Kink Gong Gongs Of Cambodia & Laos

Label / Tiger Gong Records
Category / Southeast Asia, Field Recording, Folk, Ethnographic
Code / TG 01

In 2003 I moved to Cambodia, and more specifically to the northern province of Ratanakiri, next to Vietnam and Laos. Knowing very little about the GONGS culture at that time, I was simultaneously discovering the books from french explorers from early 20th century and the ignorance of modern days western ngo expats, both claiming the minorities hit the gongs, but no one dared to call it music ! Gradually I had to find out that it would not be easy to record a ceremony where gongs are involved, it needed a reason, they don t just play gongs for a visitor. My introduction was based on few informations, expressing the khmer (the main ethnic group in Cambodia) cliches that the minorities in the jungle were all more or less associated with the khmer rouges in the past, what else did I hear from them ? After having done my first recordings in 2003, 2004 of gong ceremonies, I later found out about 2 historical recordings of gongs from 2 french personnages, the first from anthropologist Georges Condominas in the 50s with the Mnong Gar in Vietnam at the boarder with Cambodia, and the second from jesuit missionary Jacques Dournes with the Jarais on the central plateau of Vietnam in the 60s. The first released a LP in 1958 on Ocora and the second got some of his recordings released in 1997 on a CNRS chant du monde CD and I lately got access to his entire collection of recordings. The dry season is more likely to be the right time to witness gong ceremonies, the communities of non khmer, non vietnamese, non lao indigenous people have harvested their rice from swidden (slash and burn) agriculture, in november or december and january and february are considered the less busy time of the year for agriculture, the right time for ceremonies, village parties, wedding and all year long animist ceremonies involving buffalo sacrifices, consumption of alcohol, and gong orchestras, a gathering of people in order to please spirits to be protected, healed.

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Kink Gong Gongs Of Cambodia & Laos

Same Artist :: Kink Gong

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