Wynton Marsalis expresses his spiritual side through soulful singing, instrumental chanting and New Orleans swinging. Though not as monumental as John Coltrane’s Love Supreme, it has uplifting moments like the exhilarating of “In the Sweet Embrace if Life.”
Lần đầu nghe Y Phương song ca cùng Nguyên Khang qua một liên khúc Trịnh Công Sơn trong video Asia 53: Bốn Mùa thu hình vào năm 2007, tôi có ấn tượng ngay. Tuy kỹ thuật nén hơi còn kém nhưng cô bắt những nốt cao dể dàng. Còn khi hát thấp, giọng Y Phương có nét dịu dàng tựa Ngọc Lan.
Từ đó tôi thường chú ý những hoạt động của cô. Trong vài video của trung tâm Asia, sự xuất hiện của Y Phương có phảng phất hình bóng Ngọc Lan. Nhưng đến nay Y Phương mới cho ra mắt một sản phẩm đầu tiên do chính cô thu âm chứa đựng nhiều ảnh hưởng và màu sắc của Ngọc Lan.
Với nét hòa âm đơn giản, nhẹ nhàng và sang trọng, Y Phương gợi lại những hình ảnh thời vàng son của Ngọc Lan qua Tình Vẫn Thiết Tha. Album mở đầu với “Chuyện Tình Yêu,” một trong những nhạc phẩm được ưa chuộng của Ngọc Lan. Tiếp theo “Chờ Phone Của Anh” là một bài đã gắn liền với tiếng hát Ngọc Lan. Cả hai Y Phương đều thể hiện rất tốt.
Riêng “Bài Ngợi Ca Tình Yêu” là một trong những nhạc phẩm đã khiến tôi đam mê giọng hát Ngọc Lan. Cho đến bây giờ tôi mới nghe được bản tương đương như vậy. Y Phương đã bỏ ra rất nhiều thời gian để nghe kỹ cách hát của Ngọc Lan trong nhạc phẩm này. Vì cô đã chuyên chở lời ca nhẹ nhàng và điêu luyện. Tuy hình bóng của Ngọc Lan hiện ra rất rỏ nhưng Y Phương có đặc điểm riêng của mình trong đó. Khác với giọng trong trẻo của Ngọc Lan, Y Phương có một chút khàn. Nhà sản xuất cũng nhận ra được điều này nên đã soạn cho Y Phương một lối hòa âm theo nhiệp điệu bossa nova rất nồng nàn và trang nhã.
Từ bài tựa đề, “Yêu Nhau Đi,” “Ngàn Đời Chờ Mong” cho đến “Người Yêu Ơi Giã Từ,” bài nào cũng có sự xuất hiện của Ngọc Lan. Riêng “Người Yêu Nếu Ra Đi” Y Phương muốn tỏ lòng kính trọng đến với thần tượng của mình: “Người yêu nếu ra đi, một hôm nắng lên cao / Xin hãy mang đi theo, cả mây trắng trong veo.” Đến đoạn cuối cô chuyển sang lời Anh, “Please don’t go away.” Như hàng triệu trái tim đã yêu mến Ngọc Lan, Y Phương cũng tiếc thương và không muốn Ngọc Lan ra đi. Cám ơn Y Phương đã đem lại cho những ai hâm mộ Ngọc Lan những kỷ niệm khó quên.
Viết cho iLoveNgocLan.com
The collaboration between fusion guitarist/composer Nguyên Lê and avant-garde pop singer Tùng Dương should have been a groundbreaking one. Unfortunately, the recording of Độc Đạo turns out to be a missed opportunity.
Even though the title track is striking, especially with the arrangement switches from organic vibe with electric guitar to bowed string to uptempo Afrobeat, Tùng Dương’s heavy, roaring delivery doesn’t blend in seamlessly with Nguyên Lê’s fusion orchestrations. Most of the time, Tùng Dương’s voice is overpowering and he only has one set of flow throughout the album. What even worse is when Dhafer Youssef joined him on “Bài Ca Trên Núi.” Their roaring and snarling make the track hair-raising loud. In addition to Vietnamese tracks, Tùng Dương butchers Björk’s “All is Full of Love” as well as Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song.” His phrasing on “Your phone is off the hook / Your doors are all shut” sounds trite. Placing a Björk’s futuristic vibe in Vietnamese traditional sound is quite capricious. As for “Redemption Song,” Tùng Dương lacks the Jamaican’s nuances to pull off lines like, “Old pirates, yes, they rob I / Sold I to the merchant ships / Minutes after they took I.”
