of Didge Si's rhythmic didjeridu playing, combined with the explosive grooves of the drum kit.








Gus Teja World Music (Indonesia) is one of the leading artists from Bali. His an ethnic music group that blends traditional musical instruments mostly bamboo xylophone, flute and drums with modern instruments like bass guitar. His Compositions fall in to the genres of global music, traditional music and folks music played with unique instruments inspired by Balinese Gamelan.

While their music has all the Balinese influence, Gus Teja World Music will also features flutes from all over the world in their performances. He lets his music talks to mind, body, spirit and goes straight to ones soul.




The Kalja Riddim Klan (KRK)from Vanuatu was formed in 2005 after a few friends started to travel around the archipelago of Vanuatu to explain on the custom songs. Inspired by the beats and messaged deeply rooted in culture and tradition, not only did this group of friends created a musical concept, they went to form a band. Their concept is simple- mixing the strong roots and culture of Vanuatu with actual music style and blending with international instruments. The end result is a genuine fusion of traditional and modern perspectives but spurred from the stories of their great grandparents.




I can’t wait to see the above groups play live and its going be “rock with you, baby” for the three nights.



Tickets to the festival are now available online at www.ticketxpress.com.my and are priced at RM90.00 per day for adults and RM45.00 for children aged five to 12 years old. Three-day passes are also available and are priced at RM220 each for adults and RM120 for children.

To be continue

2012 Countdown - in Genting Highlands

By Anthony Tan

I relished the idea of ushering in 2012 up in Genting Highlands as the theme of Resorts World Genting is the “Coolest Countdown Celebration”.

I balked when I learnt that it would be held in three separate venues starting at 10pm simultaneously. It was a tough choice trying to choose which one to go first.

After my dinner at the Coffee Terrace, which not only had a wide buffet spread prepared by the different open kitchens but also all-time Christmas and New Year favourites,
I ploughed through the crowds to arrive at the Arena of Stars (AoS) for the Classic Golden Melody New Year Countdown Show.

As the entry tickets are issued free, the 6,000-seat capacity hall was almost full when I went in past 10pm. It had a mixed crowd of the young and the old. Among the performers for the night were the top three winners of Astro Classic Golden Melody for 2011, How Kim Foong, Law Siew Yin, Wong Kwee Chin and 2010’s top two winners, Tam Sien Yeong and Wong Choong Weng.

Being an OCBC (Orang Cina bukan Cina), I enjoyed the ever popular Teresa Teng numbers sung by the artistes as I recognised their tunes but not so much the lyrics.

Curious to find out what was happening over at Times Square at the First World Plaza, I made my exit at around 11.15 pm.

As the Genting Outdoor Theme Park is sited next to Arena of Stars exit gates, I could see lots of people already gathered in there to secure for the best spots to watch the firework display scheduled at midnight.

It was very misty. I was.
wondering if we
would be able to
see the fireworks display



At Times Square where the Astro All Stars Party Music Countdown Show was held, the target was more towards the younger crowd. Although the crowd here was not as big as the AoS, it was more heated and noisier.

Performing on the open stage were local artistes like Kay (郭小微), Juztin (刘界辉), Danny Boy and the top two winners of Astro Star Quest 2011, Geraldine Gan (颜慧萍) and Tha Kien Ying (赵洁莹).

Also present were The Battle Ground finalists Chique de Luxe and Fix to entertain the crowd with songs and dances.

I did not stay long here as I didn’t want to miss the firework display. My room, which faces the Genting Outdoor Theme Park, offers a spectacular view and one of the “best seats” for the night.

At the Merdeka Square of the Genting Outdoor Theme Park, the programmes lined up for the night included concerts and stage activities such as clown and singing performances, cheer leading and stage games. The last big bang would be the fireworks.

At the count of 12 midnight, I could hear whistles, cheers and people screaming “Happy New Year” from my room but alas, there were no fireworks due to the heavy mist.

The emcee on stage announced the fireworks would be postponed to 12.30 am. Hopefully by then, the misty clouds would have been blown over by then.

Covered by thick mists, I could not see the outdoor theme park at all. At 12.30am, I heard the emcee announcing the fireworks would be postponed to New Year’s Day at 8pm.
Many of us felt disappointed as we had not planned to stay back for another day in Genting Highlands.

The visibility of the outdoor theme park returned at about 1.30 am. I could see the vehicles jammed up as many of the visitors were making their descent.

This hill resort is always fully booked during festive periods despite it has about 10,000 rooms’ capacity.

