| Metadata |
| Title: | | Pius Wasi - Mambu Tambaran and other audio |
| Access Rights: | | Open (subject to agreeing to PDSC access conditions) |
| Bibliographic Citation: | | David Bridie (collector), Steven Gagau (data_inputter), Pius Wasi (performer), Not Drowning Waving (performer), David Bridie (consultant), Wantok Musik (recorder), Sanguma Band (performer), Tambaran Culture Band (performer), 1977. Pius Wasi - Mambu Tambaran and other audio. MPEG/WAV. WM2-082a at catalog.paradisec.org.au. https://dx.doi.org/10.26278/h6y6-8x79 |
| Contributor (compiler): | | David Bridie |
| Contributor (consultant): | | David Bridie |
| Contributor (data_inputter): | | Steven Gagau |
| Contributor (performer): | | Pius Wasi |
| Not Drowning Waving |
| Sanguma Band |
| Tambaran Culture Band |
| Contributor (recorder): | | Wantok Musik |
| Coverage (Box): | | northlimit=-0.15952; southlimit=-45.3482; westlimit=110.254; eastlimit=160.391 |
| Coverage (ISO3166): | | AU |
| PG |
| Date (W3CDTF): | | 1977-01-01 |
| Date Created (W3CDTF): | | 1977-01-01 |
| Description: | | Pius Wasi is a master bamboo‑flute (mambu) player and cultural musician from Chambri Lakes in East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea. His music career has been closely tied to Sanguma and later to Tambaran Culture Band and collaborations with Australian ensembles such as Not Drowning, Waving and George Telek.
Wasi grew up in a region where flute and drum ensembles are central to ritual and community life, and he was drawn to instrumental music from an early age. He later attended the National Arts School in Papua New Guinea, founded around the time of independence (1975). He studied at the Arts School which helped shape the emerging model of “traditional fusion” or “Papua New Guinean fusion” music that blended local instruments and idioms with Western harmony and rock/jazz forms.
His career beyond Sanguma helped form and lead Tambaran Culture Band, a group that continued the same ethos of blending traditional Sepik instruments (garamut slit drums, mambu flutes) with Western arrangements. Tambaran Culture toured both domestically and internationally, often performing alongside or in the same program as Sanguma, and Wasi has described himself as a leader of that ensemble while also “supporting” Sanguma on some of its tours.
Cultural and musical context of the mambu (bamboo flute) is a central instrument of the Sepik River cultural tradition. In the Chambri Lakes area, bamboo flute and garamut (slit-log drum) ensembles are integral to ritual, ceremony, and community life. Sacred bamboo flutes are associated with male initiation, ancestral spirits, and the Tambaran (spirit house) tradition. Pius Wasi's performances thus carry both artistic and deep cultural-spiritual significance within Melanesian tradition.
The 'traditional fusion' style exemplified by Sanguma and Tambaran Culture Band — in which Wasi is a key figure — combines these Sepik instruments with Western harmonic structures, rock, and jazz forms. This collection documents both the traditional and fusion dimensions of Wasi's practice.
Performances and demonstrations of the "mambu" flute is contained in the recording tracks 001 - 030 featuring Pius Wasi.
Source: Wantok Musik Foundation
(David Bridie & Steven Gagau, April 2026). Language as given: |
| Format: | | Digitised: no |
| Identifier: | | WM2-082a |
| Identifier (URI): | | http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a |
| Language: | | English |
| Tok Pisin |
| Language (ISO639): | | eng |
| tpi |
| Publisher: | | Pacific and Regional Archive for Digital Sources in Endangered Cultures (PARADISEC) |
| Rights: | | Open (subject to agreeing to PDSC access conditions) |
| Subject: | | English language |
| Tok Pisin language |
| Subject (ISO639): | | eng |
| tpi |
| Subject (OLAC): | | language_documentation |
| Table Of Contents (URI): | | http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-001.mp3 |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-001.wav |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-002.mp3 |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-002.wav |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-003.mp3 |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-003.wav |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-004.mp3 |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-004.wav |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-005.mp3 |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-005.wav |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-006.mp3 |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-006.wav |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-007.mp3 |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-007.wav |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-008.mp3 |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-008.wav |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-009.mp3 |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-009.wav |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-010.mp3 |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-010.wav |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-011.mp3 |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-011.wav |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-012.mp3 |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-012.wav |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-013.mp3 |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-013.wav |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-014.mp3 |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-014.wav |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-015.mp3 |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-015.wav |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-016.mp3 |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-016.wav |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-017.mp3 |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-017.wav |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-018.mp3 |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-018.wav |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-019.mp3 |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-019.wav |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-020.mp3 |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-020.wav |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-021.mp3 |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-021.wav |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-022.mp3 |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-022.wav |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-023.mp3 |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-023.wav |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-024.mp3 |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-024.wav |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-025.mp3 |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-025.wav |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-026.mp3 |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-026.wav |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-027.mp3 |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-027.wav |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-028.mp3 |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-028.wav |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-029.mp3 |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-029.wav |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-030.mp3 |
| http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a/WM2-082a-030.wav |
| Type (DCMI): | | Sound |
OLAC Info |
| Archive: |
|
Pacific And Regional Archive for Digital Sources in Endangered Cultures (PARADISEC) |
| Description: |
|
http://www.language-archives.org/archive/paradisec.org.au |
| GetRecord: |
|
OAI-PMH request for OLAC format |
| GetRecord: |
|
Pre-generated XML file |
OAI Info |
| OaiIdentifier: |
|
oai:paradisec.org.au:WM2-082a |
| DateStamp: |
| 2026-05-21 |
| GetRecord: |
|
OAI-PMH request for simple DC format |
Search Info |
| Citation: | | David Bridie (compiler); Steven Gagau (data_inputter); Pius Wasi (performer); Not Drowning Waving (performer); David Bridie (consultant); Wantok Musik (recorder); Sanguma Band (performer); Tambaran Culture Band (performer). 1977. Pacific and Regional Archive for Digital Sources in Endangered Cultures (PARADISEC).
|
| Terms: | | area_Europe area_Pacific country_GB country_PG dcmi_Sound iso639_eng iso639_tpi olac_language_documentation olac_singing |
Inferred Metadata |
| Country: | | United KingdomPapua New Guinea |
| Area: | | EuropePacific |
