Search - Nguyen Le :: Zanzibar

Nguyen Le's 2nd Album Back in print!

Brian Whistler | Forestville, CA United States | 02/23/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I was one of the lucky ones who snapped this gem up along with Miracles right before these incredible recordings went out of print. So I have been living with this great music for almost 20 years. The good news is, they are back in print again and have been seriously remastered. There is a discernible difference in the quality of these re-releases. The music sounds clearer overall and the drums, which always seemed a little too 'wet' for my tastes, seem less washed out and more in focus.



This was Nguyen Le's second album as a leader. The follow up to the classic Miracles turned out every bit as strong as his first effort. The writing puts him ahead of most world jazz artists. Nguyen Le has a knack for creating cool melodies that are deceptively simple, underpinning them with complex and occasionally dissonant harmonies. His compositional skills have grown here and there are a couple of tunes with some serious counterpoint and development going on.



Also by this CD he has employed his trademark anthem approach, saving a tasty musical idea introduced earlier in the tune for a full statement and an epic build at the end, his guitar soaring above the repeated refrain. It is a good approach for a guitar hero who never resorts to histrionics or gimmicky pyrotechnics to build excitement. Le always earns his kudos the hard way, with musical invention tempered with ecstatic spiritual passion.



As on his first album his is joined again by the inimitable Art Lande on piano, who goads Nguyen Le to new heights of creativity by constantly adding unexpected rhythmic and harmonic nuances to the mix. Le's coup de grace was in adding multi reedman Paul McCandless to the proceedings. A fan of good part writing, McCAndless obviously relishes these meaty tunes and turns in some stunning solos.



This reissue, along with Miracles paints a portrait of a young artist finding his voice and building a foundation for an important contribution to the future of improvised music. A must buy, especially for fans of this master guitarist /composer."