Program and Event

Hip Hop Concerts by the Dana Leong Band Thrill Lao Audiences

The Dana Leong Band rocks the Novotel

A Lao student at the National School of Music and Dance joins the Dana Leong Band on vocals

Young Lao audiences thoroughly enjoyed the two concerts and workshop organized by the first American Hip Hop group to visit Laos, the Dana Leong Band. The group came to Vientiane on December 7 – 11, 2007 under the Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad Program, as part of a tour of Asian countries including Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and the Philippines. The Rhythm Road program is jointly sponsored by Jazz at Lincoln Center of New York and the U.S. Department of State. 

During their visit to Vientiane, the Dana Leong Band first performed at the Conference Hall of the National University of Laos for a crowd of approximately 600 university students on December 7. The following evening, Lao hip hop artists L.O.G. opened the concert and warmed up the crowd of 200 at the Novotel hotel. After their performance, the Dana Leong Band took the stage and energized the audience with their unique blend of instruments and sound mixing. The band also surprised the audience at the end of the show with a jam session, joined by L.O.G., showing audiences that music crosses borders and boundaries. On their final day in Vientiane, the band conducted master class at the National Music and Dance School for over 70 students and teachers.

The Dana Leong band’s visit was a rare opportunity for Lao to hear Hip Hop Jazz, a distinctly American form of music, performed live. In his introductory remarks at the Novotel concert, Ambassador Huso said that “the Dana Leong band music is a unique blend of hip hop, funk, jazz and rock - a truly American fusion of urban music.”

The Dana Leong band is composed of band leader Dana Leong who plays trombone, cello and a laptop to create electronic soundscapes, Jason Lindner on keyboards and bass, Baruch Israel as lead vocal, emcee and beatbox maestro, and Elliot Humberto Kavee on drums.