Jakajan: Music From New Siam

by Fong Naam, Fong Nam

Overview

In a gesture of thinly veiled reminiscence for Thailand's days of yore and unabashed genuflection before globalization's omnipresence, the Fong Naam ensemble presents Jakajan: Music From New Siam. Using both Thai and Western musical sensibilities to construct its compositions, Fong Naam strives to integrate disparate elements into a cohesive whole. The opening track, "Chao Praya Concerto," plays with the Buddhists' cyclical view of time and the Christians' linear concept of the same. The idea of a temporal/spiritual clash is intriguing, although the unwavering tonality of the Western instruments -- piano, harp, and viola -- doesn't allow much room for the non-Western instruments in the ensemble. Tonally speaking, it's a mercurial piece that contrasts well with the gentler tones of the next track, "Cambodian Night Music." Attempting to take center stage in "Cambodian Night Music" is the single-stringed phin naam tao. A plucked folk instrument from the peoples who live around the Thai-Cambodian border, the phin naam tao has a half-gourd resonator that the player places on his chest. The player manipulates the timbre of the instrument by moving the gourd toward and away from his body. In this piece a viola accompanies the delicately sounding instrument. The result, unfortunately, is basically a viola solo with a few plucks of the phin naam tao here and there. The remainder of the CD includes a tune that makes great use of the renat xylophone and a fascinating work that integrates a Pi Phat ensemble, folk instruments from the now extinct Ngaw people of southern Thailand, and Star Trek-like effects from a keyboard sampler. Overall, Jakajan: Music From New Siam is an ambitious work, one that attempts to sift together traditions from far and wide. Though the fixed tonality of the Western instruments often overrides what are the less familiar Thai instruments, this CD does prove to be an interesting postmodern paean. ~ John Vallier

Product Details

Release Date:	07/06/1996
Label:	Nimbus
UPC:	0710357548628
Rank:	255060

Tracks

1. Chao Praya Concerto
2. Cambodian Night Music
3. The Golden Bath and Transformation
4. Dance of the Pygmy
5. Cherd Nawk
6. Fong Naam

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Fong Naam   Primary Artist,Ensemble
Fong Nam   Primary Artist
Prasarn Wonwirojruk   Saloh,Vibraphone,Ching,Pi Nai,Pin Namtao
Bruce Gaston   Zither,Piano,Gong,Xylophone
Lamoon Phuakthongkham   Xylophone,Ranant Thum,Ranant Ek,Ranant Ek,Xylophone,Ranant Thum
Dusadee Sawangwibulphong   Jew's-Harp,Grabok
Manrut Aroonrung   Grabok
Pairoj Pianpong   Grabok,Grabok,Glong Song Na,Glongkhak
Kaiwan Tilokavichai   Ching,Zither,Electronics,Ching,Guitar,Synthesizer,Electronic Sounds
Boonrut Sirirattanapan   Mong
Hugh Webb   Harp
Nancy Ruffer   Flute
Levine Andrade   Viola
Prasarn Wongwirojruk   Ching,Fiddle,Pin Namtao,Vibraphone

Technical Credits

Robin Broadbank   Producer,Engineer
Kaiwan Tilokavichai   Composer
Lamoon Phuakthongkham   Transcription
Boonyong Katekhong   Composer
Traditional   Composer
Bruce Gaston   Liner Notes,Arranger,Composer,Engineer,Producer