Fong Naam

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Fong Naam is a Thai orchestra that plays and renews classical Thai music. The group was founded by Boonyong Ketkong and Jirapan Ansvananda, together with the American musician Bruce Gaston. Gaston, born in Los Angeles, studied at the University of Southern California and went to work in Thailand instead of serving in the army. He lived there until his death in 2021 and helped develop a contemporary form of classical Thai music.

Music and breakthrough

Traditional Thai orchestras consist of melodic percussion instruments, such as xylophones and gong circles, supplemented by strings, flutes and drums. Their music has no chords as in the West: several instruments play variations on the same melody, which run through one another in layers. The orchestra's pieces in School of Rock, Sathukarn, Tra Yapakkok and Tra Jomsri from 1991, come from this classical tradition.

Influence

For anyone who listens to pop, Fong Naam is a source for hearing that rhythm, melody and ensemble playing can also be organised differently. The orchestra shows how an old court music came back to life in the twentieth century, partly thanks to the contribution of a foreign musician. Little is recorded in our sources about the precise history and line-up.

Listening

• 
  Sathukarn, Tra Yapakkok and Tra Jomsri · Fong Naam, 1991

See also

• Thai piphat