01.Miracles (8'04)
02.Question Mark (7'24)
03.Willow (3'42)
04.The Odd Game (3'01)
05.Saari (6'47)
06.20 Fingers (5'37)
07.Cerf Volant (1'40)
08.Miss One (7'28)
09.Pacha (6'25)
10.Haiku (2'31)
11.Eyeland (4'13).
Nguyên Lê:electric and acoustic guitars
Danh Tranh, programming
Art Lande: piano
Marc Johnson: bass
Peter Erskine: drums, percussion.
Nguyên Lê
Miracles
While his latest release, Homescape (ACT, 2006), is the best example of Lê's integration of technology into his musical landscape, it's a characteristic that's equally clear from the opening notes of the title track to Miracles. While the importance of interplay and interaction within the quartet is a fundamental, Lê is one of only a handful of guitarists who are able organically to incorporate programming, guitar synthesis and sequencing.
Miracles may have been a first meeting between Lê, Lande, Johnson and Erskine, but you'd never know it. The material ranges from the backbeat-driven title track to the swinging "? (Question Mark)," the temporal elasticity of "The Odd Game" and the elegantly melancholic "20 Fingers." The quartet tracks are broken up by occasional duets with Lande, ranging from completely acoustic to heavily layered electronic soundscapes. Lê's ethnic heritage and its influence on his overall musical concept would not become fully realized until Tales From Vietnam, but "Cerf Volant," a miniature featuring Lê on the zither-like danh tranh, and the equally brief "Haïku," are clear harbingers of things to come.
Listening to Lande's work on Miracles, it's unfathomable that he's never achieved more widespread fame. He sticks to acoustic piano on these sessions, but his ability to work comfortably in Lê's more expansive aural framework makes him the perfect choice, though not a surprising one when one considers the stylistic diversity he demonstrated on ECM recordings including Red Lanta (1974), Rubisa Patrol (1976) and Skylight (1982).
There is, in fact, a certain vibe to Miracles that's not out-of-context with the German label's aesthetic. Stylistically broad, sonically diverse and, despite Lê's programming and use of processing, natural and filled with room to breathe, ECM is clearly one component of Lê's musical makeup. With Johnson and Erskine on board, it's hard to miss another reference point for Lê—Bass Desires (ECM, 1986)—especially on tracks like the episodic and multifaceted "Miss One."
Lê's distinctly Fender-ish tone means there's a certain twang evident, even when he adopts a warm and clean tone as he does during the first half of the brooding "Eyeland." But Lê is also capable of an edgier, fusion-like sound. Following Lande's focused and more clearly jazz-centric solo on "? (Question Mark)," Lê takes a rockier stance with a densely overdriven tone that's equal parts space, sustain, bebop language and swooping whammy-bar bends.
That Lê had already assimilated a range of influences—from Allan Holdsworth and Terje Rypdal to Pat Metheny and John Abercrombie—into a recognizable voice so early in his career makes Miracles an album that may have been a beginning, but was hardly a humble one.
Miracles
While his latest release, Homescape (ACT, 2006), is the best example of Lê's integration of technology into his musical landscape, it's a characteristic that's equally clear from the opening notes of the title track to Miracles. While the importance of interplay and interaction within the quartet is a fundamental, Lê is one of only a handful of guitarists who are able organically to incorporate programming, guitar synthesis and sequencing.
Miracles may have been a first meeting between Lê, Lande, Johnson and Erskine, but you'd never know it. The material ranges from the backbeat-driven title track to the swinging "? (Question Mark)," the temporal elasticity of "The Odd Game" and the elegantly melancholic "20 Fingers." The quartet tracks are broken up by occasional duets with Lande, ranging from completely acoustic to heavily layered electronic soundscapes. Lê's ethnic heritage and its influence on his overall musical concept would not become fully realized until Tales From Vietnam, but "Cerf Volant," a miniature featuring Lê on the zither-like danh tranh, and the equally brief "Haïku," are clear harbingers of things to come.
Listening to Lande's work on Miracles, it's unfathomable that he's never achieved more widespread fame. He sticks to acoustic piano on these sessions, but his ability to work comfortably in Lê's more expansive aural framework makes him the perfect choice, though not a surprising one when one considers the stylistic diversity he demonstrated on ECM recordings including Red Lanta (1974), Rubisa Patrol (1976) and Skylight (1982).
There is, in fact, a certain vibe to Miracles that's not out-of-context with the German label's aesthetic. Stylistically broad, sonically diverse and, despite Lê's programming and use of processing, natural and filled with room to breathe, ECM is clearly one component of Lê's musical makeup. With Johnson and Erskine on board, it's hard to miss another reference point for Lê—Bass Desires (ECM, 1986)—especially on tracks like the episodic and multifaceted "Miss One."
Lê's distinctly Fender-ish tone means there's a certain twang evident, even when he adopts a warm and clean tone as he does during the first half of the brooding "Eyeland." But Lê is also capable of an edgier, fusion-like sound. Following Lande's focused and more clearly jazz-centric solo on "? (Question Mark)," Lê takes a rockier stance with a densely overdriven tone that's equal parts space, sustain, bebop language and swooping whammy-bar bends.
That Lê had already assimilated a range of influences—from Allan Holdsworth and Terje Rypdal to Pat Metheny and John Abercrombie—into a recognizable voice so early in his career makes Miracles an album that may have been a beginning, but was hardly a humble one.
Miracles
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