After seeing saxophonist Tran Manh Tuan performing Beo
dat may troi (Drifting blossoms, floating clouds) on YouTube, I was hooked on
the sweet but powerful melodies which sounded familiar to me. It was like a
Northern folk song mixed with the western style of jazz.

Then I became woozy with the words “In the autumn wind, lulling my baby into
sleep. I sit up all through the night. Aching for you… Stop crying. Sleep
soundly, my little treasure…” sung by female singer Kim Luyen on Ru con Nam Bo
(South Vietnamese Lullaby) with Tuan on the saxophone.

This number made me think back to my childhood memories with my mum lulling me
to sleep on a hammock outside my family cottage.

I admit I’m a bit of a music addict and was so enchanted by Tuan, who is one of
the best saxophonists in the country, that I wanted to track him down. I risked
calling him and finally when I got through, he said: “Ok, see you tonight at 8
p.m. at Sax N’ Art Jazz Club in downtown HCMC.” The club is owned by the artist.

Keen and slightly flustered I showed up at 7:45 p.m. I was entranced as I
prepared for my hero to come on a stage which featured so many kinds of musical
instruments such as piano, guitar, drums and sax.

“OMG, here he comes.” I hurriedly stood up and shook his hand. I had never saw
such a radiant smile like his before and grinned like a teenage girl meeting her
idol for the first time.

Tuan was born in Hanoi to a family of performers. His father and mother and
sister are cai luong, a theatrical art created in south Vietnam based on song
and dance, artists.

Tuan began playing sax in 1979 and was the first Vietnamese musician to receive
a scholarship from the Berkeley College of Music in Boston.

He formed Orient Band in 1991, which won a gold medal in a national music
competition, earning Tuan the title of ‘Best Saxophonist in Vietnam’.

Tuan has released eight solo CDs during his career and has collaborated with
many well-know Vietnamese singers and has toured Europe, Russian, Asia and the
U.S.

As a mini-theater, Sax N’ Art Jazz Club is tucked away from the bustling Le Loi
Street in District 1, where guests can enter a completely new world of deep,
bass jazz.

Every night, there are live shows from 9 p.m. to 11:45 p.m. With cozy ambiance
and candle lights, the club, voted best Jazz Club in HCMC by The Guide Magazine,
is a real chill zone.

“Jazz is still a very strange and acquired taste for Vietnamese audiences. I
opened the club with a hope to bring jazz to Vietnamese gradually by basing my
sound on familiar Vietnamese folk songs with an instrumental harmony of jazz.

“Since I opened the club it has been through many ups and downs. At the start
Vietnamese guests were very scarce but now they are about 30% among a large
number of foreign guests.”

Although busy with shows around the world, Tuan loves his little piece of home.
“The club, to me, is a home to meet friends, supporters and enthusiasts of jazz,
a place for me to fulfill my dream to play jazz the way I want and interact with
fellow jazz lovers in the heart of downtown Saigon,” Tuan said.

“And for guests, they not only come to enjoy drinks, to enjoy jazz, but also to
share the passion as many often take the stage to perform.”

At 9 p.m. his band starts to perform too much applause especially from foreign
enthusiasts. I started to understand what Tuan told me earlier.

“Music is the international language, it brings people together.” And for the
first time, I realized I had not met a big star but a very warm, talented,
friendly and soulful artist and new friend.

The Sax N’ Art Jazz Club is located at 28 Le Loi Street in HCMC’s District 1,
tel: (08) 38228472, email: jazz@saxnart.com.

Source: SGT