Vietnamese jazz saxophonist to play at ASEAN music festival

Vietnam's acclaimed jazz saxophonist Tran Manh Tuan will perform at the coming ASEAN One music festival in Thailand.

ASEAN One is part of the ASEAN One Multicultural Festival, held in Chiang Mai on July 10-11, featuring music and exhibitions of ASEAN-member countries.

"I hope to learn more about how to organise a multicultural festival, and then apply it in Vietnam. I've dreamed of having a festival of jazz music or world music for years," Tuan said.

He will play his own compositions that combine jazz and Vietnamese traditional music, including Buom Mo (Dreaming Butterfly), Ru Rung (Jungle Lullaby) and Ngay Mua (Harvest Day).

Vietnamese saxophonist Tran Manh Tuan. (Photo: VnExpress.net)

His 50-minute performance will feature the famous northern folk song Qua Cau Gio Bay (Gone with the Wind While Crossing the Bridge).

Tuan will share the stage with his friends, drummer Nguyen Hung Cuong, guitarist Thanh Tan, French pianist Jean Sebastien Simonoviez and his daughter, saxophonist An Tran.

Tuan will also play traditional Vietnamese flutes and African percussion instruments. Apart from his solo concert, Tuan will also perform with musicians from ASEAN-member countries.

Born in Hanoi, Tuan began playing the saxophone in 1979. He received a scholarship to study jazz at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts in the US. He was the first Vietnamese to study there.

In 2005, he opened his jazz club, Jazz Sax n' Art, in HCM City, and continues to work as a lecturer at the HCM City Music Conservatory.

Tuan formed the 20-member jazz band, Saigon Big Band, which had its debut performance in 2013.

He has released eight solo albums and worked with well-known Vietnamese and international singers and musicians. He has toured in Europe, Russia, China, Thailand, Singapore and the US.

Another representative of Vietnam at the ASEAN ONE festival will be singer Tung Duong, who will sing three songs with Thai jazz band Bangkok Connection.