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Cuong Vu 4-Tet: Leaps of Faith
by Stephen Wood
Cuong Vu's Leaps of Faith is one of the most creative and thoughtful jazz recordings released so far this year, suggesting that jazz remains alive and thriving. Like the best of contemporary jazz, it's mixture of worlds is both atonal and melodic; free, but following form; complex, while also accessible. This record is rich in musical experiences, beginning with a free-flowing interpretation of the classic “Body and Soul," that drifts along on Vu's tender trumpet lines. Another ...
Continue ReadingCuong Vu 4-Tet: Leaps of Faith
by C. Michael Bailey
The order and presentation of music on a recording or in a recital are every bit as important in the music producer's skill set as is choosing what music to include. Had trumpeter Cuong Vu introduced his Vu-Tet's Leaps of Faith with the title piece, or “Child-Like (for Vina)," it would have been easy to dismiss the recording as a well-intentioned experiment, descending into noise and chaos before making its point. Instead, Vu and co-producer/bassist Luke Bergman wisely introduce the ...
Continue ReadingMickey Finn + Cuong Vu: Gagarin!
by AAJ Italy Staff
Apprendiamo da Wikipedia che “Mickey Finn" è un termine gergale usato per indicare un drink addizionato di sostanze psicotrope, servito all'insaputa del malcapitato con l'intento di fargli perdere conoscenza e derubarlo. Potrebbe bastare questo per inquadrare il progetto dell'omonima band, perché il loro Gagarin! contiene dodici brani vogliosi d'esplorazione, pieni di allucinazioni sonore, labirinti ritmici, e visioni celestiali che richiamano i viaggi psichedelici. La band si muove seguendo delle linee compositive trasversali e si avvale della collaborazione decisiva del trombettista ...
Continue ReadingCuong Vu: Vu-Tet
by AAJ Italy Staff
Questo nuovo lavoro del trombettista Cuong Vu parte in maniera decisamente misteriosa, con i timbri scuri e l’incedere lento, con il piglio della navigazione solitaria. Un viaggio sospeso dentro ad un B Movie di fantascienza ambientato nei territori polverosi di un pianeta bluastro che non è stato ancora scoperto. Al centro della scena sta l’elettronica con la quale lo strumento di Cuong Vu si misura in continuazione, mentre spesso i due ritmi (Stomu Takeishi e Ted Poor) sembrano fare da ...
Continue ReadingCuong Vu: More Than Just Notes
by Sean Patrick Fitzell
Truculent blasts of white noise kissed with delay. Ghostly whispers evolving to plaintive cries. Soaring melodies comprised of bold, rounded notes. Trumpeter Cuong Vu's vast sonic palette was formed with intense dedication and by choosing nonconformist paths.After moving to New York in 1994, his sound quickly found a home with veterans like drummer Gerry Hemingway and pianist Myra Melford; contemporaries like saxophonist Chris Speed and keyboardist Jamie Saft and legends like Laurie Anderson and guitarist Pat Metheny. He's ...
Continue ReadingCuong Vu: Vu-tet
by Budd Kopman
One way to gauge the strength of a jazz player, especially one who also composes, is to be able identify his or her vision regardless of the changes that occur in the output over time. Does he or she have an attitude, a voice, or a musical message that draws one in, possibly challenging assumptions along the way? With Vu-tet, trumpeter and electronic sound painter Cuong Vu has created an extremely strong and integrated work that is ...
Continue ReadingCuong Vu: Vu-tet
by Jeff Dayton-Johnson
It's a funny sensation of displacement, the “Vu effect." One moment, you're embraced by a warm and almost New Age-y sense of wholeness. This is the case of leader Cuong Vu's airy, ethereal trumpet playing on “Intro" or “Now I Know." In the same vein, bassist Stomu Takeishi borrows liberally from Jaco Pastorious' trick bag (e.g. “Continuum"): sunny and serene harmonics on “Just a Memory," elastic statements of melody on “Solitary Confinement." The next moment, however, Takeishi and ...
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