As if Ngoc Dai himself isn’t bizarre enough already, he recruited two berserk vocalists, Thanh Lam and Linh Dung, to bring life and depth to his music. While the group’s self-titled debut is not easy to absorb, loving Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Cecil Taylor, Ornette Coleman, Bjork, Tung Duong and Ngoc Khue makes it feel right home with Dai Lam Linh and its avant-garde direction.

The leadoff track, “Cay Nu Tu” displays the band’s eccentric skill of weaving jazz, rock, ambient and traditional Vietnamese folks into uncompromising vocal deliveries. Near the end of the piece, the duo vocalists sounded like two voodoo chicks tearing out each other’s hair. Backing up by spare piano, thumping bass and soothing Vietnamese zither, “Chieu” starts out calm, but progressed into the type of chaos that help folks get their freak on.

On “Det Tam Gai,” they completely erased Tran Thu Ha’s version and make it their own. Whereas Tran Thu Ha caressed and massaged a pretty melody, they simply fuck it up with their buck-wild dissonances. The voices move beyond words and become instruments on “Dua Tre” to evoke the sentiment surrounding loss and death. Ngoc Dai didn’t bring them on board to sing his tunes. They lived, breathed and sometimes make luscious love to them.

In the age when pop imitation ruins the Vietnamese music scene, it’s a real treat to hear something not just out of the ordinary, but way out there. These tracks will burn into your ears like no other. I am gamed.

Take a peep at Dai Lam Linh’s live performances.

If you want to learn the art of swinging and singing behind the beat, the virtuosity of timing and the mastery of storytelling, just listen to every track on Billie’s Best. The album has been in heavy rotation on my iTunes even though I usually don’t like this type of compilation.

POP stands for product of production. To make a successful pop record, the beat has to be solid. Producer Thanh Tam single-handedly puts Ho Bich Ngoc on the pop-r&b map with his flossy, ear-candy productions on her new release Buoc Ke Tiep.

“Mot Ngay Moi” demonstrates Thanh Tam’s producing craftsmanship. The arrangement is an ingenious blend of jazz and r&b, in which the chime, the horn and the scatting added textures and colors to the bouncy beat. Ho Bich Ngoc’s slightly gruff voice drives home the track, which, by the way, is also written by Thanh Tam.

Vocally speaking, Ho Ngoc Bich weaves many r&b nuances in her phrasing, which comes off annoying at times. “Van Mong Duoc Ben Anh” is where she sounds most natural. The beat is also groovy and the Vietnamese rapping/chanting is intriguing.

Not every track hits the mark and some productions even sound mechanical like the slow ballad “Loi Nhan Nhu” and r&b “Co Khi Nao.” The remix of “Co Khi Nao,” however, is a whole different animal, thanks to the hard-hitting trance beat. Buoc Ke Tiep is perhaps the next big step for Ho Bich Ngoc.

Thanh Lam and Le Minh Son reunite once again on a new release, Noi Binh Yen. Thanks goodness that Thanh Lam has toned her vibrato down a notch. The first two tracks, Le Minh Son’s “Noi Binh Yen” and “Em Yeu Anh,” are the proofs. Over the soothing semi-classical arrangements, she delivered each song in a relaxed, laid-back approach.

Even though she whipped up her pipe on the classical-pop “Goc Nho Rieng Em,” she did it just about right to bring out the emotion of the tune. The smartest move she made was abandoning her operatic screaming. On Nguyen Vinh Tien’s “A Nho Anh,” she recruited an opera vocalist to do the soprano soaring for her and Bich Thuy has done a damn fine job of wrapping her ghostly voice around Thanh Lam’s smoky timbre. Unlike Bich Thuy’s opposite attraction, Tung Duong is a perfect match for Thanh Lam. Their duet on Le Minh Son’s “Buon” is simply luscious and Trung Dong’s seductive trumpet added a sensational sadness to the jazz flavor.

