Your correspondent has been in some kind of sabbatical mood for a couple of weeks, but just wants to note a few exciting developments and events that have taken place recently.
The first is the sudden appearance (at Setsara Sessions just before Pchum Ben) of the cool gypsy jazz duo Balgass (Seb and Deb), who walked out of the night and into the open mic and were quickly snapped up by clever bar managers all over the city. They have since played Equinox, Chinese House and Paddy Rice, making a particular impact at Equinox on Thursday nights providing live music for swing dancing; they also picked up a bass player along the way. They are only here for a limited time so catch them if you can.
Also on the list are the Eastern Jazz Brigade - a crowd of faces familiar to PP music fans -- who have been pumping out some inspired post-bop jazz at places like Gasolina, Equinox and Le Jardin, and soon at Chinese House.
I also want to note the return of the Mekong Pirates after a four-month absence (some of which has been taken up working on a CD - check out http://mprecordingsessions.blogspot.com for a technically dense but humorous and rewarding story of the difficulties encountered in trying to overcome Cambodian recording conditions). They played Chinese House last weekend and rocked. I particularly enjoyed the new cohesion in the guitar section, with some great wah-wah noise sneaking its way into the sonic mosaic.
The Cambodian Space Project has continued to be involved in some interesting gigs, notably two gigs at the Chinese House, first as part of the Kon Khmer Kuon Khmer Golden Era of Cinema weekend, and then a mighty night to launch our 45 rpm vinyl single, Knyom Mon Sok Jet Te. We were able to invite some of the great musicians of the vinyl era who put on a wonderful performance. Some of the excitement was captured by Andy Brouwer. The CSP was also involved in the Cambodian International Film Festival, surviving some spectacularly poor organisation by the events company involved to play briefly at the opening on Wednesday night and then after the closing on Sunday night outside Chaktomuk Theatre.
See you soon.
Showing posts with label Chinese House. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chinese House. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Monday, October 4, 2010
Jams, boats, buses and birthday parties: 23 September - 2 October 2010
I got kind of distracted and suddenly I’m a week behind in updates. Way back last week I went to the Electric Eclectic Limelight Jukebox Jam at Paddy Rice, hosted by Melanie, where a variety of performers signed up and took part in a subdued setting – the venue is a difficult one for performers as there are a lot of hard surfaces leading to not particularly great acoustics, and rather too many televisions for a place putting on live music. Melanie was assisted by Paul and Gem, and I threw in a couple myself for a small but enthusiastic audience.
On Friday night the Cambodian Space Project went aquatic, playing for a birthday party on a boat on the Tonle Sap, then Saturday night played Paddy Rice for a large and liquid crowd. I made it for the second set, having with the Swedish Ambassador re-launched D’Sco: The Geckos of Love as Pswingology, playing for the swing dancing group Phnom Penh Pswings’ night at Chinese House, as part of their big swing weekend. Noteworthy was the return of the medley sickness, that manifested itself in a 12 minute 12-bar marathon that almost caused soft tissue damage in those dancers who insisted on trying to keep up.
The highlight of the weekend, though, was the CSP’s trip to Khlaeng Poar Tboung, the village in Kampong Speu that is home to our fabulous drummer Bong Sak. I don’t think I can put it better than Andy Brouwer did … and re the Paddy Rice gig, and ongoing sound problems – yes, we are working on it.
And then suddenly another week was underway, back at the Phnom Penh Acoustic Sessions at Setsara on Wednesday night. This was a particularly special night because we were able to veer away from the white-guys-singing-in-English (lovely though we all are)(and not ignoring the gorgeous French contributions we get) format by having a series of fantastic Khmer performers, including local music veterans and staff from the Top Banana. I confidently predict we will one night have the next Sinn Sisamouth emerging from the crowd of motodops waiting patiently outside. The mix of people taking part is inspiring in a city that still is largely segregated in terms of performance. But perhaps I’m just going to the wrong places.
And finally I come to last night, Rory’s birthday party at Maxine’s (aka Snow’s), where a great crowd came out to dance in the newly expanded space (more dancefloor) and, thanks to a new piece of equipment, actually hear Srey Thy’s voice over the chaos. There are still a few kinks to work out, but progress is being made. Rory and his mates also gave us a little song; thanks guys for a great night. And there was a very funky new blue guitar on display.
See you about - enjoy Pchum Ben. If you're staying in town, come see something different .... The Green Mist at Equinox on Saturday night.
