Killing them softly with her voice

Ouch Savy is the female protégé of chapei master Kong Nay but in Meta House, last weekend, she showed that she was not bound by tradition when she collaborated with Norwegian pianist Ingolv Haaland and bassist Torbjorn Tveit. Sonny Inbaraj Krishnan relished the night where Khmer influences were mixed with contemporary and experimental sounds.

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Amy Stallard
Orchestral Khmer fusion, live in Norway

Norwegian composer Ingolv Haaland spent four years meticulously composing the nine songs that appear on his new live album being released next month. A process – combining Arabic instrumentation, Western arrangements and Cambodian singing – that was all-consuming.

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Amy Stallard
New release: Khmer vocals make soft Scandi-songs soar

As a teenager living in a thriving artists’ community in the Dey Krahorm district of Phnom Penh, Ouch Savy fell asleep listening to melodies emanating from chapei master Kung Nay in the house next door. It was Kung Nay that taught Savy to play the chapei – the long necked stringed instruments whose jangling, dissonant melodies – accompanied by improvised vocals – prompt frequent comparisons with the blues of the American South. The unusual partnership, which made Savy famous as one of the few female masters of the chapei, came to an end when Dey Krahorm was razed in 2009.

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Amy Stallard
New Album Blends Western, Khmer Sounds

The music in the album “Asian Flow,” which was released Thursday in Cambodia, can only be described as mesmerizing.

From the very first notes, the beautiful voice of Ouch Savy singing to Ingolv Haaland’s music transports you into a world of fluid melodies.

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Amy Stallard