Để tưởng niệm một thập niên từ khi cố nhạc sĩ Phạm Duy từ giã cỏi trần, Phương Nam Phim phát hành bộ tuyển tập gồm 40 ca khúc được gắn liền với hàng triệu con tim Việt Nam trên toàn thế giới.

Mười mấy năm qua tôi cũng đã từng nghe những bài được thu âm trong tuyển tập này như “Áo anh sứt chỉ đường tà” qua phần trình bài của Đức Tuấn với dàn nhạc hào hùng, “Cỏ hồng” qua phần trình bài của Nguyên Thảo với giai điệu bossa-nova, hay “Ngày trở về” với giọng ca truyền cảm của Hồng Hạnh. Những ca sĩ chuyên hát dòng nhạc Phạm Duy như Thái Hiền, Tuấn Ngọc, Lệ Thu, Ánh Tuyết, và Duy Quang thì khỏi phải bàn.

Thú vị hơn là những ca sĩ không phải thuộc sở trường nhạc Phạm Duy nhưng lại ca rất thành công như Khánh Linh trình bài “Tóc mai sợi vắn sợi dài”, Khánh Linh cùng 5 Dòng Kẻ qua ca khúc “Em lễ chùa này”, hay Ngọc Khuê thổi phong cách của cố vào “Bài ca sao”. Nổi bật là ca khúc “Tình ca” do Mỹ Linh trình bài cùng với dàn nhạc orchestra.

Cả cuộc đời cống hiến cho làng âm nhạc Việt Nam của nhạc sĩ Phạm Duy, ông đã sáng tác hơn cả nghìn bài nên đây chỉ là một bộ sưu tập nhỏ nhưng đầy giá trị. Mùa hè năm nay tôi sẽ nghe tuyển tập này để tưởng niệm người nhạc sĩ tài hoa của chúng ta.

Với chất giọng trầm nồng, Diệu Thúy hát tốt những ca khúc có tên tuổi. Tuy nhiên lối trình bài của cô khá trung thành và an toàn nên không thể đem lại những nét mới lạ hay riêng của cô. Với bài tựa đề, “Lời ru gọi người tình”, của nhạc sĩ Nguyễn Thu Hoài, cô ca rất có hồn nhưng không thể vượt qua khỏi phiên bản của cô Khánh Ly thu âm trước 1975. “Tình đã bay cao”, của nhạc sĩ Nguyên Lãng, được một chút mới lạ nhờ vào phần hoà âm phối khí theo giai điệu blues của nhạc sĩ Đạo Nguyễn.

It’s such a joy revisiting a lyrical storyteller. Right off the opening track, Mr. Dylan tells a heartbreaking story: “Newspaper men eating candy / Had to be held back by big police / Someday everything is going to be beautiful / When I paint my masterpiece.” And damn, isn’t he a blues man? I could feel his pain when he sings the “Tombstone Blues” chorus: “Mama’s in the fact’ry she ain’t got no shoes / Daddy’s in the alley lookin’ for the fuse / I’m in the kitchen with the tombstone blues.” Of course, “What Was It You Wanted?” is so spare yet so heartfelt.

Armani White delivers a concise album with bouncing beats, fluid flows, and great guests. White invited 90s rap stars, Ludacris, Busta Rhymes, and N.O.R.E., on “Billie Eilish Legends Mix” to close out the album. I haven’t listened to these MCs for years and they had proved that they can still rhyme.

This self-titled album is the first time I set my ear on Dara Starr Tucker. With her beautiful voice, she maneuvers her way effortlessly around the bossa-nova rhythm on “Scars,” the album opener. She sweeps me up completely on the second track. Her interpretation of John Denver’s “Annie’s Song” is just so damn romantic. Listening to her phrasing reminds me of the love of my life. After 15 years together, I still have tremendous love for my wife. Our relationship has been on the upward trajectory. She helps release my stress. The lyrics capture our love; therefore; I have to quote the entire song written by John Denver:

You fill up my senses
Like a night in a forest
Like the mountains in springtime
Like a walk in the rain
Like a storm in the desert
Like a sleepy blue ocean
You fill up my senses
Come fill me again

Come let me love you
Let me give my life to you
Let me drown in your laughter
Let me die in your arms
Let me lay down beside you
Let me always be with you
Come let me love you
Come love me again

Let me give my life to you
Come let me love you
Come love me again

You fill up my senses
Like a night in a forest
Like the mountains in springtime
Like a walk in the rain
Like a storm in the desert
Like a sleepy blue ocean
You fill up my senses
Come fill me again

I wish I can listen to the entire album with my wife on our relaxing, all-inclusive vacation for just the two of us. I can only dream.

Who the fuck named a band Dinner Time. It turns out the group is made up some of the most innovative musicians today including multi-instrumentalist Terrace Martin, saxophonist Kamasi Washington, and pianist Robert Glasper. For a group of superstar artists, the music on Enigmatic Society is super spare. Its style is a fusion of jazz, hip-hop, and R&B. I prefer the instrumental recordings such as “Watts Renaissance” and “The Lower East Side” over the vocal recordings. It’s a pretty chill album nevertheless.

Lauren Henderson is a sultry jazz singer with an ear for interpretation. Her reimagination of “That Old Black Magic” in a bossa-nova groove is just intoxicating with the help excellent accompanists including Joel Ross on vibes, Sean Mason on piano, Eric Wheeler on bass and Joe Dyson on drums. Other featuring instrumentalists including Gabe Schneider and Nick Tannura on guitar and John Chin on piano. In addition to covering standards, Henderson pens her own lyrics such as the title track. It’s a beautiful tune. The ten tracks on Conjuring are perfect for relaxation after a long, exhausting day.

I thoroughly enjoyed Mammal Hands’ Gift From the Trees on a beautiful morning. The album is relaxing but also exciting thanks to the hip-hop backbeat Jesse Barrett. His rhythmic work on “Labyrinth” is riveting. Nick Smart’s keyboard and Jordan Smart’s sax duo reminded me of Dave Brubeck’s and Paul Desmond’s on the classic “Blue Rondo à la Turk.” In contrast, “Deep Within Mountains” is so fine and mellow. Of course, Nick Smart’s ostinato is catching as hell on “Spinner.” A perfect album to release your stress early in the morning with coffee our late at night with cocktail.

With a subscription to Amazon Music, I have been listening to new jazz and hip-hop albums and discovering artists I haven’t known before. For instance, I have been pumping Young Nudy’s Gumbo in my Sienna. The title of his songs filled with meats and vegetables including “Brussel Sprout,” “Portabella,” “Shrimp,” “Duck Meat,” and “M.R.E.,” which, my oldest son told me, stands for “Meals Ready to Eat.” I am not sure if Nudy’s lyrics have anything to do with food since all I can hear are “pussies” and “bitches.” He sounds high as fuck on all of the tracks, but the beats are just infectious. The melodic string plucked against the pounding bass line makes “McChicken,” produced by Coupe, chilling and hypnotizing at the same time. The hook and the rhymes are just too damn misogynistic and too trigger happy to quote on here. That’s what hip-hop is all about. You have to separate the art from the content. I enjoyed Gumbo even though I have not heard of Young Nudy before.

Samara Joy is a young singer with an old soul. Ms. Joy sounds so much like the jazz legend Sarah Vaughan—no crime in that. Just like Ms. Vaughan, Ms. Joy can swing (“Sweet Pumpkin”) and can croon (“Lust Life”) as well. Linger Awhile, an Amazon original deluxe edition, is an album I can just kick back, relax, and enjoy for an hour and twenty minutes after a long day at work.