Duke still woke up every one and a half hour last night. At 3:00 am, I took him downstairs so his mom could get some sleep. She who feeds him every two hours works the hardest among us. I held him in my arms for two hours and he didn’t go back to sleep. I haven’t slept much for the past three days; therefore, my head has been pounding. Yet, his gorgeous face and glowing eyes takes all the pounding away.

I tried to give him some “Quiet Nights” from Diana Krall, but he didn’t want to stay quiet. I had to take him back to Duke Ellington. From the whistle blows to the escaping-steam sounds to the speedy departure of the train sounds, he loved the “Ellington Effects.” I love listening to jazz with him and enjoy every moment we spend together.

Every time he cries, I put him closure to my heart and he would stop. I love the way he looks at me with one and a half opening eyes. One of the things Duke has changed me is that I shave more often now. Before he arrived, I wouldn’t shave for weeks, but know I have to so that I don’t have to poke him. I just can’t help kissing his smooth, fresh cheek, little hands and feet. They are just too adorable.

Thanks folks once again for all the love. I haven’t been very responsive to everyone, especially email, Facebook and Twitter, but I have read and appreciate your words.

Duke gets a shout-out in the GWSB News:

Donny Truong, GWSB’s web developer, and his wife, Dana, welcomed their first child—a son—on April 25. Trương Công Đạo weighed in at 7 pounds and 1 ounce. The jazz-loving parents have already nicknamed the baby “Duke,” after the District of Columbia’s own Duke Ellington. A happy Truong says his son’s birth and first cries were “like a personal video that plays over and over again in my head.“

Duke is enjoying Duke Ellington with his daddy now.

Truong Cong Dao aka Duke was born on Saturday, April 25th at 1:46 am. He’s 7lbs 1oz and 20″. Both Dana and Duke are doing great.

The laboring was quite an experience and I am so thankful to witness the joy and the pain of birth. Dana started contraction right after I picked her up from work, which was around 5:30pm. We drove home anyway because the contractions were minor. As I finished vacuum my car and got everything ready, Dana’s contractions increased. We called the doctor and he told us to come to the hospital right away.

Dana was already in tremendous pain by the time we checked in, which was around 8:00pm. I felt horrible that she had to bear all these pains and she was only 6cm dilated. The doctor recommended epidural to ease the pain. Dana looked at me and I couldn’t tell her what she should do. I felt her pain, but I was not the one in pain. So the only thing I could do was giving her my support. She agreed to it. After epidural, we waited for four more hours. Thankfully, Dana’s mother, sister and brother-in-law arrived around 9:30 to keep us companied. Around midnight, Dana was 9cm dilated. The doctor started to deliver, but his head hadn’t dropped yet. We waited for another forty-five minutes and if his head still not dropped, the doctor had to go with c-section. Fortunately, his head started to drop. It took a number of times, but Dana had done a great job of pushing him out.

The image of him coming out of her and those first loud cries were the moments that I will never forget. It’s like a personal video that plays over and over again in my head.

With a deep, rich tenor voice and a classy taste, Thuy Vu recorded some of the most romantic ballads on his debut Thang Sau Troi Mua. In fact, my wife and I used his sensational rendition of Ngo Thuy Mien’s “Niem Khuc Cuoi” as a theme song for our wedding. Thang Sau Troi Mua is one of the albums that never grow out of me. I can just come back to it from time to time and still enjoy it.

In his long-waited, second follow-up, Tinh Khuc Thang Sau, Thuy Vu continues into the romantic path, but with a subtle touch of jazz. Dinh Hung and Pham Dinh Chuong’s “Mong Duoi Hoa” gets a bossa nova cover and his lust, cello-like baritone gets me every time. I am not ashamed to confess that I am totally gay for his bluesy take on Tran Thien Thanh’s “Nguoi Yeu Toi Khoc.” He also had done a great job of chucking the schmaltz out of “Lau Dai Tinh Ai” (from Tran Thien Thanh as well). The mid-tempo, funk groove adds a new flavor to the song.

The tempo for Y Van’s “Ao Anh” is a bit too fast. The brushwork behind his bass tone would have created a much better result. The somewhat disappointed track is Ngo Thuy Mien’s “Rieng Mot Goc Troi.” I was not looking for a better than a Tuan Ngoc version, but something completely different. Vocally, they are at the other end of the spectrum, which is good, but the saxophone killed it. Instead of accommodating the voice, the sax fights against it.

Like Thang Sau Troi Mua, Tinh Khuc Thang Sau (he must love June or something) shows Thuy Vu’s passion and admiration for the timeless ballads. He eases back, focuses on the lyrics and lets the sublime arrangements from Dinh Bao do the revitalization.

Like always, I woke up at 6:30 to get ready for work. While ironing my clothes, the doorbell rang. A neighbor informed me that someone smashed into my wife’s car around 6:00 in the morning. It looked as if the dude was driving for the opposite direction and somehow slammed into my wife’s car, which parked right in front of our house. The guy left the scene and his car as well. He did leave his insurance information on my windshield. That’s my birthday present.

Melody Gardot found her love for music after a severe car accident that caused her sensitive to sight and sound as well as left her with short-term memory loss. Since Gardot played the piano before she was hit by an SUV while riding her bicycle, a doctor encouraged her to use music as a form of therapy. Now, Gardot is an outstanding musician with a style of her own.

Gardot’s newest release, My One and Only Thrill, featured exceptional originals and a sensational cover. By wrapping her smoky timbre around the Brazilian rhythm, she gives Harold Arlen’s classic, “Over the Rainbow,” a refreshing flavor. From “Baby I’m a Fool” to “Deep Within the Corners of My Mind” she takes us on a journey of soul-searching and bittersweet introspection through her personal stories and honest deliveries backing up by Vince Mendoza’s lust, wistful orchestration.

Although Gardot’s lack of training in jazz is apparent on her scatting on “If the Stars Were Mine” (the way she rolls her Rs is somewhat irritating), her confidence in experimentation is made up for it. It’s not about technique; it’s about exploration. My One and Only Thrill testifies that if you like Norah Jones, Madeleine Peyroux and Diana Krall, you’ll dig Melody Gardot.

A heartfelt photo series of a bride who died five days after her wedding. Cancer stole her life.

Eminem’s cover for Relapse, his new album, has been revealed. His face is made up of various pills with a prescription label reads “Prescribed by Dr. Dre.” It’s quite a clever concept.

Quach Thanh Danh used to imitate Tuan Ngoc; now he is imitating Manh Dinh. On his fifth solo, Chuyen Hen Ho, the dude gets super wimpy. He sings like a pussy on the title track and dramatizes the shit out of “Ngon Truc Dao,” “Lanh Tron Dem Mua” and other “sen” songs with his campy phrasings. It’s a damn shame to witness such a great potential get sabotaged by the mainstream.

This dude fooled me. It takes me halfway into his debut Chang Trai De Thuong to realize that he is a dude. The title track is quite misleading. At first, I thought the singer was singing about a cute boy, but he actually sings about himself. “Kut Kit” is another track that is impossible to tell it’s a male voice. Move over Bang Kieu, Thanh Duy is the new bitch on the scene.