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A new sound on the block
Tribe of Jubal
debuts on PNG shores with their own brand of
Melanesian funk music, writes JACK METTA
A NEW wave of music hits PNG shores
next Saturday when four of PNG’s finest musicians and an
ensemble of prominent Australian artists perform live at Port
Moresby’s Lamana Gold Club.
Melanesian funk is in the offing, a specialty that can only come
when talented individual artistes band together and perform as a
unit. The music connoisseur is assured of a unique brand of
music that can only come from individuals with fertile minds and
talent.
Tribe of Jubal comes with that accreditation and debuts on our
shores next Saturday with their trade mark Melanesian funk.
On the back of benchmarks set by notable PNG bands such as
Sanguma and Tambaran Culture among others, Tribe of Jubal is set
to put on a performance that is unique, entertaining and
mystical – a performance sure to raise the benchmark in the new
wave of Melanesian funk.
Inspired by the traditions and legends of PNG culture, Tribe of
Jubal’s Melanesian funk mixes traditional Melanesian rhythm with
a modern, contemporary sound, creating an intense tone of tribal
harps, horns, warups, garamuts and kundus and blending them with
contemporary jazz and funk arrangements.
The audience can expect a spectacular, blistering atmosphere
from a band that features Ben Hakalitz on the drums, keyboard
player Airileke Ingram, flautist/saxophonist Pius Wasi and bass
player/composer Richard Mogu. There’s also one of Vanuatu’s best
young singers Vanessa Quai and a cream of Cairns musicians in
Toni Allayialis, Tom See Poy, Ian Lewerissa and William Kepa.
They are in short, proficient, professional and energetic
musicians who live in Australia and PNG and have performed
globally.
“These hard-working musicians will take the Pacific and the
world by storm,” Adam Vai Delaney, the manager of the band
predicted in Cairns.
“You cannot describe their music without falling into clichés
like fusion, indigenous, tribal, jazz and funky. They are just
mesmerising. Absolutely awesome blend of 40,000 years of
traditional rhythms that grips with everything you can imagine
that’s contemporary. Cool. It sets an incredibly high standard
in Pacific music and creativity.”
Hakalitz, who has played with various international superstars,
including Australia’s indigenous band, Yothu Yindi said: “We
have been planning this for over seven years and to see it
finally come to fruition is unbelievable, God’s blessing. I am
grateful for the support given by Adam for his belief in us. We
are ready to tour Melanesia and let the music speak for our
people.”
Put together the genius of Pius Wasi on Sepik flutes and modern
horns, chants and percussions, with Ben’s mind-blowing drum
rhythms, Airileke’s magic on congos, kundus and garamuts, and
strike it with Richard Mogu’s bass structures, and the beautiful
voices of Vanessa and Toni Allayialis, the result is just truly
incredible.
The band expects to perform in Fiji and New Caledonia after
their one-night stint here.
Their debut album, launched last Aug 31 at the Cairns Civic
Centre, includes tracks based on traditional chants, ballads and
stories about gardens, fish, love, and children from provinces
that includes Sepik, Milne Bay, Bougainville and Central. These
are cleverly arranged and have a dynamic, contemporary
brilliance about them.
“It was a real challenge singing in eight different PNG
languages, but I loved working on a project that was uniquely
Melanesian and exciting,” Vanessa said.
Tribe of Jubal is derived from the Bible, Genesis 4:21 to be
exact. Jubal, a descendent of Cain is believed to be the father
of all those who play harp and the organ. He laid the roots for
all tribes worldwide.
Local Cairns writer Tony Hiller wrote this about the band in Art
Nexus, an arts discussion forum on the internet: “Considering
Papua New Guinea’s geographical proximity to Far North
Queensland, its culture has been decidedly under-exposed in
local performing arts’ circles.
“Apart from infrequent concerts by singer George Telek,
Cairnsites would be sadly unaware that our northern neighbour
has a rich musical heritage.
“That fact has long concerned Ben Hakalitz, the
Bougainville-born, Cairns-based drummer who, for the past dozen
years and more has been strutting the world stage with
Aboriginal rockers Yothu Yindi.
“So it came to pass that Tribe of Jubal was created to lead PNG
music out of the wilderness …
“The idea to form Tribe of Jubal came to me 15 years ago when I
attended the very first Womadelaide,” Hakalitz told Hiller.
“Seeing this world music scene really stirred me up – I wanted
to fuse my traditional music with jazz and funk.”
Hiller continued: “Tribe of Jubal takes up where Sanguma left
off, mixing traditional tribal chants, songs and instrumentation
with elements of pop, rock, jazz and world sounds to make music
that Hakalitz terms “Melanesian funk”.
Indeed, Tribe of Jubal puts on a performance that is unique,
entertaining and mystical because its inspiration comes from
ballads, legends, nature, children and dance from among
thousands of tribes in PNG.
These are cleverly arranged and have a dynamic, contemporary
brilliance about them.
Their debut album features songs like Dini Male a song
celebrating children, their innocence, fun and laughter, Paluai,
the name of a Manus Island where the garamut beat originates;
Dau Yai, a traditional travelling song from Milne Bay province;
Selo Maleo, a spirit song from Sepik province; Unari, a song
about a man made an outcast and decides to leave his village
without remorse but forgiveness for his people; the title track
T’mme Yakinso, a celebration song from the Sepik; and, Ole
Mango, a song from Madang province about the chant that mothers
sing when they head home from the gardens.
Tribe of Jubal first appeared live as a band at the Tropical
Wave Festival with guest artist George Telek and at the Kuranda
Reggae Festival at Djapukai in Cairns last year.
It was by chance meeting with Adam Vai Delaney that the magic
happened to begin in recording an album.
Hiller had this to say about the album on ABC Far North
Queensland’s website: “If a better album comes out of the Far
North this year than T’mme Yakinso, the debut of a new band
called Tribe of Jubal, this reviewer will eat his hat.
“This is superior CD judged from any perspective … The music
produced, the playing, the arrangements and the recording are
all word class … Tribe of Jubal skillfully blend tribal
percussion with Western pop, rock, world and jazz fusion. The
resulting synthesis has been dubbed the Melanesian funk. While
it radiates shades of the seventies – Santana, yes, Osibisa and
all, it’s firmly planted in the 21st Century …”
Experience something new. Be there next Saturday and hear the
tribal ‘chants’. They’re here for one night only.
Perhaps, it’s the type of music that you have been waiting for
and might be just the elixir the Wise Councillor recommends:
“Skillful listening is the best remedy for loneliness and
laryngitis…”
 
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