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Smithsonian Folkways' Indonesia Series
In 20 remarkable CDs recorded, compiled, and annotated by Philip Yampolsky, these recordings and their accompanying booklets display the vast scope of the culture and music of this complex group of islands.

Special Offer: Buy the entire 20 CD series at the special price of $259.79 with free US shipping. (Suggested list price is $340.00)
Allow 2 weeks for shipment, please.

Indonesia 1 - Songs Before Dawn - Smithsonian Folkways - 15.99
In the Banyuwangi region, located in the eastern end of Java, a vibrant and earthy musical genre called gandrung is performed. Never before issued on any recordings in the West, this tradition begins sometime around 9 p.m. and ends just before dawn. An unmarried female singer performs a beautiful suite of songs backed by a small ensemble of musicians who play violins, drums, and metal percussion. The male guests at this dance party pay money for the priviledge of dancing with this mesmerizing songstress. The suite is recorded here in a full performance by one of the music's finest living singers,Gadrung Temu.

Indonesia 2 - Indonesian Popular Music - Smithsonian Folkways - 15.99
Kroncong and Dangdut both began as music of the urban poor. Dangdut emerged in the late 1970s and is associated with Muslim youth blending elements of rock with Indian and Middle Eastern popular music. Kroncong, an older form, grew to become a popular music of the Indonesian elite and Langgam Jawa is a regional form of Kroncong, sung in Javanese and strongly associated with the city of Surakarta. This volume, studio recordings of some of the stars of each tradition, is an excellent introduction to the popular music styles developed in Indonesia this century.

Indonesia 3 - Music From The Outskirts Of Jakarta - Smithsonian Folkways - 15.99
Gambang Kromong comes from a virtually invisible part of the capital of Indonesia that most people have forgotten. Both performers and audience for this music today live at the edges of Jakarta and in the towns and semi-rural areas beyond. The music is wonderfully disorienting. It combines Indonesian, Chinese, and sometimes European-derived instruments in musical styles, at times reminiscent of gamelan music and at other times recalls small-group jazz of the 1920s and 1930s.

Indonesia 4 - Music Of Nias & N. Sumatra - Smithsonian Folkways - 15.99
The Toba and Karo from North Sumatra developed complex traditions of instrumental music, while the Ono Niha of Nias emphasize elaborate ceremonial choral singing called hoho. The Toba are one of the very few societies in the world to use tuned drums to carry a melody. Combining these drums with gongs and an oboe-like instrument, their gondang sabangunan ensemble has a tense feel in which the melodic and rhythmic instruments seem to compete with one another. The Karo gendang lima sedalamen ensemble features, among other instruments, virtuosi drumming full of snaps and pops. Most importantly, these musics, dynamically performed and filled with social commentary, borrow little from European and American, Middle Eastern or Javanese gamelan music. Their context and frame of reference are wholly local. These surprising genres, virtually unknown outside of Indonesia, are presented with extensive notes in digital recordings made in Indonesia in 1990.

Indonesia 5 - Betawi & Sudanese Music From The North Coast Of Java - Smithsonian Folkways - 15.99
A splendid hybrid created by the encounter between the cultures of Batavia and the surrounding Sunda region. These recordings from 1990-1992 include wild village gamelan music and a Sundanese repertoire played on brass instruments, gongs, and drums.

Indonesia 6 - Night Music Of West Sumatra - Smithsonian Folkways - 15.99
Highly intimate chamber music performed with only one or two singers and a single accompanying flute or bowed lute. These 1990-1992 recordings from the coastal region near Jakarta focus on one of the richest traditions of the performing arts found in Indonesia.

Indonesia 7 - Music From The Forests Of Riau And Mentawai - Smithsonian Folkways - 15.99
Recorded in 1993 and 1994, this recording focuses on the music of three indigenous forest societies of western Indonesia. It features songs and drumming for shamanic curing rituals, and private singing and instrumental music (played on xylophones or a gong-row) performed for entertainment or emotional release.

