A short selection of recordings of an elderly Oro Kaivan lady singing, from Papua New Guinea. She figured herself to be around 90 years old - which is probably the oldest person I have met in PNG.

She was sitting around in the night time, singing songs to two of her great-grandchildren. She was spending the night at her granddaughters house, before moving on to stay with another grandson who lived in the area. From what I was told, her life consisted of moving around the country, visiting all her various children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren (and possibly even great-great-grandchildren)

The percussive sound, which sometimes sounds like a kundu (hand-drum) is actually just her keeping rhythm on the wooden platform she is sitting on. I love the short rhythmic endings she performs at the end of each song.

After she had finished singing her songs she asked if she could listen to what she had done. I placed the earphones around her ears, and then as she sat there listening and clapping along she asked if I would take her photo. I did and she then asked to see it. She took the camera from my hands and stared at her image for a long time. She then spoke to her grand-daughter, who translated for me;

"Aio! So old already! I used to be a young girl! Singing on the beach! I haven't seen myself for 30 years..."

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Oro Kaivan Lady 01

Oro Kaivan Lady 02

Oro Kaivan Lady 03

Oro Kaivan Lady 04

Built in to the middle of the Croatian Adriatic coast, the Sea Organ (Croatian ‘Morske orgulje‘) was designed by architect Nikola Bašić and built by Dalmatian stone carvers. After the devastation of World War II, chaotic reconstruction transformed the sea front in to a giant, unbroken concrete wall. It remained that way until 2005, when an urban renewal project transformed the coast again.
 At the end of the vast promenade, Bašić designed a 70 metre long stair case that descends in to the Adriatic sea. Underneath the steps are 35 organ pipes built in to subterranean tunnels. A column of air, pushed in turn by the waves, blows each organ pipe. The sound emerges above ground through labiums (whistles), which play 7 chords of 5 tones each. 

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Ah!Puch!Records! 2015 - Sea Organ, Zadar Croatia

Adan y Carmen 05 - Bleruas Lorquinas de Lr niña de los peines

Adan y Carmen 04 - Beleri de Luis de la Pice

Adan y Carmen 03 - Seguitille - Tuerto

Adan y Carmen 02 - Le Uralagueña con Rondeña y Javegote

Adan y Carmen 01 - Tientos

Belize is a diverse, mixed up little country on the coast of mainland America - wedged between Mexico to the North, Guatemala to the South and West, and the Caribbean Sea to the East. Indigenous Mayans, British colonialists, shipwrecked Garifuna fisherman, Mulatos, Creoles, Mestizos, Chinese and even the Amish and the Mennonites, can all be seen riding around the country in retired US school buses. Reggae jams pumping, hurtling down roads lined by jaguar filled jungles, with fleeting glimpses and panoramic vistas of the Caribbean Sea, complete with palm trees, fishing boats and cabanas.

Gaining independence from Britain in 1981 (it was previously British Honduras) the mainland country sways to a distinctly Caribbean vibe, with English as its official language. Many people there profess music to be the main cultural asset, though it is often hard to find live music, beyond the locals’ penchant for karaoke in beachside bars, where the rum costs less than water back home in Australia. Everyone agrees though - the music of Belize is to be found in the South of the country, where many of the Garifuna people live.

The Garifuna people are now found all along the Caribbean coast of Central America – in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. In 1635 a ship carrying African slaves, predominantly from Nigeria, capsized in the Caribbean Sea. Some of the slaves were able to make it ashore to St. Vincents Island where they began relations with the native Indians, the Arawak and Red Carib people, who had migrated from Guyana and Venezuala respectively. After a century of integration, and impressive reproduction rates, the Garifuna became the dominant group in St. Vincents’ society, causing social ruptures and rifts. Soon the French were involved, and then the British. Decades of war ensued and the Garifuna were deported to the Honduran island of Roatán, where they continued to flourish and procreate. Forced to flee yet again after the republican revolt in Honduras, they continued their exodus, in ever increasing numbers to the southern Belizean coastline in 1832. Today the 20,000 or so Garifuna people make up 6% of the Belizean population.
	
We found some live music in Hopkins, a small Garifuna fishing village just south of Dangriga - a larger Garifuna fishing village with a Rastafari culture - think tropical heat, fresh fish, weed, reggae and  t  i  m  e . We had to hitchhike with some Mennonites from Dangriga because the bus wasn’t coming that day, or maybe it was, or was it yesterday? Or maybe it wasn’t on Thursdays, but Fridays? No one could be sure, yet everyone had an opinion about when the bus was or wasn’t coming. All agreed though, we could catch it from where the main street and the river intersect…That’s if it showed up - which it didn’t. All I can say is thank the lord for the Mennonites.

Once in Hopkins we found the Lebeha Drumming Centre, at the Northern end of town. The centre was started 10 years ago by Jabbar Lambey, a Garifuna drummer and Dorothy Pettersen, an ex-pat from Canada. We entered in to the neatly kept grounds and met Jabbar. I asked if there would be any performances coming up, as I was interested in making some recordings. He explained that he could get some people together and we could make some recordings that evening.

We returned that evening to find Jabbar, Warren and John ready with their drums, which are made in nearby Dangriga by Austin Rodriguez. The drums are made from mahogany and mayflower woods with animal hide skins, including the Primero (first drum) the Segunda (the bass drum), shakers which contain seeds from a fruit tree inside a calabash gourd, and turtle shells – quite literally a turtle shell strapped around the percussionists neck and struck with soft mallets. 

Garifuna music is quite different from the music of the rest of Central America. The most famous form is Punta, while other forms of Garifuna music and dance include the hungu-hungu, wanaragua, matamuerte, sambai, paranda, berusu, and punta rock; some of which can be heard in these recordings. 	

In 2001, Garifuna music was proclaimed one of the ‘Masterpieces of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity’ by UNESCO, along with Garifuna language and dance, though as the Lebeha Drumming Center says on its website ‘this does little to help the hand to mouth daily existence of the people. Tourism and escape to the U.S. offer some consolation and money but there are few opportunities for the practicing masters of the tradition; some of the finest elder musicians are now more conversant with a bottle of rum than with a drum. Fortunately the musicians at the Lebeha Drumming Centre are keeping the tradition alive and kicking.

To learn more about the Lebeha Drumming Centre or about Garifuna culture in general, check out these links – 

http://lebeha.com/
http://www.garifuna.com/

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