Nguyên Lê - Million Waves 1995

Nguyên Lê - Million Waves 1995

Jazz

Nourish your own roots until they blossom into a million flowers, a million scents, a million waves.
Vietnamese guitarist Nguyên Le is one of the major players on the world jazz scene. Born in 1959 in Paris, Lê is a self-taught musician who began playing drums at 15, and went on to master the guitar and electric bass. By the end of the ‘80’s, Nguyên Lê was orking in France with the likes of Carla Bley, Randy Brecker, Gil Evans and Quincy Jones.

In April 1994 guitarist Lê, bassist Dieter Ilg, and drummer Danny Gottlieb participated in trombonist Bobby Brookmeyer’s production, "Electricity" (ACT 9219-2), at the WDR studios in Cologne, Germany. Afterwards the three got into a spontaneous jam session in the studio. On hearing the music, ACT producer Siegfried Loch decided that evening to record the group. "Million waves" is the satisfying result. The dazzling 21 minute session is presented on the CD under the title "Trilogy". Producer Loch pointed out it could just as well have been titled "Birth of a Trio", since the session, recorded almost by chance, was the origin of this record. The statuesque "Mille Vagues" was inspired by ancient traditional Korean court music. Like a bird on a tortoise’s back, the aerial melodies balance on the massive hieratic drums. "Million Waves", like the million events which fashioned us; like the million traces we leave on the way.

Bassist Dieter Ilg is one of the most sought after creative bassist in Europe. His working credits include Michael Brecker, Al di Meola, Peter Erskine, Charlie Mariano, and Steve Khan. Trumpeter Randy Brecker commented: "Dieter challenges everybody to dive into the unknown, and then guides you back into the form of the original composition."

Drummer danny Gottlieb is one of the most versatile drummers on the contemporary jazz scene. On the one side an amazingly powerful rock-jazz fusion drummer, Gottlieb’s other side portrays a seldom-found lightness, suppleness, and subtlety. He has worked with such diverse stars as Pat Metheny, Airto, Gary Burton, Stan Getz, John McLaughlin, Gil Evans, and Sting.
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Nguyên Lê- Electric Guitar, Guitar Synthesizer, E-bow
Dieter Ilg- Acoustic Bass, Mouth Jive
Danny Gottlieb- Drums & Percussion
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01. Mille Vagues - 05:28 (Nguyên Lê)
02. Trilogy - 21:00 (Nguyên Lê)
03. Be Good - 04:16 (Nguyên Lê)
04. Mango Blues - 04:16 (Nguyên Lê)
05. Butterflies & Zebras - 03:25 (Nguyên Lê)
06. Little Wing - 04:01 (Jimi Hendrix)
07. El Saola - 05:48 (Nguyên Lê)
08. Sledge - 02:50 (Nguyên Lê)
09. Moonshine - 03:56 (Nguyên Lê)
10. I Feel Good - 03:59 (James Brown)
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Nguyên Lê - Maghreb & Friends 2007

