Gambang Kromong Irama Bersatu

Biography

Irama Bersatu is an ensemble from the western outskirts of Jakarta, Indonesia, which plays the old lagu lama style of Gambang Kromong. The gambang kromong ensemble takes its name from two Indonesian instruments, a xylophone (gambang) and a set of 10 small kettle-gongs (kromong).

The melodies originated in the Fujian province of southern China and were brought to Batavia by Hokkien- speaking Chinese, presumably in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. Attempts to play them on instruments available in Batavia led to the development of an ensemble of Chinese fiddles, Chinese flute, and Indonesian gambang. At some point female singers were incorporated. This pre-WWII style is rarely heard nowadays.

Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.