Music of Indonesia, Vol. 3: Music from the Outskirts of Jakarta: Gambang Kromong

Various Artists SFW40057

Gambang Kromong comes from a virtually invisible part of the capital of Indonesia that most people have forgotten. Both performers and audience for this music today live at the edges of Jakarta and in the towns and semi-rural areas beyond. The music is wonderfully disorienting. It combines Indonesian, Chinese, and sometimes European-derived instruments in musical styles, at times reminiscent of gamelan music and at other times recalls small-group jazz of the 1920s and 1930s. "Don't miss the modern stuff—a Dixieland-gamelan head trip you have to hear..." — The Village Voice

More information available here.

Country(s) Indonesia
Culture Group(s) Javanese
Keyword(s) Gambang Kromong (Music); World music
Instrument(s) Kongahyan; Sukong; Tehyan
Year of Release 1991
Record Label Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
Source Archive Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
Credits Produced by Philip Yampolsky ; Field Worker Philip Yampolsky ; Produced in collaboration with Masyarakat Musikologi Indosnesia ; Liner Notes by Philip Yampolsky ; Recorded by Philip Yampolsky