Carole King Jazz Café
Sep 10th, 2008 by Jinja
‘…takes my blues away.’ One of the great things about living in Cambodia; little surprises like this.
Cambodian Jazz does exist – from the Khmer Fusion project to Jean-Marc Padovani.
The Korean owner probably took the name of this karaoke bar from Carole King‘s classic ‘Jazzman‘, but she’s not generally slotted in that genre.
Where else on the planet would you find a jazz café (sans jazz) that’s actually a Korean-run karaoke joint fronted by the name of a non-canonical singer? I’m tickled; and I think a little more reconnaissance is in order.
Carole King Jazz Café: #35, Street 288 Sangkat Boeung Keng Kang 1, Kan Chamka Morn, Phnom Penh. Cho: 012 594 452 / dic3991@nate.com
Postscript: A charming writeup by JamesCS of his visit: “Kitsch simply does not do it justice… it was truly a magnificent monument to a taste that transcended good or bad, but simply existed.” (Apparently no Carole King tunes are available!) http://jamescs.blog.co.uk/2008/06/05/rene-and-georgette-magritte-with-their-d-4276689
Post-Postscript: the Hongdae neighborhood of Seoul, Korea apparently sports a Carole King Jazz Bar. That may well be where the name was derived from.
http://lofbomm.com/2008/06/10/hongdae-mapping/
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