With just $2500, the children of Phi Loc received new sandals and bicycles to walk and ride to school. As our friend Theresa Le had witnessed:

The children ran off, some with their new sandals, sweet treats in hands, some rode off on their new bicycles. The church yard was filled with giggles and children’s laughter. Oh the joy of owning a brand new pair of sandals and bicycle!

If you would like to help putting a smile on these innocent children, write to [email protected] or [email protected] for more info or mail to:

Sr. Cecilia Nguyen, CCSS
St. Ambrose Catholic Church
3901 Woodburn Road
Annandale, VA 22003

NPR profiles Jackie McLean:

When McLean was 15, his mother bought him an alto saxophone, but it didn’t sound like Lester Young. It wasn’t until he heard Charlie Parker playing the alto that he fell in love with its sound. McLean recalled the first time he heard “Bird” play. “For the first time in the history of my life, I heard the alto saxophone and loved it,” McLean said. “I loved the way it sounded, the quality. I liked the ideas.”

Download the program here.

ShaunInman.com V8

“Put on” the remixed.

With Hat De Doi Cho, Y Lan’s second album of the year, she brought in Quang Tuan for collaboration. Clever choice. Quang Tuan’s slightly raspy baritone is a perfect complement to Y Lan’s sweet vocals. On the album opener, Ngo Thuy Mien’s “Mua Thu Cho Em,” their voices blend together like champagne and orange juice. The tangy duet is accompanied by Dong Son’s light, sensual arrangement.

The album as a whole is consistent track for track. Quang Tuan delivered his solo pieces, such as Trinh Cong Son’s “Goi Ten Bon Mua” and Doan Chuan and Tinh Linh’s “La Do Muon Chieu,” the way the writers had written. Similarly, Y Lan presents the tunes like Ngo Thuy Mien’s “Mat Thu” and Le Uyen Phuong’s “Tinh Khuc Cho Em” exactly as the composers intended. No crime in that. They both have done the timeless ballads the justice. Yet, for me covering old tunes without given them a fresh new vibe isn’t good enough. I prefer musicians to be more creative and more imaginative when they do covers. I favor musicians who aren’t afraid to step out of their comfort zone and to take the tunes onto a new path, something of their own.

Production wise, Hat De Doi Cho is not Dong Son’s most inspiring work. His orchestrations sound retread and laid back. Either the arrangements didn’t jump start the vocals or the vocals didn’t push the arrangements. The album is a quality work, but it just doesn’t sound like a new record.

My sister-in-law’s wedding turned out beautiful. The reception at Flanders Valley was wonderful. The food at the cocktail was way better than the main course. They also had an open bar, but only served wine and beer. I was hoping for some nice mix drinks. The Mimosa (champagne and orange juice) didn’t do me any good even though it was refreshing.

Thu Hoai and the Magic Night brought a magical experience once again. Both families and friends seemed to have a good time. I had a blast. After six, seven or eight glasses of wine, I was drunk enough to do a little song (“Sau Dong”) that I didn’t even remember the lyrics. Thanks to Dong, one of the band’s male vocalists, for helping me out. I can’t recall what the hell I was doing.

What made the whole atmosphere so lively was that it was just a whole a family. After spending a weekend with the folks on my wife’s side, I have to say, she has such a great loving and very supporting family. They are so friendly and down to earth. I feel so much integrated into the entire clan both young and old. It’s just a great feeling being part of a big joy. I am so looking forward to the next family gathering.

Now that both of the sisters are married, everyone is waiting for the oldest brother to make his move. He is quite a charmer and he is still single. Any single ladies want to join the clan? I can hook you up. What is my commission? Just a roasted pig head.

Tieng Hat Truong Chi continues Duc Tuan’s direction in concept album. He covers Van Cao’s tunes with the accompanying of Hoai Sa’s arrangements. Hoai Sa is a young, talented musician and he is one of the top-billing producers in Viet Nam. He is also passed for a jazz, semi-classical pianist; therefore, it is not a surprise that Duc Tuan enlisted him for this release.

