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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Nguyen Le: master guitarist and innovator,
By
This review is from: Purple: Celebrating Jimi Hendrix (Audio CD)
Purple is not my favorite Nguyen Le album. That being said, Le is such a stellar artist that even his least successful efforts are filled with inspiration and bear up to many repeated listenings, revealing depths that are rarely found in today's contemporary music scene. Purple is no exception.For the initiates to Les body of work, it should come as no surprise that he should have an affinity with Hendrix. Both artists are mavericks, both explored the roots of their cultures to build a foundation for their creative output. Hendrix of course came out of the blues and R&B, but was a visionary who often travelled far afield from the blues and found his early recognition in England. Le found inspiration in his own vietnamese traditional music and infused that sensibility into his own western blues tinged playing and his love of european harmony with which he forged a distinctive style all his own. Purple uses odd times, african rhythms and textures to cast Hendrix's music in an entirely new light. With a stroke of genious, Le boldly takes these songs, so strongly associated with Hendrix's signature vocals and uses female singers (Terry Lynn Carrington in her singing debut and a fabulous african singer, whose name escapes me,) which allows the listener to leave his expectations behind. From then on, its all a journey into the controlled dissonance and tight ensemble playing that is Le's musical turf. This is a good introduction to Le, but it is really only the tip of a rather massive iceberg. What follows is an overview and appreciation of Le. Nguyen Le is one of the most important jazz guitarists on the planet. He is the foremost proponent of an emerging style of music that I call world jazz. . He has a distinctive voice (or rather, voices) on the guitar that is as instantly recognizable as that of Metheny, Scofield, Abercrombie , Hall, Montgomery or any of the "immortals" of jazz guitar you can think of. From the sadly out of print Ultramarine band, to his out of print but essential recordings on Musidisc (Miracles and Zanzibar,) to his blending of Vietnamese tradiional music and jazz (Tales from Vietnam, Dragonfly, Moon and Wind) to his powerful trio records (Bakida three trios etc) to his Hendrix tribute CD, it is clear that Le is a master composer/arranger/producer as well as master guitarist. I don't understand why he is not more well known in the USA. The quality of his recordings is undeniable. While his style is both intelligent and melodic, he offers plenty of pyrotechnics for the guitar hero worshipper. Check out his incredible blending of middle eastern music and jazz on his masterpiece, "Mahgreb and Friends" Enough artistry on there to ensure Le's place in the pantheon of jazz innovators and ensure his place with the immortals.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Nguyen Le: master guitarist and innovator,
By
This review is from: Purple: Celebrating Jimi Hendrix (Audio CD)
Purple is not my favorite Nguyen Le album. That being said, Le is such a stellar artist that even his least successful efforts are filled with inspiration and bear up to many repeated listenings, revealing depths that are rarely found in today's contemporary music scene. Purple is no exception.For the initiates to Les body of work, it should come as no surprise that he should have an affinity with Hendrix. Both artists are mavericks, both explored the roots of their cultures to build a foundation for their creative output. Hendrix of course came out of the blues and R&B, but was a visionary who often travelled far afield from the blues and found his early recognition in England. Le found inspiration in his own vietnamese traditional music and infused that sensibility into his own western blues tinged playing and his love of european harmony with which he forged a distinctive style all his own. Purple uses odd times, african rhythms and textures to cast Hendrix's music in an entirely new light. With a stroke of genious, Le boldly takes these songs, so strongly associated with Hendrix's signature vocals and uses female singers (Terry Lynn Carrington in her singing debut and a fabulous african singer, whose name escapes me,) which allows the listener to leave his expectations behind. From then on, its all a journey into the controlled dissonance and tight ensemble playing that is Le's musical turf. This is a good introduction to Le, but it is really only the tip of a rather massive iceberg. What follows is an overview and appreciation of Le. Nguyen Le is one of the most important jazz guitarists on the planet. He is the foremost proponent of an emerging style of music that I call world jazz. . He has a distinctive voice (or rather, voices) on the guitar that is as instantly recognizable as that of Metheny, Scofield, Abercrombie , Hall, Montgomery or any of the "immortals" of jazz guitar you can think of. From the sadly out of print Ultramarine band, to his out of print but essential recordings on Musidisc (Miracles and Zanzibar,) to his blending of Vietnamese tradiional music and jazz (Tales from Vietnam, Dragonfly, Moon and Wind) to his powerful trio records (Bakida three trios etc) to his Hendrix tribute CD, it is clear that Le is a master composer/arranger/producer as well as master guitarist. I don't understand why he is not more well known in the USA. The quality of his recordings is undeniable. While his style is both intelligent and melodic, he offers plenty of pyrotechnics for the guitar hero worshipper. Check out his incredible blending of middle eastern music and jazz on his masterpiece, "Mahgreb and Friends" Enough artistry on there to ensure Le's place in the pantheon of jazz innovators and ensure his place with the immortals.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Unique voice & excellent work,
By Harold Smith (USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Purple: Celebrating Jimi Hendrix (Audio CD)
It's a tall order to tackle the best Hendrix' tunes and come up with something interesting that makes the listener put the inevitable comparisons aside. But Nguyen Le hits the mark.
What makes it interesting is that even if he occasionly uses a wailing rock sound, Le is not really a "Rock guitarist". He takes us into his own vision and rearranges the tunes into original pieces of work. In fact, the rock/blues purists may be disappointed here, whereas the Jazz/Fusion/World Music audience will probably enjoy it. Once themes are recognized, Le takes us on a journey that reveals unexpected angles on the original compositions. The arrangements and the playing are superb. Kudos to Terri Lynne Carrington for her drums, vocal and musical contributions. I only take a half star away for Aida Khann's singing in a foreign language on a couple tunes -- it's probably there to emphasize African roots but it also sounds a bit out of place; Jimmy's words would have been fine. In the universe of Jazz, Fusion and World Music, Nguyen Le has a unique voice. I hope this artist gets the recognition he deserves.
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