The colourful and cosmopolitan island of Penang was the perfect setting for the recent world music event. Held in the beautiful Botanical Gardens at Quarry Park, the Penang World Music Festival 2013 featured a diverse line-up of great bands from Portugal, Guinea-Bissau, Philippines, Iran, Japan, Bulgaria, and more, plus homegrown Malaysian talent.

The crowd that came to enjoy two afternoons of musical workshops and two nights of superb live music was equally diverse and included plenty of locals, expats and holidaymakers of all ages. There was a very friendly vibe and it’s a superb festival for the whole family to enjoy.

I really enjoy photographing live music but haven’t had the opportunity for a while so it was good to get out of Bangkok and head down to Penang, get into some cool sounds, indulge myself with fabulous food that the island is renowned for, and snaps some shots of the bands. 

Highlights for me included Kalayo from the Philippines, Kimi Djabaté from Guinea-Bissau, and trumpeter Rio Sidik from Bali but to be honest there wasn’t a bad band on this year’s line-up.

Good live music is hard to come by in Southeast Asia but with a host of top quality festivals throughout the year, Malaysia is miles ahead of neighbouring Thailand.Hopefully the Penang World Music Festival will be back in 2014. I’ll certainly be there.

If you are in the region, watch out for the Borneo Jazz Festival in mid-May, and the Rainforest World Music Festival in Sarawak at the end of June.

Music lovers in South East Asia, mark your calendar. The Penang World Music Festival 2013 has just been confirmed for March 30 and 31. Once again, the colourful event will be held at Quarry Park in the Penang Botanic Gardens. Organised by Penang Tourism, this year 12 bands will perform including Mu from Portugal, Kimi Djabate from Guinea-Bissau, Nasout from Iran, the Alp Bora Quartet from Turkey, Saharadja  from Indonesia, Inka Marka from South America, Kalayo from the Philippines, and a few as yet unannounced Malaysian bands.

In addition to evening performances at the concert all bands will take part in daily workshop sessions from 2 pm. The workshops give the public the chance to participate and learn the unique music making processes of the international artists. Evening shows will start at 7 pm ‘til late. The open-air festival will also include a bazaar offering food and drink, souvenir, crafts and performers’ CDs.

It’s true to say that for many years Malaysia has lead the way in the region when it comes to showcasing a diverse range of non-mainstream music. They should be loudly applauded and supported so get your tickets for the Penang World Music Festival now.  See you there!

PWMF 2013 tickets can be purchased at RM80 per adult and RM40 per child for the one-day pass, and RM140.00 per adult and RM70.00 per child for the two-day pass. Click here for more information.

In addition to the great music, visitors will also have the opportunity to explore the lovely island of Penang.

The official hotel sponsor for the festival is Hard Rock Hotel Penang.

Here’s a bit of good news for lovers of quality live music. If you are anywhere in Southeast Asia at the end of March it’ll be well worth making a detour and heading over to Penang in Malaysia.

The Penang World Music Festival returns after a hiatus of three years. It will be held from 30^th March to 1^st April 2012 at the Quarry Garden within the beautiful Botanic Gardens, not far from the heart Georgetown.

When it comes to life music, Malaysia is way ahead of its neighbours, and the return of the Penang World Music Festival is a another welcome addition to the annual events calendar that includes Borneo Jazz in May, the fabulous Rainforest World Music Festival in Kuching, Sarawak during July, and the Penang Island Jazz Festival in late November/December.

Huun Huur Tu performing at the Rainforest World Music Festival in Sarawak a few years ago.

The 3^rd Penang World Music Festival will feature renowned musicians from Malaysia as well as a great line-up of international artists. They’ll be 18 bands in all, performing and conducting workshops, including Maite Hontele from Colombia, Beoga from Ireland, the Tori Ensemble from South Korea, Phong Nguyen Ensemble from Vietnam, Loyko from Russia, and the band I am really looking forward to seeing most of all, Altan Urag from Mongolia. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing several Mongolian and Tuvan bands and am always enthralled by them. I actually discovered the sound years ago through my love of the music of Frank Zappa after seeing a film of him at home having a ‘musicial soiree’ with members of Huun Huur Tu, a band I was lucky enough to interview and see perform a few years back at Rainforest World Music Festival.

You can find out more about the line-up at the 3^rd Penang World Music Festival website. The event is organized by the Malaysian Ministry of Tourism & Culture and the official sponsoring hotel for the event is Hard Rock Hotel.

I really enjoy the challenge of photographing live music and am looking forward to capturing images of the performers. And of course there’ll also be the chance to explore the delightful UNESCO World Heritage town of Georgetown and other attractions in Penang. For flights to Penang from Bangkok and other regional destinations, check-out the no-frills, no service, and plenty of bad attitude, Air Asia or for a little extra enjoy the service and quality of Malaysia Airlines.

Here’re another couple of moments captured at the fantastic Penang Island Jazz Festival. The first is of the extremely photogenic Eva Bjerga Haugen. She was the finalist in the prestigious Norwegian jazz competition “Jazz Intro”. At the Penang Island Jazz Festival she was supported by the Espen Eriksen Trio with Espen Eriksen on piano, Lars Tormod Jenset on bass, and Andreas Bye on drums.

The second is of Fabian Gisler of the hugely entertaining Swiss trio, Rusconi. You can see more pictures from the festival in the Music folder of my Portfolio.

Asian nations are notorious for their disregard of architectural heritage. From Beijing to Bangkok, KL to Singapore, beautiful old buildings have never stood in the way of progress.

Until recently Penang was destined to make the same mistakes but commonsense prevailed and the island’s past is now proving to be its biggest tourist attraction.

