In her new release, Another Country, Cassandra Wilson once again demonstrates her artful skill of reinterpretation on “O Sole Mio,” an Italian rendition of “It’s Now Or Never” made famous by Elvis Presley. Unlike the king of rock and roll’s version, Ms. Wilson bends the notes to her liking and uses her killer contralto to breath new life into the tune. Another Country, however, is not an album of covers. Except for “O Sole Mio” and two instrumental tracks, she penned all the compositions. In collaborating with producer Fabrizio Sotti who backs up her vocal with his sensational acoustic picking guitar, Ms. Wilson shows off her lyricism, particularly on the illustrious “Red Guitar”:

Wash my face with blue water
Lay my head on white linens
Morning come, drink black coffee
Then play my song on red guitar

With Another Country, Ms. Wilson embarks on yet another direction in her expansive career as she parted her long relationship with Blue Note.

From his economical, lyrical approach to his lush, muted tone to his incorporation of classical, pop and Brazilian flavors, Chris Botti’s Impressions of Miles Davis is all over the record. While “En Aranjuez Con Tu Amor” gives an impression of Miles Davis and Gil Evans era, “You Are Not Alone” reflects Davis’s late career. No crime in that. The album featured standout collaborations including Caroline Campbell in “Oblivion,” Herbie Hancock in “Tango Suite” and David Foster in “Summertime.” In the Gershwin’s cover, Botti’s slow, clear phrasing on the trumpet is Miles-inspired. Very impressive nevertheless.

In two live sets recorded on October 23, 1968 at Art D’Lugoff’s Top of the Gate, Bill Evans Trio, which included bassist Eddie Gomez and drummer Marty Morell, laid down some outstanding jazz standards such as a swing version of “My Funny Valentines,” a melodious rendition of Duke Ellington’s “In a Sentimental Mood” and two brilliant takes on Thelonious Monk’s “Round Midnight.” Although Evans was the driving force behind the trio, both Gomez and Morell were also at the top of their game. In “Autumn Leaves,” Gomez played some of the finest basslines backing up by Morell’s crystal light brush strokes in addition to keeping up with Evans’s changing in tempos and shifting in moods. Great chemistry produced great feelings. Kudos to engineer George Klabin for the excellent sound setting of the sessions.

I was having lunch with a very sexy mama today. She was so damn hot that I was sweating like rain. Fortunately the hot weather and the hot soup were to blame for my fantasy. These days all that I could do is fantasizing about her.

I am saddened to hear the news about a Vietnamese man gunning down another Vietnamese fellow before taking his own life. What even more heartbreaking is that the incident took place in the vibrant Eden Center.

Living in Virginia for the past five years, Eden Center has become my community. I go there for lunch almost daily now and I take my family there on the weekend to eat and just to hang out. Whenever someone asks me where to find authentic Vietnamese food in the DC Metro area, I point them to Eden Center with pride.

It’s big shock to hear Viet killing Viet in Viet community. It’s time for us, as Vietnamese American, to rebuild our image and move forward. For me Eden Center is closet to Vietnam from where I live; therefore, I want this community to strive, not set back. As driving to work this morning, I thought of a graphic signage to promote unity in the Eden Community.

Written by someone who holds a PhD on typeface familiarity and its relation to legibility, Reading Letters is packed with research on reading process, history of typography and visual illustration. Sofie Beier has done an exceptional job of pulling together all three aspects to give readers the art and technicality of legibility. From text sizes to letter spacing to the capitals and italics to choosing between sans and serif, this book is a must-read and many rereads for both web and graphic designers as well as anyone who cares about legibility and readability.

The first time I heard Ngọc Lan’s voice, I flipped the fuck out. Huỳnh Anh’s “Rừng Lá Thay Chưa” had been covered before, but never with such elegant, effervescent, emotional touch Ngọc Lan brought to it. It was love at first sound. I fell for her angelic alto immediately. I was in awed with the effortlessness she maneuvered her way around the rumba rhythm.

A couple of days ago, I came across a CD of Ngọc Lan’s recordings I made for myself ages ago so I could bring with me on roadtrips. Upon re-listening to the collection, I realized that my personal favorites were arranged in rumba. Ngọc Lan was a versatile vocalist who covered a wide range of styles, including Vietnamese lyrical songs, translated love melodies, ballroom-dance tunes, and French romantic ballads, but my personal preference has to be the rumba flavor simply because she had the flow.

