Renowned jazz pianist Jason Moran and his Bandwagon (with bassist Tarus Mateen and drummer Nasheet Waits) cut one of the best jazz albums of 2010. Ten celebrates a decade of the band working together with an imaginative reinterpretation of Thelonious Monk’s “Crepuscule with Nellie,” a modern approach to composition based on Jimi Hendrix’s infamous technique (“Feedback 2”) and an intriguing incorporation of funk, jazz and hip-hop (“Gangsterism Over Ten Years”). Listening to the trio reminds me of a Vietnamese proverb: “A lone tree cannot make a forest, but three trees gathered together form a high hill.”

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Thanh Thao’s musical direction is best describe as “deafness fears no gun” (diec khong so sung). Even though most of her hits are mediocre, you have to hand it to her for playing around with different styles ranging from trendy pop to dance pop to imitated hip-hop and r&b to to over-sentimental ballad. Her new release, Hoang Tu Trong Mo, is a bolero devotion. She also enlisted an impressive roster of guest princes including Thai Chau, Ngoc Son, Truong Vu and Le Hieu for the duets.

What makes Thanh Thao intriguing is that she is not afraid to mix and match styles. She picks out her beats as if she shops for her clothes. Hoang Tu Trong Mo is based on the bolero foundation, but she also adds some pop, hip-hop and even jazz on top. The most fascinating arrangement on the album is the blend of jazz, hip-hop rhythm with traditional instruments on “Nho Nguoi Yeu” with Ngoc Son. The track sounds both “sen” (cheesy) and “sang” (elegant) at the same time. Who else, but Thanh Thao could pull that off?

Her collaboration with Truong Vu on “Duong Tinh Doi Nga” works surprisingly well. His over-emphatic singing is a perfect foil for her straightforward delivery and they seem to feel each other’s pain. In contrast, she sounds as if she is done with the Quang Dung drama on the medley “Nhin Nhau Lan Cuoi” and “Xin Dung Noi Yeu Toi.” They both sound flat and tired of the past. While Dam Vinh Hung is on top of her on “Gap Nhau Lam Ngo,” Vuong Trieu Vu is at the bottom of her on “Sao Em Vo Tinh.” They should get together and do a threesome.

Another standout duet is “Em Ve Keo Troi Mua.” Le Hieu’s northern accent in singing a southern tune is quite pleasing. Like most of Thanh Thao’s album, Hoang Tu Trong Mo contains both hits and misses. It’s nice to hear her messing around with different flavors.

Isn’t she a sweet teacher? We’re very glad that she’s your teacher. She’s energetic and very caring.

One morning I dropped you off to the romper room (small indoor playground at school), but you clung on to me and didn’t want to take off your jacket and shoes to join your classmates. She sang you something and both the shoes and the jacket went off. You crawled yourself into your favorite spot.

Another morning, she got about 8 kids in the room with another teacher. You came in, didn’t want to stay and clung on to me. She held you in one arm and made the phone call as the same time to get some help. She often referred to you as “my love” and gave you a kiss on your cheek. Seeing her taking good care of you makes me feel very safe to leave you with her.

Another morning, you were holding a truck in your hand. I asked you to give it to me before we leave the car, but you refused. I let you held on to it. As soon as you see Ms. Ester, you showed her your toy. She asked you to hand it and you did. You had learn a great deal from Ms. Ester who holds a degree in Psychology, worked with special needs children for 15 years and speaks Portuguese, Spanish and Hebrew. You’re very lucky to have her as your teacher. Treasure every moment of it, my son.

The last couple of days you spent most of your time with grandparents while your mom and I were at work. We got wonderful reports about you. You took naps with grandpa and behaved yourself. Grandma told us that you spotted a popcorn bag in Bac Tram’s house. You brought it to grandma and asked her to make you some popcorn. At first grandma didn’t even know what the bag was, but you insisted that you wanted it. After she read the label carefully and realized what it was, she made you some. You sat back watching TV with grandma and enjoyed your pop-corn.