Enjoy my selections from the performance at the Arena of Stars

If you are thinking about spending your Chinese New Year here, better plan early and book your rooms.







To all my blog followers, here’s wishing you a “Happy New Year and may all your wishes come true”.

Genting’s Mid-Autumn Festival Celebration With “My 4 Favourite Divas”

By Anthony Tan

I have attended many Chinese concerts but there are few that I have enjoyed. The Genting’s Mid-Autumn Festival Celebration with “My 4 Favourite Divas” was one of the best!

Resort World Genting and Magnum ENE brought in from Hong Kong four HK-TVB evergreen Tai Kah Chehs (or big sisters in Cantonese) — Michelle Yim Mei Suet (米雪), Louise Lee Sze Kei (李司棋), Nancy Sit Kar Yin and Susanna Kwan Kuk Ying (关菊英) for this special occassion.

These four divas are no stranger to many here, since they also acted in the television drama series or movies.

In the slightly over two-hour concert in full house of the 6,000 sitting capacity at the Arena of Stars in Genting Highlands, it was a rare opportunity for the fans to watch the four of them performing together.

They did the opening number together. After which, each artiste did their own solo act and regroup again for the finale.

Michelle kicked off with Teresa Teng’s popular hit, Sweet Honey (Tian Mi Mi), the theme song from Comrades: Almost A Love Story followed by a Hokkien song, Dance Hostess.



Next on stage was Louise, the most senior among the four. Although she is not truly a recording artiste, she surprised the crowd when she did the less demanding tempo numbers like Roadside Rose and Wandering Singer in Mandarin as well as two Cantonese numbers, Fate and Tomorrow, Say Today.



Louise had been practising on her home karaoke set for hours in preparation for the show as she is more of an actress than a singer.

She performed a duet with Nancy dressed in a traditional red Chinese wedding attire. Louise took the role as the bride while Nancy as the groom in the Cantonese classic, Tai Lui Fah.

When it was Nancy’s turn to do her solo act, she made a grand entrance rising from below the stage to do her opening number, Tonite, accompanied by some dancers.

Our superstar put on a blonde wig and a flowing cape with an oversized collar that wowed the crowd. She continued with a medley of popular cha-chas numbers form the 60s and 70s.

Being an experienced actress and singer, Nancy interacted easily with the crowd. She invited 10 members of the audience to sing along with her the popular Hokkien song, Woh Mui Tien (I Ask The Sky) or is it heaven?



I was surprised some of those invited on stage sang so well. Nancy rewarded them each with an umbrella or a gold ingot replica.

Nancy is truly an entertainer. She managed to keep up in rhythm with much younger back-up dancers. Her voice is still powerful.

She threw in some puns in between and got the audience to join in the chorus for her last two solo numbers, Jiao Dao and Wo Yau Ni Ti (I Want All Of You).

Susanna, the last songtress to come on stage, has a powerful, soothing voice. She gave her best shot in her rendition of Princess, Strong Wave (a theme song from the 1976 TVB series, Hotel), Passing Guest and Speechless from the 2007 drama, Heart of Greed, where she was one of the cast members.





Susanna did a duet with Yim for the Cantonese numbers like Shu Kim Yat Lau and Sze Sze Mei Mei Chook.

With the show coming to a close, Louise and Nancy returned on stage to join in for the encore and sang the popular Mandarin song, A Better Tomorrow.

The four divas are in no way over the hill. With over 150 years of show business’ experience between them, they are the “sifu” to the greenhorns entering this industry.

I am sure many of those who attended the show enjoyed their performances. It was full house for the two nights. If these four divas were to come again, don’t miss it this time round.

Borneo Jazz 2011 – Eight Performing Groups – No. 4/8 – 徳田雄一郎 RALYZZ DIG ＠マレーシア - Yuichiro Tokuda’s RALYZZ DIG

By Anthony Tan email:anthonykhtan@yahoo.co.uk

Jazz seems to have established a strong footing in Japan, especially in Tokyo, and attracted a large audience. Tokyo has a large number of entertainment hangouts and its jazz clubs spin out some of the best of jazz concerts over the last few decades.

One of the best jazz joints to hang-out with top jazz groups is Shinjuku Pit Inn, a jazz and blues club for over 35 years. Most major jazz musicians have played at least once in this classic Tokyo club including Yuichiro Tokuda RALYZZ DIG’s.

Yuichiro Tokuda RALYZZ DIG, an upcoming jazz group, will be making its debut concert performance outside of Japan at Borneo Jazz 2011 on May 14 from 8.15 pm – 9.15 pm at ParkCity Everly Hotel in Miri, Sarawak in Malaysia.