On Friday night the Cambodian Space Project went aquatic, playing for a birthday party on a boat on the Tonle Sap, then Saturday night played Paddy Rice for a large and liquid crowd. I made it for the second set, having with the Swedish Ambassador re-launched D’Sco: The Geckos of Love as Pswingology, playing for the swing dancing group Phnom Penh Pswings’ night at Chinese House, as part of their big swing weekend. Noteworthy was the return of the medley sickness, that manifested itself in a 12 minute 12-bar marathon that almost caused soft tissue damage in those dancers who insisted on trying to keep up.
The highlight of the weekend, though, was the CSP’s trip to Khlaeng Poar Tboung, the village in Kampong Speu that is home to our fabulous drummer Bong Sak. I don’t think I can put it better than Andy Brouwer did … and re the Paddy Rice gig, and ongoing sound problems – yes, we are working on it.
And then suddenly another week was underway, back at the Phnom Penh Acoustic Sessions at Setsara on Wednesday night. This was a particularly special night because we were able to veer away from the white-guys-singing-in-English (lovely though we all are)(and not ignoring the gorgeous French contributions we get) format by having a series of fantastic Khmer performers, including local music veterans and staff from the Top Banana. I confidently predict we will one night have the next Sinn Sisamouth emerging from the crowd of motodops waiting patiently outside. The mix of people taking part is inspiring in a city that still is largely segregated in terms of performance. But perhaps I’m just going to the wrong places.
And finally I come to last night, Rory’s birthday party at Maxine’s (aka Snow’s), where a great crowd came out to dance in the newly expanded space (more dancefloor) and, thanks to a new piece of equipment, actually hear Srey Thy’s voice over the chaos. There are still a few kinks to work out, but progress is being made. Rory and his mates also gave us a little song; thanks guys for a great night. And there was a very funky new blue guitar on display.
See you about - enjoy Pchum Ben. If you're staying in town, come see something different .... The Green Mist at Equinox on Saturday night.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Satisfied! - 3 July 2010
When I first arrived in Cambodia nearly two years ago, I expected to find Phnom Penh full of young Khmers with guitars playing cool rock music. Needless to say, it wasn't like that; where there are young Khmer playing non-traditional music it's usually double-handed microphone grabbing, push-button synthesizers, and perhaps a little miming. But there was a taste of the real thing on Saturday night at Chinese House.
Sai (and friends) was a 6 piece combo of two singing guitarists, bass, drums/percussion, roneat (the zylophone looking one) and tro (the upright skinny one with the two strings and a bow) - a young band that didn't look like there was anyone over 22. While the general expat audience might have been turned off by the early start (7.30 pm on a Saturday?) and the repertoire a little top-heavy with similar-sounding radio-friendly ballads, it was great to be hearing Khmer voices over acoustic guitars and traditional sounds weaving in and out around the melodies. The crowd was about 90 per cent Khmer, and showed no sign of being unhappy with the absence of keyboard and drum machine: this has got to be a good thing in itself.
Once the star left the stage, the parts of the audience invited themselves onto the mic, and it quickly turned into an hour-long jam, and the old songs came out - everything from Arrapia to Dop Pram Moi (I'm 16), and at the very close some members of the Cambodian Space Project joined the ensemble for Knyom Mon Sok Jet Te (I'm unsatisfied) and Au-go-go. It was particularly great to see the traditional instrumentatlists jamming hard and tight to the rock'n'roll.
A glimpse of the future? Maybe someday the riverside will be full of Khmer bands playing Khmer music … without synthesizers or drum machines … to mixed audiences … full credit to Chinese House for hosting.
Sai (and friends) was a 6 piece combo of two singing guitarists, bass, drums/percussion, roneat (the zylophone looking one) and tro (the upright skinny one with the two strings and a bow) - a young band that didn't look like there was anyone over 22. While the general expat audience might have been turned off by the early start (7.30 pm on a Saturday?) and the repertoire a little top-heavy with similar-sounding radio-friendly ballads, it was great to be hearing Khmer voices over acoustic guitars and traditional sounds weaving in and out around the melodies. The crowd was about 90 per cent Khmer, and showed no sign of being unhappy with the absence of keyboard and drum machine: this has got to be a good thing in itself.
Once the star left the stage, the parts of the audience invited themselves onto the mic, and it quickly turned into an hour-long jam, and the old songs came out - everything from Arrapia to Dop Pram Moi (I'm 16), and at the very close some members of the Cambodian Space Project joined the ensemble for Knyom Mon Sok Jet Te (I'm unsatisfied) and Au-go-go. It was particularly great to see the traditional instrumentatlists jamming hard and tight to the rock'n'roll.
