The Gendang Weekly Digest #14

We are back after a short hiatus and Gendang would like to wish our readers Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri and Selamat Hari Gawai! Onwards with highlights from our scene this past week…

 

A Beautiful Gawai at Home

With Gawai (Harvest Festival) events being cancelled this year due to the pandemic, Sarawak’s international sape’ musician, Alena Murang birthed the idea of bringing “semangat” Gawai to Dayak households.  Featuring Dayak singers singing in their own mother tongue, and famous Sarawakian artists, this video of ‘Liling’ is in nine languages, five of which are listed as “threatened” or “endangered”. Simply beautiful.

 

New Hari Raya Favourites

While the classics can never be replaced, there have been some quality new Hari Raya tunes that should also be favourites in years to come, including these two distinctly different songs by Kugiran Masdo and Dayang Nurfaizah.

 

 

#DirectAccess Band Search is Back!

Here’s one for all (unsigned) Malaysian bands. Stand to win a chance to have your single produced, recorded, mixed and featured for FREE! Just send your demo(s) and band profile to [email protected].

 

The Man We Call Aubrey

Celebrating his 30 years in music, we simply love this 5-part mini documentary on Aubrey Suwito, one of our industry’s most influential and prolific producers. Check it out!

 

Put On Those Dancing Shoes!

Another important piece of Malaysian musical theatre is now online. First staged in 2007, The award-winning ‘P.Ramlee The Musical’ stars Sean Ghazi as P.Ramlee, Liza Hanim as Saloma, Melissa Saila, Atilia Haron and others, with a special appearance by Dato Sri Siti Nurhaliza. It’s available on Vimeo for a limited time only.

 

Rockaway Cancelled

The biggest bummer announced last week was the cancellation of Rockaway 2020 due to the continuing uncertainties caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Refer to the poster below for refunds. Maybe next year, guys…