Like his previous albums, Duc Tuan recorded Truong Chi with a set of standards: wise song selection and quality production. Sometimes a too-careful-too-perfect album returns a reverse effect. Truong Chi is indeed a perfect album, and its perfection robs its soul. In every track the arrangement has stripped down to its basic elements, which diminishes the depth and the textures of the work. The title track, “Truong Chi,” is beautiful rendition. Hoai Sa has done a superb job of playing the piano behind Duc Tuan. The problem is that the track is six minutes long, and without variations, it gets worn out quick. Both “Thu Co Lieu” and “Buon Tan Thu” have a repetitive, mechanical drum track throughout, which doesn’t help Duc Tuan’s little fatigued and breathy vocals.

“Ben Xuan” and “Thien Thai” are good, but could have been better if Hoai Sa could add some colorization and dynamics into the harmonization—something Duc Tri has done so well in his orchestration. With an album like Truong Chi, production plays an important role in enhancing the music. If Hoai Sa could step up his game, the album would have been a great, instead of just decent, one.

My wife’s sister is getting married this weekend and she wanted to give me a haircut. She cut my hair plenty of times and even the couple days before our wedding, but it didn’t turn out quite right yesterday. The weather was hot so I made us some Strawberry Margarita, but this time I put a bit too much Tequila and Grand Marnier. The cocktail came out delicious, so was the buzz.

She started to cut my hair with the blade guard. Everything turned out perfect until she took off the blade guard to do the sideburn and back trims. Of all the sudden, I felt the blade touched my head and it was not close to my neck where it was suppose to be. She freaked out and I told her not to worry. I asked her to shave the bottom of my head and to blend up to the top, but she apologized and broke down and cried. I pulled her into my arm and comforted her. I told her it was no big deal and she could fix it, but she wouldn’t even touch the clipper.

So now I am walking around with a hairless spot on the back of my head. I am actually proud of it. Every time I touch the back of my head, it reminds me of the special moment that I feel so loved even though I should have been the one that freaked out.

I have a perfect title for Nas’s new album: Sleepmatic. I can’t get through fifteen tracks on Untitled in a straight shot. Let’s just forget about the lifeless beats. Nas doesn’t care about them. Lyricism is where his heart beats, but he is just rambling about racism, politic, Fox News, fried chicken and roaches.

Nas is a gifted lyricist when he wants to be, but on Untitled most of his rhymes are comical. In “Roach Project,” he raps as a roach: “I’m creeping and crawling / in your sink or your toilet / I’ll be drinking from your spit
/ anything cause I’m more less an insect with four legs / people come and I fake dead
/ correction I got eight legs.” Then on “Fried Chicken” (featuring Busta Rhymes) he compares women to fried chicken: “Don’t know a part of you that I love best
/ your legs or your breast.” Elsewhere he sounds like rapping while sleeping: “Then I cop, then I yatch, then I dock.”

Album-opener “Queens Get the Money” is the only exceptional track. Accompanied by just a strange-sounding keyboard ostinato, Nas packs his words into one impressive verse that runs about two minutes long. It’s actually more like an intro than a song. Nas only pushed himself to a half-assed potential.

As I was about to grab something quick for lunch, my wife called to come over for lunch. I quickly looked up a place special to take her. Brasserie Beck came to mind. This Belgium cuisine is the place that I could not get a reservation on the weekend before 10pm. So I figure I could get it on a Wednesday lunch. I made a reservation, picked her up at the Metro, and we walked twelve blocks to get to 1101 K Street.

The place was pretty busy for a Wednesday afternoon. I ordered a roasted rabbit in Kriek beer and she went for a pan-seared fillet of salmon with curry fennel sauce. We ordered two fruit beers, St. Louis Kriek (cherry flavor) and Floris Pomme “Apple.” They have a nice taste, but each is $12 a pop. The rabbit tasted pretty much like chicken, and the sauce was simply plain. Her salmon was just grilled and sat on top of the curry sauce.

Nothing stood out except the bill. We had an eighty-dollar lunch. If I were to have a choice, I would rather settle for Hai Duong’s bun mam or Thanh Truc’s bun bo hue. I am still glad my wife came over to have lunch with me though.