Meeting a Master

A couple days ago I had the opportunity to meet Master Kung Nai, a Khmer musician who has been playing the "chapei dang weng" (a two-string Cambodian lute) since he was a teenager, more than 50 years. Kung Nai went blind at the age of 4 from small pox. You can read a short bio of his life here, and below are my impressions...

Before I met the man and heard him play, I was told he was called the Cambodian Ray Charles, and played the Mekong River Blues. I thought this was a bit contrived, but it didn't take long to understand the references. The man, with his dark shades and easy grin, looks a great deal like Ray Charles. And while the music undoubtedly has unique qualities, it's easy to compare to the early blues of the US south. There is a loneliness and melancholy to his voice that is inescapably bluesy, as well as the banjo-like twang to the chapei.

Miraculously Kung Nai survived the Khmer Rouge regime, a period in which an estimated 90% of Cambodian artists were murdered. He now lives in a filthy, impoverished tin-shack community (home to many artists) in the middle of Phnom Penh, about two blocks from my own neighborhood of walled and gated French villas. This is a man who has performed internationally and has been recognized as a living legend. He seemed perfectly content at his one-room house, surrounded by family and grandkids. For about a half-hour, he entertained a group of us from PEPY, playing several songs in his freestyle improv style. Understanding only a handful of words from his songs, I was nonetheless captivated by his staccato, sing-song voice--it demands attention.

Our group was accompanied by a guide/translator from Cambodian Living Arts, "a project of World Education, which works to support the revival of traditional Khmer performing arts and to inspire contemporary artistic expression. CLA supports arts education, mentorship, networking opportunities, education, career development, and income generating projects for master performing artists who survived the Khmer Rouge as well as the next generation of student artists."


Later in the afternoon, we had the chance to visit an traditional Khmer instrument maker and bang, pluck, and strum his various wares, as well as watch two stunning dance, drama, and song performances from students studying with Cambodian Living Arts. A truly remarkable day.