Thanh Lam sounds most sincere on “May Trua Da Ngu.” Through Duong Thu’s lovely lyrics and Duc Tan’s delicious piano playing, she gives us a glimpse into the heart and soul of Thanh Lam as a mother. Glad to see Thanh Lam got over her dramatic hump. Noi Binh Yen is an indispensable comeback since Nang Len.

Hai Yen has a serious pipe, but the materials on her debut, Va Anh Se Den, are mediocre. Quang Duc’s pop-rock “Chi Con Toi Voi Toi” is a vocal workout while Ky Phuong’s “Nhac Khuc Cho Tinh Yeu” is a romantic cool down. What keep the album from being sleepy is her occasional wailings.

Out of the blue, I received a package from songwriter Pham Anh Dung. It turned out to be an unofficial copy of an album titled Quynh Ca with a sticky note reads: “Donny, I have enjoyed reading your web site (Visualgui).” I was flattered and immediately popped in the CD.

Quynh Ca is a compilation of Pham Anh Dung’s poetry-turned-music compositions about Quynh flower. “Quynh,” the only tune PAD had written the lyrics himself, gets a sensual, intimate performance by Dieu Hien whose voice is slightly raspy and simply intoxicating. There are two versions of “Dem Nguyet Quynh” (poem by Vuong Ngoc Long). I have not heard of Xuan Thanh before, but her take is much more soulful than Bao Yen’s. The track starts off with a poem’s recitation backing up by the Vietnamese zither and flute. Xuan Thanh’s gorgeous soprano floats like a nightingale in a dark sky. Who else could express “Quynh Lan” (poem by Pham Ngoc) better than Quynh Lan herself? Her recording of “Quynh Nhu,” “Quynh Le” and “Voi Quynh” are no less hypnotizing.

After the first spin, I was impressed. I contacted PAD to get more information about the album to write a review. Unfortunately, Quynh Ca is only a “burn” album for friends. Still, the concept of Quynh is so clever that I decided to mention it. If any singer wants to cut a themed album, this is the way to go. Hint. Hint. Hint.

Like most of Thuy Nga’s typical video releases, Paris By Night 96: Nhac Yeu Cau 2 is more on cleavage and less on content. Unlike its musical presentation, which shows no sign of innovation, Thuy Nga tends to push the sexual visual to the edge.

Take Tu Quyen’s and Nhu Loan’s “Lien Khuc Hoi Nguoi Tinh” for example. Most of the time, the singers are the main attraction and the dancers are just the supplement. In this case, the dancers who wore nothing but white panties and covering themselves up with a white piece of cloth damn near pushed Tu Quyen out of the frame even though she looked cute. Even when the topless dancers left the stage, Nhu Loan couldn’t top those sensual broads. Although Thuy Van can’t carry a note, she sure knows how to present her body. As always, she looked trashy but sexy. I am not mad at her though. Someone has to entertain married and bored Vietnamese men. Paris By Night is the alternative venue for those of us who can’t make it to Café Lu or Di Vang 2.

By fulfilling the popular demands, Nhac Yeu Cau 2 is filled with Chinese-translated hits (“Tinh Em Ngon Nen”), “Medley New Wave 80” and sentimental ballads like “Thoi Doi” and “Nhung Doi Hoa Sim.” Although Tran Thai Hoa sounded weak in “Tuong Niem,” he gave a surprisingly decent performance of traditional folks with Ngoc Ha. Quang Tuan made his first appearance on Thuy Nga’s stage with Y Lan. They don’t seem to go well together on stage. While he looked like a piece of rock, she looked like a piece of gum.

The diva duet between Bang Kieu and Tran Thu Ha was nothing novelty, but Bang Kieu’s acting in Nguyen Ngoc Ngan’s skit, “Ao Em Chua Mat Mot Lan,” was. He has the perfect voice for the character. Mr. Ngan is very clever in his gay-bashing/embracing storyline. (He first slammed you in the face then handed you an icepack.)

