Joyce Aubrey

Background

Joyce Aubrey was an Indonesian singer who married musician George de Fretes. Together they had a daughter Wanda who was born in Indonesia in 1946. In later years Wanda would be come a recording artist. By 1952, she had had divorced George de Fretes and she took her daughter to the Netherlands. Some ten years later she and her daughter were living in the Hague. Later Aubrey married bassist Fred Hoogduin.

Career

In the late 1950s she was the singer for the band the Mena Moeria Minstrels, that included Ming Luhulima. She was a member of the Amboina Serenaders which included Rudi Wairata. Their earliest recordings were released on 78 RPM discs. In 1958, Jan de Winter who was a producer for Phonogram Records in the Netherlands invited her ex husband George to a recording session at a studio in Hilversum. At the session which included Aubrey and her ex husband, they recorded Krontjong songs. One of the songs from the session was "Sarina".

In the early 1960s she had recorded some solo singles. One was "Heimwee naar Soerabaja" bw "'n Droomschilderij" which was released on the Fontana label in 1961. The following year she had another which was "Carolina Melodie" bw "Cowboy Jimmy Jo" also by Fontana.

Along with her daughter Wanda, she gained popularity in the Netherlands, singing Mayalan songs. An EP record containing the songs "Ajoen", "Patokaan", "Rasa Sajang" and "Koleh" was released on the Fontana label. In 1964 an EP by the pair was released on Fontana. It included "Tari piring kaparinyo", "Tari paying", "Timang si buyung" and "Dayung-dayung ".

She was reputed to be an excellent steel guitar player herself but no recordings have been made of her playing the instrument.

Singles

Singles

Extended play

Singles

Extended play