Songgeri Beach Jam - Gospel String Bands of Ambai, Papua

Songgeri is a gospel string band tradition from the Ambai archipelago of Papua. Usually played in Pentecostal church services, here we can see the shape songgeri takes in a more chilled out context as folks from the village of Kawipi jam on the beach. Homemade lutes (ukulele and gitar) and a double bass (stembas) strum out songgeri’s three simple chords while the group strings together a hypothetically endless series of sung verses, each one chosen by a lead singer just a moment before the rest join in. All of the verses are in the Ambai language and Indonesian, and are generally “praise and worship” songs created by locals “with the divine spark of God.”

Hear and learn more about songgeri (complete with downloadable field recordings, photos, and more videos) at the Aural Archipelago post here:

https://www.auralarchipelago.com/aura...