As for Nguyên Lê, his guitar chop is very distinctive, but it has the same aching sound in most of his playing not only on this album. Unlike many raved reviews coming from the media in Vietnam, Độc Đạo is a big disappointment.
Dave Holland’s Prism is made up of the leader’s propulsive, melodic bass lines, Kevin Eubanks’ soul-stirring rock guitar, Craig Taborn’s virtuosic jazz keyboard and Eric Harland’s snazzy big beats. From the chaotic opener, “The Watcher,” to the calm closer, “Breathe,” the all-star quartet takes listeners on a breathless journey through its spellbinding, spontaneous sounds of fusion. While the album draws a few hints from Holland’s jazz-rock work with Miles Davis, the strongest influence, however, is that Holland has learned one of the important leadership styles from Miles: how to get the best out of your musicians.
Ahmad Jamal has been playing the piano for 80 years. At 83, he still swings hard on his new record Saturday Morning with bassist Reginald Veal and drummer Herlin Riley. Whether improvising over Afro-Caribbean rhythms on “Back To The Future” and “One (Ahad)” or weaving together Duke Ellington’s ballads on “I Got It Bad and That Ain’t Good,” he shows no sign of slowing down. With his virtuosic playing on “Edith’s Cake” and “I’m in the Mood for Love,” Jamal proves that his chops and still amazing and that his age ain’t nothing but a number.
If you’re looking for some soothing instrumental Vietnamese ballads to get you into the holiday spirit, check out Quang Thắng’s Tình Yêu Cuối Đường. He plays some melodic saxophone rendition of familiar tunes including “Bao Giờ Biết Tương Tư” (Phạm Duy), “Anh Còn Nợ Em” (Anh Bằng) and “Trái Tim Bên Lề” (Phạm Khải Tuấn).
If you’re looking for something more innovative, however, this record isn’t it. The main issue here is that Quang Thắng plays every note as perfect as it was written. Even for the jazz rendition of “Phút Cuối,” he never breaks out of Lam Phương’s melodic lines. It’s a missed opportunity not to improvise on such a popular tune. The perfect example would be Coleman Hawkin’s rendition of “Body and Soul.” He didn’t even reinstate the melody because most people knew the ballad.
Another major drawback is the lacking of spontaneity since Quang Thắng played his saxes over pre-arrangements rather than with a live band. You can’t just blow your horn over a recorded rhythm section unless you’re Miles Davis. Even Miles needed talented producers like Marcus Miller to provide him with top-notch arrangements for Tutu.
While “Thuở Ấy Có Em” (Huỳnh Anh) has a wonderful bluesy feel to it, Quang Thắng plays the melody note for note. When I hear this tune, Miles’ advice comes to mind: “Don’t play what’s there; play what’s not there.” Then again, maybe Quang Thắng’s intention is just to make a soothing record.
The new Tình Vẫn Thiết Tha indicates the emancipation of Y Phương. She is free from drowning her soul in Asia’s mechanical, recycled productions. Hearing her sensual voice covering non-Vietnamese standards without Asia arrangements is quite refreshing.
Y Phương is also experimenting with something new in term of getting the record out. Tình Vẫn Thiết Tha is released through digital channels like Amazon and iTunes rather than the traditional distribution, which is quite impressive, but the only issue is that she didn’t put too much effort into the album design. No credits are listed even though the producer had done an outstanding job of keeping the arrangements simple and tasteful, particularly on the bossa-nova flavors like “Bài Ngợi Ca Tình Yêu,” “Ngàn Đời Chờ Mong” and “Yêu Nhau Đi.” Her rendition of “Bài Ngợi Ca Tình Yêu” is the only Vietnamese version that is pretty damn closed to Ngọc Lan’s thanks to the swaying rhythm.
In many ways, this album could also be a tribute to the late great Ngọc Lan. From “Chuyện Tình Yêu,” “Chờ Phone Của Anh,” Yêu Nhau Đi,” “Người Yêu Đã Ra Đi” to “Người Yêu Ơi Giã Từ” are all classics that Ngọc Lan had built her fame on. Y Phương obviously got her inspiration from Ngọc Lan, but she also held her own. In Asia, Y Phương has been known to be a belter, but she has learned to refrain and to lay back. In “Ngàn Đời Chờ Mong” she never pushes beyond her range and only glides up just a tiny bit to give the lyrics a nice touch.
Y Phương caught my ears when she opened Asia 53: Bốn Mùa with Nguyên Khang back in 2007. I knew she has potential, but then she kept on disappointed us with release after release from Asia. It’s about damn time she makes her own record.
