Nguyên Lê (Vietnamese: ''Lê Thành Nguyên''; born 14 January 1959) is a French jazz musician and composer of Vietnamese ancestry. His main instrument is guitar, and he also plays bass guitar and

guitar synthesizer A guitar synthesizer is any one of a number of musical instrument systems that allow a guitarist to access synthesizer capabilities. Overview Today's guitar synths are direct descendants of 1970s devices from manufacturers (often in partners ...

. He has released albums as a leader and as a

sideman A sideman is a professional musician who is hired to perform live with a solo artist, or with a group in which they are not a regular band member. The term is usually used to describe musicians that play with jazz or rock artists, whether solo ...

. His 1996 album ''Tales from Viêt-Nam'' blends jazz and traditional Vietnamese music. Nguyên Lê has performed with

Randy Brecker Randal Edward Brecker (born November 27, 1945) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, and composer. His versatility has made him a popular studio musician who has recorded with acts in jazz, rock, and R&B. Early life Brecker was born on N ...

, Vince Mendoza,

Eric Vloeimans Eric Vloeimans (; born 24 March 1963) is a Dutch musician, songwriter, and record producer. Biography Although he studied classical music as a child, he became interested in jazz at the Rotterdam Academy of Music. After graduating in 1988, h ...

Carla Bley Carla Bley (born Lovella May Borg; May 11, 1936) is an American jazz composer, pianist, organist and bandleader. An important figure in the free jazz movement of the 1960s, she is perhaps best known for her jazz opera '' Escalator over the Hill'' ...

Michel Portal Michel Portal (born 27 November 1935) is a French composer, saxophonist, and clarinetist. He plays both jazz and classical music and is considered to be "one of the architects of modern European jazz". Early life Portal was born in Bayonne on 2 ...

, Renaud Garcia-Fons, Per Mathisen,

Marc Johnson Marc Johnson may refer to: Musicians *Marc Johnson (musician) (born 1953), American jazz musician * Marc Johnson (rapper) (born 1979), Danish rapper known as Johnson *Marc Johnson, cello player with the Vermeer Quartet *Marc Johnson, member of the ...

Peter Erskine Peter Erskine (born June 5, 1954) is an American jazz drummer who was a member of the jazz fusion groups Weather Report and Steps Ahead. Early life and education Erskine was born in Somers Point, New Jersey, U.S. He began playing the dr ...

Trilok Gurtu Trilok Gurtu (born 30 October 1951) is an Indian percussionist and composer whose work has blended the music of India with jazz fusion and world music. He has worked with Terje Rypdal, Gary Moore, John McLaughlin, Jan Garbarek, Joe Zawinul ...

, Paolo Fresu and

Dhafer Youssef Dhafer Youssef ( ar, ظافر يوسف; born 19 November 1967) is a Tunisian composer, singer and oud player. Biography Dhafer Youssef was born in Téboulba (a small village of coastal Tunisia); his grandfather was a muezzin. He calls the ra ...

. In spring 2011 he released ''Songs of Freedom'', an album with cover versions of pop hits from the 1970s.

Bands

*Nguyên Lê Trio **Nguyên Lê: guitars, arrangements ** Michel Alibo: electric bass ** Karim Ziad: drums, percussion *Nguyên Lê "Jimi's back" **Nguyên Lê: guitars, arrangements **Himiko Paganotti: vocals ** Romain Labaye: bass guitar ** Gergő Borlai: drums *Nguyên Lê "Purple" **Nguyên Lê: guitars ** Michel Alibo:bass guitar ** Terri Lyne Carrington: drums, vocals ** Aïda Khann: vocals **

Corin Curschellas Corin Curschellas (; born 2 July 1956) is a Swiss singer-songwriter, vocalist (jazz, folk music, world music, chanson), free improvisation, actress (theatre, film, musical), voice actress in (radio drama and audio books) as well as voice instruc ...

: vocals ** Me'shell Ndegeocello: bass guitar ** Karim Ziad: percussion **

Bojan Zulfikarpasic Bojan ( Serbian Cyrillic and Macedonian: Бојан; Ukrainian, Russian and Bulgarian Cyrillic: Боян, transcribed ''Boyan'') is a Slavic given name, derived from the Slavic noun ''boj'' "battle." The ending ''-an'' is a suffix frequently foun ...

