Papua New Guinean musicians have been challenged to uphold and promote our traditional music.
This is from Brown Bolong of the Duaks band of Morobe.
Duaks of Morobe are one of Papua New Guinea’s well-known bands, a former band of the famous provincial theatre group called Duadua until the group disbanded.
Band member Brown Bolong is the lead vocalist who plays Western and traditional flutes, pan pipes, Jew’s harp and traditional percussions.
The members reunited and performed at the 5th Melanesian Festival of Arts and Culture with the singing, dancing and playing of traditional contemporary songs about nature and tribal dances, along with folk songs.
Bolong was concerned about traditional music being replaced by contemporary music in this digital age.
The sounds from this band are unique with the tune of traditional instruMen’s like bamboo flutes, garamut, and kundu, blended well with other modern instruMen’s to produce music.
A university degree isn’t required to produce traditional music, as it is more about learning from elders of the community.
Duaks of Morobe have toured several other countries, including Japan’s World Cup soccer in 2002. They also partnered with international artists such as Fiji’s famous musician, Daniel Ray Costello.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=zTc6XcgFeds%3Ffeature%3Doembed%26wmode%3Dopaque%26showinfo%3D0%26showsearch%3D0%26rel%3D0
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