Backing up by the Big Band Song Hong, saxophonist Quyen Van Minh and his friends gave Vietnamese ballads a jazz flavor. Mr. Quyen is obviously from the school of moldy figs. His approach to jazz is drawn from the swing era.

The Jazz With Vietnamese Lyric concert kicked off with Tran Tien’s “Thanh Pho Tre,” a catchy swing tune that is played straight on the melody. In fact, most tunes, including Anh Viet’s “Lo Chien Do,” Anh Viet’s “Ve Que” and Trong Dai’s “Ha Noi Dem Tro Gio,” are played in a very tight structure with only a chorus or a few bars of improvisation. Trumpet Hoang Xuan Vuong gave an achingly gorgeous reading of Trinh Cong Son’s “Mot Coi Di Ve,” but I wish he wasn’t married to Trinh’s melody and just pimped out sort of like what Coleman Hawkins did with “Body and Soul.” Hawkins assumed that everyone was familiar with the melody so he just improvised the entire tune without directly playing on the melody. I am sure everyone knows “Mot Coi Di Ve” by heart.

My biggest issue with the Big Band was way too many saxophones in the orchestra. A bunching of horns backing up a saxophone was very jarring. On Trinh Cong Son’s “Cat Bui,” Mr. Quyen stripped out the rhythm section and with only the saxes accompanying him, he turned the ballad into a funeral ode that was a fitting tribute to the great late Trinh Cong Son. The only time that the sax section worked was on Nguyen Cuong’s “H’zen Len Ray,” in which the saxes created a beautiful call-and-response effect with the trumpet.

One of my personal favorites was the piano-saxophone duet of Trinh Cong Son’s “Phoi Pha.” Accompanied by Dang Khang Nhi’s jazz-classical piano, Mr. Quyen played a soulful ballad with his own emotional solo. As beautiful as the song was, I couldn’t get over the erroneous introduction he made before he started to play. Mr. Quyen pointed out that jazz was born from black people, but jazz has to be combined with white’s wisdom to create jazz today. Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus and especially Miles Davis would roll over their grave if they heard his statement.

Farah Jasmine Griffin and Salim Washington’s Clawing at the Limits of Cool draws an enlightening comparison between the musical innovation of Miles Davis and John Coltrane. From their different upbringing to their fruitful collaboration to their opposite development, the authors illustrate the love, connection, respect and influence between “the Prince of Darkness and the Bearer of Light, each occupying an opposing end of our spiritual and/or iconographic continuum.”

In my review of Trinh Hoang Hai’s previous release, Bien Hat, I mused on his vibrato: “[H]e sings like a man in constipation trying to push and pull his way through.” Mr. Trinh took my criticism and put it to work on his new Trinh Cong Son songbook, Bien Oi. The result is much more pleasurable even though he hasn’t abandoned the technique entirely.

The album starts off with “Ru Doi Di Nhe” in which Mr. Trinh accompanying himself with an acoustic guitar. Right off the opening notes, he tries to control his vibrato, but like he has admitted, “I found to be hard to stray away from my poor habit.” On “Mot Coi Di Ve,” one can hear that he worries too much about techniques. He begins with “Bao nhieu nam roi con mai ra di” and without a pause he picks up “Di dau loanh quanh cho doi moi met.” Beside Tuan Ngoc, not too many Vietnamese singers could pull that off. He doesn’t need to though. He just needs to take his time and rest as long as he pleases because the empty space is as important as the singing notes. After all, Trinh Cong Son’s music encourages singers and listeners to reach deep inside his lyricism. On the Zen-like “Toi Dang Lang Nghe” for example, Mr. Trinh should slow down his phrasing, focus on the words, listen to his surroundings in order to feel the stillness of life.

I am in no way of indicating that Mr. Trinh doesn’t soak up Trinh Cong Son’s lyrics. In fact, it is quite the opposite and he should have use his experience toward his advantage. “Xin Tra No Nguoi” and “Cat Bui” are the two tracks that he means the words he sings. Unlike Tuan Ngoc’s above-octave version of “Xin Tra No Nguoi,” Mr. Trinh stays in his comfortable range and just lets his throaty voice reveal the emotional depth. The texture in his voice and the effortlessness in his delivery bring out the fate in “Cat Bui.”

Except for the opening track, Dang Khoa is responsible for the arrangements. On the title track he combines Vietnamese instruments with semi-classical orchestration, but not too effective. Other than some nice bluesy notes on “Mot Coi Di Ve,” but nothing stands out. The new age vibe doesn’t blend too well with “Loi Buon Thanh.” Trinh Cong Son’s compositions are best kept simple and intimate.

Just launched a new web site for one of my longest clients: The Lancaster Foundation for Educational Enrichment. I designed the original site eight years ago and have been maintaining it since. The new executive director wanted a brand new site that is clean, simple and attractive. So I worked with her and her team to rebuilt the site from scratch. The new site is marked up using HTML5 and the content has been rewritten.

Many thanks to the three visitors who took advantage of Amazon’s Fall Blowout Sale to support Visualgui.com.

