Kulintang Kultura: Danongan Kalanduyan and Gong Music of the Philippine Diaspora

This album is a celebration Danongan Kalanduyan (1947-2016), a musician who migrated to the US in the 1970s from Mindanao in the Philippines. He took kulintang music, performed by an ensemble of gongs and percussion, with him and spent the rest of his life performing and teaching, earning the nickname of ‘father of American kulintang’. This double-album features traditional dances and tunes from the southern Philippines on disc one, performed by the Kalanduyan’s Palabuniyan Kulintang Ensemble. Tracks range from the brisk rhythms of folk dances, as on the catchy ‘Kapamalong-malong Dance Music II’, to slower melodies of the ‘old-style’ female ensembles, such as the haunting ‘Kapmamayog’.

Disc two celebrates the collaborative work of kulintang musicians with artists from other genres like rap and jazz, which Kalanduyan encouraged. Standouts include ‘World Gong Crazy’ by rapper Han Han, Fred Ho’s brilliant 1980s Afro-Asian jazz on ‘Lapu Lapu’s Battle Preparation/Jihad’ and Noh Buddies’ fusion of rock and Philippine kulintang with traditional Japanese music on ‘Kanditagaonan’. This is a beautifully packaged release with extensive liner notes on the background, which detail how Kalanduyan provided a way for Filipino-Americans to connect with their cultural heritage through music.