Thuy Phan/Nguoi Viet Daily News
Westminster, CA (NV)- When most people think of jazz, they think of Ella Fitzgerald, a dimly lit club and a moody night of soul jams wafting through the cobbled streets of downtown New Orleans from a generation long gone.
What they don’t think of is a diminutive Vietnamese jazz vocalist with a pixie haircut named Thuy Linh from San Jose or her accompanying saxophonist named Mickey Doan, who holds a Ph.D. in applied mathematics. These two musicians shake the first impression of what jazz ought to be and have high hopes of exposing jazz to the Vietnamese and ethnic communities.
“People think jazz is a highbrow art, but it’s not. It’s an age-old art form that people in our community are not familiar with, and I want to change that,” Linh said.
Thuy Linh and Mickey Doan go through songs they will perform together for their show on
Saturday, March 21. (Photo: Thuy Phan/Nguoi Viet)
As one of the first Vietnamese jazz vocalists in the Bay Area, Linh created a traveling showcase called “Jazz is You! Jazz la Em!” with the intent of bringing together local jazz musicians to perform for ethnic communities. The performers will hold one of their first shows for the Vietnamese community on Saturday at Lac Cam Music, 15041 Moran St. in Westminster. The show starts at 8 p.m. and will feature local artists.
She said she hopes that by introducing new audiences to jazz on a small, intimate scale, it will make them more comfortable to venture out and engage in more mainstream events. In the past, “Jazz is You! Jazz la Em!” has played more than two dozen venues in different communities in both Northern and Southern California, and Linh wants that number to increase as more people learn about this genre of music.
“There’s a freedom in jazz that leaves a lot of room for musicians to create a new sound or song based on an old standard by how you arrange the melodies. It’s not about copying what’s been done before, but about making them fresh and relevant again,” she said.
An example of sheet music used in Thuy Linh’s repertoire. (Photo: Thuy Phan/NguoI Viet)
For Linh, who came to America in 1980 and settled in California, turning to music was a natural calling that she answered later on in life, even though it was always there. She contracted polio at age 3.
“I realized that my polio has made me a greedy person,” she said. “I grew up wanting all from life, to be a renaissance woman. I needed to pursue all life has to offer in order to feel normal.”
Having polio has its physical limitations, especially for Linh, who had to have extensive therapy to regain feeling in her right leg. Because of that overwhelming need to overcome adversity and not let her disability define her, she went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley in social science and also earned a master’s degree in international relations from the University of Washington. She says she stumbled into jazz while in college and spent many hours and days listening, memorizing and teaching herself to sing.
Jazz musician Thuy Linh overcame polio at age 3 to earn her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in
social science and international relations. (Photo: Thuy Phan/Nguoi Viet)
Linh said that though she loved jazz, she didn’t have the encouragement to pursue it professionally and instead, joined the workforce as a public relations specialist for nonprofit organizations. It wasn’t until recently that she decided it was time to make a change and “jump feet in first.”
“We polio victims suffer from chronic exhaustion and fatigue as we age because our bodies are like an overloaded circuit, overcompensating for our weakness over the years. Because of that, I see that my physical energy is no longer boundless, and I want to focus on my music 100 percent,” she said.
From there, her mission to educate Asian American communities about jazz was born.
Local singer Kim Thoa and saxophonist Mickey Doan rehearse before the big show. (Photo: Thuy Phan/Nguoi Viet)
For local saxophonist Doan, music and jazz also came to him later on in life. He says he was only 5 when he fell in love with the saxophone while at a concert with his father. He learned to play in his teenage years but didn’t pursue it professionally until after he received his doctorate in applied mathematics from Northwestern University. Like Linh, he said he had a dream and calling he couldn’t ignore and enrolled at Fullerton College to take formal lessons.
“When I hear jazz, I not only want to listen to it, I want to play it,” he said. “I began with traditional Vietnamese music but quickly grew tired of the same songs and melodies. With jazz, you can improvise and make songs new by changing certain chords and tempos.”
Doan continued, “To put it simply, I feel like a bird whose wings are free when I play jazz. It’s a feeling of escape from the mundane tasks of day-to-day life, and I feel alive. When I improvise and I can express the songs of my heart, I have an overwhelming sense that music is everything. “
Jazz is You! Jazz la Em! promotional flyer for this weekend’s show. (Photo: Lac Cam Music)
The show is free, but there is a suggested donation of $25 to help pay for the musicians Linh hires. Linh said they pay to perform in the community out of their own pockets and need the support, whether it be monetary or by simply being an interested member of the audience.
“Just come out,” she said. “You can like it a little, or a lot or not at all, but as long as you come out, that’s enough.”
To find out more, click on: http://www.laccammusic.com/event/jazz-la-em.
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