DIPLOMATS OF DRUM.
KUCHING: The band with 13 members from almost every state in the Peninsula will be at the Rainforest World Music Festival 2012 to present a whole gamut of Malaysian flavours – from dhol drums, Malay percussion and local folk songs.
The band itself is a genre of cross-cultural collaborations. ‘Music without Borders’ is their category, and their music of enduring brilliance and collaborations.
The Diplomats of Drum operates as an organism, truly genetically mutant and their magic is Ear-gasmic and equally enduring.
The band has been voted as Best Live Act by MTV Asia and Asian Musician Magazine three times in recognition of their showmanship, choreography and close rapport with its audiences, and is the only non-mainstream band to have performed at the Beijing Olympics 2008 musical showcase and FIFA 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
They are a lethal force with a hodge-podge of percussion instruments, topped with irrepressible infectious fun.
The band plays traditional melodies and rhythms of Malaysia, and fused them with instruments and sounds from other countries.
The band with their amazing sound will perform at the Rainforest World Music Festival this coming July 13 to 15.
Their arsenal is a mixture of ethnic, improvised, self made and contemporary instruments. It is an assortment of shapes and sizes from diverse cultures; the Australian didgeridoo, African djembes and talking drum, Brazilian repenique and surdos, Malay gendang and rebana, the Indian dhol, sitar and tabla, the Scottish bagpipe, slide and acoustic guitars and a whole lot more.
As a band, they have broken down musical barriers to celebrate musical and cultural differences, bringing everything together to create a pure organic sound.
Apart from the band, the performers of RWMF on stage will be Hata -The One (Malaysia/Korean/Turkey/Taiwan), Mamadou Diabate (Mali/ Burkina Faso), Danyel Waro (Reunion Islands), Kanda Bongo Man (UK/Congo), Khusugtun (Mongolia), La Zikabilo (France), Le Trio Joubran (Palestine), Oreka TX (Spain), Raiz De Cafezal (Brasil), String Sisters (Scotland/Ireland/Sweden/Norway/USA), Zee Avi (Malaysia/USA), Rhythm of Malaysia (Malaysia), Samuel Das & Prakash (Malaysia), Sarawak Band (Sarawak) and The Music of Sarawak (Sarawak).
Tickets to the Rainforest World Music Festival 2012 are available at the Visitors Information Centre (VIC) in Kuching, Miri and Sibu as well as online at http://www.rwmf.net .
The ticket are priced at RM110 for one-day pass and RM300 for three-day pass each for adult while tickets for children between three and 12 years old is priced at RM55 for one-day pass and RM150 for three-day pass each.
Currently, Enrich members (Malaysia Airlines) enjoy a 30 per cent discount for purchasing tickets at the VIC.