Moving to rhythm of Africa

IT took more than two years to bring it to fruition but the beats of Wind of Nomads (above and below) will soon be reverberating on the stage of Istana Budaya, Kuala Lumpur, next month.
The seed of this project was first planted in 2015 by Bernard Goh, the founder and artistic director of Hands Percussion, who wanted to come out with a new performance that incorporates Asian percussion with African beats.
The project, Wind of Nomads, is inspired by the soul of two of the world’s greatest deserts in Africa and China.
It will be a musical trek in time and space with the rhythms from Africa’s Djembés and Dun Dun bass drums coming together with ancient Chinese drums in a 90-minute performance, featuring several new works.
Goh knew that he needed the right people to bring this vision to life – and he found it in Olivier Tarpaga, the artistic director and founder of Dafra West African Drum Ensemble of Burkina Faso.
“I was looking for a Djembe player for a long time,” Goh recalls in a recent interview. “There are some here but their style is more towards the South American style of playing.
“For me, you have to go to the origin; the Djembe is from Africa.”
Some of the teachers he approached were good but he was looking for someone who not only could play well but also move well to the beat.
A friend recommended Tarpaga’s Dafra Drum ensemble, which is based in the US.
Goh later discovered that Tarpaga has performed here before and is familiar with the local music scene.
“I asked him if he was interested in coaching a group of Chinese drummers. He paused for a while before saying: ‘Why not?’,” Goh recalls.
Turns out Tarpaga has been travelling around Taiwan coaching a Taiwanese troupe called Sibangie that plays African drums. Goh has even seen this group perform before.
Goh says when Tarpaga and the Hands Percussion group met, there was instant chemistry.
Tarpaga initially thought Goh was from China and moved to Malaysia bringing his musical roots with him.
Goh is actually from Seremban who moved to Kuala Lumpur to pursue his musical dreams.
He says: “No matter where we go, we carry some of our roots with us. We are all nomads. [We are] like a dandelion that has its seeds carried by the wind everywhere. Wherever the seeds fall, they will grow.”
He adds that Tarpaga himself was born in Burkina Faso. He travelled to London and then moved to the US where he married an American woman.
They lived in Los Angeles before finally settling down in Philadelphia.
For Wind of Nomads, Tarpaga is officially the musical director while Goh has taken up the role of artistic director. Goh has also brought in Lian Kian Lek, an architect, to design the set.
Though the Djembe is traditionally played by only men, Goh also has his female percussionists trained for it.
While Hands pioneered moving to a rhythm while playing Chinese drums, his percussionists have to learn how to play the Djembe and move to the rhythm of African drums.
Goh admits it has not been an easy thing to do. But learning from a master like Tarpaga only benefited the musicians.
To Goh, every project that Hands undertakes, he sets out to raise the music bar higher, to keep challenging himself and his performers.
The show will, nonetheless, still incorporate Hands’ signature style of music.
Goh says: “I want this concert to be a good collaboration. It will not just be about African music.
“Wind of Nomads is a project that is the result of an understanding of two cultures that is so different from each other.
“I believe that performing arts should be more that just entertainment. You want entertainment, go watch a movie.”
In October, Hands will be back with its own project called Percussion Paradigm.
Wind of Nomads will be staged from Aug 4 over the first two weekends of August at 8.30pm. For more, visit the Hands Percussion website and Facebook.