Since Trinh Cong Son composed his songs on a guitar, they are best to be performed on a guitar. Too bad I haven’t have the fortunate of experiencing the artist himself strumming his heart out to Khanh Ly’s soulful vocals, but I suppose I could settle for Ha Tran and Thu Phuong in Loi Cua Giong Song for now.

Not that I need to kiss up to Ha Tran for what I have castigated her Doi Thoai 06, but I must give her the propers she deserves. Her rendition of “Mua Hong” proves that she doesn’t need all the hi-tech shit to be innovative. Accompanied by simple-picking guitar and subtle-plucking bass, she reinvented one of Trinh’s lyrical compositions with her effortless verve and harmonic sensibility. Now that’s the youthful Ha Tran I am rooting for. The one that could give me nostalgia with her unadorned interpretation of “Tinh Xa” and “Tinh Nho.”

In contrast to Ha Tran’s luscious sweet, Thu Phuong’s brooding quality is charming in its own way. Her streamlined approach in “Co Mot Dong Song Da Qua Doi” is both exhilarating and touching, like she could come out and swing even though it rains inside. And when she rains, she pours on “Nay Em Co Nho,” “Roi Nhu Da Ngay Ngo,” and “Tinh Sau.”

Mad props go to the guitarists—Huynh Huu Doan, Dang Huy Hoang, Do Dinh Phuong and Nguyen Xuan Thao—for bringing back the minimalism in Trinh’s work. And of course, can’t forget Vu Anh Tuan for those dope-ass bass lines.

Fuck Christina Aguilera. Diana Krall’s From This Moment On is what I call “Back to Basics.” With a dark, raspy voice, Basie-inspired piano (sweet and tasty), and real accompaniments (full orchestra and quartet), Krall takes us back to the big-band swing and soulful blues. She not only knows how standards should be sung, but also how they should be reinvigorated. She doesn’t croon over trip-hop or high-tech beats and exaggerate her style as groundbreaking. The inventiveness is in her piano solos and scat-singing improvisations. From bossa-nova “How Insensitive” to sensual-swinging “Day In Day Out” to mellowed-out “Willow Weep For Me,” Krall keeps the good old jazz spirit alive with a contemporary sensation.

The more I listen to Khanh Ly’s recordings of Trinh Cong Son’s music prior to 1975, the more disappointing I get with her later works. Not only her voice has dreadfully deteriorated (easy on the cig, ma), but also the soulless, fake musical arrangements that killed the aesthetic experience. Especially the productions made from the early days in the States, the monotonous beats served nothing more then just to maintain the rhythm.

While the rain was pouring outside last night, I went through 86 tracks of Trinh’s collection that Khanh Ly had recorded during the mid 60s and 70s, and I just want to throw all my other Trinh’s collections out the window, including her own after 1975. Her voice was incomparable, and she had the whole nine yards (real drums, bass, piano, guitar, saxophone and trumpet) backing her up. I am wondering if our music were influenced by American jazz at the time because even the drums had that jazz’s rollicking style in them. Her version of “Bien Nho” is timeless. Her voice was filled with sentiments, and the muted sax was just soul wrecking. I can barely get through the rendition of “Mua Hong” from Thanh Lam and even Ngoc Lan without yawning, but Khanh Ly’s effortless, ethereal vocals keep me coming back for more. I disliked her latter version of “Xin Mat Troi Ngu Yen,” but her former version is totally irresistible. That cascading piano’s gushes make the tune ageless. But the classic component of the collection is in those political pieces that are rarely covered today. Compositions such as “Chinh Chung Ta Phai Noi,” “Toi Se Di Tham,” “Canh Dong Hoa Binh,” and “Nhung Giot Mau Tro Bong” were simply begging for peace. So I don’t know why they have been banned.

Even though the computer-generated productions today are top-notch, I wish our musicians went back to the basics to bring real humanistic quality to their works. Call me an old-school head, but after listening to these soulful masterpieces and then went back to Ha Tran’s Communication 06, how the fuck did we go from treasure to trash? It’s definitely time for me to give up on Vietnamese contemporary shit and stick to the good oldies. Call me a sell-out, but I’ll be looking for real modern, innovative music elsewhere, besides Viet Nam. Fuck all that Vietnamese acoustic fusion shit.

