Paul Zetter – Parker’s Mood
Trying to capture the spirit of Charlie Parker, saxist Nguyen Bao Long is embarking on a new jazz venture ‘Jumping for Jazz’ that will promote the music more in Vietnam through a series of concert. The first kicks of on 25th April – for tickets and see event details, see Hanoi Grapevine’s previous post.
I dropped in on his rehearsal to catch the band in final preparations, running through their set list. Incorporating some Parker classics like Confirmation and Scrapple From The Apple but also adding some of his lesser know ballad interpretations like April in Paris, Long says he is not trying to replicate the music of the jazz legend. Instead they’re putting their own slant on Parker’s music making it more contemporary.
Bringing in a stellar rhythm section of the outstanding piano talent Nguyen Tien Manh, the effervescent drums of Le Viet Hung and Hanoi’s ‘go to’ bass mainstay, Dao Minh Fa, the band sounded snappy, edgy and hungry. Playing Parker’s music is not for the faint hearted – it’s easy to fall back on his more popular numbers like Now’s The Time and create pale pastiche. So I was heartened to hear them go through Moose The Mooche and see Ornithology on the set list.
Bao Long has access to such a fluid musical vocabulary that is deserving of a wider audience, his technique complimented by a vintage, burnished tone. He is switching to alto from his favoured tenor sax for this concert.
I wish Long and the band luck for the concert – it sounds like it going to snap and hope that there will also be more to come from Nguyen Bao Long’s new venture.
Words and photography by Paul Zetter © 2013
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. |