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 partner ...

. 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 Nov ...

Vince Mendoza Vince Mendoza (born November 17, 1961) is an American composer, music arranger and conductor, and six-time Grammy Award winner. He debuted as a solo artist in 1989, and is known for his work conducting the Metropole Orkest and WDR Big Band Kö ...

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, he ...

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 ...

Renaud Garcia-Fons Renaud Garcia-Fons (born December 24, 1962) is a highly accomplished French upright-bass player and composer. Career Garcia-Fons started his musical studies at an early age. At five years old he picked up playing the piano, switched to classic ...

Per Mathisen Per Mathisen (born 7 October 1969) is a Norwegian jazz bassist and composer who has worked with Terri Lyne Carrington, Geri Allen, Gary Thomas, Bill Bruford, Alex Acuña, Gary Husband, Ralph Peterson, Nguyen Le and Terje Rypdal. He is married ...

, Marc Johnson,

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 drum ...

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Paolo Fresu Paolo Fresu ( sc, Pàulu; born 10 February 1961) is an Italian jazz trumpet and flugelhorn player, as well as a composer and arranger of music. Career Born in Berchidda, Sardinia, he picked up the trumpet at the age of 11, and played in the ba ...

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 radio ...

. In spring 2011 he released ''Songs of Freedom'', an album with

cover versions In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of pop hits from the 1970s.

Bands

*Nguyên Lê Trio **Nguyên Lê: guitars, arrangements ** Michel Alibo: electric bass **

Karim Ziad Karim Ziad (born 1966) is an Algerian musician. A percussionist, drummer, singer and composer, Ziad's music melds influences from North African music and jazz. Ziad was involved in a hard rock band in his youth in Algiers, before moving to P ...

: 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 Terri Lyne Carrington (born August 4, 1965) is an American jazz drummer, composer, producer, and educator. She has played with Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, Clark Terry, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Joe Sample, Al Jarreau, Yellowjackets, and ma ...

: drums, vocals ** Aïda Khann: vocals ** Corin Curschellas: vocals ** Me'shell Ndegeocello: bass guitar **

: percussion ** Bojan Zulfikarpasic: 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 Paul Brownlee McCandless Jr. (born March 24, 1947) is an American multi-instrumentalist and founding member of the American jazz group Oregon. He is one of the few jazz oboists. He also plays bass clarinet, English horn, flute and soprano saxoph ...

: saxophone, clarinet ** Art Lande: piano **

Jamey Haddad Jamey George Haddad (born July 2, 1952 in Cleveland, Ohio) is an American percussionist who works primarily in the fields of jazz and world music and specializes in hand drums. Biography Haddad is of Lebanese ancestry. From the age of four, he b ...

: percussion *ELB (Erskine - Lê - Benita) **Peter Erskine: drums **Nguyên Lê: guitars, guitar synthesizer ** Michel Benita: double bass *Nguyên Lê "Songs of Freedom": **Nguyen Le: guitars, laptop ** Himiko Paganotti: vocals ** Illya Amar: vibes/electronics ** Romain Labaye: bass, vocals ** Stephane Galland/ 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: trumpet ** Celine Bonacina: baritone and alto sax **

Daniel Zimmermann Daniel Zimmermann (born 3 May 1982 in Düsseldorf) is a German politician, founder of the PETO party, and he has been the mayor of Monheim am Rhein since 21 October 2009. When elected, he was the youngest mayor in Germany. Professional career ...

: trombone *Nguyên Lê Streams Quartet **Illya Amar: vibes & electronics **Chris Jennings: bass **

John Hadfield John Charles Heywood Hadfield (16 June 1907 – 10 October 1999) was an English writer and publisher, best known for his 1959 comic novel '' Love on a Branch Line''. Biography John Hadfield was born on 16 June 1907 in Birmingham, and was the s ...

: 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 has ...

), with Art Lande, Marc Johnson and

* 1992: ''Zanzibar'' (Musidisc), with

, Joël Allouche * 1995: ''Million Waves'' ( ACT), with Dieter Ilg and drummer

Danny Gottlieb Daniel Richard Gottlieb (born April 18, 1953) is an American drummer. He was a founding member of the Pat Metheny Group and was co-founder of Elements with Mark Egan. Biography Gottlieb was born in New York City on April 18, 1953. He took less ...

* 1996: ''Tales from Vietnam'' (ACT), with Huong Thanh, Hao Nhien,

, Simon Spang-Hanssen, Michel Benita * 1997: ''Three Trios'' (ACT) * 1998: ''Maghreb & Friends'' (ACT) * 1999: ''Moon and Wind'' (ACT), with Huong Thanh * 2000: ''Bakida'' (ACT), with

and Tino di Geraldo featuring

Carles Benavent Carles Benavent (born 1 March 1954) is a Spanish flamenco and jazz bass player. Biography Benavent was born in the Poble Sec neighborhood in Barcelona. He started playing the bass when he was thirteen years old, attracted by blues and rock, J ...

* 2002: ''Purple – Celebrating Jimi Hendrix'' (ACT) * 2005: ''Walking on the Tiger's Tail'' (ACT) with Paul McCandless, Art Lande and

* 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 Safy Boutella ( ar, صافي بوتلة; born 6 January 1950) is an Algerian musician, arranger, composer, and record producer who graduated from Berklee College of Music. He is the father of dancer and actress Sofia Boutella. He is best known ...

* 1992: ''

Mejnoun ''Mejnoun'' ''(Possessed)'' is an album by Algerian musician and composer Safy Boutella, that was released in 1992 on the Indigo Records, Indigo record label. Allmusic: ''Mejnoun'' Retrieved 1 August 2010 Track listing All compositions and ar ...

'' (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 Da ...

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

and Michel Benita * 2001: ''ELB'' ( ACT) * 2008: ''Dream Flight'' (ACT), featuring Stéphane Guillaume Within Andy Emler Mega Octet * 1992: ''Head Games'' (Label Bleu) With

* 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 Aris ...

) * 2012: ''Cinquant'Anni Suonati – 2'' (Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso S.p.A.) With François Moutin and

André Ceccarelli André "Dédé" Ceccarelli (born 5 January 1946) is a French jazz drummer. Biography After learning to play the drums from his father, Ceccarelli started out playing in the salons of the Hotel Royal Nice Promenade des Anglais at the age of fi ...

* 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 Lars Danielsson (born 5 September 1958) is a Swedish jazz bassist, composer, and record producer. Biography Danielsson was born in Smålandsstenar, and was educated at the music conservatory in Gothenburg. He plays double bass, electric bass ...

, and

Leszek Możdżer Leszek Możdżer (Polish pronunciation: born Lesław Henryk Możdżer, 23 March 1971, Gdańsk) is a Polish jazz pianist, music producer and film score composer. Life and career Możdżer was born on 23 March 1971 in Gdańsk. He began to play t ...

* 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 "Bloomdido" is a jazz standard written by Charlie Parker. It was originally recorded on 6 June 1950 and was released on the Clef Records album ''Bird and Diz''. French musician Didier Malherbe adopted the title of this piece as his nickname. See a ...

) * 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 territorie ...

) * 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 Ja ...

), 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 Tùng Dương (birth name Nguyễn Tùng Dương, born September 18, 1983) is a Vietnamese singer. He came to fame after the 2004 music contest Sao Mai điểm hẹn, in which he won first place as ranked by the judges. Songs he performed in the ...

* 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