Ha Tran must have been on Ecstasy when she made Doi Thoai 06 (Communication 06), a way-too-over-hyped album in which she sounds mad high over the zoned-out, overdosed beats. By drowning her vocal lines into the space-trance arrangements, electric Ha boasts it up to be her most groundbreaking work up to date. Save me the chuckles, girl. The musical production is nothing more than the softcore, wimped-out, and girlish ripped off from The Crystal Method, The Chemical Brothers, and Prodigy who set the underground breakbeat and bigbeat trend a decade ago. So where does the innovation play in Doi Thoai 06? Weaving Vietnamese aesthetics into acoustic sound? We have fused jazz, blues, world music, r & b, and hip-hop into Vietnamese repertoires, and now Ha Tran takes a step further with the concoction of E-gorging style. Revelation.

The album kicks off Nguyen Xinh Xo’s “Giac Mo La” (Delusive Dream) with speaker-traveling effects, pseudo-organic sounding that works against her voice instead of enhancing it. Then Tran Tien’s “Ra Ngo Ma Yeu” (Leaving The Alley) begins with children singing over soft but big beat, which also ended up overpowering her small voice. The instrumental “Tieng Goi” (The Calling), written by her and her man, is like playing with high-tech effects made possible by GarageBand. The remake of “Mua Bay Thap Co” (Mist Over The Ancient Tower) is a damned sacrilegious rendition. While the beat suggests Gothicism, she sings about Buddhism. She really needs to get off that coke. As for “Deep Water,” she sings, “wet me up” instead of “wake me up” and “unbreakaball” instead of “unbreakable?” The mispronunciations show that if the song was about “Deep Throat,” she could have pulled it off with her technical skills. Breathe in, breathe out, and take it all the way down. (I need to get off the coke myself.)

Doi Thoai 06 has demonstrates, once again, Ha Tran has desperately tried to reinvent herself. I support artist who constantly pushes her work to the next level, but she needs to stay focus on mastering one style before moving on to the next. And the more she attempts to progress beyond Nhat Thuc (Solar Eclipse), the more regress she gets.

Tran Thai Hoa, goes by Hoa T.T. to differentiate himself from Thuy Nga’s popular male singer with the same name, is an aspiring pop singer who seeks for advice and feedback on his performances. His demos could be listened at his MySpace account. He has a decent voice: youthful and affectionate with a bit too much of honey (particularly on his rendition of Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World”). Although the demo tracks show his versatility in singing various styles as well as different languages (Vietnamese, English, and French), a distinctive voice is what he is lacking. Both “Loi Ru Cho Con” and “De Danh” are passable, but don’t leave a deep, long-lasting impression. It is a bold attempt to cover “Bonjour Vietnam” just right after the song has been trembling the Vietnamese’s community worldwide, let along in a much slower tempo. But he managed to pull it off with a chord progression approach. The tension-building arrangement allows him to express the lyrics in his own view of the homeland. Not bad at all, but there’s still tremendous amount of work to do to find a place in listeners’ heart. But do keep the passion and the spirit alive!

Thelonious Monk had a remarkable use of rubato on the piano. His style, which based on stride tradition, was full of angularity, intentional fractured, heavily into the beat, and way outside of bebop standards. Monk favored the flatted fifths and preferred his sound to be clotted with alter chords. A perfect example of his stylistic tick is on “Epistrophy,” a strange performance in which he demonstrated his downward-scale signature. “Blue Monk” is another brilliant piece showcases Monk’s idiosyncratic timbre and bizarre rhythmic structure. His solo performance on “Don’t Blame Me” illustrates his disruptive but exquisite cascading scale. I have an unrequited love for solo piano, and I can just listen to Thelonious Himself all day, especially “Round Midnight.”

Don Ho is back. Wait, he has never left the building. My man just takes a long time to drop his album. He’s the do-it-yourself type of guy who wants to be involved in every step of the production. The hard part is that he has to do all the work from CD design to studio recording to distribution. The rewarding part is the creative freedom. And the best part is that he knows what it takes to put out an outstanding album.