Nguyên Lê - Maghreb & Friends 2007

Jazz

Born in Paris to Vietnamese parents, Le grew up listening to Deep Purple, then diversified. This explains his howling, fret-capering electric guitar style, although subtle whammy-bar usage does go a long way towards approximating the traditional folk sounds of his forebears. It's not as if this album only has 70s jazz-rock and Vietnam trad. to deal with. Its cast of players is mostly drawn from North Africa, with traditional string and skin (gimbri, bendir, etc.) mingling with the post-bebop horns of Paolo Fresu and Wolfgang Puschnig. All this rampant mixing might sound like a recipe for fusion disaster, but Le manages to fold in all the disparate elements convincingly, forging a particular hybrid that the listener is unlikely to find remotely familiar. Occasionally, his guitar is overworked, but mostly Le makes all the strange meetings appear entirely natural. "FunkRai" features Cheb Mami on synth, its funky rhythm track constructed from loops and samples, while "Ifrikyia" also brings in the West African kora and Peul people's flute. Le's singers also make new friends, a Maghrebi contingent alternating verses with Vietnamese and Guinean soloists during "Louanges".
By Martin Longley.
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Vietnamese guitarist Nguyen Le comes forth with perhaps his most musically diverse project, incorporating a nice array of African instumental and vocal influences into his mix. As I listened with great enjoyment, I couldn't help making some parallel to Pat Metheny's jazz fusion albums..."Maghreb and Friends" is so much more substantial. Whereas in the Metheny aggregations we get soft "da da ah ah" chants, here the lyrical content is charged with great emotion and fire. These folks want you to know and believe what they are singing. And, as for the playing, Le is far more akin to Michael Hedges than he is to Metheny.
A fine effort, try to find it, it is getting very scarce.
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Nguyên Lê- Guitars, fretless bass, vietnamese zither, programming
Karim Ziad- Drums, gumbri, perc (karkabous, taarijet, bendir, derbuka, tablas), vocals
Michel Alibo- Electric bass
Bojan Zulfikarpasic- Acoustic piano
Zahra Bani, Kadija Haliba, Malika Rhami, Saïda Madrani, Halima Zaiter- Vocals & perc (taarijet, bendir, naakkous, tar)
Wolfgang Puschnig- Alto sax
Paolo Fresu- Trumpet
Alain Debiossat- Soprano Sax
Stefano Di Battista- Alto & Soprano Sax
Mokhtar Samba– Drums
Cheb Mami- accordion- Synth
Djemaï Abdenour- Mandola, algerian banjo
Mejdoub Ftati– Violin
Aziz Sahmaoui– Vocals
Mohamed Menni- Vocals, perc (taarijet, bendir, derbuka)
Mehdi Askeur– Vocals
Huong Thanh- Vietnamese vocals
Hao Nhien- Vietnamese flute
Gaëlle Hervé– Vocals
Marielle Hervé– Vocals
Jean Jacques Avenel– Kora
Aly Wagué- African Peul flute & vocals
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01. Ifrikyia - 05:31 (Karim Ziad, Nguyên Lê)
02. Constantine - 06:20 (Nguyên Lê, Youcef Boukella)
03. Louanges - 05:53 (Karim Ziad)
04. Yhadik Allah - 04:37 (Nguyên Lê, Karim Ziad, B'net Houariyat)
05. Nora - 06:30 (Nguyên Lê, Karim Ziad)
06. Funk Raï - 05:15 (Nguyên Lê)
07. L'Arkha li jeya - 06:41 (Nguyên Lê, Karim Ziad, B'net Houariyat)
08. Guinia - 05:43 (Nguyên Lê, Dominique Borker)
09. Nesraf - 06:33 (Nguyên Lê, Mohammed El Anka)
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Nguyên Lê - Three Trios 1997

Nguyên Lê - Three Trios 1997
Label: Act
Audio CD (August 6, 1999)

Jazz

Nguyên Lê is a fusion guitarist who has versatility, leaves space, and does not mind caressing a melody now and then. On 3 Trios, he is heard with three different trios, all of which are impressive and engage in close interplay with the leader. Lê, who contributed nine of the 11 selections, is the lead voice throughout despite occasional solos from his sidemen. The music is adventurous and unpredictable, with even Thelonious Monk's "Straight No Chaser" being turned into creative fusion. 3 Trios is worth checking out by fans of rockish guitar solos. ~ By Scott Yanow, All Music Guide.
**
This is an outstanding record! To find out how deep, sensitive and powerful Nguyen Le his guitar plays it's better to listen twice or more! Even Le gives this album what it is, his partners made a great job too. However, to make the whole thing perfect I would recommend to be a little bit in fusion. If so, you will not disappointed. For sure.
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Nguyen Le is extremely versatile, from Funk to Rock, Jazz/Fusion to World. The spectrum of music/techniques changed from song to song. His techniques combine many styles unlike other vituosos with somewhat signatory chops. He also use the tremolo bar to retained micro-tones aka. the in-between-notes. Highly reccommended!
By Chi D. Nguyen.
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Peter Erskine- Drums,
Marc Johnson- Bass,
Danny Gottlieb- Drums,
Dieter Ilg- Bass,
Nguyen Le- Guitars, Gtr-Synth, Fretless Guitars,
Renaud Garcia Fons- Bass,

Special guest:
Mino Cinelu- Percussions, Drums
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01. Silk (3:22)
02. Silver (2:29)
03. Sand (3:51)
04. Dance Of The Comet (6:02)
05. Foow (7:49)
06. Kinderhund (3:33)
07. Woof (6:57)
08. Idoma (5:26)
09. La Parfum (5:38)
10. Blue Monkey (6:11)
11. Straight No Chaser (3:32)
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The Nguyên Lê Trio - Bakida 2000

The Nguyên Lê Trio - Bakida  2000
Label: ACT
Release Date: 2004-09-28

Jazz

"Unlike the CDs "Tales from Viêt-nam" or "Maghreb & Friends", Bakida does not deal with a specific culture. I rather see it as a synthesis of attainments and emotions, an inner motion that bears so many influences and dreams", is what the Vietnamese-French guitarist Nguyên Lê says about his new work, Bakida.

