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Nguyen Le: Signature Edition 1

By John Kelman
April 5, 2010
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Few musicians embody the word "fusion" more than Parisian-born guitarist Nguy��n L��. The son of Vietnamese immigrants, for the past 25 years he's been mining a combination of fusion by the more conventional definition—the infusion of rock energy into the jazz sphere—with fusion in a broader sense, the seamless integration of music from cultures around the world. More than many, L��'s music represents a cross-pollination that, at any given time, can combine his own electric guitar—often distortion-tinged and whammy bar-driven, with bluesy bends like the best Occidental jazz-rocker, yet imbued with the Orient's microtonal nuances—with a Persian zarb daf drum, Vietnamese dan nguy��t lute, and classical cello. Signature Edition 1 presents a comprehensive cross-section of L��'s music across two generously stuffed discs, dating as far back as his early work with the group Ultramarine on the Afro-centric De (Musidisque, 1989), straight through to Saiyuki (ACT, 2009), where he travels from France to Japan, by way of India and Vietnam.

ACT's Signature Edition—timed to celebrate label head/producer Siggi Loch's 50th anniversary in the business—is modeled after ECM's :rarum series of 2002-2004 insofar as its artists are given free rein to choose what they consider to be representative material and sequence it in an order that makes sense. Unlike :rarum, however, ACT's artists can select music that goes beyond their work with the label, making Signature Edition, in many cases, more fully career-spanning. Certainly that's the case with its first four editions, which also include entries from guitarist

Ulf Wakenius

guitar
b.1958

" data-original-title="" title="">Ulf Wakenius, bassist/cellist/pianist

Lars Danielsson

bass
b.1958

" data-original-title="" title="">Lars Danielsson, and drummer Wolfgang Haffner.

In L��'s case, he hitched his wagon to ACT relatively early in his career, and so the majority of his collection is culled from the label, ranging from the electrified but

Oregon

band / ensemble / orchestra

" data-original-title="" title="">Oregon-esque Walking on the Tiger's Tail (2005), featuring pianist

Art Lande

piano

" data-original-title="" title="">Art Lande and Oregon's woodwind multi-instrumentalist

Paul McCandless

woodwinds
b.1947

" data-original-title="" title="">Paul McCandless, and the more expansively world music-driven Bakida (2000), a trio date with bassist

Renaud Garcia-Fons

bass

" data-original-title="" title="">Renaud Garcia-Fons contributing some stunningly virtuosic flamenco work, to L��'s unique take on the music of a rock icon with Purple: Celebrating Jimi Hendrix
guitar, electric
1942 - 1970
" data-original-title="" title="">Jimi Hendrix (2002).

Another differentiator with the Signature Edition is its inclusion of previously unreleased material. From the Saiyuki session comes "Magic Constant," with L��'s tart guitar driven by Prabhu Edouard's tablas and Mieko Miyazaki's swirling koto, while the grooving "Louxor Dance" is culled from the home recordings of Homescape (2006), combining L��'s skill at programmed beats and electronics with Italian trumpeter

Paolo Fresu

trumpet
b.1961

" data-original-title="" title="">Paolo Fresu's muted,

Miles Davis

trumpet
1926 - 1991

" data-original-title="" title="">Miles Davisian trumpet.

There are moments when L��'s conception suggests how

Pat Metheny

guitar
b.1954

" data-original-title="" title="">Pat Metheny Group might have sounded, had the iconic American guitarist looked east instead of south, and even some oblique

John Scofield

guitar
b.1951

" data-original-title="" title="">John Scofield-isms on the swinging "Miss One," from Miracles (Universal France, 1990). But what's most important about Signature Edition 1 is its ample evidence of an artist whose voice has been his own from the very beginning, regardless of context. It's hard to imagine a better introduction to—or consolidation of—L��'s rich body of work to date.

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Track Listing

CD1: Magic Constant; Sangam; La Rossinyol; Weaving & Waiting; Kokopanites; Zafaran; Louxor Dance; Totsu!; Snow On A Flower; Cold Winter, Faraway Land; Voodoo Child; Sao Sen. CD2: Dding Dek; Encanto; L'Arkha Li Jeya; Ifrikyia; Foow; Dance Of The Comet; The Wind Blew It Away; The Black Horse; Lupi Pilu; Miss One; Miracles; U Song.