We’re still trying to figure out how did you know about the pop-corn bag. We do not have any popcorn in the house and I don’t recall making you one. Did you learn it at school? Did Ms. Ester, your favorite teacher, make you some? In any rate, you’re very glad that you’re learning many new things. You already learn how to count from 1 to 2. That’s not bad considering you’re not even 2 years old yet. You’re already counting ahead of your age.

I pointed to the dog and you said “con cho”
I pointed to the cat and you said “con meo”
I pointed to the cow and you said “sua” (milk)

After taking the recommendation from a reader, Ravensworth Automotive has been my choice of auto repair service. After the Wednesday incident, I immediately took my Acura to the shop for a thorough tune up and they took care of it for me from flushing the fluids to changing the battery and spark plugs to my windshield wiper. The service was exceptional and the price was reasonable. The guys are very nice too, especially Paul. The shop, which runs by a Vietnamese family, is doing a great job of taking care of its customers. Highly recommended if you live in Fairfax county.

Due to inclement weather, I left work at 4pm yesterday. My wife and my sister-in-law picked me up at the Metro and headed home. We stuck in traffic a bit so I put on Hong Nhung’s Khu Vuon Yen Tinh (The Quiet Garden) to calm my mind. The vibe was beautiful inside the car despite the sleeting rain outside and the cars weren’t moving along. Suddenly the quiet garden became chaotic. The audio went in and out. The wiper blaze was working with the grandma speed. The lights became dimmer. We pulled to the side to check out my good ole Acura. Nothing seemed to be wrong except we couldn’t start the car again. I knew we were screwed.

I called our insurance for road side assistance. After detecting our location through my cellphone, the representative informed me that we were in a high-alert-winter-storm zone. All the tow trucks only worked on emergency cases. She told me the only thing I could do was called 911. I got out of the car and walked around to see if we could find a gas station or something, but luckily a very nice gentleman offered to give us a ride. We all hopped and he was very generous to dropped us off about half a mile away from my sister-in-law house. I had to pushed his car a couple of times when we got up the hill, but we was quite a good snow driver.

We didn’t get home until 10 something, but we felt very fortunate that someone helped us. I was also glad that my wife decided to left Cong Dao home with grandma instead of going to school. I can’t even imagine what it was like with him out there.

This morning, my wife and I went to to pick up our car. We jumped the battery and the car worked fine. It was my fault for not checking the battery. We got a fine for abandoning our car and two cops came by as I tried to dig the car out. I thought we were going to get another ticket, but the two young cops were actually helped us shoveling and pushing our car out. Cops aren’t so bad after all.

It was definitely not a pleasurable experience, but I felt very fortunate. Thanks to the man who helped us.

Was Doan Trang on crack when she revealed her panties at a social event? Maybe. Was she on crack when she recorded her latest release The Unmakeup? Most definitely because a singer in her right mind wouldn’t release such embarrassing work. Seriously, what the hell was she thinking when she decided to make an entire album in English?

Quoc Bao was the original producer for The Unmakeup, but he decided to drop out. “Too busy” was his reason, but the real decision was that he realized the album was going to be a piece of crap. Doan Trang’s English is so horrendous that going through the entire album was such a painful experience as if listening to a cat clawing on the chalkboard. On “My 20s,” her flow is stilted as she tries to pronounce every word correctly. She ruins the beautiful jazz arrangement on “Nocturnal” with her imperfect accent.

Doan Trang, you’re such a cutie and all, but please stop making dreadful music. If this is an American obsession, get some counseling. Get off the white power too.

Vietnamese New Year is a perfect occasion for music productions to make money; therefore, Asia and Thuy Nga, two gigantic Vietnamese entertainments, competed against each other in the same concept was inevitible. Since Asia’s Dam Cuoi Dau Xuan and Thuy Nga’s Hanh Phuc Dau Nam went head for head, I am going to compare the two side by side just for the fun of it.

