Music by the beach
The first Langkawi International Blues, Roots Aseana Festival 2017 sees the participation of 15 local and foreign bands and individuals, writes Dennis Chua
IT’S been four decades since veteran blues man Ito Mohamad began promoting his favourite musical genre tirelessly. His hard work finally paid off when he recently secured a collaboration with the Langkawi Development Authority (Lada) to organise ()the first Langkawi International Blues, Roots Aseana (Libra) Festival 2017 from now until Sunday.
Ito, the lead singer of the Blues Gang, initially thought of having the event in Batu Feringgi, Penang’s most famous beach, but his bandmates felt that Langkawi seemed a better choice as it was more enchanting and mysterious.
Promising visitors a chance to wind down to great blues music laced with Asian melodies, it is largely inspired by Ito’s visits to Australia’s Byron Bay Blues Festival in New South Wales over the last decade, as well as the Sarawak Rainforest World Music Festival in Santubong, Kuching. The annual festival is Ito’s stepping stone to bigger concerts, and he hopes it will grow as the years go by.
Apart from the Blues Gang, popular local bands such as Purple Haze, Sons of Adam and Touch Mahal will headline Libra 2017. The festival will also feature a few international performers — Australian Al Terry, Chai Bang from Thailand and Iranian brothers RezaandBahmanKhalili of Public Voice.
Libra 2017 at Cenang Beach is coorganised by Ito’s company Itos Cottage Music and Lada. Besides promoting the best of blues music from around the world, it also aimsto makeLangkawiaworldclass venue for major concerts.
“It is high time Malaysia, as a major tourist destination in Southeast Asia, has its own blues festival by the sea.
“It’s always best to serenade music lovers by the beach because nature speaks to the soul, and blues music is all about the soul!” said Ito.
Libra 2017 sees participation of 15 bands and individuals from Malaysia, the United Kingdom, Australia, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia and Iran. Admission is free.
Performances begin at 4.30pm and end at 1am. On the final night, there will also be a New Year’s Day countdown.
There will also be a blues exhibitions and music clinics conducted by the participating artistes.
For details, visit twitter.com/itosmusic.
dchua@nst.com.my
Al Terry and Purple Haze