When I am about to be brainwashed by meaningless lyrics from young and trendy songwriters, Hoang Viet Khanh comes to resuscitate. In Tinh Khuc Hoang Viet Khanh, which featured ten of his selected ballads, he has me paid attention to his every word because the music is filled with poetic aesthetics. In fact, his compositions could be read like poems without musical notes.

The first time I was struck by “Cho Xuan,” the image of a mother, waiting spring after spring for her son to return, never escapes my mind. Backed up by the soul-stirring orchestral arrangement from Luan Hoang (HVK’s younger brother who is responsible for the production of the album), Trinh Vinh Trinh gives one of her finest performances. Her bona fide delivery aerates the song. When she blazes the chorus, the smoke of the burning golden leafs is visible.

Beside TVT, Cam Van is no less expressive in her poignant rendition of “Goc Nay Cua Em.” The scabrous bite in her voice thickens the emotional narrative of a parentless child being lonely in the cold corner of an empty street. Accompanied by Thanh Huy’s strumming guitar, she sings with so much soul that we could almost hear the cries in her voice. She has placed herself in HVK’s genuine lyrical content, and performs as if she has lived the character’s life.

Although Ngoc Anh is younger than Cam Van, she has a stickier (not necessarily better) gravel quality in her voice. With a razor-sharp emotional expression, she gives a nostalgic presentation of “Dong Song va Tinh Toi,” a river that is filled with HVK’s childhood recollections. Her duet with Quang Minh on “Tim Toi” is a strange combination. Unfortunately, his sweet voice doesn’t blend right with her densed timbre.

Quang Ly and My Dung are the two vocalists I’ve heard of for the first time, yet their indelible contributions attract me. With his pitch-perfect vocals combined with his sinuous phrasings, Quang Ly gives “Bong Dang” and “Ngay Xua Yeu Dau” (HVK’s first composition written when he was eighteen) exotic tinctures. My Dung also delivers a ravishing recitation of “Nho Ve Da Lat.”

Unlike today’s popular hits, HVK’s music takes time to assimilate. Each song requires personal attention, and best to be experienced in an intimate atmosphere. What makes HVK a fine musician is that he is both a composer and lyricist. The combination gives singers a solid understanding of his music for their individual interpretations; therefore, they are capable of expressing his art to its fullest potential.

Ve Nguon (Back to the Root) Foundation will be hosting a dance party on the 29th of October in Woodbridge, New Jersey to raise money for the flood victims in Viet Nam. The Magic Night band with lead singer Thu Hoai will be holding down the dance floor. These guys can jam. Check out their live performances on the band’s site, including the groovy chachacha ballad “Sai Gon Dep Lam,” the sweet sentimental “Unchained Melody,” the disco joints “I Will Survive & Hot Stuff,” and the Latin tune “Khuc Tinh Nong.” With a wide range of styles and Thu Hoai’s sensational vocals, I am sure they will keep you sweat. If you’re in or close by the NJ area, come out, have fun, meet new people, and most important of all, support the needy children and seniors in our homeland.

Like A Love Supreme, Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus documented four timeless masterpieces. Unlike John Coltrane’s spirituality, Mingus’s joints are filled with humanity. Charles Mingus Quartet (trumpeter Ted Curson, alto saxophonist/bass clarinetist Eric Dolphy, bassist/bandleader Charles Mingus, and drummer Dannie Richmond) is at its best. The musicians feel each other’s vibes, and play together like soldiers in combat, especially the level of energy they bring in “Folk Forms, No. 1,” which sets off the atmosphere for the next controversial piece. “Original Faubus Fables” is one of the most powerful and political jazz compositions in which Mingus and his musicians exercise their freedom of speech, “Boo! Nazi Fascist Supremacist / Boo! Ku Klux Klan (with your evil plan).” There is so much madness coming out of this tune, particularly the shouting from Mingus and Richmond. The screaming of Curson’s trumpet solo is just crazy. Once the band lets the chaos out of its system, it drops the mellow groove on “What Love.” Although the insanity is toned down, the spontaneous never left the building. The energetic mood picks up again on the forth track, which has a long title, “All the Things You Could Be By Now If Sigmund Freud’s Wife Was Your Mother.” CMPCM is amazing, and it shows how daring these musicians were willing to push their art to the limit. Imagine watching these cats in live action; it must be a rewarding experience.

When the great late 2pac Shakur dropped his classic Me Against the World, he was locked up for sexual harassment. A decade later, Kimberly Jones aka Lil’ Kim tells the world the Naked Truth about the shootout incident and the snitches before spending a year and a day behind bars. Despite the drama heading her way, Kim is more focused than ever. She pens tighter lyrics and spits slicker verses on her latest album.

With hit-making producers, including Scott Storch, T.I., and Fredwreck, laying down the beats, Kim has done a fabulous job of riding out her enemies. On “Spell Check,” she uses Biggie’s style spelling out the word “P-U-S-S-Y” to describe her former Junior M.A.F.I.A crew. She also pounds the homo-thug 50 Cent with, “The man, Five Oh, I don’t see him in the club / Cause he’s out in the CT with a dick in his butt.” On “Quiet,” with the Game on the hook, she applies Eminem’s aggressive and gimmick flow bitchslapping Foxy Brown, “… hoes wanna go to court til I pay them for their nails.”

