Sombat Simla
Master Of Bamboo Mouth Organ - Isan, Thailand
Black Truffle
/
2023
LP
26.99
Black Truffle 112
Incl. VAT plus shipping / Orders from outside the EU are exempt from VAT
Tracklist
1Line Rod Fai - Train
2Tuey Non Tarn
3Lom Phat Prow
4Tang Waii - Wicker Stool
5Lai Soy Puen Baan
6Line Khene Racing
7Hak Sao Siang Khene
8Seung Swing
9Siang Khene Hoy Hooun
10Khene Lam Sing

Sombat Simla is a khene (bamboo mouth organ) player living in Mahasarakham province of Isan, Thailand. Sombat has been a public figure of Molam music. He is known in Thailand as one of the greatest living players of the khene, the ancient bamboo mouth organ particularly associated with Laos but found throughout East and Southeast Asia. His virtuosic and endlessly inventive renditions of traditional and popular songs have earned him the title ‘the god of khene’, and he is known for his innovative techniques and ability to mimic other instruments and non-musical sound, including, as a writer for the Bangkok Post describes, ‘the sound of a train journey, complete with traffic crossings and the call of barbecue chicken vendors’. Aided by a group of Thai friends, in 2018 Morinaga travelled to the Maha Sarakham province in the Isan region, arranging to meet Simla in a remote spot surrounded by rice fields. Then and there, Morinaga recorded the solo performances heard on the LP’s first side.

This LP contains tracks from a compilation of the same name, originally released on CD in Japan in 2018.