A Hanoi Hotspot
One of the great recommendations we received from friends we met in Hanoi was to check out a local jazz club located in a cool little alley behind the famous Hanoi Grand Opera House. Walking up to the venue, we could hear the lead alto blaring a solo out the front door, and it sounded fantastic.
Once inside the packed club, we stood at the bar as the clarinetist wailed away. We were even more pleased when they invited a local vocalist to join the band for a nice rendition of “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love” and “Misty.” Little did we know at the time, the club and its proprietor are jazz royalty in Hanoi.
A Taste of Home
Eventually, we were seated at a table with another couple, two British expats who had been living in Hanoi for a few years. As we got to know them, they gave us the rundown about Quyen Van Minh, who is not only the owner of the club but also a renowned jazz musician in Vietnam. Later we would learn about many of his jazz endeavors, but that night it was simply wonderful to sit in an authentic jazz club and feel a slice of home for a few hours.
A Jazz Legend in Vietnam
Quyen Van Minh, an instructor at the Hanoi Conservatory, felt a need to create his own style as a Vietnamese saxophonist and composer. He began experimenting by blending traditional Vietnamese themes with jazz. Minh regularly plays at his own club and often performs with his students.
A significant and impactful moment in Minh’s career was his live concert at the Opera House on April 12, 1994, where he performed many of his original compositions and received critical acclaim for his work.
Minh was already known in Hanoi and had introduced jazz to the public sphere in socialist Vietnam with two groundbreaking concerts in 1988 and 1989. However, the concert at the Opera House in 1994 solidified his status as a pioneering jazz artist in Vietnam.
