Ketjak: The Ramayana Monkey Chant
“Performed by more than 200 men seated in tight concentric circles around a small central space reserved for the chief protagonists,” the ketjak (loosely called “Monkey Chant”) was first recorded in Bali by David Lewiston and released by Nonesuch Records in 1969. As a spectacular and alternative performance mode, it has had a germinal influence on western performance and poetics since then.
I thought of this just before bed last night, and went to seek it out again. Thankfully, it’s still there. I once knew someone who had participated in a ketjak, and she told me it was among the most joyful musical experiences of her life. It’s an amazing sound.