What Is It Good For: Phạm Mộng Hải and "Hát Văn"

We often hear music from American musicians who were inspired by the Vietnam War - indelible sounds that have lived with those of us of a certain generation, mostly baby boomers. Today's random tune takes us to the other side of the equation in Vietnam, who also have musicians that experienced and often were active actors in what they call the American War, and whose songs of meditation, reflection and healing are just as powerful in their country as American songs by Creedence Clearwater Revival, Buffalo Springfield, Bob Dylan and Pete Seeger. From the 2015 album Hanoi Masters: War is a Wound, Peace is a Scar, today's song is called Hát Văn (Help Us In This Life), and is performed by Phạm Mộng Hải. While I don't have much information on Phạm Mộng Hải, the album is made up of artists who perform with traditional Vietnamese instrumentation, including an instrument called a k'ni which is a kind of mouth violin that is spoken through to deliver what one producer called an extraterrestrial sound. The instrument was considered to have such mystical qualities that private playing was outlawed.

Listen to songs like this and more on the KUNM Global Music Show every Monday night from 10 pm - 1 am Mountain Standard Time. Live streaming, program information and the two-week digital archive can be found at http://www.kunm.org.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/mar/12/hanoi-masters-40th-anniversary-end-vietnam-war-wound-peace-scar