Saigon Lounge, a collaborative effort between MC/singer Nguyet Anh, songwriter/producer Quoc Bao, and French arranger Laurent Jaccoux, is a perfect cure for insomnia. Like its title suggested, the album is intended for lounging bars, café shops, and maybe some make-out places in Ho Chi Minh City. Over electronic, mellow-out arrangements, Nguyet Anh delivered Quoc Bao’s eight familiar tracks like a really-bad-French-romantic-ballad singer. On “Vang Em,” her indistinctive voice comes through like an audio-reading device. Then there’s the horrendous Caribbean jazz groove on “La Yeu Chua Tung Yeu,” an unbearable smooth sax on “Cho Em Noi Them Trang,” and “Vua Biet Dau Yeu” is more like a disco joint than a relaxing track. Saigon Lounge is supposed to be for chilling out, but I rather kick back with Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck with Paul Desmond, or Stan Getz.

Exactly two weeks ago, when McCain said the fundamentals of our economy are strong, banks filed for bankruptcy and Dow Jones dropped 500 points. Today, right after McCain claimed the credit for passage of the bailout bill, it collapsed and the Dow plummeted 777 points, the worse loss ever. I am not blaming him for the Wall Street crash, I am just saying how dead wrong he is on the economy. Shouldn’t he suspend his entire campaign for this?

Quynh Lan, a bar singer with a sensual, smoky voice, knows a thing or two about intimacy. On Nguyen Anh 9 songbook, Ky Niem, she sings his song as if she’s living it. The minimal setting, accompanied by guitar or piano, helps bring out the personal interpretation in her phrasings.

Over a gorgeous strumming guitar, Quynh Lan gives “Co Don” a sense of solitude. She doesn’t belt out, but her words are filled with passion even on the low register. Many singers covered “Tinh Yeu Den Trong Gia Tu” in a bossa-nova groove, but Quynh Lan approaches it in a much slower pace and just bares her soul over Nguyen Anh 9’s elegant piano. The advantage of singing it in a relaxed tempo allows her the time to express the lyrics word for word. “Mua Thu Canh Nau” is another savory take on the blues. By leaving out drum, bass and horns (saxophone or trumpet), the piano provides only the essential chords and what left are simply the raw emotional vocals.

Though Ky Niem is not groundbreaking, the record is perfect for those who enjoy Vietnamese intimate ballads. Listening to it song for song on a rainy night is a pure melancholy pleasure.

I am glad to see someone who shares some of my views on politic, but could express them much better than I can. Nhien made such a great comment that I have to turn it into a post. You can read the entire piece here, but here is the highlight:

For us Vietnamese, many are still trapped in the bottom, most are still lower middle-class. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve done well in the short 33 years. Asia Productions and to some extend Thuy Nga have done a nice job in presenting this idea. I have done well myself in my current position. The truth is however if we look around we would immediately know that we, as a group, have a way to go. We need to help each other.

For me, voting for McCain and the Bush policy, or the any with an Republican ideology isn’t going to help our cause. They will in no way help level the playing field for the little people. Vietnamese veterans are turning a blind eye to the true issues at hand which is their own interest, social security, and. Worst yet, for some, simply just because Obama is black, they will choose not to vote for him. I find this is quite unfortunate. People don’t choose the color of their skin. Did we choose to be Vietnamese? We are Vietnamese. I think fate chose us. We came from a country with great people with great moral. We should be and have every reason to be proud.

There have been so much that are already documented in college libraries everywhere on the “white-privilege” issue where whites will tend to get a preference treatment. “When does this white-privilege happen?” you asked. In an elevator, in a court, on a bus, in a store, down the street, in renting, in selling, in buying, in hiring, those are some of the when’s. Most these are unspoken but I think we all know instinctively they exist and research back this up. Yes, we should never apply a reverse discrimination. However, the matter is if one thinks just because he is white he is going to be better and/or if he is black, he is undeserving is simply wrong. I am not implying that any one reading this might be thinking that way, but I do imply that some of our parents and uncles do think that way.

In the end, I admire Obama for what he has been able to do despite of everything. He endured all discriminations and has the capacity of hope to stand above it all! He has broken through many ceilings on purely his own merit and Hoang was kind enough to point out one of them.

On November 4th, perhaps Obama will get a chance to break through the highest ceiling of all. If he does this time, he wouldn’t have done it alone. He would know that it was people like Lincoln, Park, and Dr. King that paved the way for him. His grandparents, his mom, and others have nurtured him. Millions of others would have also believed in him and would have joined him.

I think it would be extremely sad for this country if a person like Obama was lose the election as a result for the mere the color of his skin. I hope this country is better than that. In reverse, I think it would be a great day for America to know if this country is above all that. And that you, I, and our children, if they too have hope, faith, and work hard enough, can achieve them all.

Like many others, I have been skeptic about politicians and the political process. It was not until this election that Obama drew me in and say that I too can make a difference.

