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About this Song
Rooted in the centuries-old mythos of the Philippine archipelago, Bakunawa weaves indigenous cultural narrative into the expansive, improvisational framework of jazz, a fusion that has defined generations of experimental Filipino creators working to center local storytelling within a global musical form. The title itself draws from one of the most enduring figures in Filipino folk cosmology, a celestial sea serpent whose appearances mark pivotal moments of change, alignment, and reflection across the mythic traditions of nearly every ethnic group spread across the country’s more than 7,600 islands. For communities across the Visayas, Luzon, and Mindanao, the Bakunawa is more than a mythic creature; it is a narrative device that carries teachings about balance between the human and natural worlds, about the weight of longing and the power of reverence for forces larger than individual understanding, themes that lend themselves perfectly to the nuanced, emotive potential of jazz as a medium.