Bakida is partly the consequence of the guitarist’s musical life up to this present point in time. Nguyên Lê, born in Paris in 1959, and the child of Vietnamese immigrants, has always striven to be versatile. Lê had actually studied fine arts and philosophy;  the musical career of this self-taught musician was jump-started after he was called up to play in the French Orchestre National de Jazz under Antoine Hervé. He went on to work with such world class musicians as Dee Dee Bridgewater, Andy Emler, Carla Bley, Coutney Pine, Gil Evans, and Quincy Jones. He was especially thrown into the spotlight when he replaced Al DiMeola for performances of Vince Mendoza’s flamenco-jazz project, "Jazzpana" (ACT 9212-2), as the project went on the road. The music on his own recordings has taken a different direction every time: on Tales of Viêt-nam (ACT 9225-2), the guitarist respectfully combined the music of his homeland with jazz. On Mahgreb & Friends (ACT 9261-2), Lê’s orientation was mainly on the music of Algeria.

It has always been difficult to categorize Nguyên Lê’s music. Along with Lê’s sheer musicality, much of the attraction and appeal lies within this eclecticism. The youthful forty year old ignores all borders, which led the Franfurter Allgemeine newspaper to attest 1994 after his appearance with Vince Mendoza`s "Sketches" (ACT 9215-2) at the Berlin Jazz Festival to the following: "Nobody plays guitar like him." Actually, it is no surprise that Lê attempts to draw from every musical style and category. While on the one hand he was stamped by the strict tradition-conscious culture of his elders, on the other hand he was continually exposed to  the rainbow multi-culture that is Paris, constantly absorbing, intermixing , and transforming the myriad influences. This is "World Music" in the best sense of word.

The musical core of Bakida consists of Franco-Spanish bassist Renaud Garcia-Fons, Spanish drummer Tino di Geraldo. The "Trio Sand" is playing together since 1997 and performed in almost 100 concert.  On particular pieces longtime musical friends of Lê’s join in with the trio. These guests include Spanish bassist Carles Benavent, Algerian percussionist Karim Ziad, Vietnamese flutist Hao Nhiem Pham, Sardinian trumpeter Paolo Fresu, Turkish ney player Kudsi Erguner, Norwegian pianist Jon Balke, American saxophonist Chris Potter (recent winner of the Danish Jazz Par prize), and the French marimba player Illya Amar.
 
Bakida contains 10 pieces filled with vibrant colors and rich contrasts.  One moment the music is meditative, the next moment the listener is struck by its forceful energy. It contains elements of jazz, rock, funk, and classical music. Lê and his fellow musicians undertake a trip that runs from the Mediterranean coast to the South China Sea, effecting unexpected encounters with Turkey, Norway, America, Spain, Sardinia, Algeria, and Lê’s Vietnamese homeland along the way. It’s amazing to what extent the guitarist has molded a homogeneous music out of these diverse elements. The music doesn’t sound artificially constructed or arranged, but rather has a natural, inevitable feeling and flow. As Nguyên Lê says, "May all those colors, accents, and spices gather together in one sincere voice, like a central current flowing through the streams of cultures: West and East - middle and extreme, South and North - radiant and magnetic."
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Nguyên Lê- (Electric, acoustic and electroacoustic guitars, computer editing,
programmed synths, mandolin and bendir on "Lê"
Renaud Garcia Fons- (Acoustic 5-string bass)
Tino di Geraldo- (Drums, pandeiros, tablas, cajon, palmas)
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Carles Benavent- (Electric 5-string bass on "Encanto," "Heaven"
Karim Ziad- (Gumbri, karkabous, bendir, tarija, vocals on "Lê"
Hao Nhien Pham- (Meo and sao flutes, vocals on "Lê"
Paolo Fresu- (Trumpet and flugelhorn on "Lê"
Kudsi Erguner- (Ney flute on "Dding Dek"
Jon Balke- (Piano on "Romanichel"
Chris Potter- (Tenor saxophone on "Chinoir," "Madal"
Ilya Amar- (Marimba, tuned gongs on "Dding Dek"
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01. Dding Dek (Nguyên Lê) 05:22
02. Madal (Nguyên Lê) 06:51
03. Encanto (Nguyên Lê) 05:45
04. Bakida (Nguyên Lê) 04:41
05. Chinoir (Nguyên Lê) 05:10
06. Noche y Luz (Nguyên Lê) 04:35
07. Feel Feliz (Fons) 04:59
08. Heaven (Borker) 05:20
09. Lü (Nguyên Lê) 06:10
10. Romanichel (Nguyên Lê) 05:03
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