This was a rather pleasant album combining these two great voices. Other than Duy Quang, I'd have to say Trinh Nam Son is one very compatible male voice to duet with Ngoc Lan. To start out the album, Ngoc Lan gives a very nice delivery of a
Pham Duy classic,
Mua Thu Chet. Although I must admit, I'm a die hard fan of
Julie Quang whose interpretation of this song is incomparable, in my opinion. However, Ngoc Lan's delivery shows more than mere competence. Ngoc Lan has a lovely way of phrasing that no other Vietnamese singer has been able to come even close to. Trinh Nam Son gives an exceptional rendition of Lobo's
How Can I Tell Her in translated Vietnamese lyrics written by Vu Xuan Hung and Ky Phat. In the one song these two artists decided to duet together on this album,
Gia Tu Tinh Yeu, their voices blended beautifully together. I wish they had recorded many more duets on this album and throughout their careers.
The arrangements on this album were very well done. Song by song, each arrangement was carefully crafted and very pleasing to the ear. One of my favorites has long been
Niem Dau Chon Dau. Before hearing Ngoc Lan's version, I thought no other singer could top
Khanh Ha's amazing rendition that had been featured on
Khanh Ha Productions' Volume 2 of the Uptight. I especially enjoyed Trinh Nam Son's harmonizing vocals in the background of this track. This album is still available at Vietnamese music stores on compact disc. If you haven't already checked out this album, pick one up soon. It is highly worthy of listening to.
One of my favorite albums of all time! Thanks Thien Phu. Truc Ho did a really good job arranging the songs..
ReplyDeleteThis album is also one of my favorites of all time. However, I'm afraid it was not Truc Ho who had done the arrangements on this album, but instead it was Thanh Lam, the famous musician and saxophone player.
ReplyDeleteNope it's Truc Ho, You can check it here:
ReplyDeletehttp://quanvechai.blogspot.nl/2012/07/ngoc-lan-trinh-nam-son-cho-nhau-kiep.html
Wow! My apologies to you, my good friend, Phong Nguyen. You are absolutely correct. I'm totally impressed that the music arrangements were indeed by Truc Ho. When this album was first released was way back in 1991, years before Truc Ho became the music director for Asia Productions. I guess it just goes to show that he was truly blessed with musical talents. This would probably be one of his earliest projects where Truc Ho handled the entire production's music score here in the United States. Like in any profession, one tends to improve and hone his or her skills through time. Well, listening to the arrangements on this album, it is evident he had already mastered his craft long ago.
ReplyDeleteNo need to apologies Thien Phu. I was already guessing it was Truc Ho because some of the songs from this album that he arranged a few years later again , sounded very similar.
ReplyDeleteA very good example is Bai Khong Ten So 8. Listen to the following link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcF32jGYPik
This one was arranged by Truc Ho a few years later (1995), sung by Thuy Duong. Very similar, only a bit slower and a few pitches lower.
Thanks Thien Phu for this lovely review ! I left you a message on facebook a while ago but it would have never been read :)
ReplyDeleteHi Hanoi d'antan, I sincerely apologize but I can't seem to locate that message. Please resend it to either my Facebook account or email it to me at viktorlassley@gmail.com! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteYour friend,
Thien Phu