Described by UNESCO as “a unique architectural and cultural townscape without parallel anywhere in East and Southeast Asia,” George Town was awarded the coveted World Heritage status in 2008. It was a moment when lovers of colonial-era architecture breathed a sigh of relief, optimistic for a future that would see a halt to the further deterioration or destruction of the island’s famous godowns, shophouses and mansions.

Although by no means the saviour of every old building, the new status put George Town and Penang firmly in the spotlight and was a huge boost for tourism. In Penang, the future is now history.

I’ve visited Penang on many occasions, exploring its many fine buildings. On a recent visit, however, I wandered the streets taking pictures of a few run down gems that ooze character. One of the best ways to discover George Town’s history is on foot. Most hotels and restaurants offer visitors a free map of the ‘Heritage Trail’, a leisurely stroll into the past that takes you down some of the town’s most historic streets with cafes and art galleries to enjoy.

One of the highlights for me at the recent Penang Island Jazz Festival in Malaysia was the Austrian trumpeter and vocalist, Michaela Rabitsch, and her partner, composer and guitarist, Robert Pawlik.

The jazz repertoire is pretty standard but Michaela’s approach and Robert’s distinctive playing give it a touch of funk and fusion.

You can find out more about them and their quartet at the website.

I have to confess that as a long-term expat there are few things that I miss about my past life in the UK. The first is good beer, and by that I mean real ale, and a few very particular foods such as stilton, and…errr…decent bacon. Everything else, I fear, is pure nostalgia and probably has little to do with reality. The exception is quality live music which I really do miss.

Serious music fans could be forgiven for thinking that the scene in Southeast Asia has little to offer. In the case of Thailand where I make my home, they’d be right. It is truly appalling and shows few signs of improving. Thankfully, and rather surprisingly given its somewhat conservative nature, Malaysia is just a short flight away.

Lars Tormod Jenset from the Espen Eriksen Trio

Over the last decade Malaysia has carefully cultivated a strong music scene which encompasses some exceptional artists from around the world. A prime example of how far the country’s tastes have come is the fabulous Penang Island Jazz Festival. Now in its eight year, the festival continues to grow from strength to strength and now has a well deserved reputation for showcasing great jazz talent from around the globe.

Michaela Rabitsch from Austria

I have just returned from two nights of outstanding music enjoyed in the beachfront gardens of the Bayview Beach Resort in Batu Ferringhi, just 40 minutes from Penang’s historic Georgetown. A cosmopolitan crowd at the extremely well organized event enjoyed a line-up that included the excellent Espen Eriksen Trio from Norway, the delightful Michaela Rabitsch & Robert Pawlik Trio from Austria, another extremely talented young trio, Rusconi from Switzerland, the tremendous Indonesian trumpet-led Rio Sidik Quartet, the mainstream crowd-pleaser from the UK, Shakatak, and more. There was only one person missing to make it a perfect weekend…and she knows who she is.

Norwegian vocalist, Eva Bejerga Haugen

I was surprised at musical maturity of the crowd. From late teens to those of a rare vintage, the audience sat of the grass, gave each band their full attention and thoroughly enjoyed every moment. This is unheard of in Thailand where a jazz festival is simply background music while you eat, chat with friends and photograph yourself…again.

Ito Kudhi, bass player with the Rio Sidik Quartet

Key to the success of the independent Penang Island Jazz Festival is the fact that the organizers, Capricorn Connection, and all the volunteer crew love jazz. I take my hat off to the main man, Paul Augustin, and to Brian Kwan for all their assistance and support.

In addition to the evening performances the festival almost hosts jazz workshops and performances at venues in Georgetown. There was also a jazz forum discussion, an exhibition of jazz photography by Slovenian photographer, Zigo Koritnik, old jazz posters on display, and of course, an lively after hours jazz jam in the hotel bar until the early hours. What more could a jazz fan ask for? Needless to say I am already looking forward to the 9^th Penang Island Jazz Festival!

Rio Sidik in full swing on Sunday night at the Penang Island Jazz Festival

The good news is that Penang is also going to host the Penang World Music Festival from 30th March to 1st April 2012. With this new event to add to a list that already includes the Borneo Jazz Festival in May and the Rainforest World Music Festival in Sarawak in July, Malaysia is skillfully using live music to raise its profile on the world stage and is way ahead of neighbouring countries.

Shakatak’s George Anderson slapping out funky bass riffs

Over the next few days I’ll be posting more shots of the performers as well as some from the lovely George Town.

Last but not least, a big thank you to Tourism Malaysia.

I have just returned from a much needed long weekend in Penang, a large island off the west coast of Malaysia. The population of almost a million is predominantly Chinese with a scattering of Malay and Indians making for a vibrant and colourful mix of cultures and cuisine. Although Penang has seen a considerable amount of careless development in recent years, the old district within the capital, Georgetown, is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and hopefully safe for future generations to enjoy.

If this status had not been given to the area the magnificent old buildings would have undoubtedly been razed to the ground to make way for more high-rise. For a cultural traveller and self-confessed foodie such as myself, the pleasures of Penang are its heritage and its cuisine. The old colonial-era shophouses are superb – although many are in desperate need of repair – and the choice of Hainanese, Hokkien, southern Indian, and Malay food is a culinary adventure.

The visual landscape of Penang is defined by decaying period architecture, temples and shrines, and bustling food stalls, all of which offer the chance to get some lovely shots of details.

During my stay I was fortunate enough to experience the luxury of the Eastern & Oriental Hotel, and the wonderful Straits Collection at Stewart Lane, a block of carefully restored shophouses in the heart of the old town.