Recorded during several CNRS missions in the Philippines in the 70’s and 80’s by Nicole Revel-McDonald and José Maceda, those rare testimonies of the Palawan ethny (on the eponymous island north of Borneo) gives the listener a peaceful blues, immersed in the surrounding forest and wildlife soundscape. Mainly played on a large lutes and jew's harps, sitting or even lying on the floor, it is a music which tells of microcosm and macroscosm, a contemplative practice, a throbbing exercise of imitation, alternating songs of love and 'little music of things'. This album closes on a festive gongs ensemble, similar to the tribal traditions from Vietnam and Laos.
Palawan Highlands Music
Le Chant du Monde - LDX 274865