Paul Zetter – The guitarist electric
 | Our jazz reviewer caught guitarist Nguyen Le and his all-star Vietnamese band in rehearsal for their forthcoming concert at the Roof Top Bar on 12 and 13 July. |
 | GIVEAWAYWin a copy of Nguyen Le’s new CD. Details at the bottom of this review. |
The guitarist electric
See Hanoi Grapevine’s previous post for concert details.
Meeting guitarist Nguyen Le for the first time, it is difficult to match his soft-spoken, humble manner with his awesome, exuberant guitar playing. A true world musician who has blended many types of music not just Vietnamese but North African, European folk, heavy rock, jazz and Latin American, Le’s body of recorded work is adventurous in sound and texture, rich in conceptual foundation and always played with a great depth of feeling. The arc of his musical journey thus far is nothing short of phenomenal in its reach.
Born in France, his journey to rediscover his Vietnamese roots started in early adulthood after coming out of a heavy rock phase – he professes an early liking for Deep Purple – where his fascination was for the guitar and electricity. For Le, his journey to rediscover his roots and his journey as an artist through music are one and the same – woven together in a quest for self-expression and artistic exploration that is not limited by boundaries, geographical or musical.
This, his fourth visit to Vietnam is especially significant to Le as his band here is made up of all Vietnamese musicians – a dream he expressed to his wife on a previous visit here. With the likes of the internationally acclaimed Vanessa Vo on Dan Tranh, vocalist Tung Duong and Nguyen Tuan Nam on piano, the seven piece band are gearing up for their performance with songs from Le’s discography including his new CD, Songs of Freedom on the esteemed jazz label, ACT.
As Vietnam develops so does the quality of its musicians explains Le and he’s honoured to be playing with some of the best for this concert. Le is living proof that even if you weren’t born in a particular country you can still make a valuable artistic contribution to its culture and music. He has filled his life with learning and embraced different musics and philosophies. It is this openness and accepting spirit coupled with a great respect for traditional forms and let’s not forget his quite remarkable technique, that makes his music so exciting, so electric.
Visit his website to find out more.
Words and photographs ⓒ Paul Zetter 2011
GIVEAWAY
We have a copy of Nguyen Le’s latest CD Songs of Freedom signed by the artist to give away. As usual the most interesting comment from readers in the comments box below explaining why you’d like the CD wins the prize. The winner will be announced here and contacted by email.
Below are links to Nguyen Le’s new CD on Amazon.
If you purchase anything from Amazon via the link below, a small percentage of what you pay will go to Hanoi Grapevine – a simple, painless and easy way to support Hanoi Grapevine!
Songs Of Freedom
Songs of Freedom
| Paul Zetter is an accomplished jazz musician, knowledgable fan and enthusiastic writer and reviewer. He also writes his own blog dedicated to reviews of jazz piano trios. Read more of his writing and listen to him perform some of his own original music on the piano. |
because i can’t afford to go to the show
Hats off to Nguyen Le. His amazing hands seem to do magic with the guitar
Nguyen Le’s music awakes my soul. The perfect blend of contemporary jazz and the Vietnamese traditional…I thank him for bringing us such a brilliant product.
One of the pictures of Nguyen Le I’ve seen recently although not on this page reminds me very much of an unforgettable shot of the Irish blues guitarist Rory Gallagher, whose Irish Tour album I coincidentally happen to be listening to this afternoon, and the list of Nguyen Le’s musical influences remind me of some of the lyrics from my favourite song of Rory Gallagher’s: ‘I’m a million miles away. I’m sailing like a driftwood on a windy bay.’ If by some astonishing stroke of fortune I were to win Nguyen Le’s CD I would play it loud and proud in our little apartment here in central Hanoi, and then I would play Irish Tour right after that.
I already see truly freedom feeling, when I join in his music world.
wonderful!
Hi,
Nguyen Le’s album namely “Purple: Celebrating Jimi Hendrix” has been my all-time favorite. His guitar makes me think of Jimi Hendrix, Pat Metheny whose guitars have always been tuned astonishingly, that’s terrific I think. The music is umbrued with humanity color, it awakes what resides deep in a soul. And I would love to know more of this musical talent, Nguyen Le with his adorable music. Thank you.
Cheers,
Huyen
and who says true tlent is gone???? nguyen le is great