Jazz master Nguyen Le to perform in Hanoi  

Vietnamese-French jazz artist Nguyen Le and Vietnamese singer Tung Duong will wow guests at The Rooftop Bar & Restaurant in Hanoi at 8 p.m. on July 12 and 13, reports Thanh Nien.

Le is famous for composing and playing various musical instruments such as guitar, drum, dan tranh (16-chord zither) and dan bau (monochord).

From 1987-1989 he was one of the guitarists of the French jazz orchestra. He has worked with many famous artists such as Didier Lockwood, Carla Bley, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Gil Evans and Quincy Jones. He founded Ultramarine in 1983 and released a number of successful CDs.

In 1996, he released ‘Tales from Vietnam’, in which Le combines jazz with Vietnamese folk music. The CD is globally acknowledged as a masterpiece and won numerous awards such as Diapason d’Or, Choc du Monde de la Musique, Choc de I’année Jazzman and was runner up at Jazzthing 96.

During the Hanoi shows, Le’s performances will be inspired by folk rhythms and songs such as The Bebel Tray, The Black Horse, Qua cau gio bay, Azur, Kokopanitsa, The Discourse, Ting Ning and Heave Ho. The show will also see T’rung artist Van Khanh, violinist Khac Quan and saxophonist Hong Kien.

The Rooftop Bar & Restaurant is on the 19th floor, Pacific Place, 83B Ly Thuong Kiet Street, Hoan Kiem District in Hanoi.

Tripp down to Hanoi’s Le Club

American singer Charmagne Tripp has arrived in Le Club to enthrall guests at the classy, romantic venue in Hanoi from Tuesdays to Sundays until the end of September.

Starting her show from 8:45 p.m., the lyricist and vocalist entertains and inspires the audience with Jazz, Soul and R&B pieces as well as the performances she has developed in her own Neo Soul and Smooth R&B styles.

Tripp’s recent success as the featured vocalist on the highly-anticipated album from rap superstar Eminem has exposed her to global audiences.

She wrote and sang the lyrics to the hook on ‘We Made You’, the first single released from the album ‘Relapse’ produced by Dr. Dre and Doc Ish which topped charts worldwide and won Eminem a Grammy for Best Rap album.

Tripp began her career and won the hearts of audiences with her rendition of ‘The National Anthem’ performed at professional competitions throughout the country.

She performed at Sean ‘P Diddy’ Combs’ 3rd Annual All-Star Festival in Mexico as well as appearing on stage with live Jazz and R&B bands at Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun Casinos and various music festivals.

She has also released albums ‘Cafe on Magne’, ‘This Christmas’ and ‘Purpose’ to critical acclaim.

Fahasa books on sale 10 days

Ho Chi Minh City Book Distribution Corporation Fahasa today opens its annual summer    discount book fair for around 100,000 Vietnamese and foreign books.

Best-sellers of the year such as My Fairy Funfair, Time Pirates - Kraken Attack, Pirate Ship and Space Adventure Pop-up are being sold for 10% off and various discount levels of up to 80% are being offered for other books.

First launched in 2000, Fahasa’s summer fair which gathers books from Fahasa bookstores around the country to offer them to readers at cheaper prices has become a popular event in HCMC.

The fair is being held at the Ho Chi Minh City Exhibition House at 92 Le Thanh Ton, District 1 and will end on July 10.

Sea Village Festival to take place in August

The Vietnam Sea Village Festival will take place in the central coastal province of Ninh Thuan from August 1-4.

The event is one of programmes in response to the National Tourism Year: South Central Coast – Phu Yen, said the provincial People’s Committee.

There will be a wide range of activities such as sports and arts exchanges and exhibitions to highlight traditional cultural characteristics of villages lying along the coast of Vietnam .

The festival offers chances for localities to promote cultural and marine tourism potential, contributing to heightening the public awareness of and love for the country’s sea and islands.

MTV makes Vietnam debut  

The MTV Vietnam channel was launched on July 1 on five major cable, digital and satellite television channels in Vietnam.

In addition to famous programs produced by International MTV, the channel, which targets the 15-34 age group, will broadcast typical Vietnamese traditional music programs and launch major musical events.

MTV Vietnam will be broadcast on HTVC, VCTV, VNPT, VTC and K+ systems, which have more than three million subscribers in total.

More details will be revealed by the MTV crew on July 1.

Asian Youth Orchestra to perform in Hanoi  
   
As part of its three-week international tour of 2011, the Asian Youth Orchestra (AYO) will perform at Hanoi Opera House on August 15-16.

Under the baton of principal conductor James Judd, the orchestra, together with violist Stefan Jackiw from the US, will present classical masterpieces, including Carmen Fantasy by Sarasate, Symphony No. 4 by Tchaikovsky, Carnival Overture, Symphony No. 2 by Rachmaninoff.

AYO is made up of 100 talented musicians aged 17 to 28, chosen annually by audition from among the best music students in mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. The Vietnamese members this year are cellist Nguyen Thanh Tu and obist Nguyen Hoang Tu.

They get together for six weeks each summer, initially for a three-week Summer Festival (Rehearsal Camp), and then perform on tour for three weeks.

This year, the tour, beginning on August 5 and continuing through August 29, will include performances in Hong Kong, Beijing, Tianjin, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Hanoi, Bangkok, Taipei and Tokyo.

Since its debut in 1990 the award-winning AYO has performed more than 300 concerts in Asia, Europe, the US and Australia for an audience of more than one million concertgoers. Millions more around the world have seen and heard the orchestra on CNN, CNBC, NHK, RTHK Hong Kong, and Star TV.