WOMAD

Telek

From Papua New Guinea

George Mamua Telek, or TELEK as he is known to his legion of fans in Papua New Guinea, has been at the forefront of the burgeoning Papua New Guinea music scene for over 15 years.Whether it is through his work with the village based Moab Stringband, the now defunct Painim Wok PNG rock band, his collaboration with Australia’s Not Drowning Waving on the internationally acclaimed Tabaran album or his live performances at Womad (Australia and New Zealand) and Pacific Tempo (New Caledonia), TELEK is one of the most important performers in the Pacific region.TELEK's songs and his hauntingly beautiful voice, traverse many musical styles capturing the spirit of both the traditional and modern sounds of his homeland of Rabaul in East New Britain Provence, PNG. Songs of the "midal" (magic charms) and "malira" (love magic) draw on TELEK's proud Tolai culture blending contemporary grooves with Melanesian rhythms, enriched with island harmonies & textured environmental sounds. TELEK also delves into Stringband Music: a rich blend of guitars and ukeleles sitting beneath interwoven vocal lines and harmonies in a unique gospel/country folk style.In 1997, ORiGiN Recordings released TELEK's first solo album outside PNG. Simply titled 'TELEK', the album, produced by NDW cohorts David Bridie and John Phillips and featuring a host of talented PNG and Australian musicians including Ben Hakalitz (Yothu Yindi), Kev Carmody and Archie Roach, has been labelled:"...one of the best 'world' releases so far this year (****)" Rolling Stone