UW News

January 31, 2008

Cuong Vu and trio to jazz it up in Meany Feb. 6

Cuong Vu, who recently joined the UW School of Music as assistant professor of jazz studies, will perform his own compositions with his trio at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 6, in Meany Theater. The group has been referred to as “a jazz version of a rock music power trio” by JazzWeekly.com and renowned guitarist Bill Frisell.


Born in Saigon, Vietnam, in 1969, Vu emigrated to Seattle at age 6 and began playing the trumpet at age 11. He was awarded a full scholarship to the New England Conservatory of Music, where he received his bachelor of music degree in Jazz Studies with a distinction in performance. After moving to New York in 1994, Vu led several groups, most notably his trio with Stomu Takeishi and Ted Poor, and toured extensively throughout the world, as well as giving clinics and master classes throughout the US and Europe.

Vu has released four recordings — Bound (OmniTone), Pure (Knitting Factory Records), Come Play With Me (Knitting Factory Records) and It’s Mostly Residual (ArtistShare) — to critical acclaim, each considered among the best recordings of their respective years. Each recording displays how he has carved out a distinctive sonic territory on the trumpet while blurring all stylistic borders.


His latest recording, Vu-Tet (ArtistShare), was released in mid-December 2007, featuring the Cuong Vu Trio and Chris Speed on sax and clarinet

The Cuong Vu Trio explores sounds and form while embracing the undercurrents of underground rock and electronic music, crisscrossing styles and conventional languages in pursuit of a new musical language without boundaries. Their recordings have received glowing reviews and the trio’s music has been described as a “beguiling tapestry of sound and motion” (Schwann), “hypnotic” (Jazz Times), “brooding and masterly… awesome and magnificent” (Jazz Review).


Jazz guitar great Bill Frisell, who played with the Cuong Vu Trio on their It’s Mostly Residual CD, will join the trio in their Meany debut. Tickets are $15 ($10 for students and seniors) and are available at the Arts Ticket Office, 206-543-4880 or online at www.meany.org.