Ata Ratu: Jungga in Sumba Timur

Ata Ratu is the queen of jungga in East Sumba, Indonesia. She plays the four-stringed lute and sings improvised lyrics with a gorgeous, powerful voice. Visitors come from all around Sumba to hear Ata Ratu play, so she often improvises new lyrics based on the situation: this song is about our arrival to record her. "Listen," she sings. "I’ll be sad when we part. I hum this song for you, sir, who will soon leave.”
Also, HUGE NEWS! Ata Ratu is one of a handful of artists joining the Aural Archipelago night at the Europalia International Arts Festival in Belgium on Nov. 30th and Dec. 1st and 2nd! This will be Ata Ratu's first time performing outside of her remote province in Indonesia, and I can't wait for her to find a whole new legion of fans.
Hear and learn more of Ata Ratu at the Aural Archipelago post here, complete with amazing recordings mixed and mastered by my friend Jo Lamont: http://www.auralarchipelago.com/aural...