: piano * Huong Thanh & Nguyên Lê - "Dragonfly" **Huong Thanh: vocals **Nguyên Lê: guitars, arrangements **Hao Nhien: traditional instrument zither **Dan Bau: flute, percussion **François Verly: percussion, synthesizer **Michel Alibo: bass guitar **Joël Allouche: drums/percussion *Nguyên Lê Quartett: **Nguyen Le: guitars ** Paul McCandless: saxophone, clarinet **

Art Lande Art Lande is an American musician who was born in New York City, United States, on 5 February 1947. Born in New York, Lande began piano at age 4. He attended Williams College and moved to San Francisco in 1969. In 1973 he recorded '' Red Lanta,' ...

: piano ** Jamey Haddad: percussion *ELB (Erskine - Lê - Benita) **Peter Erskine: drums **Nguyên Lê: guitars, guitar synthesizer **

Michel Benita Michel Benita at ''INNtöne Jazzfestival'' in 2019 Michel Benita (born 1954 in Algiers, Algeria) is a double bass player, prominent in jazz music since 1980's. He moved to Paris in 1981 and became one of the major discoveries in European jazz ...

: double bass *Nguyên Lê "Songs of Freedom": **Nguyen Le: guitars, laptop ** Himiko Paganotti: vocals **

Illya Amar Ilya, Iliya, Ilia, Ilja, or Ilija (russian: Илья́, Il'ja, , or russian: Илия́, Ilija, ; uk, Ілля́, Illia, ; be, Ілья́, Iĺja ) is the East Slavic form of the male Hebrew name Eliyahu (Eliahu), meaning "My God is Yahu/Jah." ...

: vibes/electronics ** Romain Labaye: bass, vocals **

Stephane Galland Stephane may refer to: * Stéphane, a French given name * Stephane (Ancient Greece), a vestment in ancient Greece * Stephane (Paphlagonia) Stephane ( grc, Στεφάνη) was a small port town on the coast of ancient Paphlagonia, according to Arria ...

/ Gergo Borlai: drums *Nguyen Lê & the Dark Side Nine (Celebrating ''Dark Side of the Moon'') **Nguyen Lê: guitars, electronics, arrangements **Himiko Paganotti: vocals **Illya Amar: vibes & electronics **Gergo Borlai: drums **Romain Labaye: bass guitar **Stéphane Guillaume: tenor and soprano sax **

Sylvain Gontard Sylvain is the French form of Silvanus. It may refer to: People *Sylvain Archambault, Canadian director * Sylvain Bied (1965–2011), French footballer and manager *Sylvain Cappell (born 1946), American mathematician * Sylvain Chavanel (born 1979 ...

: trumpet ** Celine Bonacina: baritone and alto sax ** Daniel Zimmermann: trombone *Nguyên Lê Streams Quartet **Illya Amar: vibes & electronics **Chris Jennings: bass ** John Hadfield: drums and percussion

Discography

As leader

* 1990: ''Miracles'' (

Musidisc Musidisc is a French record label that provides music and home video distribution. It was founded in 1927, and purchased by Universal Music Group in 1999. History Musidisc is known for having produced a rare recording of Jeanne Calment, who ...

), with

and

* 1992: ''Zanzibar'' (Musidisc), with Paul McCandless, Joël Allouche * 1995: ''Million Waves'' ( ACT), with Dieter Ilg and drummer Danny Gottlieb * 1996: ''Tales from Vietnam'' (ACT), with Huong Thanh, Hao Nhien, Paolo Fresu,

, Simon Spang-Hanssen,

* 1997: ''Three Trios'' (ACT) * 1998: ''Maghreb & Friends'' (ACT) * 1999: ''Moon and Wind'' (ACT), with Huong Thanh * 2000: ''Bakida'' (ACT), with Renaud Garcia-Fons and

Tino di Geraldo Tino di Geraldo (born Faustino Fernández Fernández in 1960) is a French-Spanish percussionist, tabla player, drummer, and producer. He is one of Spain's leading flamenco and jazz percussionists, bringing classical and jazz influences to flamenco ...

