Lafalian records presents
Hananu Lian dadolin
hananu Lian Dadolin started when for the first time I heard Timorese people singing their music. There was something so honest and true. They were singing directly from their hearts. it was instant magic.
Originally the following recorded songs have no instruments backing them, only singers. We had to arrange the instruments style, so it won’t sound like folk or pop music. One of the only obligations was not the use any chords with the guitar and no drums. Instead, we used local percussions Babadok for the trebles and tambor for the lows. The guitarist Flady Nexis made some guitar riffs based on the traditional tebe tebe rhythm. As a producer I didn’t really knew what to expect. But at the end of the day it’s their songs, they knew directly what to do. I just added my discreet touch of saxophone, and everything went very smoothly. They took part of this project and created this very typical Timorese sound.
Listen to hananu Lian Dadolin
Who are we
Jovi Baptista and Dadolin
Jovi is coming from Viqueque in the southeast of Timor Leste. he moved to Dili after the independence war in 1999 to carry on his studies.
He is a Lia Nain which is an important social role in the Timorese society. Some will solve conflict between individuals, but they can also be the guardians of the traditions and organiser of sacred ceremonies. Ancient songs that are transmitted since always from generations and generations is getting forgotten by the young people as the foreign influence in music is striking the world. The importance of not forgetting those songs is vital for him and it really reflects his implication in the project.
Not only songs but languages
In this poetry style called dadolin it is possible to use as many different languages as they want, dadolin can be very abstract and some concepts might not exist in some languages as the musicality of some word. In some of the songs he is using sometimes very rare languages that are still spoken in some very remote parts of Timor Leste. These are songs that are usually sang with woman replying to men or the opposite, Jovi refused to sing without a women singing with him otherwise he said the soul won’t be there and the music can’t be real if he sings alone.
Jovi Baptista
Lead singer
Jivalicia Viana
singer
Flady Nexis
Electric guitar
Edson Lobato
Electric Bass
Nicolau Guterres
Percussions
Alistair Brown
Saxophone/general producer
Kay Limak
assistant producer
Natalino Ximenes fernandez
assistant producer
Almédio M. Costa
Studio assistant