In this election, Obama stands as beacon of hope for me, for us – yellow, black, white, and red. He serves as the best man to stand up for Vietnamese cause and people from everywhere in all walks of life. We were outcaste once not long ago as refugees. This country openly took us in. We love this country. This country however is in turmoil. It needs us in return. We in turn need a leader, a person like Obama to help bring about true change. America needs him. This world needs him. Your children and my children will need him. If you haven’t already, wouldn’t you join Donny and I and many others in this fight for a better America and a better world through this election? It is much too important to stay on the sideline.

Thanks a bunch.

http://www.barackobama.com

Thanks Nhien.

I will be attending the “Tinh Khuc Mua Thu” show courtesy of VietDC.org. I will be looking forward to Quang Tuan’s live performance.

I don’t have HBO, but my sister-in-law does; therefore, my wife and I paid her a visit to watch Chris Rock’s Kill the Messenger. Although I was laughing my ass off, I felt kind of embarrass watching it with my sister-in-law and her husband. Rock has been vulgar, but I didn’t expect him to go all out like that.

His sex jokes turned into pornography. I tried hard not to laugh at punch lines like “Pussy is like visa. It accepts everywhere,” or “if he comes, it doesn’t mean that you made him come.” I guess you have to be with a different crowd to enjoy it. Luckily, my wife was reading her book.

Having been a fan of Chris Rock since Bring the Pain, I had an idea of his topics: racism, “nigger,” black vs. white relationships and, of course, politics. I was waiting for some hard blows on McCain, but he only mocked his age, like McCain wants to talk about the future when he “ain’t gonna be there.” The people who know Obama will be under investigation, but the people who know McCain get off easy (“all his friends are dead.”)

This election has brought up some racial issues. For instance, the myth is that black people vote for Obama because he’s black. Rock clarified, “We vote for him not because he’s black. We vote for him because he’s black and qualified.” He hit it right on the spot.

After all these years, Bush remains Rock’s favorite target. He called him “worse president of president.” Rock’s knock out punch is when he responded to the question on the mind of most people. Is America ready for a black president? His answer: “We should be. We just had a retarded one.” Can’t agree more.

Through the first presidential debate, Obama has stepped up his game. Thanks to Hillary Clinton for the challenge she prepared him with during the primary. McCain, as predicted, was aggressive, but I was not surprised that Obama could handle the pressure after seeing him face to face with the intolerant O’Reilly. Obama handled the jabs by remained cool under attacks. McCain came strong, but Obama stayed focus and he responded directly to his opponent by looking straight in his eyes, whereas McCain seemed to look down to his opponent.

The vice presidential debate is going to be an interesting one. If not careful, Biden could come off mean or even sexist toward Palin. Beating Palin in debate shouldn’t break a sweat from Biden. Palin is clueless; therefore, he should focus on the issues, go straight at McCain and skillfully ignore her. If he could accomplish those three aspects, he could kill two birds with one stone. Not only he could knock out the debate, but also landing some punches at her running mate.

Kevin Mahogany’s last night performance in the Kennedy Center was enjoyable but not as ecstatic as the first time I saw him at Jazz in the Valley in West Park, New York. His gruff, husky voice hasn’t changed, but the band, The Godfathers of Groove, accompanied him didn’t hold up. The trio group consisted of Grant Green Jr. on guitar, J.T. Lewis on drums and Reuben Wilson on Hammond B3 organ. Personally, I prefer the piano to the organ. The major drawback was no thumping double bass to accommodate Mahogany’s hypnotic low register.

The Godfathers of Groove opens the show with an instrumental number and Kathy Kosins whose voice sounds like Diana Krall but less smoky sang two Kansas City blues, included “You Turned Your Back on Me.” She introduced Mahogany to the stage and he kicked off with him own blues tune called, “Kansas City Born and Bred.” He performed a handful of Kansas, shouting blues including “Centerpiece,” in which he scatted the entire B section. My favorite piece is “Please Send Me Someone to Love,” in which he sang with a soulful, gospel feel. There was also a medley that started in slow blues, but progressed in triple tempo. The best part was when he invited Kosins to join him for a scat duet.

The show was an hour and a half long, but it went by so fast. Mahogany was quite a funny man and he made us laughing in between the songs. I copped his live recording of Mahogany sings Hartman after the show. By the way, the Kennedy Center was gorgeous, and looking down to DC at night in the rain was a wonderful experience.

Kathleen Parker:

No one hates saying that more than I do. Like so many women, I’ve been pulling for Palin, wishing her the best, hoping she will perform brilliantly. I’ve also noticed that I watch her interviews with the held breath of an anxious parent, my finger poised over the mute button in case it gets too painful. Unfortunately, it often does. My cringe reflex is exhausted.

Bow out or not makes no different. Both McCain and Palin will bow down and out on November 4th.

In an interview with Larry King, Chris Rock said:”It’s simple, vote for the guy with one house.” I really want to see his HBO special, “Kill the Messenger,” tomorrow.