Growing up in the Mekong Delta, a stone-throw away from Cambodia, and having Cambodian relatives and neighbors, this was a major event of the year for me. There is a lot more music and dancing going on with Cambodian New Year in comparision to the relatively staid, and certainly less musical, Vietnamese New Year or Tết.
Above video is with Khmerak Sreymon, the current heartthrob of Khmer pop music. He's the Cambodian Justin Timberlake and Jay-Z all rolled into one.
Traditional music of Laos (mor lam), Thailand (luk thung), Cambodia and Burma, especially ethnic tribes, have a lot in common. There's one instrument that I instantly fell in love the 1st time I heard it -- the panflute, also known as the khene or kaen.
Found, above, on YouTube, a great video -- the costumes -- of Hmong New Year. Hmong people are a mountain tribe in China, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand who, during the Vietnam War, were recruited by the U.S. military to the Vietnamese and Lao Communists or Pathet Lao. When the Pathet Lao took over Laos, many had to flee, with over 200,000 now resettled in the U.S.
A video from the Tai people of the Shan State, Burma. In Burma they are known as the Shan people, geographically-speaking.
Traditional music of Laos (mor lam), Thailand (luk thung), Cambodia and Burma, especially ethnic tribes, have a lot in common. There's one instrument that I instantly fell in love the 1st time I heard it -- the panflute, also known as the khene or kaen.
Found, above, on YouTube, a great video -- the costumes -- of Hmong New Year. Hmong people are a mountain tribe in China, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand who, during the Vietnam War, were recruited by the U.S. military to the Vietnamese and Lao Communists or Pathet Lao. When the Pathet Lao took over Laos, many had to flee, with over 200,000 now resettled in the U.S.
A video from the Tai people of the Shan State, Burma. In Burma they are known as the Shan people, geographically-speaking.
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