Woke up at eight this morning and the rain was pouring. Stayed in bed and closed eyes for a little bit longer. Got up and cleaned the drains in the bathroom sinks. So much hair stuck in there, yuckie. At noon, a cousin and his wife dropped by to check out the house. Went to have some pho after they left and went to pick up Street Fighter 4 for sister-in-law’s husband birthday. Stopped by Marlo to check out the sales. Ended up with a dinning table with six leather chairs and a sectional sofa. Went over to sister-in-law’s place for dinner. Enjoyed some Street Fighter action. Went home took a shower and loved the laundry shooter. It’s the best feature of the entire house. Sitting here listening to Dexter Gordon’s Ballads while typing up this post. Damn, a day off drifted by so fast.

I took my laptop with me to the jam session so I listen to some jazz and work on the newsletter as well. I then decided to pull up GarageBand and make a record of the session. Here is one of the tunes both faculty and students played together.

I knocked myself in the head for forgetting to attend Wynton Marsalis’s 2009 Nancy Hanks Lecture. Fortunately the entire lecture is online to listen and watch. Marsalis dropped his jazz history knowledge and played some hypnotic jazz samples. It’s quite a remarkable lecture.

Over the year, I had been to a number of Vietnamese concerts in Virginia and all of them disappointed me. Singers sounded like they came to do their job and the bands lacked passion and imagination. The only concert that still stood out to me was Thu Phuong in Toronto I went to two years ago. What was so great about that night was that Thu Phuong owned the stage, even though she was accompanied by the Canadian jazz band. She didn’t sing jazz, but the jazzy vibes appealed to the mass audience. My brother-in-law and his friend loved the show even though they are not jazz freaks.

So if I have it my way, I would love to bring that experience to Virginia and also heighten it up a notch by giving the musicians more freedom to improvise. The GW’s faculty quartet would be a perfect band to accompany as well as to improvise. The pianist has some Monk’s chops and classical licks. The drummer is from Latin America who could kick some real nice bossa nova rhythm. The bassist could walk and talk like Ron Carter. The saxophonist has some of Coltrane’s influence. I would also throw in a student trumpeter who blew down the house at every jam session.

So if I have an opportunity to organize a concert, I would invite Thu Phuong to kick off the first show. She could attract both the popular audience as well as the aficionados. I have Tung Duong in mind too, but he is too way out there for the first concert. The show would feature only 10 to 15 tunes and I would limit to just Trinh Cong Son’s songbook. To keep the concert spontaneous, Thu Phuong can only meet with the band once to make sure everyone is on the same keys. She would not have to sing jazz. She would start off with the first verse and let the band take over to improvise. She would then return to take the tune out.

Yes, I do recognize that it is easier said than done, but I hope someday we can do it even though I have no experience in organizing a show. Is it feasible to do? How many of you would come to a concert like this?

Bill O’Reilly said Emimen “represents the lowest form of entertainment in this country” and that Em means nothing and his newest video, in which he makes fun of Sarah Palin, means nothing, and yet, Bill brought it up on his own show. So Bill makes something out of nothing? I have to hand Bill his double standards.

I bought a bottle of Sho Chiku Bai Nigori at a Korean supermarket last Sunday and I have been enjoying a shot a day at dinner with my mom’s special nem. Nigori has a pleasant sweet flavor with a nice and smooth texture. It tastes like my grandmother’s com ruou that I used to love when I was a kid.

Lil Chuot Con is getting cuter and cuter each day. Love those big brown eyes (“ngây tròn”).

Quan Quynh is a new pho/bun (vermicelli) place located in Eden Center where XXX cafe used to be. (I guess the name of the cafe place didn’t attract too many nice people like myself). Quan Quynh prides itself in Pho Bac. It claims that Pho is everywhere, but only Quan Quynh has the authenticity of Pho Bac. Neither Dana and I were in the mood for pho, so we didn’t give it a try. Dana ordered Bun Oc and I went for Bun Ca Thac Lac. We both ended up with the same same broth and the only differences were the snail and the fish. The broth was passible, not too spicy and not too heavy. The thing about vermicelli is that you’ll be hungry again two hours later. We had to buy some binh mi to go for that night.

“Chỉ có ở người mẹ, bạn mới tìm được lòng chung thủy tuyệt đối… Bởi vì nơi mẹ bạn luôn là mục đích đầu tiên và sau cùng.” (Only from mother, you can find absolute faith… To her you’re the first and last purpose.) -Trịnh Công Sơn

Thai Hoa’s heartfelt rendition of “Huyen Thoai Me” brings back my childhood memories.

Marcus Roberts demonstrates the styles of Jelly Roll Morton, Duke and Monk with his own touch.