featuring Carles Benavent * 2002: ''Purple – Celebrating Jimi Hendrix'' (ACT) * 2005: ''Walking on the Tiger's Tail'' (ACT) with Paul McCandless, Art Lande and Jamey Haddad * 2006: ''Homescape'' (ACT), duos with Paolo Fresu and Dhafer Youssef * 2007: ''Fragile Beauty'' (ACT), with Huong Thanh * 2009: ''Saiyuki'' (ACT) * 2011: ''Songs of Freedom'' (ACT) * 2014: ''Celebrating Dark Side of the Moon'' (ACT) * 2017: ''Hà Nội Duo'' (ACT), featuring Ngo Hong Quang * 2019: ''Streams'' (ACT)

As sideman

With Safy Boutella * 1992: '' Mejnoun'' (Indigo) Within Uri Caine Ensamble * 2006: ''Uri Caine Ensemble Plays Mozart'' (

Winter & Winter Winter & Winter is a record label in Munich, Germany that specializes in jazz, classical and improvised music. It was founded by Stefan Winter following the demise of his JMT Records label. Since 1997 Winter & Winter has released records by ...

) * 2009: ''The Othello Syndrome'' (Winter & Winter) Within ELB, including with

and

* 2001: ''ELB'' ( ACT) * 2008: ''Dream Flight'' (ACT), featuring Stéphane Guillaume Within Andy Emler Mega Octet * 1992: ''Head Games'' (Label Bleu) With Paolo Fresu * 1998: ''Angel'' (BMG France/

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Ar ...

) * 2012: ''Cinquant'Anni Suonati – 2'' (Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso S.p.A.) With François Moutin and André Ceccarelli * 1993: ''Init'' (Phonogram), featuring

Bob Berg Robert Berg (April 7, 1951 – December 5, 2002) was an American jazz saxophonist. Biography Berg was born in Brooklyn, New York, United States. Berg started his musical education at the age of six when he began studying classical piano. He be ...

With

Cæcilie Norby Cæcilie Norby (born 9 September 1964) is a Danish jazz and rock singer. She was born in Frederiksberg, Denmark, into a musical family. Her father, Erik Norby, is classical composer and her mother, Solveig Lumholt, is an opera singer. She was a ...

, Lars Danielsson, and Leszek Możdżer * 2013: ''Silent Ways'' (ACT) With Romano/Sclavis/Texier +

Enrico Rava Enrico Rava (born 20 August 1939), is an Italian jazz trumpeter. He started on trombone, then changed to the trumpet after hearing Miles Davis. Career He was born in Trieste, Italy. His first commercial work was as a member of Gato Barbieri's ...

, Bojan Z * 2012: ''3+3'' (Label Bleu) Within Ultramarine * 1985: ''Programme Jungle'' ( Bloomdido) * 1989: ''Dé'' (

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territor ...

) * 2007: ''E Si Mala'' (

Universal Music France Universal Music Group owns, or has a joint share in, many of the record labels listed here. According to UMG official site, the main labels are Abbey Road Studios, Bravado, Capitol Music Group, Decca Records, Def Jam Recordings, Deutsche Grammopho ...

) With

* 1999: ''Malak'' (

Enja Enja Records is a German jazz record company and label based in Munich which was founded by jazz enthusiasts Matthias Winckelmann and Horst Weber in 1971. The label's first release was by Mal Waldron, and early releases included European and ...

), including with

Markus Stockhausen Markus Stockhausen (born May 2, 1957) is a German trumpeter and composer. His recordings and performances have typically alternated between jazz and chamber or opera music, the latter often in collaboration with his father, composer Karlheinz Sto ...

, Renaud Garcia-Fons, and Jatinder Thakur With Tùng Dương * 2013: ''Độc đạo'' (Dihavina)

References

External links

*
UNESCO International Jazz Day interview Nguyên Lê (English) 2012

French-Vietnamese Guitarist Breaks Barriers : For Nguyen Le, More the Merrier
, ''New York Times'', January 17, 2001.
Nguyen Le
''MySpace'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Le, Nguyen 20th-century guitarists 21st-century guitarists French jazz guitarists French male guitarists 1959 births Living people French people of Vietnamese descent Vietnamese musicians Musicians of Vietnamese descent ACT Music artists 20th-century French male musicians 21st-century French male musicians French male jazz musicians Orchestre National de Jazz members