Music for the Ronry

You think your own country has a terrible music scene, dominated by cheesy pap? It could be worse. You could live in North Korea

A graduate of the North's prestigious Pyongyang University of Music and Dance, Kim was allowed to further his studies at the Tchaikovsky Music Academy in Moscow in 1995 at government expense.

A year later, he came into contact with jazz for the first time.

"One day, one music class was cancelled, so I went to a cafe near my school to drink a cup of coffee, and music (coming) from the speakers there _ a type that I had never heard before _ thrilled me", Kim said.

So, which jazz great did he hear? Bird? Coltrane? Monk? Rollins?

"I asked the cafe owner what kind of music that was, and he replied it was `A Comme Amour' by pop, classical and jazz pianist Richard Clayderman. It was too good, and that began to change my life".

Richard Clayderman? "Too good, and that began to change my life"?? A chilling insight into the cultural desert that is North Korea.