Artist: Van-Anh Vanessa Vo
Title: Three Mountain Pass
Label: Innova Recordings
Genre: Vietnamese folk music
CD Review by Dawoud Kringle
The first track of Three Mountain Pass leaps out at the listener. A solo piece performed on the danTranh (a 16-string Vietnamese zither with movable bridges and the springy, bending tones, resembling the koto), adopted from a traditional opera by Cải lương. Silvery threads of sound leap about in a primordial dance. Notes glide and bend into each other with precision and beauty. One is drawn into this arcane poem of slippery metallic tones and almost indefinable notes, leaving the listener wondering why this strange language speaks so eloquently to one’s spirit. In a time when highly skilled Asian musicians (not to mention attractive female Asian musicians) seem in a surplus, Van-Anh Vanessa Vo stands out as someone with something unique to offer.
