Fong Naam: Jakajan, Music from New Siam CD

Fong Naam is not only a remarkable ensemble of the very best Thai musicians, it is also at the forefront of modern composition, both in traditional and experimental styles. This disc presents Fong Naam as innovators and developers in an area that their leader, Bruce Gaston, calls "New Siamese" music, as a way of distinguishing it from traditional Thai music. Here, Thai riffs and motifs encircle, and sometimes collide head-on with, western linearity in an intriguing collaboration. Paradoxically, Fong Naam's contemporary work has won respect in Thailand whilst causing controversy in the west.