Indonesia 8 - Vocal & Instrumental Music From East And Central Flores - Smithsonian Folkways - 15.99
These 1993 and 1994 recordings present the virtually unknown, rich and highly diverse singing traditions from the eastern regions of Flores, an island east of Bali. Among the wonderful traditions included here are polyphonic singing styles strikingly similar to some Balkan music, large powerful choruses from Sikka, music for double flute and also gong and drum ensembles.

Indonesia 9 - Vocal Music From Central And West Flores - Smithsonian Folkways - 15.99
These 1993 and 1994 recordings present the virtually unknown choral singing of Ngada and Manggarai of Flores, an island east of Bali. The sounds, performed mainly at funerals and agricultural rituals, range from highly dissonant harmony to some rare instances of Indonesian counterpoint.

Indonesia 10 - Music Of Biak, Irian Jaya - Smithsonian Folkways - 15.99
This album presents music for celebrations and church services on Biak Island in Irian Jaya. Wor songs, usually sung by choruses in seemingly chaotic, free-for-all style, were once central to traditional Biak society. Two other genres have recently developed: church songs , sung here by women's choirs in churches and in secular performances; and yospan, string based music for dance parties.

Indonesia 11 - Melayu Music Of Sumatra - Smithsonian Folkways - 15.99
Melayu (or "Malay") culture has been influential throughout much of Indonesia. This album presents two widespread Malayu entertainment genres, plus songs and instrumental music from two forms of Melyau theater. Among the instruments heard are the gambus (a lute believed to originate in Arabia), violin, several kinds of drums, and---in the polished ronggeng dance music of Medan---an eloquent accordion. Recorded in widely scattered locations in Sumatra and in three islands of Riau.

Indonesia 12 - Gongs And Vocal Music - Smithsonian Folkways - 15.99
Melodic gong ensembles and male singing with percussion are found throughout Sumatra. Two of each are heard here: West Sumatran talempong (in two contrasting forms); kulintang from Lampung, at the southern end of the island; the choral didong songs of the Gayo in Aceh, and salawat dulang, competitive duet singing from West Sumatra that suprisingly uses popular songs as a vehicle for texts on points of Islamic doctrine.

Indonesia 13 - Kalimantan Strings - Smithsonian Folkways - 15.99
This album offers a survey of string music with and without singing, from Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo. Four Dayak groups are represented -- Kayan Mendalam, Ot Danum, Ngaju, and Kenyah -- along with a Muslim group from Kutai near the eastern coast. The instruments include the sampeq (the modern plucked lute of the Kenyah), an older Kayan version, the smaller Ot Danum and Ngaju plucked lutes, and the gambus (a lute probably originating in Arabia), as well as a bowed lute and a flute. The album concludes with three relaxed, delicate duets for the Kenyah sampeq.

Indonesia 14 - Lombok, Kallmantan, Banyumas - Smithsonian Folkways - 15.99
The great game an orchestras and the wayang shadow-theater of Java and Bali are known everywhere as Indonesian cultural treasures. This album presents three lesser-known varieties of gamelan and wayang that contrast sharply with the standard forms. Wayang Sasak, from Lombok, mixes Javanese-style puppets, Islamic stories, and Balinese and Sasak musical idioms. The music of the gamelan Banjar, from South Kalimantan, is like a wild fantasia on the Javanese model; the album provides the half-hour-long overture to a wayang play, plus music for a masked dance. And jemblung, from Banyumas, in Central Java, using no instruments and no puppets -- just four actor-singers -- offers an irreverent, low-rent view of the classical tradition.

Indonesia 15 - South Sulawest Strings - Smithsonian Folkways - 15.99
South Sulawesi is remarkably rich in string music. Among the instruments are the kacapi (a two-stringed, plucked lute), gambus (a plucked lute probably originating in Arabia), mandaliong (a keyed zither), and the violin. This album presents professional narrative and lyric singing with kacapi from the Bugis, Makasar, and Mandar peoples, along with informal, private singing with kacapi from the Toraja and driving Bugis and Kajang instrumental tunes. Also from the Kajang comes the quite different music of the gambus. And as contrast to the plucked lutes, the album offers, from the Bugis, mysterious violin duets, a violin trio with singers, and a lively ensemble of violins, mandaliong, flute, kacapi, and singers.

