Being a sociable person with a wide network of acquaintances in the music industry, actress Kim Dung invited me to the venue where she and singer Y Jack Arul and their band were preparing to perform. It had been a long time since this guy had left his hometown and returned to Hanoi .
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| Singer Y Jack Arul. |
I was captivated by the wild, fiery voice in the song "Searching for the Sun's Lullaby" (Y Phon Ksor), and the passionate, mesmerizing voice in "Love Story on the Highlands" (Tran Tien), which won the Gold prize at the ASEAN singing competition… so I immediately accepted the offer.
The rustic charm of the Ede people
Unexpectedly, without any preparation, I heard a familiar voice, the same wild, fiery voice from the vast highlands, now passionately singing "Còn ai với ai" (Trịnh Công Sơn)... With his wide-brimmed felt hat, the Ede young man exuded a simple yet profound charm, touching the hearts of all the Hanoi artists present at his performance. The Hanoi night seemed to quiet down, allowing everyone to fully appreciate the voice of this young man from the highlands of the Central Highlands.
After finishing a song by Trịnh Công Sơn, he put down his guitar and said in a distant voice: "Singing this song by Sơn makes me miss him even more. Trịnh Công Sơn's works are like paintings depicting Y Jack's life. Sơn was so kind! When he was sick, he was so thin, he would just sit on a thick cushion, and we would massage each other's hands and feet."
Few people know that singer Y Jack Arul and musician Trinh Cong Son were close friends, sharing the same birthday and even celebrating it together twice. Y Jack Arul recalled: “Son considered me his ‘spiritual brother.’ He always addressed me by my name, very intimately: ‘Son would say, ‘Y Jack…’ And so, as the conversation progressed, we would sing and play music. Son had a place to gather with his friends, to write music, to create paintings… and to sit and drink.”
"That's the Creative Room. It has a glass wall with a water system that creates a rain effect, so it always sounds like raindrops falling. There's a bell in the room. When the beer runs out, you ring it this way; when the ice runs out, you ring it that way. Mr. Son said he didn't want to tell the staff what to do; he just needed to ring the bell to know, using music to replace words. Because he values everyone so much, he just needed to ring the bell without needing to give orders or say anything."
Through the story, I learned that Y Jack Arul is the son of the legendary village elder Ama H'rin, who crossed the M'Đrắk grassland in search of the "promised land" and built the A'ko Hdông village - a model village of the Ê Đê people in Buôn Ma Thuột. This is also the village featured in the essay collection "With Barefoot" by writer Nguyên Ngọc, which I really liked. Perhaps inheriting his father's strength and the vastness and grandeur of the forest, his singing voice is so powerful and expansive.
Y Jack Arul shared: “Throughout the Covid-19 period, I stayed in the village and taught my children and grandchildren to sing. Young people now sing many songs and even compose their own songs on computers proficiently… but why can’t they sing the KUT melody – the folk melody of our Ede ethnic group – with the right feel? KUT has to be told, sung authentically and genuinely… but now few people can sing it. That’s why I’ve just stayed around the village since then. After Covid, I handed the work over to my brother-in-law, Y Neon.”
It turns out that the quality in his voice, so deep and rustic, was the KUT quality of the Ede ethnic group – that raw, genuine quality, singing as if telling a story. It became even more profound when that KUT quality was steeped in the ups and downs of life of the son of the legendary village chief, born amidst bombs and bullets, raised in the cold of the jungle, and warmed by laughter over sweet potatoes and cassava.
The KUT quality that he is now particularly concerned about for the young singers in the village is that they sing like many commercial singers, "superficial and lacking substance."
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| Singer Y Jack Arul sits in the middle, posing for a commemorative photo with actress Kim Dung and the band in Hanoi. (Photo: MH) |
Internal substances in external breath
I've met him more than once at concerts by famous musicians, but I usually couldn't keep up with him. Now I know, he always avoids the press, except for this time in Hanoi, where I got too close for him to leave.
His voice was gentle and warm: “So, which newspaper does that Hanoi girl work for? What do you need to ask? Is it the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ' newspaper? I still remember the ASEAN singing competition in Hanoi. That day, we sang two songs: 'Dreaming of a Faraway Place' (Phu Quang) and 'Love Story of the Steppe' (Tran Tien). Ten countries participated, but even now I still remember the folk songs from Laos and Cambodia, which were very beautiful, especially the folk song from the Philippines, which was absolutely wonderful. The female singer's voice was very beautiful, and the melody was incredibly melodious…”
On this trip to the North, Y Jack Arul visited friends and relatives, and also met with his younger brother, musician Le Minh Son, to discuss his first album. “Before Covid, we were almost finished, but the pandemic put the project on hold. This time I came to Hanoi to continue. After nearly half a lifetime of singing, many people say that the album I've made doesn't feel 'mature' enough.”
This time, it's actually an album of brotherhood, consisting of 14 songs by me and three brothers: Trinh Cong Son, Tran Tien, and Le Minh Son. I'm Son's spiritual younger brother, Tran Tien and I have been "Traveling Singers" together for a lifetime, and Le Minh Son once composed "Elephant Without a Tail" as if he were a member of the village... expressing my feelings, the feelings of the village - talking about environmental issues, which are of great concern not only to Vietnam but to the whole world . I also sang at his concert..."
“We’ve selected 14 suitable songs, with a more introspective, confessional style. The songs reflect life as it is for the three of us. We hope to create a timeless album that captures the essence of the Ede people and of the three of us,” shared singer Y Jack Arul.
Like many of his fans, Y Jack Arul waited almost half his singing career before feeling he had reached the maturity to release an album. He hopes to bring forth songs full of the KUT spirit, simplicity, narrative breath, and heartfelt emotions of the Ede ethnic people, imbued with the life and poetry of a shared brotherhood.
Looking at me, he smiled and said with inspiration, "In particular, Le Minh Son's song 'Elephant Without a Tail' is very relevant to our time and could be translated into English so that people both domestically and internationally can sing along to protect the environment."
Saying goodbye to Y Jack Arul, giving him the artistic space and time to complete his project, I was deeply moved by his sharing. Just like the rarity of the KUT quality in the voices of the Ede people in his village, the way Y Jack Arul makes music is also very unique and responsible. He doesn't chase after anything; he takes things slowly and steadily, and eventually, he arrives convincingly. I believe his aspirations will truly come true in the not-too-distant future.
Singer Y Jack Arul used to travel with artist Y Moan, performing in various villages. In 1994, he joined the Dak Lak Song and Dance Troupe, becoming one of its leading vocalists – despite never having received formal vocal training at the time. In 1996, Y Jack Arul was sent to study at the Ho Chi Minh City Conservatory of Music (intermediate level vocal training). He studied and sang simultaneously before joining the Ho Chi Minh City Light Music Center. In 1997, Y Jack packed his bags and participated in the National Television Singing Contest. After winning first prize in the Central-Western Highlands region, he participated in the national round and won third prize. From then on, audiences nationwide knew Y Jack as a new voice from the Central Highlands. In 1998, Y Jack was selected to compete in the Hanoi - ASEAN Golden Voice Festival and won the Gold prize. |
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