Huong Thanh & Nguyên Lê: Fragile Beauty

This is an album I picked up at the library in town and I was quite surprised at what I heard. Huong Thanh is one of the most prominent Vietnamese vocalists and started singing with her family at an early age in Vietnam. However, it was when her family moved to France when she was a teenager that Thanh started to discover and develop who she was an artist outside of her traditional training. Jazz had a huge influence on Thanh and she began a career fusing it with her traditional background. 

Musician and composer Nguyên Lê, coming from a similar background, helped Thanh develop this sound as a producer and with her third release, the two came together to create this album. While the album has a more New Age/World Music feeling, it's the jazzy accents that are added to each song that give the entire album a rich and unique sound. I highly recommend everyone to give this album a listen! Enjoy!


Fragile Beauty (2007)

1. Drifting On The Water
2. Weaving & Awaiting
3. Faithfulness
4. Plantation Song*
5. The Five Calls Of The Night
6. Fragile Beauty
7. Rowing The Sampan
8. The Pavillon Of Crystallized Azure
9. At Dusk, From The West Balcony
10. Go Cong Blues
11. The Swallow's Bridge*
12. Tales Of The Mountain