HCM CITY — Internationally acclaimed jazz guitarist Nguyên Lê and leading Vietnamese  jazz saxophonist Trần Mạnh Tuấn will perform in a joint concert “Oriental Moods” in HCM City on May 6.

The musicians will play 12 songs composed by either Tuấn or Lê, featuring a fusion of Vietnamese traditional music and jazz.

The songs will include Sen (Lotus), Sương Sớm (The Morning Fog) and Hội Làng (Countryside Festival).

Vietnamese folk songs like Bèo Dạt Mây Trôi (Water-Fern and Wandering Clouds) and Qua Cầu Gió Bay (Gone with the Wind while Crossing Bridge) will also be performed.

“The concert provides an opportunity for Nguyên Lê and I to perform together and share our favourite Vietnamese traditional melodies with audiences,” said Tuấn.

The two musicians met in 2004 at a concert in Việt Nam, but have had no chance to co-operate until now.

Lê and Tuấn will share the stage with their friends, bassist Thanh Tân, French pianist Jean Sebastien, 19-year-old drummer Lê Minh Hiếu, and Tuấn’s 14-year-old daughter, saxophonist An Trần.

“We are lucky to have two young talents who can introduce traditional Vietnamese music to the world,” said Tuấn.

The artists will also invite Việt Nam’s leading traditional performers, including folk singer Kim Luyên, percussionist Đào Tuấn Trường, xẩm (blind busker’s singing) singer and kìm (two-stringed guitar) player Kim Anh Tấn to perform.

After the concert, Lê and Tuấn will also host a master class on May 7 to introduce fusion music to local audiences.

Internationally acclaimed jazz guitarist Nguyên Lê will perform in a joint with jazz saxophonist Tran Manh Tuan in HCM City on May 6. — Photos courtesy of the organiser

Born in Hà Nội, Tuấn, now 46, began playing the saxophone in 1979. He received a scholarship to study jazz at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts in the US and became the first Vietnamese to study there.

He has released 11 solo albums and worked with well-known Vietnamese and international singers and musicians. He has toured in Europe, Russia, China, Thailand, Singapore and the US

He owns a jazz club, Jazz Sax n’ Art, in HCM City.

Nguyên Lê was born in Paris in 1959 and entered the music business in 1983. His impressive career kicked off after he joined the French Orchestre National du Jazz in 1987.

He has released 16 albums. His album Jazz from Vietnam in 1996, a blend of Vietnamese traditional music and jazz, surprised the world.

In 2017, Lê and traditional artist Ngô Hồng Quang released album Hanoi Duo, which was nominated for Echo Jazz 2018, a prestigious jazz award hosted by the ACT Music recording company.

Lê was awarded the title Chevalier de l’ordre des Arts & des Lettres (Knight of the Order of the Arts and Letters) by the French Cultural Minister in 2011 for his energetic effort in promoting jazz across the world.

The concert will begin at 8pm at VOH Music One Theatre at 3 Nguyễn Đình Chiểu Street in District 1. Tickets are available at the venue. — VNS