One of the world’s foremost and incomparable World Jazz Guitarists/Composers/Producers Nguyên Lê was kind enough to respond to AL’s questions in between sessions of his Homescape album to discuss his latest, illustrious ensemble project, Walking on the Tiger’s Tail .

Abstract Logix: Did having a brush with cancer affect your thinking about your music or life any differently? I know in part that’s what Walking on the Tiger’s Tail is about from reading the liner notes you wrote. How has that manifested in your life now, nearly 2.5 years later after recording the album?

Nguyên Lê: With hospital life for several months I learned to be even more patient than I was before. With major illness I learned both the quiet acceptance of destiny and the urge and intensity of living. I experience music the same way; every moment in music is a miracle!

AL: You wrote in Walking on the Tiger’s Tail (WoTT) liner notes that most of the songs were inspired by Taoist stories. Do you practice Zen or Buddhism? If so, how has that affected your approach to music? Your approach to life in general?

NL: I don't practice any religion. It's more about a philosophical approach, a way of thinking and an attitude in front of life that was inspired by reading those Chinese texts.

AL: What were some of the ancient Chinese texts that you referred to in the liner notes? Some people may want to read them as well.

NL: It's mainly "Dao De Jing" from Lao Tze, "Zhuang Zi," a collection of texts from Zhang Zi, & "Yi Jing," the ancient divination book.

AL: There isn’t a bassist on WoTT. After playing with the some of the world’s finest (Carles Benavent, Renaud Garcia-Fons, Michel Alibo, etc.), why did you decide not to use a bass player on this album?

NL: Sure. Some of my bass players friends still don't understand. In fact this started from a non-musical fact: the unique understanding we have together with Art & Paul. Once we played in trio and I felt that this combination of human and musical beings was something to keep preciously, and to develop wisely. There was still some rhythm support missing, but no bass function missing, as we can play bass lines with piano left hand, bass clarinet or octaved guitar. I like also the idea that therefore the soloist must have the mind and the responsibility of also being a rhythm player. So this bassist-free concept has nothing against bass players, it's more an exploration of new soundscapes that can happen because of it (like the drum & bass concept).

AL: One of your trademark sounds I’ve discovered – from having heard many of your albums over the years – is your guitar’s doubling and/or dancing with harmonies with the saxophone. Sometimes it’s very subtle, other times more overt. Did that start in Ultramarine? Why do you like doing it? (I love it; I just wanted to hear your opinion).

NL: Wise listener! This started indeed with Ultramarine. I love the singing force of a guitar/sax unison – it is melody at its best lyrical strength and I must say that I worked a lot on the fusion of expression of both instruments (w/ trumpet it works very well too, as with Paolo Fresu) In WOTT it was more a chamber music concept, with everybody having his own line and moving melody leadership between instruments.

AL: Playing with Paul really gives you the opportunity to explore that more, correct?

NL: Correct. The rare instruments Paul plays ask for a special work on the sounds that go with them. I wrote all the music of this album while thinking of him (and Art, of course) and his very identifiable sound.

AL: “Wingless Flight” has elements of jazz, world percussion and rock guitar. Very cool song. There’s an element of Oregon’s music; of course Paul’s presence helps in that regard. But the melody line reminds me of something Ralph Towner might write... Yet your guitar solo is nearly raucous, almost rock like. Interesting contrast. Please discuss the piece further.

NL: In fact the melody reminds me a of something that Oregon had pionereed in the ’70's when during their original “meeting” between Western classical music with jazz, they became the most European sounding American band, and defined what European jazz could be. In a way I started from them and added rock energy and non-western music to the meeting! Oregon has long been one of my favorite groups.

AL: Your guitar solo in “Yielding Water” guitar is so cool. I hear elements of AfroAmerican blues, Middle Eastern scales, rock-in-general, outside bebop, and Asian/Chinese/Vietnamese… it’s wonderful. It’s almost a microcosm of your approach to soloing in general, as it were. Care to discuss that a little bit?

NL: You said it. After and while integrating the lessons of traditional music from all over the world, my goal is to bring them to a true and homogenous language, as much in the guitar improvisation as the compositions themselves. This became prominent in my Bakida CD.

AL: Also “Yielding Water” has a beautiful melody/harmony by you and Paul McCandless. Tell me more about that line.

NL: Again, the idea is to have two lead melodies at the same time, so the listener can choose which s/he likes to focus on. Sometimes it's harmonizing, sometimes it's counterpoint. I'm a lot inspired by Vince Mendoza, who's writing for big band is full of these multiple melodies.

AL: Walk me through “Jorai”… that’s a great piece! Sounds East Indian at times. Chinese, too. And your guitar solo texture/playing is just wild. Great track!

NL: “Jorai” is based on a traditional song from a –Vietnamese ethnic minority of the same name. I think it's played on kind of circular harp with strange tuning. There are two different tonalities on each hand. I first transcribe the tune, then develop each hand part to two complete lead lines. Then added some interesting rhythms and harmonies. Lots of ethnic Vietnamese music can sound Indian as well as Indonesian. Here I emphasized the indian side while asking Jamey to play his hadgini and kanjira instruments.

