The real deal

After four days of visiting temples, and only hearing a couple leaf players, I had given up finding the one I had heard four years ago. I was sad because he was so good, and none of the players we'd seen could compare to the soaring melodies I'd heard before. Musicians at the temples throughout Angkor Wat must now register and pay the park service a fee, and as a result there are fewer bands.

On our last day, after visiting the beautiful faces of Bayon, I (yet again) described where I'd heard the music I was seeking: there were elephants and a hill, and the band sat at the foot of the hill to the left. It was so vivid in my mind, and I think a part of me didn't want to give up. He knew the place, but had said to me a couple times that there were no longer musicians there. To humor me, I think, we stopped by that same place late in the day.

Voila! There he was. The same guy. The very same guy. His band had doubled in size, but I recognized the music and could hear how different it was from everything else we had heard. We walked up and talked to him, and then he proceeded to play two non-Cambodian tunes: Sealed With a Kiss, and another one I didn't recognize. He handed me a leaf, but still I couldn't make a sound. The whole band played some Khmer dance music, and tourists stopped by and tapped their feet and rocked their heads in time to the groovin' drum rhythms.

I have his name on the recording, and will post a clip of his music. You'll be amazed!