The Wu returns; so does the Kung Fu and the dope rhymes. Gone are the raw, straight-from-the-basement beats from 36 Chambers, but the group’s producer RZA has cooked up some flavorful new sounds including the rock-riffing “The Heart Gently Weeps” and the soulful “Stick Me for My Riches.” MCs wise, Method Man’s flow is still gruff and grime; Raekwon’s storytelling is still dark and chil; Ghostface’s delivery is still like the Bunny Energizer, keeps going and going. The only missing element is the eccentricity from the late wild ODB. Despite the controversy around the group, 8 Diagrams is surprisingly good. Funniest line on the joint is from Ghostface: “You like a CD, I burn you and I wreck a few…”

In celebration of Vietnamese women, no champagnes are necessary. A box of tissues will do. The women portrayed in Thuy Nga’s Paris Night 90 are nothing but tragedy, and they carry it throughout their life. Whether through war, economy or husband, Vietnamese girls, Vietnamese wives and Vietnamese mothers all suffered.

The program brings out quite a bit of depressing songs regarding to our women. Bang Kieu croons the dead sister (“Chi Toi”); Hoa Mi tells the tale of a wife turned into stone waiting for her husband (“Ai Xuoi Van Ly”); Minh Tuyet sobs on a personal reflection (“Ganh Hang Rong”); Y Lan weeps all out on the mournful “Tuong Nhu Con Nguoi Yeu.” Y Lan’s acting skill was so great that a woman in the audience almost jumped off the balcony. I would have done the same thing to end the misery.

Sure there are happy tunes too, but the queens of drama overpowered them. If you are going to watch this DVD, prepare to cry yourself a river. And if you’re one heartless bastard, Thuy Nga got some eye candies for your visual pleasures. Most of the young ladies look luscious in ao dai, but Khanh Ha is still one hot MILF. On the flipside, Ha Tran might ruin your imagination.

Birth of the Cool was born as a response from Miles Davis to bebop. He had it with the flying notes of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie; therefore, he focused more on the lyricism and melodic concepts that eventually defined cool jazz. This is the album that marked Davis’s first reinvention of jazz.

Dexter Gordon had a slick, rich and stimulating Bop tone, yet on ballads he would transform into a pussycat and play with deep, soulful lyricism. This extraordinary compilation of Ballads reveals the relaxed, sentimental side of Gordon. “I am a Fool to Want You” will make you sprung.

Jazz syncopation accompanied by samba rhythm section yields bossa nova. Guitarist Charlie Byrd and saxophonist Stan Getz helped sparked the bossa nova movement in 1962 with their collaboration on Jazz Samba. From the discorded “Desafinado” to the mellow-grooving “Baia,” the finger-picking guitar combined with the melodious sax tone creates a perfect mood for late night relaxation.

A four-part suite that placed John Coltrane in God’s divine power. His relentless-driving force and building choruses could chase the devil away. His astonishing virtuosity is in his reading of his own poem on “Psalm.” The words just came out of his horn.

Like wine, Miles Davis’s ageless Kind of Blue gets better with time. With his all-star players including saxophonist John Coltrane and pianist Bill Evans, Davis’s experimentation of modal scale changed the sound of jazz. He not only proved that less is more, but also that slow is not boring. Newcomers who want a piece of jazz, just hand them this joint.

Nowadays male pop singers try to outdo each other by the number of chicks they can get on their album. Even Dan Truong got his pimp on. His new duet album featured a line up of twelve female vocalists ranging from the young My Tam to the old Huong Lan.

Like his baby face, his baby voice, unfortunately, only makes the ladies more superior. I can’t tell if Ho Ngoc Ha’s timbre has gotten raspier or it seems that way next to him. She makes him sound like a bitch, but at least she gives him some room to breathe on Lam Phuong’s “Co Ua.” On Le Minh Son’s “Anh Can Em,” Thanh Lam just sucks up everything out of him. Like a drill sergeant, Thanh Lam shows no sympathy toward the spineless, pretty boy. Her powerful delivery suggests: Can’t keep up with me? Fuck you. Pay me.

It turns out Dan Truong is the one got pimped. The ladies crushed him on his own album. How mess up is that? And this is only the duet disc of the album. I don’t even have the temerity to come near the solo disc.

Give Verve Jazz Masters 30 a spin and it becomes clear how Lester Young was the master of ballad playing. On the slow-burning “I’m Confessin’,” Young made his tenor sax sang like an emotional human voice. On the up-swinging “All Of Me,” he flourished like wild flower in the spring. The classic “Love Me or Leave Me” still gets me every time. Young had such a sensual tone that one must hears it to appreciate it. This collection has been played constantly in my car, home and work for the past week.

Shaggy, the dancehall virtuoso, returns with Intoxication, an album that will guarantee to get you hooked, make you sweet and irritate the shit out of you. His remake of Mary Hopkin’s “Those Days” has, unfortunately, stuck in my head and I can’t get rid of it. The rhythm is groovy; the flow is unmistakable; the chorus makes me want to slap myself for singing: “Those were the days my friend / we thought they’d never end / we sing and dance forever and a day / la la la la…” Another the track that is ridiculously addictive is “Mad Mad World.” The keyboard riff is as sweet as Starbuck’s Caramel Frappuccino. Need some workout? This album will keep you pumping for 56 minutes.