NGUYÊN LÊ - Overseas
ACT Records 9874-2
Nguyên Lê (elec & bs gtrs, electronics) Ngo Hong Quang (vcl, fiddle,harp, lute) Illya Amar (vbs) Trung Bao (beatbox) Alex Trung (drs, perc)
With guests Le Thi Van Mai (zither) Nguyen Hoang Anh (flt) Minh Dan Moi (perc) Chong Vu (tpt) Chris Minh Dorky (bs)
Sixty year old Nguyên Lê is a French guitarist of Vietnamese extraction, who although not too well known in the UK, is a prolific recording artist, with a high profile within mainland Europe and America. He has seventeen albums as a leader to his credit plus a prolific recording and performing history alongside many western "A" List jazz players including Randy Brecker, Vince Mendoza and Carla Bley. His recent recordings on ACT have attracted wide critical acclaim from the international music press. On this recording we find him with a band of all Vietnamese ex patriots, hence the album title "Overseas". The music here, although with a distinct jazz grove, is fused with hip hop, rock, reggae and electronica. His most well known recording in Great Britain is a reworking of Pink Floyd's "Dark Side Of The Moon", released with a nonet in 2015. The player most well known on these shores is the guest trumpet man Chong Vu, a cornerstone of the multi Grammy award winning Pat Metheny Group for many years.
All the pieces on the album are both written and produced by the leader. The whole recording, including the seven themes of "The Overseas Suite", are a triumph, sometimes exotic, sometimes startling, with up to ten musicians participating in a soundscape which is never cluttered at any time, has identifiable structure, clarity and purpose. Lê himself has great facility across his range of guitars and uses the advantages of electronic distortion techniques to great effect. With the wide range of instrumentation within the band a kaleidoscope of sound combinations is always on hand to keep the listeners attention firmly in place. This is a music that quickly draws you in to its mysterious web, no more so than on The Offering, which uses a very strong thematic line from the leaders guitar over expansive percussion somewhat in the style of the late great Brazilian Nana Vasconcelos, plus the far eastern sounds of Tribal Symmetry which features snake charming sounds from the flute over an electronic back drop. The twenty two minute suite, which is the center piece of the recording draws inspiration from some of the many cities where the musicians have resided, including Paris, Seattle, Berlin and Hanoi. From the wordless vocal gymnastics of Origin and Beat Rice Box to the spellbinding trumpet of Chong Vu on the album highlight In The Warm Rain this is one journey not to be missed. Some may label parts of the suite as World Music, maybe so, but there is certainly enough jazz sensibility to keep most on side. The album finishes with the intense folkish vocals of Ngo Hong Quang with a pair of songs Yellow Earth and Red Sky under the collective banner of "Mother Goddess".
In summary this is a fine album, somewhat challenging at times, that looks at jazz from a slightly different perspective. Most will find it a valuable addition to their collection.
Reviewed by Jim Burlong
ACT Records 9874-2
Nguyên Lê (elec & bs gtrs, electronics) Ngo Hong Quang (vcl, fiddle,harp, lute) Illya Amar (vbs) Trung Bao (beatbox) Alex Trung (drs, perc)
With guests Le Thi Van Mai (zither) Nguyen Hoang Anh (flt) Minh Dan Moi (perc) Chong Vu (tpt) Chris Minh Dorky (bs)
Sixty year old Nguyên Lê is a French guitarist of Vietnamese extraction, who although not too well known in the UK, is a prolific recording artist, with a high profile within mainland Europe and America. He has seventeen albums as a leader to his credit plus a prolific recording and performing history alongside many western "A" List jazz players including Randy Brecker, Vince Mendoza and Carla Bley. His recent recordings on ACT have attracted wide critical acclaim from the international music press. On this recording we find him with a band of all Vietnamese ex patriots, hence the album title "Overseas". The music here, although with a distinct jazz grove, is fused with hip hop, rock, reggae and electronica. His most well known recording in Great Britain is a reworking of Pink Floyd's "Dark Side Of The Moon", released with a nonet in 2015. The player most well known on these shores is the guest trumpet man Chong Vu, a cornerstone of the multi Grammy award winning Pat Metheny Group for many years.
All the pieces on the album are both written and produced by the leader. The whole recording, including the seven themes of "The Overseas Suite", are a triumph, sometimes exotic, sometimes startling, with up to ten musicians participating in a soundscape which is never cluttered at any time, has identifiable structure, clarity and purpose. Lê himself has great facility across his range of guitars and uses the advantages of electronic distortion techniques to great effect. With the wide range of instrumentation within the band a kaleidoscope of sound combinations is always on hand to keep the listeners attention firmly in place. This is a music that quickly draws you in to its mysterious web, no more so than on The Offering, which uses a very strong thematic line from the leaders guitar over expansive percussion somewhat in the style of the late great Brazilian Nana Vasconcelos, plus the far eastern sounds of Tribal Symmetry which features snake charming sounds from the flute over an electronic back drop. The twenty two minute suite, which is the center piece of the recording draws inspiration from some of the many cities where the musicians have resided, including Paris, Seattle, Berlin and Hanoi. From the wordless vocal gymnastics of Origin and Beat Rice Box to the spellbinding trumpet of Chong Vu on the album highlight In The Warm Rain this is one journey not to be missed. Some may label parts of the suite as World Music, maybe so, but there is certainly enough jazz sensibility to keep most on side. The album finishes with the intense folkish vocals of Ngo Hong Quang with a pair of songs Yellow Earth and Red Sky under the collective banner of "Mother Goddess".
In summary this is a fine album, somewhat challenging at times, that looks at jazz from a slightly different perspective. Most will find it a valuable addition to their collection.
Reviewed by Jim Burlong
