Item details
Item ID
WM2-082a
Title Pius Wasi - Mambu Tambaran and other audio
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)
Origination date 1977-01-01
Origination date free form
Archive link https://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/WM2/082a
URL
Collector
David Bridie
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Language as given
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Dialect
Region / village Changriman Lakes, East Sepik Province, All PNG Provinces, All Australian States

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Originating university University of Sydney
Operator Jodie Kell
Data Categories song
Data Types Sound
Discourse type singing
Roles Steven Gagau : data_inputter
Pius Wasi : performer
Not Drowning Waving : performer
David Bridie : consultant
Wantok Musik : recorder
Sanguma Band : performer
Tambaran Culture Band : performer
DOI 10.26278/h6y6-8x79
Cite as 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
Content Files (60)
Filename Type File size Duration File access
WM2-082a-026.mp3 audio/mpeg 4.07 MB 00:04:26.735
WM2-082a-026.wav audio/wav 147 MB 00:04:26.692
WM2-082a-027.mp3 audio/mpeg 3.05 MB 00:03:20.150
WM2-082a-027.wav audio/wav 110 MB 00:03:20.110
WM2-082a-028.mp3 audio/mpeg 2.53 MB 00:02:45.929
WM2-082a-028.wav audio/wav 91.1 MB 00:02:45.901
WM2-082a-029.mp3 audio/mpeg 1.44 MB 00:01:34.93
WM2-082a-029.wav audio/wav 51.7 MB 00:01:34.60
WM2-082a-030.mp3 audio/mpeg 14.9 MB 00:16:19.461
WM2-082a-030.wav audio/wav 538 MB 00:16:19.427
10 files -- 963 MB -- --

Show 10 Show 50 Show all 60

Collection Information
Collection ID WM2
Collection title Wantok Musik Foundation (WMF) - Music Label Recordings of Oceania Region.
Description The Wantok Musik Foundation is an Australian-based not-for-profit Music Label that records, releases and promotes culturally infused music from Indigenous Australia, Melanesia and Oceania. The brand “Wantok Musik” is a Melanesian term that reflects talking with a common language “one talk” although in the diverse cultures of the region that may have different sounds, different beats, different instruments, the music we all share is common and singing about the same things such as our history, our lore, our education, our hurts, our joys, our injustices, our struggles, our lives, our communities and our stories. This Collection preserves rich musical talents and artists of the Oceania region where the Wantok Musik Label through album recordings and collaborative projects has fostered cross-cultural initiatives and exchange. Through music and language within the diverse cultures of the region, we hear, share and learn about entertainers, performers and artistic and creative expressions where over the years, the Wantok Musik label has recorded, released and promoted of music from First Nation Australia, Melanesia and Oceania. Wantok Musik promotes local and international profile of First Nation and world music groups based in the region by supporting and providing greater economic opportunity for artists, long-term career sustainability at the same time by managing the various activities addresses social issues with creative and culturally focused approaches.
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Access Information
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Data access conditions Open (subject to agreeing to PDSC access conditions)
Data access narrative
Metadata
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