Cuong Vu

Tanager · October-1st-2004, 02:05 PM

Pete C. originally turned me on to Cuong Vu, and hearing him on Matthias Lupri's latest disk made me go back and dig up two sessions I have with him as a leader, Pure (Knitting Factory) and Bound (Omnitone). I'm digging Pure as I sit here, thinking of Bitches Brew-era Miles crossed with mid-80s Scofield on Gramavision ("Pitter Patter" has a baseline that sounds right out of Darryl Jones' playbook for Still Warm, fat and seamless electric tone included). The bassist, Stomu Takeishi, will at times use his bass more like a guitar, punctuating long streams of harmonics with meaty chord work, and at times he even reminds me a slightly of the few-and-far-between less self-indulgent parts of Les Claypool's playing. Continuing the Gramavision comparison (I'm into comparing labels today, I guess), the drummer, John Hollenbeck, sounds a lot like the guy on Fiuczynski and Medeski's excellent Lunar Crush - crashing cymbals and manic pounding providing a percussive canvas for the other two players. Vu, like Miles, seems to stick around the middle register, throwing out short, jabbing lines, also like you-know-who, although his tone isn't as sharp or bright as Miles' (I actually wanted to see if this were the case on his solo sides, b/c I didn't like his tone as much in the setting of the Lupri disk, but it works well here). He's much more apt than Miles, however, to make use of various squeals and squawks - stretching the limits of the sorts of sounds one can make with a trumpet. At times I dig that, at times I don't, but overall I like his work. He's got good melodic gifts, and in the slower, more focused passages his tone brightens up as well, such as on "Child-Like." Anyone else dig his stuff (or not, as the case may be)?

Sergio Zamora · October-1st-2004, 02:14 PM

Yeah, I haven't heard those in a while, but I dig'em plenty. Especially 'Bound'.

I was a bit surprised he joined the Pat Metheny Group, as I was really hoping he'd focus his talent in a different direction. Not a criticism per se, as he obviously has other outlets.

Tanager · October-1st-2004, 02:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sergio Zamora

I was a bit surprised he joined the Pat Metheny Group, as I was really hoping he'd focus his talent in a different direction. Not a criticism per se, as he obviously has other outlets.

I didn't know he'd joined Metheny - that's not a setting in which I'd have imagined him, either. I'm loathe to criticise as well (and a lot of early Metheny I really dig), but yeah, I wouldn't have seen him playing for the yuppies at Wolftrap, either.

mke · October-2nd-2004, 03:55 AM

I like Bound and saw his trio last year, I think. I also saw him with Chris Speed's Yeah No band, playing acoustically, he was the best part of it, for me.

Tom K · October-2nd-2004, 04:17 PM

I saw the Vu/Takeishi/Hollenbeck Trio about one or two years ago, and I thoroughly hated it - megalomaniac, fascistoid music it was. Sorry.

Tanager · October-2nd-2004, 04:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tom K

megalomaniac, fascistoid music it was. Sorry.

No apologies needed, but what, precisely, do you mean by "fascistoid music?"

Pete C · October-2nd-2004, 04:39 PM

I've seen the trio live twice, once with Antonio Sanchez on drums (his bandmate with Metheny), and once with someone else, but not Hollenbeck (maybe Dafnis Prieto?). I like the group, but they're very loud, with lots of electronics.

I like Bound. Haven't heard Pure.

Cuong Vu is an excellent trumpeter, with a really beautiful tone when he's not processing it. I saw him recently in a totally different context, a really interesting Sylvie Courvoisier group:

Gerald Cleaver, Vincent Courtois, Sylvie Courvoisier, Ikue Mori, Cuong Vu

hearsay · October-2nd-2004, 06:58 PM

I too dig "Bound", some very nice playing and writing all around. I was also quite suprised that I liked his singing on that disc as much as I did. His voice is very rich and has an almost androgynous quality, like Cassandra Wilson. I like to hear him do more.

Tom K · October-3rd-2004, 03:38 AM

Tanager: By "fascistoid" I mean that the little meat there was on the bone was artificially (electronically) inflated for maximum impression on impressionable masses - actually it reminded me a lot of that old British rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer in the early 70s. Do anything to cover up that you don't really have a lot to sell. A bit like that old Leni Riefenstahl film of the 1934 Nuremberg Nazi convention celebrating the beauty of military order and of the masses being led blind-eyed to their doom (and loving every moment of it). All show and noise and nothing much behind it.

I may be exaggerating, but that's what I thought.

mke · October-3rd-2004, 03:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mke

I like Bound and saw his trio last year, I think. I also saw him with Chris Speed's Yeah No band, playing acoustically, he was the best part of it, for me.

Actually, I have "Come Play With Me," not "Bound."

I agree with False Pete about Vu's tone. In Speed's group he was the only one injecting some emotion into the music.

Sergio Zamora · October-3rd-2004, 03:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tom K

I may be exaggerating, but that's what I thought.

I think using the term 'fascist' (or the softened and vague 'fascisoid') with any music discussed on this board is more than a little exaggerated.

gonzo · March-14th-2006, 05:41 AM

i'm diggin the hell out of the cuong vu trio!!!!! any of y'all get to see him w/ dave fuze? was it good?

Little Rock · March-20th-2006, 10:07 PM

Check out www.cuongvu.com. An excellent website. You can download his latest album or recent live shows.

Little Rock · March-20th-2006, 10:12 PM

Check out this link to a Howard Mandel feature on Cuong Vu from NPR.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...toryId=1142113