A glimpse of the future? Maybe someday the riverside will be full of Khmer bands playing Khmer music … without synthesizers or drum machines … to mixed audiences … full credit to Chinese House for hosting.
Monday, May 31, 2010
FTA back on the beat ... 28 - 29 May
Friday night was a mixture of the new and the old. The Velkommen Inn hosted Bayon Blues, with the acoustic blues fireworks of Little Duke, the sensational Kristin on vocals, and the everywhere-at-once Bong Thom squeezing and bending away on the harmonica. Good old traditional blues, played damn well - a nice clean crisp sound. You can be forgiven for wondering if you're in Phnom Penh at all. Then it was a short step up the river to the Chinese House where the Mekong Pirates juggernaut were making their presence felt. A huge crowd helped set the night alight, but it turns out I missed some serious wildness at the end of the night by succumbing to the need to sleep and heading home early.
On Saturday night Chinese House again the venue of choice. The Bong Thom dot Com tenth anniversary party featured four bands: Bayon Blues, the Hellhounds, the Cambodian Space Project and the debut of Espresso Thmei (technically just the CSP pocket-size edition, showcasing Srey Thy's vocals with acoustic guitar and a little harmonica). The Hounds stuck to the straight and narrow with guest Canadian Dave on bass, and the CSP continued to refine its post-electric sound, with Bong Sak on a smaller but no less effective drumkit, and encouraging to the front the clarinet of Bun Hong.
So here's the call, people: please send in gig reports, let us all know where it's happening and who's doing it. It was great to see writeups from new contributors at the end of last month, keep them coming. See you next weekend somewhere.
On Saturday night Chinese House again the venue of choice. The Bong Thom dot Com tenth anniversary party featured four bands: Bayon Blues, the Hellhounds, the Cambodian Space Project and the debut of Espresso Thmei (technically just the CSP pocket-size edition, showcasing Srey Thy's vocals with acoustic guitar and a little harmonica). The Hounds stuck to the straight and narrow with guest Canadian Dave on bass, and the CSP continued to refine its post-electric sound, with Bong Sak on a smaller but no less effective drumkit, and encouraging to the front the clarinet of Bun Hong.
So here's the call, people: please send in gig reports, let us all know where it's happening and who's doing it. It was great to see writeups from new contributors at the end of last month, keep them coming. See you next weekend somewhere.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Geckos and then Kep: 2 - 3 April
This quieter weekend began as late as Friday night, with the return to the stage of D'Sco: The Geckos of Love. We've been spending a lot of time as a mercenary rhythm section for several Phnom Penh bands all over the place, and it was time to get our Gecko on. Chinese House was the location, the crowd was belatedly good, and if my guitar had played ball and not got all noisy on me it would have been just completely swell. As it was we ripped through most of our old favourites, even including a special tribute to Lou Reed who almost played the Velkommen Inn the previous evening. Shame about that aircraft overbooking. And only one broken string! It was a fun night.
On Saturday night the Mekong Pirates stormed the Kukuluku bastille for a benefit for the Kep Ecole de Francaise, and put on a fine show with lots of dancing (well, eventually) with the depleted horn section being balanced by the augmented guitar line up - for one tune they even had 3 guitars at once, a veritable CSP manoeuver. I know it's my personal preference, but in the midst of all that reggae there's a very fine funk band struggling to get some oxygen. A couple of good sweaty sets were topped off with up to eight people pushing on with an extended group percussion jam.
Let's hope the music drought breaks with the New Year and the rains ....
On Saturday night the Mekong Pirates stormed the Kukuluku bastille for a benefit for the Kep Ecole de Francaise, and put on a fine show with lots of dancing (well, eventually) with the depleted horn section being balanced by the augmented guitar line up - for one tune they even had 3 guitars at once, a veritable CSP manoeuver. I know it's my personal preference, but in the midst of all that reggae there's a very fine funk band struggling to get some oxygen. A couple of good sweaty sets were topped off with up to eight people pushing on with an extended group percussion jam.
Let's hope the music drought breaks with the New Year and the rains ....