Let’s kick off with the opening. As usual, Thuy Nga started out with its line up of hot babes to grab the viewer’s attention. “Ngay Tet Viet Nam,” written for the program by Hoai An, featured young singers in ao dai. They sure were great to look at, but the song was too poppy with a bit of Chinese flavor. On the Asia’s side, Son Ca and Chi Tam were older, but they sure brought in the New Year vibe with “Ngay Xua Vui Cuoi.”

Asia’s ending was weaker than Thuy Nga simply because Truc Ho was too lazy to come up with a new arrangement for Ha Thanh Xuan’s performance of “Khuc Hat An Tinh.” Although Ha Thanh Xuan was giving her best vocal delivery, she was new and therefore no way she could outdo the veteran Y Lan in the same arrangement. As soon as the music began, Y Lan was immediately came to mind. On Thuy Nga’s side, Don Ho and Ky Phuong Uyen gave a modern pop version of Van Phung’s “Ca Khuc Mung Xuan.” Not that they had done a superb job, but at least their sounded fresh.

Given that both producing similar concept, I was surprised that only one song covered on both side. Lam Nhat Tien were up against Khanh Ha for Quoc Dung’s “Em Da Thay Mua Xuan Chua?” The outcome was predictable. Khanh Ha was singing an octive higher than Lam Nhat Tien. Her version was much more soulful and had more depth than his.

Y Phuong were up against Ngoc Anh for the swing. Although I like both Y Phuong’s “Mung Xuan” and Ngoc Anh’s “Xuan Voi Doi Song Moi,” Ngoc Anh would be my choice. She rode the beat so marvelously with her smoking voice and her steps were also sexy.

For the young duets, Mai Tien Dung and Toc Tien’s “Nguoi Tinh Oi, Mo Gi” were along the line of Anh Minh and Doan Phi’s “Buoc Tinh Nong” and “Qua Cau Gio Bay.” The choreography in Mai Tien Dung and Toc Tien was fantastic and the song was fun and energic. Sy Dan’s upbeat production for “Qua Cau Gio Bay” was quite rejuvenating and Anh Minh was hot as hell too. Unfortunately, Doan Phi killed it. His wardrobe malfuction, which revealed the use of velcro along the ao dai, was embarassing. He and his dancers tried to stick them together, but couldn’t get them to adhere. He should have just take off the ao dai when singing the line, “Yeu nhau coi ao cho nhau.” It would have been perfect.

Ho Hoang Yen’s performance of Anh Viet Thu’s “Nhu Giot Sau Roi” was a close race to Thanh Ha’s performance of Ngoc Bich’s “Mong Chieu Xuan.” They both did a fantastic job of delivering the tunes and both set the stage on fire, but I have to go with Ho Hoang Yen for the sexiness. Quang Dung in Tu Cong Phung’s “Mua Xuan Tren Dinh Mua Xuan” was a close match to Tuan Khanh in Pham Duy’s “Em Le Chua Nay.” Both weren’t quite do the song its justice. Their rendition was safe and a tad boring.

As for the skit, Nguyen Ngoc Ngan’s script was much sharper than Hong Dao’s. His puns were spot on. Hoai Tam said that in order to learn English you have to learn the “technique.” Chi Tai replied with learning English until you “tet dit” (split your ass). Chi Tai, Hoai Tam and Be Ti were killing it. On the Asia’s side, Hong Dao and Quang Minh were a bit over-dramatic.

Politically speaking, Thuy Nga stayed completely free. Even though Nam Loc can’t help throwing in a few jabs in the beginning of the show, Asia also had done a decent job of sanitizing its political view for the sake of New Year. Asia also brought in Ngoc Dan Thanh. Damn, how old is she now? She must be at least in her 50s and yet still very georgous. She looked stunning in the black ao dai. I still remember watching some of her music videos in my early days in the States and she hasn’t changed much in almost twenty years. She sure is aging quite gracefully.

Even though Thuy Nga was a bit stronger in the overall production, both brought out some enjoyable hours for Tet. With Tet, viewers do not expect new tunes. They just want some good old tunes to take them back to the wonderful moments of New Year. So the productions can do no wrong covering classic ballads with the spirit of “Xuan” and bringing some joy and laughter to the show.