Indonesia 16 - Music form the Southeast - Smithsonian Folkways - 15.99
This CD, in conjunction with volumes 8 and 9, offers the first recorded survey of one of the least known and most musically surprising regions of Indonesia, the southeastern islands. Each of the three featured islands presents a unique sound, from voice and violin to funerary gong ensembles, to string bands of homemade guitars and violins. Many of the 15 tracks reveal foreign influences, both from colonization and American exposure. Recorded in Nusa Tenggara Timur, 1997. 74 minutes.

Indonesia 17 - Kalimantan - Smithsonian Folkways - 15.99
Our second album on Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo) presents music from seven Dayak groups, three (out of four) provinces, and a variety of genres and ensembles. Many selections are devoted to the gong ensembles of Kalimantan, which are unlike either the large gamelon of Java and Bali or the interlocking gong ensembles of the southeastern region. Contrasting styles of choral singing are heard, as well as four rhythmically bewildering pieces for an ensemble of bamboo tubes struck together. The album closes with an unusual twenty-three minute overview of the music from a three-day curing ritual among the Ot Danum of the Melawi River region in West Kalimantan.

Indonesia 18 - Sulawesi: Festivals, Funerals, and Work - Smithsonian Folkways - 15.99
The string music highlighted in Volume 15 is only part of the picture in Sulawesi. Here we present a variety of other musical groups, recorded in three of the islands four provinces. The celebrated Makasar genre pakarena features energetic drumming in sharp contrast to the slow, graceful movements of female dancers. Basing is the funeral music of the Kajang, performed by two female singers and two long flutes, or by the flutes alone; Kajang find it deeply sorrowful. Choral singing in very different styles is heard from the Torja, from Uma-speakers of the mountainous Pipikoro region in Central Sulawesi, and in communal work songs of Minahasa. Gong music for Mongondow weddings adds to our sampling of gong ensembles throughout Indonesia. The album closes with maengket from Minahasa, spirited choral singing with drums in celbration of the harvest. 73 minutes, 32 page booklet with map.

Indonesia 19 - Maluku - Smithsonian Folkways - 15.99
Musically, the vast province of Maluku ("the Moluccas") is one of the least known regions of Indonesia. Here we present music from three islands: Halmahera in the north, Buru in the center, and Kei Besar in the south. From Halmahera comes togal, entertainment music played on stringed instruments plus flute, drums, and a singer. From Buru we offer a varied selection: men's songs with drumming, an excerpt from a night-long sung narrative, jew's harp pieces, and a gong ensemble. Aside from two ensembles of flute and percussion, our recordings from Kei Besar are mainly vocal; solos, a duo, and choruses offering advice, recounting history, and asserting territorial boundaries (an important use for songs in Maluku); there is also a rowing song sung by children. Finally we return to Halmahera and present selections from a dabus performance accompanied by singing and frame drums. In dabus, a Muslim ritual derived from Sufi practice, men stab themselves vigorously with iron awls, but the spiritual power of the ritual

Indonesia 20 - Guitars - Smithsonian Folkways - 15.99
The first instruments of the guitar family probably came to Indonesia on Portuguese ships in the sixteenth century. In this final album of our series, we look at various Indonesian responses to the guitar. In some regions, the standard instrument has acquired repertoires of local melodies to which verses in local languages are sung. This development is heard here in recordings from South Sumatra, Lampung, and South Sulawesi. Elesewhere, home-made instruments resembling guitars play in unique local idioms, as in our recordings from Sumba and western Timor. The national popular music genres always incorporate guitars: we hear a kroncong-style instrumental with Hawaiin guitar, and a delightful imitation - part homage and part parody - of the dangdu star Rhoma Irama's electric-guitar style, played on a two-stringed, ampified kacapi from South Sulawesi. The album closes with a new departure: a delicate, unclassifiable piece by a North Sumatran group that draws partly on an international folk/pop style and partly o

Special Offer: Buy the entire 20 CD series at the special price of $259.79 with free US shipping. (Suggested list price is $340.00)
Allow 2 weeks for shipment, please.