Friday, March 5, 2010
A special mid-week blog ... due to the quiet weekend coming: 2 and 4 March
It was a double birthday celebration, it was a documentary film night, it was a video shoot ... Chinese House hosted Call and Response, a film about human trafficking, followed by who else but the everywhere-at-once Cambodian Space Project. As I was one of the birthday celebrants, I made damn sure I was doing something fun: we set up with two drum kits and pushed through a long thumping rhythm-heavy set while squeezing the 9 piece band onto a stage surrounded by dancing and drinking. The Breton Bandit is continuing to find his feet, I am continuing to grow my hair, Ratta-Man is continuing to find new and unusual ways to appear and disappear at will, Bong Jay is continuing to lose his mind as the time begins to run short with so much still to do, The Lovely Irene continues to walk straight from work-mode into performance-mode, The Swedish Ambassador is still fairly Swedish and was also a celebrant, Bong Sak keeps it steady on the beat, McSwashbuckle makes the good times roll, Srey Thy just gets more glamorous ... somehow we have to get through this month and life will be quieter.
Last night The Hellhounds renewed their acquaintance with Sharky's, blue cheese burgers and Johnny Pilgrim with a lively couple of sets with a good crowd and a drummer who pushed the soundcheck back an hour due to his non-attendance. Lots of old favourites and a couple of new ones, up to and including some blasters like Who do you love, Shame Shame Shame, Dead Flowers, sounding better than ever. And no broken strings to report! The year of the tiger is boding well.
It's a quiet weekend coming, but next weekend the CSP are on the road to Siem Reap. Come for the fun, stay for the madness!
Monday, November 23, 2009
Pink Suit weekend: 19 - 22 November
The weekend kicked off early, with the Hellhounds taking the stage at Sharky's, pushing through two solid sets despite some illness in the ranks that threatened to derail proceedings earlier in the day. If you haven't caught up with the extended, rhythm section version of the Hellhounds yet ... well, you should. It's better each week.
Friday night saw the Lazy Jazz Drunks take over upstairs at Huxley's, overcoming some technical issues (such as the absence of a second guitarist, disintegrating drumsticks, and the need to go out and find extra mics) to raise the roof in the way that only the Drunks can. The Swedish Ambassador was doing his damnedest to put the Jazz back in the LJD, and after the crowd thinned out to go to Walkabout for the big draw things got looser, culminating in a prolonged stopping-all-stations jam on Whole Lotta Love with Ian throwing in lyrics from any song he could think of, and I think several that he couldn't think of. The Drunks will be at Rory's on Saturday 28th trying to be as quiet as possible, and back at Huxley's on the 5th.
For a complete change of pace, Saturday night's first birthday party for Chinese House was a much mellower affair. The occasion called for something special, and it became the debut of The Panthers, a new project that the Swedish Ambassador and I have dreamed up: the quieter, mellower side of D'Sco: The Geckos of Love, with an emphasis on standards and ballads, a chance for him to play keyboards and a chance for me to sing rather than play guitar and to wear a pink suit and hand out roses to beautiful women. Stick around, that sort of stuff happens all the time. So we captivated the crowd for an hour or so, taking the usual opening night nerves in our stride, before being joined by Ritchy on guitar and vocals (and switching to bass and drums) to provide some live music for a herd of swing dancers (is that the appropriate collective noun? perhaps a press of swing dancers, or a swirl of swing dancers) who put on a very enjoyable show (including an intriguing solo number Cupid's Arrow). The evening then degenerated into pre-recorded music ...
On Sunday D'Sco: The Geckos of Love were back to basics at Talking to a Stranger, relaxed with less equipment and just two guitars. We played the game where I play songs that Dan has never heard (and in some cases I've never played in public, or indeed at all) and he does his best to keep up, and usually does dazzlingly well. In the second set I played half an hour's worth of my own songs, at the strong encouragement of some gentlemen at the bar, feeding my interest in putting together a band to play original material next year, to test the theory that punters are interested in such a thing. A quiet night, but by no means unpleasant.
I gather there was a band at The Cavern on Saturday night which from reports sounds quite interesting. Anyone see them?
Seeya round the traps
Friday night saw the Lazy Jazz Drunks take over upstairs at Huxley's, overcoming some technical issues (such as the absence of a second guitarist, disintegrating drumsticks, and the need to go out and find extra mics) to raise the roof in the way that only the Drunks can. The Swedish Ambassador was doing his damnedest to put the Jazz back in the LJD, and after the crowd thinned out to go to Walkabout for the big draw things got looser, culminating in a prolonged stopping-all-stations jam on Whole Lotta Love with Ian throwing in lyrics from any song he could think of, and I think several that he couldn't think of. The Drunks will be at Rory's on Saturday 28th trying to be as quiet as possible, and back at Huxley's on the 5th.
