Nguyen Le

Much more than a usual "Best Of" album, on these double CD-sets the musicians themselves picked out 24 pieces, which they feel represent the most important, significant and personal selections from their repertoire. Remastered and given the best possible post-production. An excellent introduction for established fans as well as newcomers, who have yet to discover the musicians and their art.
Nguyên Lê opens his Signature Edition with a kind of prelude: the previously unreleased track "Magic Constant" introduces the listener to his incomparable musical kingdom, full of very different landscapes. There are pure classic adaptations (for instance on the traditional "Lo Rossinyol") as well as abstract clusters of contemporary music; many pieces are defined by Vietnamese music traditions…

Guitarist Nguyên Lê pays tribute to Jimi Hendrix by performing ten of the late rock innovator's songs on this 2002 CD. Lê plays in the tradition of Hendrix without directly copying him, being creative and stretching himself. There's plenty to be familiar with for Hendrix fans, but ultimately far more surprises.

It was a recommendation of ACT guitarist Nguyên Lê that first brought the French baritone saxophonist Céline Bonacina to the attention of label boss Siggi Loch.
Céline Bonacina studied in Belfort, Besançon and Paris. She won numerous prizes for her saxophone playing and gained her first jazz experience in Parisian big bands. She worked with artists such as the Cuban pianist Omar Sosa and the saxophonist Andy Sheppard. Céline Bonacina’s debut album, Vue d’en Haut, was widely acclaimed by the French jazz press and its success lead to appearences at French jazz festivals. One of the most well known of these, Jazz á Vienne, voted her, in 2009, the winner of its Jazz Competition - the prize a festival performance in 2010 and production of her new album Way of Life…

March, 1973… A quartet known for its psychedelic inclinations delivered a fortress of an album: The Dark Side of The Moon was a musical UFO featuring the most advanced technology of the period, a stratospheric record which mirrored society and our errant human ways. Pink Floyd was about to write an essential chapter in rock history and enjoy planetary fame; even today, their album is still one of the greatest sellers of all time.

Nguyên Lê’s "Overseas" – the great guitarist brings jazz, traditional Vietnamese music and hip-hop to the music for “Cirque-Nouveau”.

It's a bold concept; take Pink Floyd's iconic Dark Side of the Moon (Harvest, 1973) and reinterpret it in a big band jazz setting. With upwards of forty million copies sold, every note, every nuance of Floyd's eighth album is so firmly entrenched in the minds of the band's legion devotees that to tamper with the work in any way is to leave oneself open to facile criticism. French-Vietnamese guitarist Nguyên Lê, however, is nothing if not adventurous. Lê has already demonstrated on Purple: Celebrating Jimi Hendrix (ACT Music, 2007) and Songs of Freedom (ACT Music, 2012)—his tribute to classic pop and rock songs of the 1960s and 1970s—that he can breathe new life into old material without being overly reverential.

“Songs of Freedom” is not my title. I borrowed it from Bob Marley, one of the world’s greatest musical figures. This album is a tribute to those musicians who established Pop Culture in the 70’s with their mythic songs. So mythic, that they now belong to everybody on the planet and so global that they are World Music i.e. “music the world listens to”. Yet Music is like a bird: once released, it flies to every sky. The Earth becomes rounder and rounder, inviting cultures to chat and soak up one another. Hence, the freedom to make these songs our own. Still lovingly playing these original melodies with the audacity of new arrangements which celebrate the reign of imagination and fantasy.

Even in the adventurous territory of jazz, this French-Vietnamese musician stands out as a unique explorer of sounds. His new CD will surprise even those who believe themselves to be, by now, familiar with the diversity of his musical output. The first unusual fact: Most of the tracks were recorded in Lê’s living room (pardon me, his salon), and also completed à la maison using his computer. The second unusual fact: This domestic method of producing music need not conjure up the cosy, well worn realm of familial comfort, in fact Nguyên Lê leads the listener into a space that is full to the brim with warped sounds and acoustical metamorphoses.