I can listen to “Chuyện Phim Buồn,” “Yêu Đến Muôn Đời,” and “Dòng Sông Quê Tôi” again and again just to hear her soft, sweet, and sensual voice floating like crystal clear water over the hypnotic Latin rhythm arranged by Quang Nhật. With “Chuyện Phim Buồn,” in which Phạm Duy translated into Vietnamese from Sue Thompson’s “Sad Movies (Make Me Cry),” Ngọc Lan sang like she was the main character in the film. One could hear the sadness of betrayal from a lover as well as the clever cover up of emotion when her mother asked her why she was sad: “Dối má tối nay rằng / Đã lỡ trót xem phim buồn / Và xem đúng ngay một phim thật đỗi buồn / Làm lòng con xót xa.” (“And mama saw the tears and said ‘what’s wrong?’ / And so to keep from telling her a lie / I just said ‘sad movies make me cry’”). As for “Dòng Sông Quê Tôi” I didn’t realize the song was translated from “La Playa” until I searched it up. The Vietnamese lyrics, again masterfully translated by Phạm Duy, fit the harmony so well that I thought it was a true Vietnamese ballad. No less impressive was “Yêu Đến Muôn Đời,” which was also a foreign ballad translated by Trung Hành.

Another outstanding rumba recording was “Giáng Tiên Nữ,” which based on the theme of “Black Orpheus,” with Vietnamese lyrics written by Phạm Duy. Again the flow was just impeccable, as she brought some sensuality to the lyrics: “Vùi trong hơi ấm nồng nàn / Thịt da thơm ngát tình nồng / Cùng chăn gối ấm tình hồng / tình ôi ngất ngây.” (I am not even going to attempt to translate.)

Ngọc Lan’s rendition of Lam Phương’s “Xin Thời Gian Qua Mau” is still one of the best interpretations I’ve heard. The heart-rending saxophone, the crisp snare drum, and Ngọc Lan’s swag made the tune so damn intimate. I could almost feel her breath as if she were singing into my ears: “Ta đã quen, quen từng hơi thở / Quen tiếng cười và sóng mát đưa tin / Tám mùa đông cây rừng khô trụi lá / Chưa bao giờ một phút sống xa nhau.”

How did Ngọc Lan sing the rumba so damn good? She embraced the rumba, caressed the rumba, and made lucious love to the rumba.

Updated June 23, 2022

Yesterday I came across an old casette I have labeled, “Don Ho’s Collection.” To my surprise, I couldn’t even play the casette inside the house. The only tape deck I have is in my car. I played it on my way to work and the songs brought back some fond memories.

I started to become one of Don Ho’s biggest fans when I watched him performed “Say You Will” on Asia production’s first video. Later on I found out that a friend of my sister also really digged him. She let me borrowed a couple of Don Ho’s tapes and I was thrilled. One of the tapes was Don Ho and Ngoc Bich’s Yesterday. I was impressed with his part on the album; therefore, I only taped his songs to a blank tape, but not Ngoc Bich’s.

I couldn’t remember the exact date, but it had to be between 1993 and 1994. I came to the US around 1991 and at the time my English was pretty bad. I had no idea who the Beatles and Bee Gees were. Don Ho’s rendition of “Yesterday” was probably my first exposure to American pop music. To kill time, I transcribed “Yesterday,” “Something,” “Here Comes the Sun,” “To Love Somebody” and “You Can Do Magic.” I didn’t understand some of the American words so I wrote down the tone in Vietnamese and just sang along. I spent quite a bit of time listening and remembering the lyrics. I loved his Vietnamese part of the songs and wished that he only sang them in Vietnamese even though he did quite well in English.

Listening to the songs again takes me down to memory lane. Something about the effortless in his phrasing and the warmness in his slightly smoky timbre that got me every time. I can still remember clearly the opening lines of “Yesterday”:

Mới hôm qua
Buồn phiền trong anh như đã bay đi xa
Mãi đến hôm nay tim còn thấy hoan ca
Ôi lòng ngỡ như là ngày hôm qua.

Boy, the good old yesterdays.

Dao’s new adjective: beautiful.

As we were walking to our car yesterday after I picked him up from daycare, he said, “It’s a beautiful day.” As we drove home and parked the car, he gave a compliment on our neighbor’s ride, “It’s a beautiful red car.”

Before bedtime, he sang a song he learned at summer camp: “Where are the penguins? Mighty mighty penguins. Wobble, wobble wobble…” He laughed and said, “It’s a beautiful song.” I said to him, “You are so hilarious.” Let’s see when he’ll start using the word “hilarious.”

If we continue the way we live now, I am sure we could become pretty damn rich.

Lil Dan refuses to take formulas, which is a great saving for us. He only prefers his mom’s fresh milk. Unfortunately his mom can’t produce enough for him to consume. He’s eating quite a bit nowadays.

Dao doesn’t eat anything except white rice and sauce made from thit kho (Vietnamese Caramelized Braised Pork Belly and Eggs) and he would eat any vegetable with ketchup. So we don’t spend much on him either.

As for me, my wife has been packing lunch so I don’t have to go to Eden Center anymore. I haven’t have lobster for two weeks in a row and it has been on sale for $13.99. At times I just pull out a 28-cent instant noodles and get it over with.

Once I kick my Starbucks’ addiction and with all these cost savings, I am pretty sure we can paid off the house in a couple of years. LOL!