With the newest release of Vi Do La Em, Don Ho proves, once again, to be the exceptional singer of his generation. By focusing only on Dieu Huong’s ballads, he learns how her lyrics should be interpreted, as well as how to transform her songs into his personal statement. Whether he sings about “Giong Le Kho,” begs his partner to stay in “O Lai Ta Di,” drenches his soul into “Khac Khoai,” reflects to love in “Chi Co Mot Thoi,” or expresses his career in “Lang Nhin Ta Thoi,” he hits their emotional forces dead on, as if his life is connected to the words. And his candor is seductive.

Ironically, the title track is one out of the two weakest performances on the album. Not because he couldn’t sing it well, but the tune has been covered way too many times, and he has tried way too hard to makes it stands out. The remaining pathetic track is “Vu Tru Cua Anh.” Dieu Huong’s space-love analogies don’t quite work. The upbeat production is banal, and Don’s Spanish counting isn’t cute either.

Despite the minor misses, Vi Do La Em marks one of Don Ho’s finest works up to date. Although his dark, slightly gruff voice is captivating, what heighten his flow and delivery are the soulful, lustful musical productions. With both vocal artistry and musical wizardry weaving into one, Dieu Huong’s compositions have been given a fresh and sensuous vibe.

When it comes to the double bass player, Charles Mingus is still my main man. His conversational and pianistic approaches have allowed me to see that the bass could do much more than accomplishing the rhythm section. Colors, textures, and deep emotions could be heard in Mingus’s bass line solo. Mingus was eminent for his inventive blend of blues, gospel, and New Orleans sound. One of my favorite blues pieces is his dedication to saxophonist Lester Young entitled, “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat.” The composition is filled with unusual, substitute, unexpected chords.

They seem uncongenial. Duc Tuan is a soulful ballad crooner while Ho Ngoc Ha is an r&b/pop chick. Yet, their collaborative effort on Ao Anh testifies that opposites can amalgamate. Despite their creative differences, they both have a unique style of covering standards and an appreciation for jazz that allow them to come in the studio together. They know how to make old tunes sound modern, and they have proved themselves in his Doi Mat Nguoi Son Tay and her Va Em Da Yeu.

Unlike Bang Kieu and Minh Tuyet, Duc Tuan’s clear, high tenor works like lotion on skin with Ho Ngoc Ha’s smoky, low contralto. Their duet rendition of “Ao Anh” is a fusion of soul and sex. Even though Ho Ngoc Ha has a limited range, she knows how to work with her limitation and turns it into her advantage. In “Buon,” her raspy voice is so damn erotic weaving in and out of the bossa-nova orchestration. Even on the playful “Dem Do Thi,” she could maneuver her vocals to fit the happy, shining arrangement. And for Duc Tuan, he gives “Sang Ngang” a heartfelt rendition by floating his charming voice over the keyboard licks and delicate brushworks. By swaggering along side with the slick swing in “Ghen,” he proves to be a versatile singer.

What makes Ao Anh works is the simplicity in both productions and performances. The crisp, clean, and simple arrangements play a major role in resuscitating old-school ballads. If you’re looking for hardcore jazz with scatting, improvisation, and complex syncopation, this is not your cup of tea. If you want to enjoy old tunes with a touch of jazz, however, this album will do the trick. Ao Anh is the sauciest, juiciest cover of standards I have heard so far.

Went to see Kevin Mahogany last Saturday in the good old Rosendale Theatre for the Jazz in the Valley series and I was blown away by his vocals and his trio. With a warm, charming, baritone voice, Mahogany maneuvered in and out of his savory rhythm section with an effortless grace. And man, can the brother scat? His rendition of Duke Ellington’s “Taking the A Train” is like the male version of Ella Fitzgerald in term of versatility in vocal range and manipulation. I went crazy when he imitated the bass sound and interacted with his young, and talented bass player. The most exhilarating part of the concert was when he made beatbox and and drummer had to repeat what he just improvised. His pianist is not only a virtuosi player, but a damn fine babe too (you don’t get to see a blondie with that kind of talent too often). She simply took my breath away with her gorgeous solos, especially when she’s all into it. Sorry I can’t recall the name of his players, but if you get a chance to see Mahogany and his musicians, you’ll be a for a real good time. He has a sense of humor too. The man with such a fabulous voice deserves the compliment from Newsweek as “the standout vocalist of his generation.”