Vietnam: Reflections

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multikulti.com, 2008-03
'...Płyta Billy'go Bang'a to drugi album po nagranym w 2001 'Vietnam: The Aftermath' odwołujący się do doświadczenia wojny wietnamskiej. Tym razem jednak sierżant William Walker (prawdziwe nazwisko Billy'ego Bang'a tak właśnie brzmi) nie prezentuje w muzycznej formie wojennego doświadczenia - jak sam tytuł mówi mamy tu bowiem refleksję. Nie jest ona tylko i wyłącznie przetworzeniem osobistego doświadczenia wojny lidera projektu i towarzyszących mu muzyków (większość z nich - Ted Daniel, Ron Brown, Michael Carvin i Lawrence 'Butch' Morris - także służyła w Wietnamie). O wiele bardziej jest to refleksja i zachwyt nad muzyczną kulturą południowo-wschodniej Azji - tym mocniej uwidoczniona, że Bang zaprosił do udziału w nagraniu albumu dwoje wietnamskich muzyków - wokalistkę Co Boi Nguyen i grającego na tradycyjnym wietnamskim instrumencie dan tranh (rodzaj cymbałów) Nhan Thanh Ngo. Sięga także po tradycyjną muzykę ludową - utwory 'Ru Con', 'Ly Ngua O' i 'Trong Com' są przetworzeniem i rozwinięciem etnicznych, wietnamskich melodii. Płyta dedykowana jest zmarłemu w 2003 roku saksofoniście Frankowi Lowe, także wojennemu weteranowi, z którym Billy Bang współtworzył pierwszą z 'wietnamskich' płyt...'
[Wawrzyniec Mąkinia]


JazzTimes
"His violin - whether softly keening, shrieking, hissing or singing to keep from weeping - is one of the most expressive voices in jazz today."




All About Jazz
by Jeff Stockton
Bang's Vietnam: Reflections, the follow-up to 2001's much acclaimed Vietnam: The Aftermath, is brimming with subtext, as Bang, trumpeter Ted Daniel, drummer Michael Carvin, percussionist Ron Brown, and conductor Butch Morris, all military veterans, are joined by John Hicks on piano and Curtis Lundy on bass to explore their memories of the war and the changes that have occurred over thirty-plus years at home and abroad. Unlike its haunted predecessor, Bang's compositions here are pastoral, evoking traditional Asian melodies, and are interspersed with Vietnamese songs played and sung by Nanh Thanh Ngo (Vietnamese dulcimer) and Co Boi Nguyen (voice). This music elicits Bang's most lyrical playing, particularly with guests James Spaulding (flute) and Henry Threadgill (alto), and the great John Hicks as musically articulate as ever. Open-hearted, spiritually generous, passionate and poignant, Bang's Vietnam-influenced work is inspired.





www.popmatters.com
by Robert R. Calder
[...] After a final song by the two Vietnamese with Bang, "Reconciliation 2" has a handsome upbeat intro from Lundy, Hicks and the percussion and a trumpet-forward ensemble passage on this Vietnamese-based theme. The Eastern presence in Bang's solo is plain, but the swing and propulsion considerable, building up a fair head of steam but never loud. Ted Daniel makes a lot of use of space in his economical trumpet solo, expressing rather feeling than a lot of notes or breath, while the rhythm maintains momentum, Hicks is the foundation, Lundy the power source. An exemplary drummer throughout, abetted by the percussionist Ron Brown, Michael Carvin here has a solo ranging in reference from eastern chime to a military but not aggressive beat, marching home as trumpet and violin come in for the end in peaceful triumph. Other than Hicks and Lundy and the two Vietnamese, this is a band of vets, thus of men who had the heavy haul of so many survivors. They seem to have captured something of the Vietnam the late James Cameron, wonderful writer, remembered from before the fire and slaughter, and in spite of the appalling French regimen. While this is a sequel to Bang's earlier CD of music of coming to some terms with the war-darkness in his life, the values enunciated commend it highly. For ballad playing on jazz violin in the line of Stuff Smith, "Doi Moi" is a summit of achievement on which Hicks and Lundy also excel. [...]