By the time we arrived at the 20th Annual Rosslyn Jazz Festival on Saturday, The Bad Plus was wrapping up its performance. I could only heard the last two tracks, but I loved the energetic classical, jazz and rock fusion the trio was playing. So we just hung around to catch the final lineup: Tierney Sutton Band.

With such a fantastic rhythm section—Christian Jacob (piano), Kevin Axt (bass) and Ray Brinker (drums)—backing her up, Tierney Sutton brought down the joint. They “abused” (Sutton’s own muse) Frank Sinatra’s “In Other Words” and “The Lady is a Tramp” by completely reimagined the arrangements. They gave the audience a taste of the band’s forthcoming release with George Gershwin’s “Summertime” and “My Man’s Gone Now.” The group crafted its own vision of “Summertime” and Sutton incorporated her opera vocals into “My Man’s Gone Now.”

From hypnotic bass groove on “Fever” to the mellow tempo on “Something Cool” to the drums-vocals duet on “What a Little Moonlight Will Do,” it was a joy listening to the creative ways the band does covers. The show closed out with yet another fantastic swing on “Devil May Care.” During the concert, Sutton cleverly promoted her live album, which could be purchased for autograph, by pointing out the tunes she performed. I copped I’m With the Band, which consists of 16 tracks recorded live at Birdland on March 29 and 30, 2005, and I have been enjoying it since the ride home.

Do you have a couple of bars from a song that stuck in your head forever? If you were asked to sing a few lines right from the top of your head, what would roll of your tongue? For me this is it: “It’s a tragedy for me / To see the dream is over / And I never will forget the day we met / Girl, I’m gonna miss you.” I borrowed Milli Vanilli album from my cousin back in ’92 or ’93 and it stuck with me ever since, especially “Girl, I’m Gonna Miss You.”

As for Vietnamese, it has to be: “Em ơi nếu mộng không thành thì sao / Non cao đất rộng biết đâu mà tìm.” I can’t even recall when or how Lam Phuong’s Duyen Kiep stuck in my head.

There are new releases that you can’t wait to jump right in, like a Tung Duong album. Speaking of Tung Duong, when do we expect a new joint? Then there are some new releases that you’re just not sure if you even want to give it a try, like a Duy Manh album. Doan Phi’s Thien Than Toi Loi is the latter.

Doan Phi is an entertainer and Asia brought him in just for that purpose. He is fun to watch. Who wouldn’t get a kick out of a little dude prancing around the stage like he has no spine in his body? As far as his vocal development, I have heard nada. Thien Than Toi Loi is not like a box of chocolate. Even without listening to album, you’ll already know exactly what you’ll get.

He hides his voice behind uptempo beats like “Quen Di,” “Membo Italian” and “Mua He Tinh Yeu.” He hardly gets out of his comfort register. The slow tracks including “Em Yeu Oi,” “Mot Trai Tim Mot Tinh Yeu” and “Giac Mo Tuyet Voi” show the whiny, feminine side of him. Trish joins him on “Tinh La Soi To.” With two of Asia’s weakest vocalists and a mechanical club production make this version the worse yet.

The release of Thien Than Toi Loi is like Asia throwing Doan Phi a bone for being with the production.

You sure know how to put on a scene if things don’t go your way. When you were about six months, you tried to bang your head on the floor when we don’t give you what you want. As a protective parent, I couldn’t let you do that to yourself. I stopped you and tried to calm you down. In return you took it for granted. One time I just let you bang your forehead on the hardwood floor and you immediately realized that your head is not as solid as the floor. You learned your lesson and stopped using that trick.

Lately you had found a new one. If you don’t like something, you would slide on the floor and kick your feet. You don’t just slide on any floor though. You run to the rug or carpet to do it. You figured it would be less painful to do it on something soft. We just got a kick of of you whenever you try to pull that off. It’s quite hilarious. We just laughed and you laughed back and forgot the whole misbehavior attitude. You’re quite a character, son.

Watching you eat Canh Kho Hoa (bitter gourd soup) today was quite a pleasure. Your aunt can’t take the bitterness of it, yet you just scoop it up and slurp it down. Now that is my boy. You also begin to be interested in books. You like me to read Dr. Seuss to you. Your current favorite book is Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb. You like it when I make the “ditty dum dum” sound. You also have a great sense of rhythm and you could dance to any beat including Le Quyen’s version of “Han Mac Tu” and Thanh Ha’s version of “Tinh La Soi To.”

