Bebop a Rebop

Published on September 22, 2007

A melting pot like Bangkok has offered various kinds of music to fit all tastes for years. Though DJs spinning electronica and dance music are the latest rage in bars and nightclubs, the city has still managed to retain a cluster of jazz and blues parlours. A newcomer on the scene is Rebop Bar, a place where only good jazz matters.

On the corner of Samsen Road, an old coffeehouse has been turned into a simple jazz bar. With pages ripped from Billboard magazine as wallpaper, the place would look like any other hole-in-the-wall pub if it weren't for the huge framed pictures of such jazz legends as Ella Fitzgerald and Miles Davis. Tiny round tables and wooden chairs are scattered around, with just a small niche reserved as a stage.

The bar is light-coloured and dizzying with patterns. It's quite empty and hollow everywhere you look. Open for two months, Rebop still needs a lot of work done to it.

"I've wanted to paint the walls, but it would just cost too much. Besides, I had tons of magazines that needed to go, so why not use them? I put some things here and there, and there you go, a simple bar," Chagkrit Khianchainag, the owner of the bar says. "No pattern, no plans - that's how jazz works."

As editor-in-chief and writer for Kool Jazz magazine, the love of jazz drove him to take the plunge - probably the riskiest decision ever made - to open a bar all by himself.

"I want this place to be a platform for jazz musicians, and an outlet for jazz listeners. I have some connections with people in the jazz scene, and that helps form the character of this bar. It's not a place where you come to get drunk - it's the music you're after. I want this place to be one among few options of jazz bars in Bangkok for music lovers to get good music and hang out."

The third floor of the bar is used as an office space for the magazine while the second is now empty. Chagkrit is planning to sublet it to a friend to open a jazz school in the next few months. Having the whole space pretty much to himself, Chagkrit is often visited by musician friends and devoted jazz listeners who have quickly became the bar's regulars. The chilled-out ambience, cold beer and jazzy tunes offer a perfect combination for a relaxing night out or evening gathering.

"It's another side of jazz you'll be hearing here. It's quite difficult and not so mainstream. You have to be really into jazz to enjoy the music here," says Chagkrit.

This may sound a little too hardcore for casual listeners, but the music is pretty much the same as other jazz bars: Miles Davis and all that jazz. But the big difference is that they play it differently at Rebop. The tunes are re-harmonised, twisted and turned into almost completely different songs. It could be you've heard the songs before, you just won't know it at Rebop.

Rebop Bar

170/3 Samsen Road, opposite Samsen Soi 5

Daily, 10am to midnight

Live music from 9.30pm on Friday and Saturday.

Cover charge is Bt120, including one Phuket beer.

Thai food is Bt70 to Bt120. Drinks include whisky

(Bt150 to Bt1,250) and small Singha, Heineken and Phuket beers (Bt70). (02) 628 7373

Manta Klangboonkrong