Tokuda, born on March 9, 1980, returned to Japan after completing his study at Berklee College of Music in Boston. He plays the saxophone, a composer and a vocalist as well.

He formed the Yuichiro Tokuda Quintet on his return. Tokuda cut his first album, Initial Impulse, in August 2006 and the Jazz Life magazine reviewed it as "the cutting edge of the present progressive form of jazz".

His second album, Urban Lights or Umi Toki Kaze Iro in Japanese, was released July 2007.

In 2008, Tokuda decided to change his band’s name to Yuichiro Tokuda’s RALYZZ DIG and received an award as the “New Face of the Year in Art & Culture” from the Chiba-City Government, the first time ever for a jazz artiste.

The others members of his band are Naoto Suzuki, who plays the guitar, Kazuhiro

Tamura on the piano while Kumpei Nakabayashi plays the bass and Gaku

Hasegawa is on drums.

Yuichiro Tokuda RALYZZ DIG’s third album, Imagination Live @ Shinjuku PIT-INN, was released in May 2010.

The same year, Tokuda released his fourth album, Imagination, which spins for 73 minutes of jazz music and was acclaimed by CD Journal Japan as “enormously impressive, definitely as excellent work assured and it is ahead of a couple generations”.

2010 was a busy year for Tokuda and his band. They performed in numerous small music festivals throughout Japan and to top it all was their performance at the jazz festival, Yokohama Jazz Promenade.

In January 2011, Imagination was awarded a prize at Mike Pinder's SONGWARS 2010 song writing competition in alternative category.

If you are jazz fan and enjoy a fabulous outdoor music, Borneo Jazz is one jazz festival that you should not miss. Check out three sample pieces of Yuichiro Tokuda below.

徳田雄一郎/Yuichiro Tokuda : "Nothing There"


徳田雄一郎/Yuichiro Tokuda: "Brunei" 1/2 Dairo, Naoto Solo


徳田雄一郎/Yuichiro Tokuda : "Home"

Hope to see you at BORNEO JAZZ 2011 from 12 - 14 May at Miri City.

Borneo Jazz 2011 – Eight Performing Groups – No. 3/8 – SUI2

By Anthony Tan email:anthonykhtan@yahoo.co.uk

Ng Cheuk-yin playing the “Sheng”(Right)

Members of the SUI2 (Below)

Another performing band that is coming to Borneo Jazz 2011 is a group of young Hong Kong music enthusiasts who got together in 2008 to form SIU2.

Leader of the group Ng Cheuk-yin is a composer himself who specialises in blowing “Sheng”, a mouth organ which is believed to be first played 5,000 years ago.
Cheuk-yin reintroduced “Sheng” into the 21st century to produce a unique and rich sound to the new jazz music. He also plays the Chinese percussion and keyboard.

The other band members are Cass Lam who plays the sanxien, Jason Lau (zheng), Peter Fan (piano), Liang Chun Wai (bass) and Melchior Sarreal (drumset).

Cass Lam plays the sanxien (Right)

SIU2 augments the traditional jazz rhythm section of bass, drums and piano with other traditional Chinese instruments such as the “sanxien” and the “zheng” to come up with exciting, new jazz melody.

The band has introduced Chinese style jazz into something totally different. It is not a mere crossover of rock, classical, Chinese and another western music unlike what most bands tried to do.

Powerful, inventive, enticing and aggressive, their music takes you into exciting new sonic spaces yet with a familiar framework.

Their concerts and CDs are a ground-breaking melting pot of musical genres from the east and west, which serves as a sonic portrayal of the juxtaposition of disparate cultural elements in Hong Kong.

Ever since its acclaimed debut performance in the 2008 at the Hong Kong Arts Festival, SIU2 has been creating and refining their innovative music and style.

The Flower Music Co Ltd, set up by them, produces, distributes and promotes innovative music as well as supports composers and artists in fulfilling their aspirations.

SIU2’s debut album, Open Door, released in 2008, received unanimous accolades from both music critics and fans.

Its second album, Kon Fusion, scored with music genres with its mixture from the east and west. It reflects very much Hong Kong’s amazing wide array of disparate cultural elements with its historical past and ultra modern existing side by side.

The best way to describe SUI2 is they have their very own music. Paradoxical as it may sound but this is exactly what is so unique about their music.

View their performance video selections below and see how it would entice you to be at Borneo Jazz.