Bun B is back in full force. Trill OG: The Epilogue offers 12 concise tracks filled with a handful of compelling productions, some excellent guest spots and a whole lot of aggressiveness from the king of the trill himself. Even when his wordplay is hilarious, “Opinions is like assholes and I don’t like assholes / So stick your opinion in your ass ho,” he doesn’t seem to be amused. Without a doubt, Bun takes his craft very serious and he has issues with “pussy niggas” through the exceptional cuts including “No Competition,” “Gladiator” and “Stop Playin’.” Rap is a competitive sport and he has every reason to go after the studio gangsta: “You born a sucker, die a sucker, yea you get the picture.” Going after women, however, is unnecessary and the filthy, misogynistic rhymes that aren’t even quotable here just make him sound like an asshole that he hates. Other than that, Trill OG is an impressive record.
Around this time of the year, one of my favorite things to do is kicking back to Christmas music. Vince Guaraldi Trio’s A Charlie Brown Christmas is the one that I return again and again each Christmas season. That “Linus and Lucy” joint gets me every time. In addition, “Christmas is Coming” and “O Tannenbaum” bring out the holiday spirit in me. This year, the album gets a remastered release, which I am more than excited to revisit this classic. Gosh, I love the trio’s delightful swing. I can listen to this album all the way to 2014, but there are additional Christmas releases this year as well.
A Mary Christmas from Mary J. Blige brings out the soulful vibe from the hip-hop-r-&-b queen, especially “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” and “Mary, Did You Know?” The standout track has to be “Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer.” Who would have imagine that MJB could swing? Not only she could swing, but she could also scat. The track ends with MJB saying, “Man, that was fun.” There is no doubt she was having a blast recording this tune.
While MJB’s take on “My Favorite Things” is tasteful and laid-back, Kelly Clarkson’s swings it up in her new Christmas release titled Wrapped In Red. Clarkson has a few flavors on her Christmas covers and a few exceptional include country blues “Blue Christmas,” jazzy “Baby It’s Cold Outside” (a duet with Ronnie Dunn) and soothing “I’ll Be Home For Christmas.”
Whereas Mary J. Blige’s and Kelly Clarkson’s album are straightforward and jolly, Nick Lowe brings wit and subtlety to his Quality Street: A Seasonal Selection for All the Family. “Christmas at the Airport” brings out the sentiment of traveling during the holidays. The track that has been on repeat for five or six times straight while on the road is “The North Pole Express.” Our two-year-old Dan has been watching The Polar Express the time he wakes up until the night he goes to sleep. Both Dao and Dan love “The North Pole Express.” Every time Dan hears this song, the first thing that comes out of his mouth would be, “All aboard.”
It’s not a coincident that “Silent Night” appears on all three albums. Lowe’s rock, up-tempo rendition is not doing the tune the justice. MJB’s version has the Spanish verse with Marc Anthony and it doesn’t sound quite right either. As much as I appreciate the new flavors on Lowe’s and MJB’s, I still prefer the classic approach from Kelly Clarkson. She just delivers the tune with her big voice backing up by a choir. That alone does the trick.
As for the past Christmas records, I still enjoy the eccentricity of Jingle All The Way from Bela Fleck and The Flecktones, the joyfulness of Christmas with the Puppini Sisters, the tasteful Christmas Songs from Diana Krall, the soothing Jazz Piano Christmas from Beegie Adair Trio and multicultural mixtures of Joy to The World from Pink Martini. Damn, that’s a lot of Christmas records. The good thing is that I have a whole month to enjoy them.
Trần Thái Hoà is apparently very boring. Like many Vietnamese singers, particularly the oversea ones, Trần Thái Hoà has locked himself into a one-dimensional style. He hardly pushes his delivery out of his comfort range, which is quite limit.
What makes his latest release, Quên Đi Tình Yêu Cũ, incredibly dull is that he had chosen a handful of bland ballad including the title track by Trịnh Nam Sơn, “Mùa Đông Sắp Đến” by Đức Huy and “Tình Đã Vụt Bay” by Vũ Tuấn Đức. On top of his song choices, his productions aren’t so exciting either. Even the bluesy vibe on “Một Lần Nào Cho Tôi Gặp Lại Em” (Vũ Thành An) and the Latin flavor on “Tình Đã Vụt Bay” are just yawn-worthy.
The album closer, “Buồn Ơi, Chào Mi” (Nguyễn Ánh 9), is the only track that isn’t so monotonous. Then again, Quên Đi Tình Yêu Cũ is Trần Thái Hoà’s tenth solo release of this same old shit. He must be doing something right.