For a complete change of pace, Saturday night's first birthday party for Chinese House was a much mellower affair. The occasion called for something special, and it became the debut of The Panthers, a new project that the Swedish Ambassador and I have dreamed up: the quieter, mellower side of D'Sco: The Geckos of Love, with an emphasis on standards and ballads, a chance for him to play keyboards and a chance for me to sing rather than play guitar and to wear a pink suit and hand out roses to beautiful women. Stick around, that sort of stuff happens all the time. So we captivated the crowd for an hour or so, taking the usual opening night nerves in our stride, before being joined by Ritchy on guitar and vocals (and switching to bass and drums) to provide some live music for a herd of swing dancers (is that the appropriate collective noun? perhaps a press of swing dancers, or a swirl of swing dancers) who put on a very enjoyable show (including an intriguing solo number Cupid's Arrow). The evening then degenerated into pre-recorded music ...
On Sunday D'Sco: The Geckos of Love were back to basics at Talking to a Stranger, relaxed with less equipment and just two guitars. We played the game where I play songs that Dan has never heard (and in some cases I've never played in public, or indeed at all) and he does his best to keep up, and usually does dazzlingly well. In the second set I played half an hour's worth of my own songs, at the strong encouragement of some gentlemen at the bar, feeding my interest in putting together a band to play original material next year, to test the theory that punters are interested in such a thing. A quiet night, but by no means unpleasant.
I gather there was a band at The Cavern on Saturday night which from reports sounds quite interesting. Anyone see them?
Seeya round the traps
Monday, November 16, 2009
Why I couldn't attend my 25 year anniversary high school reunion: 10 - 14 November
The weekend began early - an informal drop-in jam/gathering organised on Tuesday night at Chinese House. And quite successfully, too. The cozy/sophisticated interior makes the bar a nice room to play in, not to mention the relaxed nature of the seating and the lovely acoustics. Players included David, Tree, Melanie, Jet, Ritchie, Mattheus, Paul and myself (including a healthy smattering of original material, particularly a recent batch from Melanie) interspersed later with a number of young Khmer chaps who played a mixture of Western ballads and Khmer pop songs. Looking forward to the next one.
Friday night was a blast - as D'Sco: The Geckos of Love we took keyboard and drums, augmented by Memphis Fred on sax, to new heights as the house band for AsiaLife's Blind Date night (the format based on the TV show Blind Date/Perfect Match/The Dating Game) at Talking to a Stranger, providing pre-show entertainment and then incidental music for the event itself. Photos can be found at AsiaLifeGuide's Blind Date 'Twas an absolute blast to play corny backgrounds and soppy tunes all night.
Also on Friday night - that i missed due to Blind Date - was Bum'n'Draze, who I am still yet to see, at Sharkys. Scheduling is a bastard sometimes. Not to mention Australian blues legend Phil Manning at FCC.
However, the extended Hellhounds took to the stage to support Manning's Saturday night show at FCC, smoking through two sets of blues and country. And no broken strings this time! Manning himself put on a great show, demonstrating his tag line (electric fingers on an acoustic guitar) to good effect. I particularly enjoyed the slide playing. He gave us a generous 3 sets, and said he was keen to return where his schedule will allow.
The coming weekend looks fun: Hellhounds at Sharky's on Thursday, Lazy Jazz Drunks at Huxley's on Friday, the debut of The Panthers at Chinese House on Saturday and the regular fortnightly Sunday session at Talking to a Stranger.
See you around the traps.
Friday night was a blast - as D'Sco: The Geckos of Love we took keyboard and drums, augmented by Memphis Fred on sax, to new heights as the house band for AsiaLife's Blind Date night (the format based on the TV show Blind Date/Perfect Match/The Dating Game) at Talking to a Stranger, providing pre-show entertainment and then incidental music for the event itself. Photos can be found at AsiaLifeGuide's Blind Date 'Twas an absolute blast to play corny backgrounds and soppy tunes all night.
Also on Friday night - that i missed due to Blind Date - was Bum'n'Draze, who I am still yet to see, at Sharkys. Scheduling is a bastard sometimes. Not to mention Australian blues legend Phil Manning at FCC.
However, the extended Hellhounds took to the stage to support Manning's Saturday night show at FCC, smoking through two sets of blues and country. And no broken strings this time! Manning himself put on a great show, demonstrating his tag line (electric fingers on an acoustic guitar) to good effect. I particularly enjoyed the slide playing. He gave us a generous 3 sets, and said he was keen to return where his schedule will allow.
The coming weekend looks fun: Hellhounds at Sharky's on Thursday, Lazy Jazz Drunks at Huxley's on Friday, the debut of The Panthers at Chinese House on Saturday and the regular fortnightly Sunday session at Talking to a Stranger.
See you around the traps.
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