When not dissing, Kim takes listeners back to her sex standards. Although the mind-freaking “Kitty Box” is raw, nasty, and highly erotic, she does not impressed me as much as her battling style. Plus, I really don’t give a damn if her vagina is “wetter than the whole Niagara” or how tight and right it is. Just give us the streetwise Bella, and leave the hardcore freaky stuffs out, especially “Gimme That.”

The juice of the record are those genuine joints such as “Slippin,” “All Good,” and” Last Day” where Queen Bee pours her heart out and rhymes like she has to get words out of her system. Naked Truth is Kim’s best work to date, in which her delivery has shown tremendous maturity, and she has proved it is true that “a cell’ll hold [her] body and never [her] mind.”

Last Friday, Cedar Walton Quartet‘s two-hour concert felt like ten minutes long. Pianist Walton mesmerized me with his effortless but electrifying style. I was watching his fingers moving up and down the keyboard the whole time. His bassist David Williams was also blazing, especially the way he smacked the bass up during his improvisations. The young saxophonist Vincent Herring was arresting. The musicians gave Vassar a fantastic time. For me, it was definitely too short.

New visuals again. Don’t you just love Visualgui.com? Fresh stuffs all the time.

Ngoc Lan’s Night broadcasted on VOA in Vietnamese by journalist Truong Ky.

Louis Armstrong’s The Complete Hot Five and Hot Seven Recordings is amazing. Pops’ singing, scatting and blowing are incredible. While his trumpet sounds like a human voice, his scat singing sounds like a trumpet. Of course, his rough vocals are unmatchable.

Ray Charles’s The Birth Of Soul: The Complete Atlantic Rhythm & Blues is another invaluable boxset that can be jam from one disc to the next. From “Roll With My Baby” to “Mess Around” to “What’d I Say, Parts 1 & 2,” Charles touches both your body and soul.

La Salle University (my old school) is redesigned. Still using nested tables and annoying Flash incorporated feature.

Stephen Chow is, as always, funny as hell in the parody of Royal Tramp (Tan Luc Dinh Ky). I watched the Vietnamese dubbed version and Van Son sounds horrible in Chow’s character.

After sixteen years in the Philippines (I could hardly lasted after six months), 229 Vietnamese refugees arrived at LA International Airport. Welcome on board, my people!

Ben Fink Shapiro, one of our student photographers in the College Relations, has an online portfolio showcasing his works.

Wickedrice is a blog from my hometown girl in Lancaster. Mai and I go way back to high school. It’s nice to see at least one of my friends is blogging more than me.

That’s it, folks. Have a great weekend!

Tiara Lestari is not only a voluptuous model, but also a fantastic individual. Her personal journal showcases both her beauty and brain. Tiara’s photos alone are worth visiting, particularly this sexy shot (I have a thing for women in white shirt, pants, and tie), but her writing is also engaging, especially when she speaks her mind.

Viet Anh’s “Khong Con Mua Thu” performed by Hong Nhung. It’s such a spendid piece.

From the intricate syncopation to the elaborate rhythms to the meticulous phrasings (instruments, scats and vocals), jazz is one of the most complex forms of music. Like a sophisticated lady, jazz takes time, tremendous patience and careful attentions to get acquainted with. Of course, the experience is rewarding once we tapped into her body and soul (I am referring to the musical pleasure).

If jazz is the sophisticated lady, Tom Piazza’s Understanding Jazz: Ways to Listen is a useful dating guide. He shows how the art is formed, explains how instruments integrate to create exotic sounds, and demonstrates the aesthetics of storytelling through syncopation, rhythm, improvisation, time and space. With an accompaniment CD consisted of seven classic jazz pieces including King Oliver’s “Weather Bird Rag,” Count Basie and Lester Young’s “Boogie Woogie” and Mile Davis Quintet’s “Footprint,” Piazza uses them as references throughout the book to help readers understand what he means when he talks about music. For example: “… listen to the series of descending figures [Sonny Rollins] plays in “Moritat” at 2:23, or listen at 3:02, when he alludes to the melody, or to the little grunt he emits at 3:42, or the yelp of assent right around 5:53, during his exchanges with drummer Max Roach.” In addition, the extensive of “Further Listening” recommendations at the end of each chapter will be helpful to those who wish to embark their journeys deeper into the world of jazz.

Understanding Jazz is recommended for the beginners. Once we understand the music, we can learn about the important figures, such as Pops, Duke, Bird, Dizz, Prez, Bean, Prince of Darkness, Lady Day, whose works made significant contribution to the world of jazz. The history is as intriguing and exciting as the music herself.

Willie “the Lion” Smith, a brilliant jazz pianist, demonstrates what “shout” means when he improvises James P. Johnson’s “Carolina Shout.” His stride style is just amazing.