AL: “Totsu!” has such a cool guitar sound at the beginning. Is that your synth guitar? Tell me more about that tune…

NL: Which part ? The first neo-African guitar part with arpeggios doubled by the piano? I overdubbed my Parkerr electroacoustic guitar, which gives a bright and large dimension. Then there's an ambient pad, which you find back behind Paul's solo. This is my usual guitar pad sound, made with lots of different delays w/ different times, modulation rates and depths (using the Lexicon PCM 81). But I reworked this sound that I played live at home with the Ohmboyz plug in, with a program that transposes one octave down, while looping it like a delay.

AL: Are there any other tracks you’d like to discuss in particular?

NL: In fact the process of this recoding was interesting: we recorded two days in a live jazz situation while on tour in Germany. I brought all the multi-tracks back home and worked for two weeks on editing every track, choosing the best takes, adding effects and overdubs, refining sounds. Then I came back to the German studio (Bauer studios, Ludwigsburg, where they produce lots of ECM records) to mix during four days, including a 5.1, mix which was made for provision.

AL: Do write most of your music on the guitar? (Chord changes, melody lines, etc.) I’ve noticed that throughout your work, many of your melodies can be melodies are quite somewhat complex yet ultimately “rememberable” not unlike a motif in Western classical music. Of course, I find this prevalent in WoTT quite frequently. Truth be told: it’s one of the many elements I’ve always admired about your approach to composition. Discuss your approach to songwriting, please.

NL: Everything is possible regarding songwriting: singing or rhythm 1rst; chords 1rst, bass line 1rst;, melody 1rst, technical guitar lick or synthesizer sound, sampling, or an idea stolen from a previous listening, poetic, textual or philosophical ideas, etc.. For me, the computer is the central tool to keep track, organize, develop and orchestrate all these elements. It's a fantastic tool because it frees the composer of having to play what he writes. After finishing a composition, I always spend some days to learn it on guitar. There's a main rule I have, though: everything should be singable.

AL: Your approach to the electric guitar is so unique. Your melodic lines often have an angular, Eastern-influence intervallic approach to them. Did you develop that when working on “Tales from Vietnam” or has that always been an element to your writing/playing?

NL: It mainly started while studying Vietnamese traditional music with Tales from Viet Nam -- but first in the writing then in the playing. I also learned a lot when doing Maghreb & Friends and also just by ear while listening precisely to Indian and African music.

AL: For the guitarist/musicians reading this, how would you recommend someone begin practicing more with intervals to help understand how you utilize them in such a unique fashion?

NL: First transcribe some phrases you like. Short phrases can be enough; for example, there can be so much to learn in just two notes played by Hariprasad Chaurasia, by example. Then try to emulate the sound and phrasing of that motif . Once you've learned that, try applying that phrasing and those techniques in other phrases of your own.

AL: Along those lines, what do you practice? Study?

NL: I do exactly what I just described. Last time was working on material from Indian mandolinist U. Shrivinas. But I don't have much time to do this. These days, when I'm not touring, I'm either preparing for a next record (Huong Thanh's fourth CD) or writing music. Also learning some new software at the moment.

AL: I think its wonderful that there are scores of your songs on your website to download and learn from. Did you personally write all those parts out or did someone transcribe them for you?

NL: I wrote everything. That's the scores with which the tunes were created and are being played. Well, sometimes musicians.

AL: Are those what you used as studio charts, for example when recording “Maghreb and Friends”?

NL: For “Maghreb” there's a lot of orchestra scores. When I give sheets to the musicians each one has his own part, except if it's trio music.

AL: When did you learn to read music? Is that something you gained early on in your music education?

NL: As a self-taught musician, I learned to write music because I needed to fix my compositions. Then because I was in some reading-demanding situations, like National Jazz Orchestra. In fact I'm not a good sight reader - except for [chord] changes of course. In sideman situations, I always ask the music to be sent in advance.

AL: You haven’t played acoustic guitar much on any of your albums… Is that something we might here from you in the future?

NL: I'm slowly trying to include acoustic guitar as my instrument, but I must say I'm always frustrated when I play acoustic : no whammy bar, big body, heavier strings where bends are more difficult, etc... But I love the sound, the immediate presence & the natural rhythmic efficiency.

AL: Intonation being an obvious one, what are some of the other challenges you encounter when playing your fretless guitar?

NL: It’s another frustrating but loved instrument. Besides intonation, the main issue is sustain (not much) & attack (very medium & sometimes too round).

AL: What inspires you?

NL: Everything, from the song of a bird to the perfume of a flower, an event on TV news or a specific musical idea. But "everything" is still pretty abstract & hazy, I cannot say "this comes from that" except for the specific musical ideas, like a special rhythm from North Africa, or a precise scale.

Guitarist Nguyen Le Interview (#92)

2006-10-07

Robert Kaye