Rough Guide to Vietnam - Jan Dodd [384]
Music from Vietnam Vol 2: The City of Hué Caprice, Sweden. Ceremonial music with shawms, drums and a big gong, a military ensemble and a great court orchestra, as well as more intimate chamber groups of singers with dan bau, dan nguyet, dan nhi and dan tranh. Three local instrumental and vocal groups give the enticing flavour of this city, and the disc features the sprightly aged Nguyen Manh Cam, former drummer to the emperor. Good notes.
Vietnam: Buddhist Music from Hué Inedit, France. An atmospheric recording, full of ceremonial presence. It begins with sonorous drums and bells before two oboes enter for music marking the ascent to the “Esplanade of Heaven”. The complete ceremony of Khai Kinh, “Opening the Sacred Texts”, is recorded in one of Hué’s best pagodas, the Kim Thien. Not easy listening, but the music is nevertheless impressive. Good notes.
Vietnam: Poésies et Chants Ocora, France. Master musician Tran Van Khe and friends chant poetry (ngam tho) and ravish the dan tranh and dan nguyet (in the Nhac Tai Tu skilled chamber music repertory). Specialized and intimate performances with excellent notes and translations.
Music and theatre | Discography | Traditional |
Ethnic minority music
Gongs: Vietnam, Laos Playasound, France. Before there were skipping records or Steve Reich patterns there were these delicious mellifluously clangorous loops filling the jungle nights.
Music from Vietnam Vol 3: Ethnic Minorities Caprice, Sweden. The mosaic of cultures residing in the central and northern mountains has some astonishing musical traditions. This excellent and accessible selection kicks off with a piece from the E De: a beautiful “free-reed” cow-horn solo followed up by clattering poly-rhythmic gong patterns. There’s also music from the Nung, Muong and Hmong. Wonderful pipes, flutes, mouth organs and songs. Good notes.
Musiques des Montagnards Chant du Monde, France. Two CDs of extraordinary archival and recent recordings (1958–1997) from the central and northern highlands. Fourteen ethnic groups are covered and excellently described in the copious 119 page booklet.
Northern Vietnam: Music and Songs of the Minorities Buda Musique/Musique du Monde, France. A selection of recordings from the Giay, Nung, Tay, Dao, Thai and Hmong ethnic groups. A love song, courting melodies, wedding music, funeral music and the extraordinary Hmong khen.
Music and theatre | Discography |
New folk
Echoes of Ancestral Voices: Traditional Music of Vietnam Move, Australia. Music performed by husband and wife duo Dang Kim Hien and Le Tuan Hung. No fireworks, just a fragile, uncompromising intensity.
Moonlight in Vietnam Henry Street/Rounder, US. New music expertly played on Vietnam’s most extraordinary musical instruments, including the dan bau, k’long put and a stick-fiddle with a resonating disc held in the player’s mouth. The players are a Vancouver-based ensemble led by dan bau virtuoso Ho Khac Chi.
The Music of Vietnam Vols 1.1 & 1.2 Celestial Harmonies, US. Accessible, virtuoso and expertly recorded, these discs document an array of Vietnam’s best conservatoire--mediated styles. Through a compelling series of pieces, this is an entertaining overview of the full range of Vietnamese instruments. Full documentation.
Music and theatre | Discography |
Pop
Don Ho Ru Em/Lullaby Thuy Nga, US. Heart-throb lullabies from one of California’s hottest singers.
Khanh Ha Doi Da Vang/Vacant Rock-strewn Hill Khanh Ha Productions, US. Bilingual singing legend compared (favourably) to Barbra Streisand and Celine Dion.
My Linh Toc Ngan/Short Hair My Linh Productions, Vietnam. Hot arrangements of pieces all written for her sultry, crackly voice.
Nguyen Thanh Van Ho Khoan Le Thuy/River Song Van Nguyen Productions, US. Passion, pathos and folk references from this San Francisco-based artist.
Pham Duy Voyage Through the Motherland Co Loa, US. The first Vietnamese CD-ROM, featuring patriotic songs, karaoke options, video and