Here
in Phnom Penh, we are not exactly over-loaded with great Latin music
performers. If the expat
music community in the city can boast several great jazz players, pop
singers, songwriters and rock'n'rollers,
it is a little harder to find an
authentic exponent
of the Afro-Cuban/Latin sound. The
irony of this is that
Afro-Cuban/Latin rhythms are one
of the central
foundations
of modern Cambodian pop music and dance music (e.g.
Bolero,
Cha-Cha, Bossa-Nova).
Happily, Malaysian-based
musician Marco Antonio Alonso will
be making a return visit to Samai
Distillery in
Phnom Penh tonight (Thursday) to show us how it's done!
Guitarist/singer/percussionist Marco will again team up with
brothers-in-rhythm Phil
Javelle
and Lewis
Pragasam
to set the dancefloor ablaze. This
music was made to make you move!
Another
blazing 'hard-bop' session will follow tonight at Jazz
Club Phnom Penh
as the stripped-down jazz trio comprising
of
Seb Adnot
(upright bass), Toma
Willen (drums)
and Norman King
(tenor sax) breathe
some fire into a selection of all-time jazz
classics.
Check out the video below for their version of Duke Ellington's 'Take
The A-Train'.
New
Phnom Penh establishment Mestizo is
quietly advancing its reputation as a home for interesting, original
and alternative music events. The
small garden venue/restaurant, tucked away on a side-street near
Monivong and Mao-Tse Toung Boulevards, has already hosted a 30-piece
classical orchestra, an
American actor/musician and a
live improvised hip-hop band. This week's Mestizo roster
of acts is typically atypical: a
Jordanian electronica DJ, a Okinawan
Sanshin recital and an indie/alternative pop producer from New York
City! The self-styled 'Jungle
Bar' does pretty good hummus, too! Check out the video below for a
taste of the sound of the sanshin, a traditional Japanese
three-stringed instrument which bears similarities to the Cambodian
Chapei. Hear Takec
perform on
the sanshin at Mestizo
on Friday night.
Mestizo
regular Clay George
will be in action on Wednesday night – this
time in solo acoustic mode – at FCC Rooftop.
Clay 'Crooner' George has
been so busy
recently with
his 'Harry Connick Jr' jazz
persona (weekly at Riverside Asian Bistro,
Jazz Club Phnom Penh)
it is easy to forget that he is a highly-accomplished
singer-songwriter with three albums of alternative country music
under his belt. Check out Clay's
bandcamp page to
listen and download. Check
out his performance this coming Wednesday for some delicately-picked
Americana sounds.
Whatever you're up to over the next few days, stay safe out there and... see you around the traps!
JOE WRIGLEY
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