Grupi Lab

Grupi Lab’s members are among the most celebrated singers of southern Albania’s iso-polyphonic tradition, known in Labëria as “Këngë Labë.” The group’s performance at the 2021 Tectonics Festival of the Onassis Stegi in Athens was a thrilling and enriching event, thanks to the crossover between this ancient form of singing and the modern perceptions of their music’s message. The group is led by eighty-year-old Golik Jaupi, a shepherd from the mountain town of Bënçë near Tepelenë. He is accompanied by fifty-eight-year-old Vullnet Silaj from Drizar, Mallakastër; fifty-nine-year-old Agron Çeli from Prongji, Gjirokastër; sixty-eight-year-old Avdi Zholi from Progonat, Kurvelesh; fifty-three-year-old Robert Memaj from Lezhan, Sevaster; fifty-six-year-old Sadush Kamaj from Brataj, Sevaster; and fifty-four-year-old Irfan Bocaj from Ramicë, Smokthinë. All the small regions the villages belong to are part of the bigger region of Labëria whose distinct polyphony the group sings. They are traveling from just across the mountains facing Konitsa.