| COLOUFUL PERCUSSION FROM COTE D’IVOIRE
TO PERFORM AT THE RAINFOREST WORLD MUSIC FESTIVAL
African groups have always been a hot favourite at the Rainforest
World Music Festival. In past years, the festival has brought in
bands like Omar Pene from Senegal, Issa Bagayogo from Mali, Black
Umfolosi from Zimbabwe and Badenya Les Frères Coulibaly of
Burkina Faso.
This year, a group of dynamic and colourful dance percussionists
will be in Kuching, Sarawak for the eighth year of the festival.
They are YELEMBA D’ABIDJAN and they come from the Ivory Coast.
The Ivory Coast or Cote d’Ivoire lies in West Africa and
the ethnic groups here came mainly from neighbouring Liberia, Mali,
Burkina Faso, Ghana and Guinea. Despite political upheavals, its
capital Abidjan is perhaps most influential in recorded African
music.
Each of the sixty or more ethnic groups that live here has their
own folk music traditions. The YELEMBA group was formed in 1994
where quite a big group of professional artistes came together under
the leadership of Lassina Coulibaly. They have formed a symbiosis
of African ballet supported by drums, traditional songs and dances.
They milk their resources from the tribes of the Senoufo, Guere,
Yacouba, Gouro and the Mandingue.
African drums are not just musical instruments – they are
ceremonial symbols as well as a means of communication. These drums
ranged from everyday simple objects to more ornate pieces that depicted
the status and power of the owner.
YELEMBA will come with djembes, doundoums, balafons and other drums
together with magnificent costumes and masks.
The doundoum is a double sided cylindrical barrel drum which is
slung horizontally over the shoulder and hit with a curved stick.
They get their name as the talking drum from the different tonal
‘voices’ that can be produced by squeezing and releasing
the vertical strings that tighten or loosen the head of the drum.
Talking drums, apart from strong vocal polyphonies form the backbone
of African music.
The djembe which originated in Senegal, is large single-headed
goblet shaped drum that is beaten with the hands and traditionally
carved out of one log. They are the most common and popular drums
in West Africa and can be distinguished by their simple but elegant
shapes and powerful sound. Newer drums can have the skin tightened
and tuned by tying the lines together. Two metal sheets with iron
rings can be added as resonators and give a special "colour"
to the sound.
West African xylophones are called balafon which comes from the
Mandingo word ‘bala’ which means to speak and the Africans
believe that the instruments speak before they sing. These balafons
can be found in all shapes and sizes across Africa.
They are made with strips of wood that increase in length and are
connected together with thread. It has hollow gourd resonators of
varying sizes attached to the bottom that have a second lateral
hole covered by a membrane (spider cocoon fibres perhaps, or more
recently, cigarette paper) to obtain a characteristic buzzing sound.
This xylophone, which also has many other names, might have been
brought to Africa during an Asian invasion some two thousand years
ago.
YELEMBA D’ABIDJAN’s performances go way above just drumming
and music. They also do parades and are a visual experience as well
with their exotic clothes and masks. they are bound to be among
the most exuberant performers, not just on main stage but also at
the workshops that will be held over the three days of the festival.
Make a date to be at the Sarawak Cultural Village from the 8th –
10th July this year for the event that has been affectionately called
the ‘party of the year’. Tickets are already out on
sale priced at RM60.00 per day and will be valid for both workshops
as well as the evening show. Children aged 3 – 12 years old
can obtain tickets at RM30.00 per day. Free admittance would be
extended to children aged 2 and below.
Tickets can be obtained from the Visitors' Information Centres in
Kuching, Miri and Sibu, the Sarawak Cultural Village, and Sarawak
Tourism Board or call Rudy at 082-423600 or e-mail: rudy@sarawaktourism.com
Packages are also available from several tour agencies and hotels.
Check out the website at www.rainforestmusic-borneo.com for more
information and contact numbers.
This high energy act of YELEMBA D’ABIDJAN will be accompanied
by fifteen other groups from all over the world.
Yeoh Jun Lin
Artistic Director
Rainforest World Music Festival
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