Our new Dean who is an expert in the fields of economic reform in China speaks some Chinese in a new video. I designed an email announcement for the video.

Miles Davis on his own sound:

Sound is important to me. I have a mid-Western sound. I used to play the cornet, so I prefer a round sound. If I can’t get that sound, I can’t play anything. The sound I have is like a round voice. I’ve practiced my tone for almost… fifty years, and if I can’t hear my tone, I can’t play…. If I lose my tone, I can’t fuck, I can’t make love, can’t do nuthin’. I’ll just walk into the ocean and die.

Vassar Web Design pays tribute to our friend Kevin Davis. The page showcases Kevin’s work during his four years with the college. Inspiring designs, photographies and illustrations.

Now you can promote your product, event or service on the Visualgui.com’s homepage. Find out more about advertising opportunity and pricing on the advertise section.

Once in a while, I receive inquiries from various readers asking me the price for putting up a banner on my homepage to promote their upcoming events. I use the space mostly to promote my own work and occasionally support something I enjoy like a new CD. I want the banner to be changing to keep the site fresh and I also would like to experiment with the concept of ads are content: “Advertisements and promotions contribute to the experience you provide. Like any other content on your site, ads should be useful, relevant, and current.” Since I am making the ads part of my site, both the content and the design have to be approved by me.

To kick things off, I am offering $100 off for September. So contact me if you want to schedule an ad.

With a sultry voice and a voluptuous figure, Thanh Ha is a bitch of a singer. On her latest release, Chia Khoa Tinh Yeu, she tries to mind-fuck both your body and soul. On the front cover, she teases you with a plain, simple white dress that could easily pull right off. On the back, she’s already on the sheet in her arousing lingerie waiting for you to take her home and make luscious love to her.

With Roland Casiquin and Duc Tri holding down the board, Thanh Ha makes a huge success in making Chia Khoa Tinh Yeu sexy and fresh even though the repertoire is scattered all over the place, which prevents the album from being a booty-call soundtrack. You could probably get your groove on with the jazz-arranged “Dem Do Thi,” but how do you make love to the cha-cha “Sai Gon Dep Lam?” Sai Gon is hot as hell, especially in the summer, but you will piss off a lot of people if you try to make love to her even though she already lost her virginity to the other regime. I have no idea where I am going with this, but I like Thanh Ha’s effortless flow on both track.

If I were given the opportunity to shape the direction of the album, I would start off Chia Khoa Tinh Yeu with the seducing remake of “Tinh La Soi To.” The funk-rock production is perfect for a strip tease. Like what the lyrics suggested: “Hay biet hom nay minh van con nhau day / Neu lo mai sau tinh troi vao dang cay.” That’s right, no one knows where love will be at tomorrow. So just make as much love as you can today. Once the clothes are all off, I would slow down the vibe with “Soi Buoc Em,” a powerful, gorgeous ballad that showcases Thanh Ha’s soulful side along with the sensational “Hoai Cam” and “Mong Manh.”

If Thanh Ha could throw more slow, blues-jazz ballads such as “Tinh Lo,” “Noi Long” and “Mua Thu Canh Nhau” into the mix, this would have become a great baby-making album. You wouldn’t need to pay thousands of dollars for IVF. Just buy this album and play it again and again with your partner and you’ll guarantee to make a beautiful baby in no time. In a more serious note, Chia Khoa Tinh Yeu is a proof that Thanh Ha is, without a doubt, the one who holds the key when it come to love even though she also has the ignition.

Everyday you came home from daycare, you got food all over your clothes and even some stain on your face too. Seeing you holding the spoon feeding yourself, I could imagine how it all happened.

You’re showing your independence by not letting us spoon feed you anymore. You rather do it yourself even though most of the food makes on instead of inside your belly. Watching you focusing on getting the food from the bowl to your mouth is a real joy. You scoop up a little at a time and sometimes nothing in your spoon at all. With frustration, you just dump the bowl onto your face like you did today with Bun Bo Hue. It was also hilarious they way you torn up the pig thigh after watching me struggling with it myself.

In addition of feeding yourself, you also like to brush your teeth all by yourself. You got mad when I tried to help you out. I am liking the independent attitude of yours. Keep that up, son. Keep being independent. Keep smiling. Keep blow kisses. Keep weaving. Keep walking freely and explore anything that you find intriguing. Seeing you grow and enjoying your life are all that I could ever ask for from a father.