***for full gig listings jump to the bottom***

Greetings:

This year International Jazz Day, 30 April, falls on Tuesday, and this weekend there is a celebration of jazz in both Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, featuring visiting saxophonist David Valdez, guitarist Tri Pham, singer Alissa Amouage and a range of local performers – six events in two cities in five days. Check our gig guide at the bottom for precise information.

Also on Tuesday 30 for International Jazz Day is Blue Wave at Little Susie; more gigs will be advised as they come to hand.

On Thursday night in Phnom Penh, find Arnab & Nilimesh at Meta House, The Broken Cymbal at Big Mama and later The Extraordinary Chambers at Oscar’s on the Corner.  In Kampot, Frankie Teardrop Dead are at the Kampot Radio Live Lounge and in Siem Reap, Adam & Lyta are at Pasta La Vista.

On Friday in Phnom Penh, Kola Rachana are at Farm To Table, Arome Khmer are at Craft, Penh Pals are at Welsh Consulate while Brooke Palmer is at Botanico.  Awkward Randy is at The Tin Hat, Wind-Up Mice and Skeptical Chemistry are at Back Street Bar, and JunRockz is joined by Aisha at Little Susie,

Cloud hosts All Acoustic Night #5, Arnab & Nilimesh are at Voodoo Boulevard and The Bloody Mary Morning Band are at Oscar’s on the Corner.  Elsewhere Arome Khmer are at Kep Natural and in Siem Reap Screaming Riels are at Laundry and Rod & Chema are at Ubuntu.

On Saturday afternoon in Phnom Penh Wind-Up Mice, Japan Guitar Shop, Alli G and Skeptical Chemistry are at new venue Maloop [advance tickets $7.50, on the door $12.50], while The Broken Cymbal are at The Deck and Ice is at Botanico.  Au Marche celebrate their ninth birthday with Danny Healy Swing 3, D&Y are at Little Susie and Arnab & Nilimesh are at Sundance.  Later on, Phnom Penh’s own ska band Checkered Past are followed by The Oscar Band at Oscar’s on the Corner.  In Siem Reap, Sokunthea & Friends are at Ben’s Corner.

On Sunday in Phnom Penh Arnab & Nilimesh are The Deck, Miss Sarawan & Scoddy are at Villa Grange and at Back Street Bar the Living Room Sessions features Metta Legita, Danny Healy and Brooke Palmer.   For something different, Raffles Le Royal presents a classical piano recital by Lee Jea Phang, and for something country The Bloody Mary Morning Band are at Oscar’s on the Corner.  In Siem Reap, Prokum are at New Leaf.

The Leng Pleng Weekly Feature

Jazz via Cannonball – International Jazz Day 2024

30 April is International Jazz Day, and this year Phil Javelle, of Ask Events, has again put on a spread of events through until the day itself on Tuesday.  He sat down with Leng Pleng to outline this year’s line up.

“I try to make it different every year,” says Phil.  “The first year was big picture: all the jazz artists in Phnom Penh.  The second year was more dedicated to Khmer musicians, and smaller venues.  This year all the featured artists are coming from Vietnam.  People know Singapore is good, Thailand has jazz festivals, Indonesia has a lot of events, but I’m not sure they know that much about Vietnamese musicians – and they are really good.

The Leng Pleng Weekly Feature

The Return of the Past: Checkered Past remerge

It’s been almost exactly two years since Phnom Penh ska band Checkered Past last played.  This Saturday night they’re back with a new line-up, new instrumentation and new excitement, at Oscar’s on the Corner.  After their penultimate rehearsal LengPleng stopped in for a chat.

“Our last gig was April 29, 2022 at Duplex,” says singer Ariane.  “So this gig will be almost two years to the day since we last played.”  After that show all three horn players left for other lives in other places, and while  there was an attempt to keep rehearsals going, as time went on the odds seemed to be against them.  “We broke up amicably over pizza and drinks,” says bass guitarist Jon.  “We thought well, it’s hard to find a replacement guitarist, we’ll never find three horns again, let’s say it was a magical moment and be happy that we got an EP out and we made some good music.”

Passing Chords – a few things you may not know about

David Valdez.  An American alto saxophonist who has recently moved to Danang in Vietnam.  He is in Cambodia for a series of concerts for International Jazz Day in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, starting on Friday and stretching through to Tuesday 30 April.

Do you have a pet musical hate?
I’ve got a lot of them – lots of jazz standards, great tunes, that have been destroyed, ruined by bad singers.  I have no more enjoyment in listening to them.

A private musical indulgence:
I’m starting to enjoy Vina House – Vietnamese house music.  I hated it at first.

The year you first came to Cambodia:
Two days ago.

An early music memory:
I got really turned on to big bands and obsessed with jazz from listening to my grandmother’s Reader’s Digest big band record collection.  I would listen to those over and over and over again.  Hours and hours of Glen Miller and all those early big bands.

The last thing you had to eat:
I discovered amok fish.  I’m digging Cambodian food so far.  It’s been kind of scary looking.

A country you want to visit:
Cambodia has been on my bucket list since I was a teenager.  The temple complex, I was fascinated by the artwork.  Ethiopia, just for the food.  But I’ve never been to Africa.

A book or movie you keep going back to:
I’ve just been reading philosophy for a long time, I haven’t read any fiction.  I’ve been working on translations of the Yoga Sutras, 20 years on just that book.

What languages do you have?
Horrible Spanish – bedroom Spanish we call it.