If I have to pick one song from Nhac Yeu Cau 2, it has to be Ngoc Anh’s “Giet Nguoi Trong Mong.” With her gruff voice, she gave Pham Duy’s tune a killer rendition.

If we were to show up an hour late at Madeleine Peyroux’s performance on Saturday at Lisner Auditorium, we still didn’t miss a damn thing. At 8:00, a white dude in flannel shirt and jeans opens the show for her. He strummed his guitar and sang about something that left me clueless for forty-five minutes. Peyroux and her band didn’t show up until 9:00.

With a guitar on her hands and a quartet made up of electric guitar, drums, bass (mostly electric) and piano (sometimes organ), she performed her original works from her latest album, Bare Bones, along with some previous hits including “Dance Me to the End of Love.” Vocally, Peyroux has proved that she is no longer in Billie Holiday’s shadow. Her phrasing marked more intricate. She toyed around with notes and abandoned the melody altogether at times. On slow tunes, she eases back to the point of sleepiness and the bad sound engineering, which cut in and out of her vocals and caused feedback, brought down her delivery.

On Serge Gainsbourg’s “La Javanaise,” Peyroux put on her hat and along with her band members scattered around her, she took us back to the street of Paris. Her French singing was sensational and the accordion solo from her pianist was exotic, yet the best part was her drummer doing his brushwork on an empty HP cardboard box.

Peyroux closed out the show with the cheerful “Instead” and she cleverly introduced her band members. The last bar of the song went, “Get happy / She’s waitin’ for you by the telephone / So get back home!” She would then pointed to the bassist and declared, “Let’s walk home.” The bassist would give a walking bass solo. The guitarist was gliding home and the pianist was simply skipping home. Peyroux returned for an encore with an Obama-inspired “Somethin’ Grand,” a perfect tune to leave the audience with.

Nguyen Hong An is another male vocalist influenced by Tuan Ngoc. Unfortunately he could only sing and phrase like Tuan Ngoc on the low register. He is far from reaching Tuan Ngoc’s soaring octaves. As a result, Nguyen Hong An sounds dull and flat on Pham Duy’s “Hen Ho,” Trinh Cong Son’s “Ru Em Tung Ngon Xuan Nong” and Tam Nguyen’s “Va Lai Tinh Toi” (a Bang Kieu’s sky-rocketing signature). Supported by Viet Anh’s lifeless arrangements, Mua Xuan Dau Do is perfect for lounging in a lazy afternoon.

Dana and I left our little Duke yesterday for a few hours with his grandmother so we could head into D.C. to see the Dave Brubeck Quartet performed at Warner Theatre in concluding the Washington Performance Art Society’s 2008/2009 jazz season. It could be our last chance to see one of the jazz living legends. At 89, Brubeck could barely walk by himself, yet his playing showed no sign of aging.

He could still swing hard on Duke Ellington’s “Let’s Take the ‘A’ Train” even when he just played staccato chords on his right hand. With Bobby Militello (alto saxophone and flute), Michael Moore (bass) and Randy Jones (drums), Brubeck took Fred Waring’s “Sleep, Sleep, Sleep” into another direction like he had promised not to put us to sleep. With Brubeck’s virtuosity in both jazz and classical, he brought the two worlds closer through his brother Howard’s “Dialogues for Jazz Combo and Orchestra.” His classical piano solos were some of the most hypnotic moments of the show.

While the crowd was pleased as soon as Brubeck struck the “Take Five” chords and saluted with standing ovation at the end, I was left a bit disappointed. It’s unfair to compare Bobby Militello to Paul Desmond, but Militello’s playing was not as fluid as Desmond’s. The band completely dropped out when Jones soloed. Brubeck didn’t do his signature obstinato behind him either. Jones’s improvisation was a long and energy and I was anticipating in hearing Brubeck and Moore to follow up, but the band came back and took the tune out instead.

As we were leaving, I overheard a man telling a woman that if he were a musician, he would be glad if he could play like Brubeck, even in his 50’s. I am sure many musicians wish they could play a fraction like Brubeck, even in their 30’s.