Imagine Bliss

I always take CDs with me when I travel. My CD case has room for only twelve. Along with those, there are a few new ones, which may or may not become a part of my steady diet. And a few that I have treasured over the years. One of those in the latter category is the one that I'm recommending to you here.

The CD is entitled Tales From Vietnam, and the artist is Nguyen Le. This collection of music weaves together Vietnamese folk songs with some of the best jazz writing and playing I have heard in many a year.

The Vietnamese songs are sung expertly, and the lyrics are translated for us in the album book. Authentic stringed instruments, flutes and drums help to paint magnificent pictures of the stories, festivals and village life the songs portray. The elegant, sophisticated, world-class jazz that settles itself over, under and around these folk songs provides the highway that connects these villages, festivals and stories to other times, places and people.

This is truly a melding of cultures, an experience of connection and, for me, a little moment of bliss.

At present this wonderful musical treasure sits in my CD case between The Chemical Brothers and organ music of Johann Sebastian Bach. I am intrigued with The Chemical Brothers. I take comfort in every note and phrase of the Bach. But Tales From Vietnam fires my imagination like few CDs have done.