The wanderer from the wilderness returns to the city

Being a sociable person with quite a wide circle of acquaintances in the music industry, actor Kim Dung invited me to the place where she and singer Y Jack Arul and the band were preparing to perform. It had been a long time since this guy left the village to return to Hanoi .

Singer Y Jack Arul.

Having always been fascinated by the wild, fiery voice from the song "Finding the Lullaby of the Sun" (Y Phon Ksor), to the passionate, captivating voice of the song "Love Story on the Highlands" (Tran Tien) which won the Gold Prize at the ASEAN singing contest... so I immediately accepted.

The rusticity of the Ede people

Surprisingly, without any preparation, I heard a familiar voice, the same wild fiery voice from the immense highlands now passionately singing in Who is with Who (Trinh Cong Son)... With a wide-brimmed felt hat, the Ede boy brought simplicity and tenderness, touching the hearts of all the Hanoi artists present at his performance and his friends. The Hanoi night seemed quieter to fully listen to the singing voice of the boy from the great Central Highlands.

Finishing Trinh Cong Son's song, he put down the guitar and his voice was distant: "Singing this song of Mr. Son's, I miss him even more. Mr. Trinh Cong Son's works are like paintings depicting Y Jack's life. Mr. Son is very gentle! When he was sick, he was very thin, we just sat on the thick cushion, we massaged each other's hands and feet."

Few people know that singer Y Jack Arul and musician Trinh Cong Son are close brothers, share the same birthday and have celebrated their birthdays together twice. Y Jack Arul recalls: “Mr. Son considers me his “spiritual younger brother”. He always calls me by name, very intimately: “Mr. Son says Y Jack… Just like that, after talking, we play music and sing. Mr. Son has a place to gather his brothers, to write music, to create paintings… and to sit and drink wine.

That was the Writing Room. There was a glass wall there, with a water system that created rain, so it felt like there was always the sound of rain falling. There was a bell in the room. When the beer was gone, it was rung this way, when the ice was gone, it was rung that way. Mr. Son said he didn’t want to tell the servants to do this or that, but just had to ring the bell to his own rhythm to know, using music to replace words. Because he valued everyone very much, he just had to ring the bell without having to order or say anything.

The story was full of ups and downs, I just learned that Y Jack Arul is the son of the legendary village elder Ama H'rin, who crossed the M'Drak steppe to find the "promised land" and built A'ko Hdông village - a model village of the Ede people in Buon Ma Thuot. This is also the village that appeared in the memoir Barefoot by writer Nguyen Ngoc, which I really liked. Perhaps he inherited his father's strength and the vastness of the great forest, so his singing voice is so powerful and immense.

Y Jack Arul shared: “During 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 them on the computer proficiently… but why can’t they sing the KUT melody - the folk melody of our Ede people - with quality? KUT means to tell, to sing raw, sincere… but now few people can sing it. So I have been hanging around the village since then. After Covid, I handed over the job to my brother-in-law Y Neon.”

It turns out that the quality in his voice that we just heard him sing, so profound and rustic, is the KUT quality of the Ede people - the rustic, genuine quality, singing as if telling a story. It is even more profound when that KUT quality is imbued with the ups and downs of life as the son of a legendary village chief, born amidst falling bombs and stray bullets, growing up amidst the cold of the jungle and the warmth of laughter over sweet potatoes and cassava.

The KUT quality that he now worries about is especially for young people singing in the village, they sing like many market singers "superficially and without substance".

Singer Y Jack Arul sits in the middle, taking a souvenir photo with actor Kim Dung and the band in Hanoi. (Photo: MH)

Internal matter in external breath

I have met him more than once at concerts of famous musicians, but I often couldn't keep up with him. Now I know, he always avoids the press, except this time in Hanoi, I was too close for him to leave.

His voice was gentle and warm: “So which newspaper is the Hanoi girl from? What do you need to ask? The newspaper of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ? I still remember the ASEAN singing contest in Hanoi, that day she sang two songs: Dreaming of a faraway place (Phu Quang) and Love story of the prairie (Tran Tien). There were 10 participating countries, but until now I still remember the very good folk songs of Laos and Cambodia, especially the folk song of the Philippines which was very wonderful. The female singer's voice was very beautiful, the melody was strangely melodious…”.

This time in the North, Y Jack Arul visited friends and relatives and met his younger brother - musician Le Minh Son to discuss his first album. “Before Covid, we were almost done, but the pandemic put that project on hold. This time I went to Hanoi to continue. After half a lifetime of singing, many people told me that making an album like this is not “mature” enough.

This time is actually an album of brotherhood, including 14 songs by me and three brothers: Trinh Cong Son, Tran Tien and Le Minh Son. I am Son's spiritual younger brother, Tran Tien and Le Minh Son have been "Du ca" together all their lives and Le Minh Son once composed "Elephant without a Tail" as a man of the village... expressing my feelings, of the village - talking about environmental issues, which not only Vietnam but the whole world is very concerned about. I also sang in his music night"...

“We have selected 14 suitable songs, with a more confessional singing style, the works of the three brothers express life as it is. We want to make a lifetime album, showing the essence of the Ede people and of the three brothers as well,” singer Y Jack Arul shared.

Like many of his fans, Y Jack Arul has waited nearly half his singing career to feel he has reached the right age to release an album. He hopes to bring songs full of KUT, simplicity, narrative breath and the heart of the Ede ethnic group and imbued with the life and poetry of his brothers' souls.

Looking at me, he smiled and was inspired: "In particular, the song "Elephant without a Tail" by Le Minh Son is very contemporary and can be translated into English so that people at home and abroad can sing to protect the environment."

Saying goodbye to Y Jack Arul, leaving him space and time to complete his project, I was deeply moved by his sharing. Just like the rarity of KUT quality in the voices of his Ede village, the way Y Jack Arul makes music is also very unique and responsible. Not chasing after anything, slowly, slowly, it will come and come convincingly. I believe his expectations will truly come true in the not too distant future.

Singer Y Jack Arul used to follow artist Y Moan to sing in many villages. In 1994, he joined the Dak Lak Song and Dance Troupe, becoming one of the main vocalists of the troupe - even though he had never attended any music school at that time.

In 1996, Y Jack Arul was sent to study at the Ho Chi Minh City Conservatory of Music (intermediate vocal music). He studied and sang at the same time, then joined the Ho Chi Minh City Light Music Center.

In 1997, Y Jack packed his bags and entered the National Television Singing Festival. After winning the first prize in the Central Highlands region, he participated in the national round and won third prize. Since then, audiences across the country have known Y Jack as a new voice of the Central Highlands.

In 1998, Y Jack was selected to compete in the Hanoi - ASEAN Golden Voice Festival and won the Gold prize.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/ga-du-ca-dai-ngan-ve-pho-233618.html