Personnel

Nguyen Le

guitar, electric

Nguy��n L��: guitar, programming (CD1#4, CD1#6, CD1#7), samples (CD1#4, CD1#10), electronics (CD1#6, CD1#7), synths (CD1#10, CD1#11, CD2#3, CD2#4, CD2#7, CD2#8), guitar synth (CD2#6, CCD2#12), synth programming (CD2#9); Meiko Miyazaki: koto (CD1#1, CD1#2, CD1#4), vocals (CD1#2); Prabhu Edouard: tablas (CD1#1, CD1#2), vocals (CD1#2); Hariprasad Chaurasia: bansuri flute (CD1#2); Markus Stockhausen: trumpet (CD1#3); Claudio Puntin: reeds (CD1#3); Steffen Schorn: reeds (CD1#3); Frank Sackenheim: reeds (CD1#3); Arkady Shilkloper: French horn (CD1#3); Joe Sass: tuba (CD1#3); Lars Danielsson: bass (CD1#3); Peter Erskine: drums (CD1#3, CD1#5, CD1#12, CD2#6, CD2#10, CD2#11); RED URG 4: string quartet (CD1#3); Huong Thanh: vocals (CD1#4, CD1#10, CD2#7, CD2#8); Francis Lassus: radiator (CD1#4); Hao Nhi��n: zither (CD1#4, CD2#7, CD2#8), dan nguy��t lute (CD1#10), sao flute (CD1#10), dan bau (CD2#7); Etienne Mbapp��: electric bass (CD1#4, CD2#12); Alex Tran: percussion (CD1#4); Michel Benita: acoustic bass (CD1#5, CD1#10, CD1#12, CD2#7, CD2#8); Dhafer Youssef: oud and vocals (CD1#6); Paolo Fresu: trumpet (CD1#7, CD2#7, CD2#8); Art Lande: piano (CD1#8, CD1#9, CD2#9-11); Paul McCandless: oboe (CD1#8), soprano saxophone (CD1#9), English horn (CD1#9, CD2#9), reeds (CD2#9); Jamey Haddad: drums and percussion (CD1#8, CD1#9); Fran?ois Verly: bells (CD1#10), percussion (CD1#10, CD2#7, CD2#8), marimba (CD2#7, CD2#8), keys (CD2#8); Bijan Chemirani: zarb def and rek (CD1#10); Dominique Borker: piano (CD1#10); Ladislav Szathmary: cello (CD1#10); Meshell Ndegeocello: electric bass (CD1#11); Terri Lyne Carrington: drums (CD1#11); Karim Ziad: percussion (CD1#11), drums (CD2#3, CD2#4), gumbri (CD2#4), vocals (CD2#4); Aida Khann: vocals (CD1#11); Renaud Garcia-Fons: acoustic 5-string bass (CD2#1, CD2#2, CD2#5); Tino di Geraldo: drums and percussion (CD2#1, CD2#2); Kudsi Erguner: ney flute (CD2#1); Illya Amar: tuned gongs and marimba (CD1#2); Carles Benavent: electric bass (CD2#2); Michel Alibo: electric bass (CD2#3, CD2#4); B'net Houariyat: vocals (CD2#3, CD2#4), percussion (CD2#4); Stefano di Battista: alto saxophone (CD2#3); Jean Jacques Avnel: kora (CD2#3, CD2#4); Bojan Z.: piano (CD2#4); Alain Debiossat: soprano saxophone (CD2#4); Aly Wagu��: African Peul flute (CD2#4); Mino Cinelu: percussion (CD2#5); Marc Johnson: acoustic bass (CD2#6, CD2#10, CD2#11); Simon Spang Hansen: saxophones (CD2#7, CD2#8), flutes (CD2#7); Jo?l Allouche: drums (CD2#7-9), percussion (CD2#9); Steve Arg��elles: drums (CD2#8); Dean Johnson: acoustic bass (CD2#9); Mario Canonge: piano (CD2#12), synth (CD2#12); Pierre Olivier Govin: saxophone (CD2#12); Bago: percussion (CD2#12); Mokhtar Samba: drums (CD2#12).

Album information

Title: Signature Edition 1 | Year Released: 2010 | Record Label: ACT Music

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