LL:ART: BOUGAINVILLE VOICES -- CD REVIEW

[Communist Party of Australia]

The following articles were published in "The Guardian", newspaper
of the Communist Party of Australia in its issue of Wednesday,
December 13, 2000. Contact address: 65 Campbell Street, Surry Hills.
Sydney. 2010 Australia. Phone: (612) 9212 6855 Fax: (612) 9281 5795.
CPA Central Committee: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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Webpage: http://www.cpa.org.au>
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PLEASE NOTE: The next edition of The Guardian will appear on
January 23, 2001, as the staff take a break over the holiday
season. A happy and peaceful New Year to all readers!
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Bougainville Voices -- CD review
by Justin Tonti-Filippini BRA General Sam
Kauona & Josephine Kauona-Sirivi
reviewed by Vikki Johns
Bougainville Voices was recorded in central Bougainville in
1997/1998. It consists of 19 tracks of Bougainville music and an
eight-page booklet.
It introduces the listener to the typical sounds of a day in
Bougainville: preparing breakfast to the tune of a solo panpipe,
working in the garden, echoes across the mountains as the Truce
Monitoring Group approaches the village, light rain, waterfalls,
and the rich forest orchestra at night.
The garamut drums then announce an important occasion before we
hear the Bougainville anthem sung in English and played on
guitar, shakers and a variety of bamboos in a style not heard
before.
A very lively bamboo bass then carries us through to the traditional
singsing kaur complete with the smashing of the bamboos at dawn as
a form of copyright.
Tracks 9 to 14 are possibly the highlight of this CD. This
ensemble of bamboo basses, bamboo trumpets and enthusiastic
singers tell us of their attitudes towards the CRA mining company
(now Rio Tinto) and Papua New Guinea, often with a sense of
humour, but reinforcing the hurt and death caused by what became
?known as The Bougainville Crisis.
We then return to a more homely setting: BRA General Sam Kauona,
Josephine his wife and their family on the balcony of their house
in the village singing a sample of their own war songs about care
centres and reinforcing a Christian theme which often appears
within this CD as the leaders ask God for guidance, all to a
guitar accompaniment.
The CD concludes with Polynesian type harmonies with light
rhythmical clapping as the Bougainville women sing and pray at
their first Women for Peace and Freedom meeting.
The booklet included with the CD contains occasional explanations,
the song lyrics in language and their English translations which
were completed by Sam and Josephine Kauona- Sirivi.
Nine informative colour photographic images appear within the
cover and back insert which include the bamboo instruments and
various political meetings which were held in Bougainville during
the time of recording and which served as a background to this
music.
This is an exceptional CD. Recorded by Justin Tonti-Filippini at
the personal invitation of the Bougainville leaders, immediately
after the New Zealand brokered truce made it possible for him to
travel into Bougainville with the Bougainville Revolutionary Army
and to catch music which shows the extraordinary musical
innovation of the Bougainville people.
It is an essential recording for anyone with an interest in
indigenous music and issues.
Its energy and variety both inform and entertain the listener, giving
an unusual insight into these determined and creative people.
For further information about purchasing this CD, go to
www.ecosonics.com or join us at the CD launch:
Wednesday 20th December at 7pm
The Gaelic Club, 64 Devonshire St, Sydney
(near Central Railway Station)
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