"Enchanting Melodies on Native Instruments" was the phrase used to introduce the Ne Pomoceno Quartet to mid-western audiences in 1917. Nowadays, those words are ironic, considering that, outside of the International Expositions, Filipinos playing in clubs and chautauquas rarely played native instruments, although they did play Philippine adaptations of European string instruments. This website is dedicated to Filipino musicians in the United States, especially those "old-timers" who performed during the early 20th century. My father was one of them: he played in a band in New Orleans and other cities during the 1930s. My grandfather and granduncle played in the Philippine Constabulary Band in international expositions. Filipinos have been entertaining audiences with their music since at least the early 20th century. Considering that "Manilla Men" first began settling in the Louisiana territory during the 18th century, it's possible that Filipino musicians have been making music in the Americas since the 19th century or earlier. My aim for this website is to post information on these little-known and under-appreciated musicians, and update as often as possible. This is a labor of love. Thanks to the "Redpath Chautauqua Collection and Traveling Culture exhibit, Special Collections, University of Iowa for making some of this material (photographs and documents about Filipino musicians in the Chautauqua) available.
If you have information or photos of Filipino musicians or bands from the early to mid-20th century (1960s) and would like it posted on this site, contact me at okir2k@gmail.com.
Saturday, August 07, 2004
Let's face it; it's difficult to listen to early 20th century U.S. Filipino music without sooner or later having to pursue all the different threads of world music that are somehow linked to this "genre." So, after wondering what kind of string instruments were played before the Spanish and Portugese came to the Philippines, I now find myself listening to Fingguy Flang and Luming Tuan, two T'boli women from the mountain province of South Cotabato in Mindanao. As the liner notes in this French recording (Altamira)explain, the two are the best players of the hegelung lute in their village. As the CD begins, one can hear forest birds twittering in the background, and through every track. The hegelung is a long, narrow boat or leaf-shaped, two-stringed instrument which, to my hearing, sounds much like a koto. It's tuned with wooden pegs, and the strings are plucked with a plectrum. The sound is light and charming.
"As young teenagers, [Fingguy and Luming] were both approached in their dreams by the Hegelung Custodian. This prettily adorned supernatural young lady offered them her friendship and invited them to become true players of the hegelung, the instrument she is the depositary of...Under this patronage, our two teenagers accomplished an important ritual: they caught a small insect called bulung hemgelung, which they crushed under the index of their right hand, the finger used to strike the hegelung strings. This allows one to become a talented interpreter" (liner notes, 18).
Friday, August 06, 2004
Hey - thanks also to Rona Fernandez for pointing to my website, and for her review (august 3) of "Enchanting Melodies, Native Instruments." Check out her current posting on the good old (and new) days of live music. She writes: "...I crave the nourishment and energy of witnessing and dancing to live jazz, which is what it's all about--the improvisation, the spontaneity, the fresh, happy in-the-moment vibe that only live performances by real musicians can give me." Read more here.
Having been gone for more than two weeks, I missed the Filipino music issue of Our Own Voice, in which I have an essay on -- you guessed it -- Filipinos in the circuit Chautauquas. But take a look at the gorgeous front page design (incorporating photos from the Redpath Chautauqua archives) by Geejay Arriola, listen to the lovely kundiman by Gerry De Leon, and read all the essays and literature on Filipino music. Give a big hand to Remé Grefalda, and the editors of Our Own Voice, and of course, to the writers, musicians and artists who contributed to this issue.
Just got back from the FANHS (Filipino American National Historical Society) conference in St. Louis, where I gave a talk on Filipino musicians in the Midwestern Chautauqua circuit, and got a great response. I DROVE to St. Louis from California. On the way, I stopped at the University of Iowa's Chautauqua archives (from whence came many of the images on this website). I found there documents on some of the bands I've posted about here, but also found evidence of yet more Filipino bands in the Chautauqua. I still haven't found any recordings by Filipino Chautauqua musicians, but I did find a track of the Honolulu players performing the "Mindanao March" circa on Yazoo Recordings' fabulous Slidin' on the Frets CD, which I was happy to play for my audience in St. Louis.
As a sidenote, despite my previous postings on Hawaiian music, I have to admit that I've always avoided listening to it, because as I child I'd heard my father playing a lot of Hawaiian music on both guitar and ukelele, and always thought it was too corny. Well, doing research on Pre-WWII Filipino musicians in the U.S. has forced me to listen to the old Hawaiian stuff; I'm listening to Slidin' on the Frets: The Hawaiian Steel Guitar Phenomenon right now, and I'm absolutely hooked! I've even gone so far as to look for old 78s of Hawaiian music, and am now contemplating purchasing a turntable that can play them. My first acquisitions: "Hilo Hattie Does the Hilo Hop" by the Royal Hawaiian Girls' Glee Club (Hawaii Record co.), and the Hawaiian Cowboy Song, "Kilakila Haleakala," by Ray Kinney with Dick McIntire & His Harmony Hawaiians, on Decca Records.
More on U.S. Filipino & Hawaiian music coming up soon...
As a sidenote, despite my previous postings on Hawaiian music, I have to admit that I've always avoided listening to it, because as I child I'd heard my father playing a lot of Hawaiian music on both guitar and ukelele, and always thought it was too corny. Well, doing research on Pre-WWII Filipino musicians in the U.S. has forced me to listen to the old Hawaiian stuff; I'm listening to Slidin' on the Frets: The Hawaiian Steel Guitar Phenomenon right now, and I'm absolutely hooked! I've even gone so far as to look for old 78s of Hawaiian music, and am now contemplating purchasing a turntable that can play them. My first acquisitions: "Hilo Hattie Does the Hilo Hop" by the Royal Hawaiian Girls' Glee Club (Hawaii Record co.), and the Hawaiian Cowboy Song, "Kilakila Haleakala," by Ray Kinney with Dick McIntire & His Harmony Hawaiians, on Decca Records.
More on U.S. Filipino & Hawaiian music coming up soon...
