Information About And Five YouTube Videos Of Local String Bands In Vanuatu, Melanesia (2005-2020)

Scott Wilson, Feb. 27, 2012

Some Video footage of the Le Lagon Wedding String Band in Vanuatu **** Edited by Azizi Powell This pancocojams post presents some information about string bands in the Melanesia nation of Vanuatu. Five videos of string bands from Vanuatu are also included in this post. This is a very small sample of the number of Vanuatu string bands on YouTube. Update: April 2, 2022- Bonus video. The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes. All copyrights remain with their owners. Thanks to all the musicians and singers who are featured in these videos. Thanks also to all those who quoted in this post. -snip-
This is part of an ongoing post about Vanuatu. Click the links found below for previous and subsequent posts on this subject.
**** INFORMATION ABOUT VANUATU STRING BANDS These excerpts are given in no particular order and are numbered for referencing purposes only.

EXCERPT #1 From https://nathannothinsez.blogspot.com/2013/09/vanuatu.html Vanuatu, 06 September 2013 "Vanuatu is a group of islands in the South Pacific that became an independent republic in 1980. Through most of the 20th Century, the islands were jointly controlled by France & England. One of the most popular types of music on Vanuatu is the String Bands. Many of the String Bands come from the island of Espiritu Santo, a large mountainous island in the north of Vanuatu, but every island & every village has their local bands.

The String Band sound is based on Polynesian music. It came to Vanuatu towards the end of World War II. The musicians play string instruments (guitars, ukuleles, one-string bass) & percussion (drums or tambourine). The songs are sung by a single person or by the whole band in chorus.

In the 1960s, the songs mainly criticized the occupation by the colonial powers, in the 1970s they followed the uprising against these powers, & in 1980 they celebrated independence. Today, the compositions of the String Bands may recall a national, local or personal event. A song may deal with the development of tourism or with economic problems in rural areas; it may denounce the ubiquitous influence of Australia or the compliance of local politics; it may have been written for a wedding or in the wake of some natural disaster. But these songs also preserve the memory of an extraordinarily pretty girl, a successful hunting party, or the end of a relationship.

These songs have a “historical storage function,” allowing an event to be kept alive & passed on from generation to generation. Everyone knows these songs. They are sung in Bislama (the everyday language of Vanuatu), English, French or one of the regional languages. The songs are one of the archipelago’s cultural treasures, often passed on from village to village,& from island to island.”… **** EXCERPT #2 From https://books.google.com › books

The SAGE International Encyclopedia of Music and Culturehttps://books.google.com › books

Janet Sturman · 2019 · ‎Music
"In the 1970s, a local musical style called string band grew up. It is a blend of local, Western, and Polynesian musical styles."....

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EXCERPT #3
[Pancocojams Editor's Note: This excerpt includes several entries from the jujumas.blogspot.com.]

1) From http://jujumamas.blogspot.com/2012/11/vanuatu-string-band-music.html "I have visited Vanuatu several times now and every time I go I make sure to pick up a few CDs of Vanuatu String Band music. Dokowia, Tokosowia, Lautano II, Jipijiroa and Dausake are just to name a few. These bands are always produced by Bistaveos Productions I had noticed and so are their video clips which I love to view on YouTube. One day during our stay in Port Vila we decided to seek out Bistaveos Productions to meet the people who make the music we love so much.

Posted 1st November 2012 by Ona Filloy

** 2) From http://jujumamas.blogspot.com/2012/11/joe-bong.html "It wasn't long before Joe Bong turned up and what a great guy he turned out to be. Joe does so much for the arts in Vanuatu. In fact he is the Head of the Music Federation and the Arts Association of Vanuatu which he himself formed. He is the owner of Bistaveos Productions which produce all the music and videos from Vanuatu. But alas when we met Joe some rivals who wanted to start their own music studio had helped themselves to most of his gear! He could still manage a smile and a laugh with us."

Posted 11th November 2012 by Ona Filloy

** 3) From http://jujumamas.blogspot.com/2012/11/string-band.html "Joe's real name is Joe Tjiobang but everyone calls him Joe Bong. Joe invited us up to his recording studio which was is situated directly behind the Port Vila Police Station. His recording studio had been emptied out as well.....right under the nose of the coppers. Joe is obviously very resourceful though and had managed to find some gear and a sound engineer was busy recording a string band when we arrived!

Posted 12th November 2012 by Ona Filloy ** BONUS VIDEO ( Added April 2, 2022)
Vanuatu, villagers dancing with string band in Lambot village, Gauia Island, Banks Islands

SDA Music Ministries, Jun 6, 2009

Have a fun with Lambot villlage people

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