Cuong Vu Come Play With Me CD

New Trumpeter For The Pat Methemy Group

Personnel: Cuong Vu (trumpet); Laurent Brondel (guitar, lap steel guitar);
Stomu Takeishi (bass); John Hollenbeck (drums).
Recorded at Mr. Small's Funhouse, New York, New York on May 18, 2001.
Personnel: Cuong Vu (trumpet); John Hollenbeck (drums).
Audio Mixer: Laurent Brondel.
Recording information: Mr. Small's Farmhouse (05/18/2001).
Editor: Laurent Brondel.
Cuong Vu's second Knitting Factory release finds him again in the company of bassist Stomu Takeishi and drummer John Hollenbeck. The album's five long tracks are awash in Vu's legato trumpet melodies, often put through signal processors of various kinds to create a highly abstract sound world. The leadoff track, "Dreams, Come Play With Me," is a bit too nebulous to sustain interest over the course of 14 minutes. Things get more interesting when Hollenbeck kicks off the shuffle groove of "Vina's Lullaby," which has the melodic sweep of a Peter Gabriel-style anthem. Laurent Brondel joins the trio on guitar and lap steel for "Amniotic," adding rich harmonic color and giving the piece a meatiness that the others lack. Vu winds down to a mellow rock feel on "Safekeepings," then takes a radical turn to the chaotic "Again and Again and Again," closing out the album with heavy rock peppered with sonic abstraction. Vu is at work developing a compelling electro-acoustic model, but listeners may need to exercise patience in looking for the nuggets of inspiration. ~ David R. Adler
Redefining the concept of a horn-led trio, trumpeter Cuong Vu uses a minimum of instruments to acheive a bounty of tonal colors on COME PLAY WITH ME. Key to Vu's success in this endeavor is bassist Stomu Takeishi, whose fretless work reveals a kaleidoscope of sounds and feels, from agressive, full-throttle attack to languid, pastel notes that drift slowly and gently across the compositions, to a percussive, rhythmic approach. Takeishi is the only member of the trio capable of playing chords, so he also takes a more harmonic role here than your average bassist.
For his part, Vu offers concise, melodic lines that are both spare and elegant, lacing his rhythmically involving, harmonically concise compositions with short bursts of eloquence and occasional fiery outpourings. This is no out-jazz free-for-all, it's a carefully crafted album of forward-looking modern jazz where construction is equally as important as expression, and both prosper in the capable hands of this unusual trio.

The Wire (1/02, p.75) - "...Takes the epic sci-fi peaks of MIles Davis circa BIG FUN and anchors them with a straight rocking, stripped down rhythm section..."
JazzTimes (5/02, pp.139-40) - "...An album for the patient to get lost in..."