Malaysian music books are a rare commodity and the genre has had a good year with six music books in the spotlight on the last day of the Ipoh Music Symposium 2021: Nusantara online event on Sunday (Oct 3).
From hard rock to folk right to blues and Nusantara music, these six books, mostly in Bahasa Malaysia, will be the focus of a series of virtual events, including a roundtable discussion, author discussions and book presentations.
As the sole English book at the Ipoh Music Symposium 2021, Made In Nusantara, released earlier this year and published by Britain’s Routledge, serves as an introduction to the history, sociology, ethnography, and musicology of historical and contemporary popular music in South-East Asia.
The book is the subject of the Made In Nusantara: Studies In Popular Music roundtable discussion on Sunday from 4pm-6pm today, with its co-editors Adil Johan (Malaysia), and Mayco A. Santaella (Philippines), both academics, set to participate in the session alongside scholars working in the region and those involved in Nusantara music research.
If you are interested in the story behind one of Malaysian music’s unsung heroes, then influential drummer Zahid Ahmad’s biography discussion from 8.30-10pm is not to be missed. The virtual session titled Tuk Tak: Cerita Zahid Ahmad Tentang Muzik Malaysia, Drum Dan Proses Bikin Lagu, features Zahid in conversation with Roslan Aziz and book publisher Muhammad Nazreen (Bukuku Press founder).
As a versatile drummer, Zahid always had jazz music close to his heart despite his early work with pop and rock singers in the 1980s. He joined forces with Roslan to realise the Roslan Aziz Production (RAP) dream of giving Malaysia a progressive-minded music label in the late 1980s, early 1990s. His book Tuk Tak details a story that goes far beyond the drum kit.
The upcoming 45 Years Box Set Of Blues Gang offers music fans a visual history of one Malaysia’s most iconic blues rock bands. The box set, put together by independent publisher Tempatan Fest, will be discussed in a late night session (10.10pm-11.30pm) featuring editor Seir Rashid and Blues Gang frontman Ito Mohd.
The hardcover photo book details the band’s school boy beginnings in Johor Baru in the mid-1960s right to the story of the Blues Gang career in the Klang Valley in the mid-1970s and beyond.
Other books to be featured at the Ipoh Music Symposium 2021: Nusantara include Lagu-Lagu Rakyat Negeri Perak: Skor Dan Lirik by Yusop Najmi Othman (traditional music expert), the Muzik Rock Kapak anthology (featuring writers who appeared at last year's rock-themed Ipoh Music Symposium) and Muzik Adalah Harta by Manan Ngah (acclaimed Irama Nusantara composer)
The virtual event series is organised by creative arts space PORT (People Of Remarkable Talents) in Ipoh, Gerakan Seni Ipoh and the Perak government and supported by the Cultural Economy Development Agency (Cendana) and Tourism Perak.
All sessions will streamed on Port Ipoh's Facebook Live here.
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