Soulful sax: Tran Manh Tuan's album Angel Eyes was released in HCM City last week, featuring jazz played by foreign and Vietnamese artists. — VNS Photo

HCM CITY (VNS)— Tran Manh Tuan, a popular saxophonist among jazz fans, has released two albums that blend jazz, pop, folk and new-age music.

The HCM City-based musician-producer recorded the album in his studio at TMT Production in co-operation with foreign and Vietnamese peers.

Angel Eyes features 10 jazz songs written by well-known composers, such as Matt Dennis, Eden Ahbez, Haven Gillespie, Jule Styne, Henri Mancini, Richard Rogers, Ray Noble, Sigmund Romberd, Gene de Paul, and Hoagy Carmichael.

It features vocalist Bonnie Jensen, pianist Rickie McIntosh, harmonica artist Curtis King, drummer Jermaine St Omer, and double bass artist Paul Langosch. Vietnamese drummer Pham Kien Hoai and pianist Vu Trong Hieu are also included.

Highlights of the album include Matt's Angel Eyes, Eden's Nature Boy and Nearness of You, a work by Carmichael with lyrics by Ned Washington.

As is his style, his music is passionate and improvisational. "Jazz music is like a river that runs through my soul," said Tuan.

In The Nearness of You, Australian jazz singer Jensen shows off her strong, clear voice accompanied by Tuan.

For fans of late composer Trinh Cong Son, Tuan's album titled Nhu Canh Vac Bay (Wings of the Flying Crane) is a perfect choice.

The album includes nine songs of Son, including the composer's favourite works Diem Xua (Nostalgia for Diem) and Ru Doi Di Nhe (Lullaby for Life).

Tuan invited sopranos Ngoc Tuyen and Trieu Yen of the HCM City Music Conservatory to record the album with him.

"I respect Trinh Cong Son not only for his music, but also for his heart and his dedication to our lives. It is with the sound of my saxophone that I can best express the melodies of Son's music with my deepest and sincerest appreciation," Tuan writes on his album's cover.

Tuan is one of the country's most talented saxophonists and composers who has performed at concerts and music festivals at home and abroad.

Born in Ha Noi, Tuan began playing the saxophone in 1979. He received a scholarship to studying jazz at the 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 for the HCM City Music Conservatory.

He has released six albums that have all been met with critical acclaim.

The 42 year-old musician hopes that his latest albums, Angel Eyes and Wings of the Flying Crane, will become popular with a variety of fans and musicians.

He and several friends have formed the group Saigon Bigbands. "We want to introduce our music to more and more people, particularly youth," he added — VNS