Your primary instrument, and when you started playing it:
Alto sax, I started when I was eight, in fourth grade.  I’ve played a little bit of flute and clarinet, now soprano.  At different times I’ve had a tenor and sold it.

Something people might be surprised to know about you:
I’m a very good amateur perfumer, I’ve got really deep into it.  I’ve studied all the French perfumes, I order vintage perfumers online.  You have to train your nose, just like you train your ears.  It’s like bebop for your nose, very similar.

You have a time machine and a magic ticket to one gig or festival in the past. What do you choose?
Late Coltrane, 1965, around that period, where he’s still playing standards with half hour solos.  And Charlie Parker, just to hear that live.  My mentor Bob Mover says no one will ever do anything as well as Charlie Parker played the saxophone.

A question from the last participant: Who are your main musical influences?
Charlie Parker – I started playing Bird in seventh grade and kept going until I was out of college.  Cannonball Adderley.  Phil Woods.  John Coltrane.  Sonny Rollins.  Lee Konitz.  And my mentors were Charles McPherson, Bob Mover and Jimmy Mosher, a teacher of mine.  The things that really make you play better are not practising, it’s going through growth and trauma and learning and self-actualising.  That’s when you make radical energetic shifts in your playing.  And you can’t practice really for that – some people try, but that doesn’t make you an artist, it makes you a jazz geek.

Department of Radiothon

After a few years of COVID-inspired experiments under the title Radio Oun, Kampot Radio has reverted to its old name and more community-based orientation.  Since 2017 the radio station has worked to promote music made in Cambodia by locals and expats alike, seeking to widen exposure to sounds both old and new.  The annual Top 100 Songs of All Time poll, for example, has pushed local content to the top year after year, providing a platform for active recording artists in a range of genres.  The on-going playlist also features western music from the latest to the greatest – the east meets the west.

As part of the relaunch under the old Kampot Radio name, and in an effort to make the station financially viable in the long term, a radiothon has commenced, running from now until 12 May, culminating in benefit concerts in Phnom Penh (Saturday 11) and Kampot (Sunday 12) marking seven years of operation.  The station is seeking direct donations of cash, and also of items that can be raffled or auctioned off on the concert nights.

LengPleng is working with Kampot Radio to ensure that this vital part of the local music community is strong, stable and able to perform to its best ability.  Your support will help.

To donate visit PayPal.me/kampotradio or ABA Darryl Carter 887 285 115.  For more information about Phnom Penh activities: gigs@lengpleng.com, for Kampot: studio@kampotradio.com.

Department of Mutual Support:  Friends of LengPleng

 

 

 

 

 

 

Being a Friend of LengPleng gets your logo into the weekly email and onto the weekly wrap page and an automatically click through to a page on our website for further information, photos, videos and so on.   We also pay special attention when you have a good story for us – an upcoming event or an artist you wish to highlight.   Email gigs@lengpleng.com for further details or bail up Scoddy wherever you see him.

Steve Porte Photo of the Week

Clay Geoge welcomes himself back to Phnom Penh with shows by The Bloody Mary Morning Band at Oscar’s on the Corner.

 

If you wish to receive LengPleng in your inbox every Thursday please send a subscribe email to gigs@lengpleng.com.

Musicians, venues, punters:  if there are things you know that LengPleng should know, please tell us and we’ll do our best to tell the world.

See you around the traps.
your correspondent,

 

 

Guillermo Wheremount
LengPleng.com
gigs@lengpleng.com (mailto:gigs@lengpleng.com

Weekly Gig Guide – week commencing Thursday 25 April 2024

** residency/weekly

For DJs and clubs, we recommend Phnom Penh Underground

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

*Note that Wednesday events are often not announced until early in the week – check back here for updates*

Coming soon:

  • Garage Fest featuring The Cambodian Space Project, The Tommys (Aust), Salt & Steel (Aust), The Screamin’ Riels, 2 May, The Balcony (Battambang)
  • Garage Fest featuring The Cambodian Space Project, The Tommys (Aust), Salt & Steel (Aust), The Screamin’ Riels, 3 May, Villa Grange – note ticketed event
  • Penh Pals, 7 pm, 3 May, The Tin Hat
  • Geography of the Moon, 8 pm, 3 May, Hometown Hangout
  • Garage Fest featuring The Cambodian Space Project, The Tommys (Aust), Salt & Steel (Aust), The Screamin’ Riels, 4 May, Villa Grange – note ticketed event
  • Brooke Palmer, 5 pm, 4 May, The Deck
  • Japan Guitar Shop, 9 pm, 4 May, Duplex
  • Shake79, 10 pm, 4 May, Oscar’s on the Corner
  • Sunday sessions with Geography of the Moon, 5 pm, 5 May, The Vine
  • Garage Fest featuring The Cambodian Space Project, The Tommys (Aust), Salt & Steel (Aust), The Screamin’ Riels, 8 pm, Fish Island (Kampot)
  • Penh Pals, 7 pm, 11 May, Tacos Kokopelli
  • Japan Guitar Shop, 6.30 pm, 11 May, Pomme (Siem Reap)
  • Musica Felica choir charity concert, 4.30 pm, 12 May, Sofitel Phnom Penh Phokeethra – note ticketed event
  • The Blues Strangers, 5 pm, 12 May, New Leaf (Siem Reap)
  • Japan Guitar Shop, 8.30 pm, 13 May, Atlantis (Siem Reap) – $2.50 entry

 

By Weekly Wrap