Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Hue Festival 2008
Friday afternoon I finally arrived in Hue! It was so exciting to finally make it to the Festival. This is something I wanted to see since I heard about it this January!
The Hue Festival is held every two years and celebrates the cultural heritage of Hue. Music groups from Vietnam and around the world are invited to participate. I specifically came to see American jazz singer Coco York. For months I'd been dying to hear some music from back home.
Coco York was worth the wait. The Los Angeles based singer gave Vietnamese music lovers a quick introduction to jazz through her versions of classics such as On a clear day. Backed by a highly talented trio of musicians from Sai Gon, Coco gave all of us a lesson in scat and showed that jazz is one of the great gifts of America to the world.
The Union of Young Vietnamese in France gave an innovative dance performance. Combining traditional elements with hip hop, they brought East and West together. Through it all were kids in the audience with "Mr. Yellow Cat" masks on. Mr. Yellow Cat is the logo of the fest. He was created by Thoma Vuille from Switzerland and has made appearances all over the world.
Labels: Viet Nam and the West, Vietnamese culture