Come on, Mr. Dam! I beg you to please give the old tunes a break. You’re sacrilegiously killing them. Your latest release Nhung Bai Ca Khong Quen is a double-disc full of fuck-up covers backing up by cheap productions.

You simply destroy “Hue, Tinh Yeu Cua Toi” with your fake-ass Hue’s accent. Bao Yen should kick your balls with her high heels for murdering her gorgeous “Chieu Ha Vang.” With all the money you have been making, you should spare some for the arrangement instead of wasting them on all that brand name clothes that make you look even more ridiculous. Most of the slow ballads are driven by programmed drums and irritating smooth saxophone lines. The mid-tempo production on “Loi To Tinh Mua Xua” is even worse. It’s the laziest groove I have heard.

Come to think of it, you simply don’t have an ear for beats. Your productions have been the same in all of your albums. The timeless tunes are indeed unforgettable, but your versions are immediately forgettable.

You’ve got mail. From your sweet new toddler teacher, Ms. Ester:

Hello.

Just wanted to know how Dao is doing.
We missed him very much during the day, he is really adorable
Hope he gets better soon.
Send him my love
Have a great evening
Ester

What were you doing yesterday? You had a bit of breakfast at Panera Bread and then you and mom took me to work. After that you spent the beautiful day with mommy roaming free around the Monument. I joined you for lunch before you headed home and slept in the car. Mom and you came back to pick me up so I didn’t have to be jammed into the train ride.

Isn’t it great to hang out with mommy all day? But then again, you get to learn and interact with others while you’re at school. You’re very popular at the school and everyone knows that you scream the loudest in the morning for about five minutes, but the become one of the sweetest boys for the rest of the day who wave, dance and blow kisses to everyone. Thanks for being such a awesome kid.

22th Trung Thu Festival in the Metropolitan DC Area

A wonderful gathering where children can learn about the Vietnamese culture in a festive and vibrant atmosphere. Known as Tet Trung Thu in Vietnamese, the festival is one of the most anticipated annual events in the Metropolitan DC Vietnamese community. The festival will feature carnival games, craft booths, food and youth-led cultural performances. There will be prizes, raffles, and every child receives a free lantern.

When
Sunday, September 19, 2010
12pm to 4pm

Where
Thomas Jefferson Community Center
3501 2nd Street S.,
Arlington, VA 22204

Tet Trung Thu and Miss Eden Scholarship Pageant

When
Saturday, September 25, 2010
2pm to 8pm

Where
The Eden Center
6751 Wilson Blvd
Falls Church, VA 22044

For more info, visit Miss Eden Scholarship Pageant web site

I told my wife that Lam Thuy Van was once my dream girl and her response was, “Wasn’t she every men dream girl?” True that, true that. Every man who listened to Vietnamese music probably drooled over Lam Thuy Van at one point during the 90s. Lam Thuy Van was young, sexy and at the top of her game.

With her new release, Trai Cam Tinh Yeu, Lam Thuy Van tries to return to that peak period. As a result, the album sounds dated with covers like “Xa Em Ky Niem,” “Em Se Den” and “Thoi The Minh Chia Tay.” While Lam Thuy Van’s vocals haven’t deteriorated much, her selected materials have been abused by countless of singers and she is not doing anything to give them a new life. In fact, her singing is very relaxing as if she has picked up Ngoc Lan’s approach.

Lam Thuy Van has been associated with Ngoc Lan and more than half of the tunes on Trai Cam Tinh Yeu remind me of the great late Ngoc Lan. The strongest influence are on “Chang,” “Troi Con Lam Mua Mai,” “Tan Tro” and “Dung Pha Vo An Tinh.” The arrangement of “Dung Pha Vo An Tinh” in particular sounds awfully familiar as if it has been produced for Ngoc Lan. Techniques wise, Ngoc Lan had a much better breath control than Lam Thuy Van.

The intention behind the release of Trai Cam Tinh Yeu is unclear. The album sounded as if it has been recorded fifteen years ago. In fact, it would have been a phenomenal pop album at that time. As for the current time, it seems like Asia and Lam Thuy Van are trying to scoop up Ngoc Lan’s fans.

You got sent home on your second day in the toddler class. Your teacher called me and said you had diarrhea. I came to pick you up. I peaked inside the little glass window on the door and saw you we were playing by yourself. You caught me and immediately dropped everything and rushed to the door. What a great feeling that was.

You slept in the car when we were home so I had to carry you and the car seat inside the house. Your mom and I logged back to work while you were sleeping. I got some work done before you got up. You continued to play around the house while we were working. For being such a good boy, we took you out to the playground and had a fun, relaxing evening. One lady said that you have a face that could be kiss all day. I agreed all the way. Not just all day but all night too. I love kissing those soft cheeks of yours.

After the playground, we took home some Pho and you enjoyed it. You went straight to bed at 8:30. The play time must have worn you out. I don’t think you had diarrhea. We fed you milk, cereal and yogurt in the morning and the combination might have caused the liquidity. In any rate, you’ll get to spend the whole day with mom tomorrow. Lucky boy!