SUI2 will be honouring us for the opening act on Friday 13 May at ParkCity Everly Hotel, Miri from 7-8 pm.

If you want to have good time, better make your travel plans to Borneo Jazz early, especially your hotel accommodations and flights arrangements.

See You there!

For more details about the Borneo Jazz, info@jazzborneo.com or call the Miri Visitors Information Centre at
+6 085-434180/81.

Borneo Jazz 2011 – Eight Performing Groups – No. 2/8 – State of Monc

By Anthony Tan - anthonykhtan@yahoo.co.uk

The State Of Monc, with their unique, innovative sound and striking position within the band collective, the Dutch Nu-Jazz Movement, will certainly put the Netherlands firmly on the map of the future of jazz.

This seven-strong member band from Amsterdam and Rotterdam was formed in 2000 by trumpet player Arthur Flink and electronics soundsmith/beat-maker Hielke Praagman.

Its other members are Robin Koerts on bass, Ben van den Dungen, who plays the tenor sax, Milan Bonger on alto sax, Tuur Moens on drums and Johan Hendrikse fingering the keyboard.

This group fuses slick electronic sound with pure jazz on acoustic instruments for the perfect balance between electronic beats and sounds.

Its brass instrumentation, acoustic bass and drums open up new directions and appeal to fans of jazz, dance and experimental music.

Since State Of Monc’s formation, its members have been working very hard to establish a strong profile. They have had performances sold out in top clubs and rocked major music festivals.

The band not only took their vision to fuse together complex, impassioned jazz with adventurous, dance-rooted electronics “nu-jazz” at the Amsterdam dance event and North Sea Jazz Festival but has also performed in most prestigious clubs such as Paradiso, Melkweg and 013.

In 2006, their first album “Hand To Mouth” released by EDM/City Groovez was launched.

Their impressive debut was followed by Clippertron and Clippertron Extended in 2008. Both albums were released by Challenge Records and produced jointly with Michel Schoots, formerly of Urban Dance Squad.

In 2010, they did a live CD/DVD Phantom Speaker on Sound Camp Records with half of the tracks on the CD unreleased before. It was a combined effort with Michel Schoots again.

Having performed in Germany, Morocco and Ukraine, the group is now coming to Malaysia for the Borneo Jazz festival to build up their international audience.

Let their dynamic and amazing music enthrall you. With their cutting edge pumping dance and complex breakbeats, this Dutch band spins a unique sound that ushers in a new era,

As children of the dance age trained in traditional jazz, State of Monc has seen their music reformed over the years.

Get a taste of their music with just a few clicks below. While you warm up for the coming Borneo Jazz, don’t forget to make your reservation early & See you there!







If you like their music catch the STATE of MONC "Live" on Saturday May 14, 2011 at 9.30 - 10.30pm at Borneo Jazz in Miri, Sarawak.

BORNEO JAZZ 2011 – Eight Performing Groups – No: 1/8 – Maria Muldaur

By Anthony Tan email: anthonykhtan@yahoo.co.uk

This is first of the series of the eight performing groups shortlisted to perform at Borneo Jazz 2011.

How many of you, have heard of the name “Maria Muldaur”?

Maria Muldaur was born in September 12, 1943 of Italian origin in New York City's Greenwich Village and named Maria Grazia Rosa Domenica D’Amato. She hit big time with “Midnight At The Oasis” in 1974. Maria has banked in 38 albums with latest in December last year with “Christmas At The Oasis”

Maria has released than 38 records

Maria has been nominated six times for the Grammy Award but yet to strike gold even at the latest at the 53rd annual award this February, it was won by Genuine Negro Jig “Carolina Chocolate Drops”. The evergreen Maria will be one of the performing groups at the Borneo Jazz to be held at Miri City, Sarawak from 12-14 May 2011 at the ParkCity Everly Hotel in Miri. If you want to catch Maria Muldaur performance, she will be taking the stage on Saturday May 14.

A better way to introduce “Maria Muldaur” is to watch the video clips of her performances and interview:




Watch the video interview by Living Legends Music where Maria spoke on her sing career from the start.

Before coming to Borneo Jazz, Maria will be performing For A One-Time Only Show at Gator By The Bay Zydeco, Blues & Crawfish Festival, San Diego, California on May 8, at 2PM. She will be backed by Norton Buffalo's Knockouts on stage.

More details about the Borneo Jazz also available from www.jazzborneo.com, email info@jazzborneo.com or call the Miri Visitors Information Centre at +6 085-434180/8.