Chris Minh Doky
-
Retrospective
One can call Chris Min Doky an
international musician. Born in Denmark as the son of a Danish pop
singer and a Vietnamese guitarist he got his talent on a natural way.
In 1989 at age 18 he moved to New York, where he soon had the
opportunity to start his career as bassist and to record his debut
album Appreciation followed by The Sequel (1990) and
Letters (1991) on Storyville Records. His specialty was mixing
jazz and rock. Signed by Blue Note Records he released Doky
Brothers (1995), Doky Brothers 2 (1996), with his elder
brother, the jazz pianist Niels Lan Doky, and Minh (1998).
Chris comments about
Minh: "I wanted to
do something totally different than what I had been doing with Doky
Brothers. I was ready to do something more funky, more edgy, less
polite. I wanted to record an album that told the story of who, and
where, I was at the time. What better way to do that, than invite all
your friends an have a party?" Guest musicians on Minh are the Brecker Brothers, David Sanborn, Mike Stern, Lenny White and many more
celebrities.
Minh offers a great variety of styles
from jazz to Pop and R&B. Fusion jazz on I Told You So and
Waiting On You is searching the musical borders of all musicians.
You find delighting songs like Every Breath You Take and
Lean On Me interpreted by Lalah Hathaway. In spite of the fact
that merging of fusion jazz and R&B on the same album is a risky
endeavor Chris finds the right balance between the genres. This album
was released in 1998, a time when smooth jazz in USA had its first
ascendancy.
In 2000 Minh's next album
Listen Up!
followed. Chris comments: "Do I have fun memories of the band! The
entire time following my previous album (Minh) was basically
spend on the road, playing with more or less the band on this album.
Although still jazz and mostly acoustic, we were definitely becoming
more of a funk band. I had so much fun with that acoustic jazz funk
thing, that I wanted to capture where we had come to as band. Three
days in the studio became this album ..."
On this album Chris is accompanied by
his band George Whitty, Larry Goldings (keyboards), Louis Winsberg,
Adam Rogers (guitars), and Clarence Penn (drums). Guest musicians are
John Scofield, Kenny Garrett, Makoto Ozone and others. The album
contain nine compositions by Chris and three superb renditions. With
the funky The Dapper King Chris shows his brilliant talent as
composer and performer. 1999/Cantaloupe Island, a medley of
Prince's 1999 and Hancock's Cantaloupe Island is
perfectly performed. A great thumbs up! to Katreese Barnes, who gives
this tune a timeless noblesse.
Bonnie Raitt released in 1991 her album
Luck of the Draw. From this album Chris performs a rendition of
All At Once, a very contemplative arrangement with a big note on
his acoustic bass. In 1975 the Brecker Brothers joined together to
create their first common album Brecker Brothers. The title
Rocks from this album is now interpreted by Chris on bass and Randy Brecker performs the trumpet again. Eternally is an awesome
love ballade sung by Katreese Barnes. She has worked with Dean Brown,
Mike Phillips, Deodato, Juicy, Chaka Khan and many more. Really
impressing the melancholic Sacro Monte, catching the dynamic
Doky Folky or the exotic Asiacanese with the explosive
mixture of acoustic bass and tablas.
The
year 2002 was a turn around with his album Cinematique.
He was accompanied by Joey Calderazzo (piano), Jeff “Tain” Watts
(drums), Larry Goldings (piano), Bill Stewart (drums), Makoto Ozone
(piano), Toots Thielemans (harmonica), and Clarence Penn (drums).
Chris comments: "After playing with my
acoustic funk band for several year, I missed playing in a more open
and loose situation. I wanted to take a break from the funk band. When
I joined Michael Brecker's band in 2001, it was not only a huge
pleasure playing with these guys, but it also made me realize how much
I missed playing straight-ahead. I started doing gigs with the trio
again and it was clear from jump that my next album (this one) was
going to be a jazz trio album. We began recording this album, the day
after getting off the road with Joey and Tain. It was so much fun
hanging out with my old friends and it was so easy. Almost all takes
are first takes..."
Chris offers on Cinematique special brilliant interpretations
of film melodies like James Bond and Nothing To Loose.
Mesmerizing and captivating is Toots, Joey and Chris intimate revival
of Goldfinger. Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence originally
composed by Ryuichi Sakamoto is a further highlight of this album.
Cinematique is an album especially for all lovers of acoustic
bass.
Minh, Listen Up! and
Cinematique mark an important period in the career of Chris Minh
Doky of musical prosperity. These albums are now available at CDBaby
for download.
- Chris Minh Doky - Website
- Bio
- Title: Minh
Artist: Chris Minh Doky
Year: 1998
Length: 0:54:49
Genre: General Jazz
Label: Blue Note Records
Tracks:
01 I Told You So [3:31]
02 Every Breath You Take [4:12]
03 Welcome [0:14]
04 Waiting On You (jungle vibe) [2:52]
05 Sleepless Dream [5:09]
06 Chhaya [0:07]
07 Lean On Me [5:41]
08 I Just Wanna Stop [4:58]
09 A New Day [4:55]
10 Ken & Mai [0:11]
11 It Once Was [5:42]
12 Mardi Chez Lionel [3:47]
13 Messages [0:30]
14 Home Sweet Home [5:45]
15 New York City [0:21]
16 Don't Get Funny With My Money [5:09]
17 Bass Solitude [1:45]
Download the album at
CDBaby
-
Title: Listen Up!
Artist: Chris Minh Doky
Year: 2000
Length: 0:55:19
Genre: General Jazz
Label: Virgin Records
Tracks:
01 The Dapper King [4:53]
02 1999/Cantaloupe Island [4:02]
03 All At Once [4:59]
04 Rocks [5:28]
05 Eternally [4:17]
06 Was [5:37]
07 Sacro Monte [6:54]
08 Doky Folky [3:25]
09 Rain [4:14]
10 Asiacanese [5:33]
11 Mornings [3:49]
12 Reincarnated [2:09]
Download the album at
CDBaby
- Title: Cinematique
Artist: Chris Minh Doky
Year: 2002
Length: 0:58:59
Genre: General Jazz
Label: Blue Note Records
Tracks:
01 James Bond [6:45]
02 Goldfinger [4:47]
03 Nothing To Lose [6:11]
04 Tossed Salad & Scrambled Eggs [4:31]
05 Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence [7:39]
06 My Favorite Things [6:15]
07 Sleepless Dream [6:19]
08 Rue Hautefeuille [5:03]
09 Godfather [6:05]
10 One Day I'll Fly Away [5:25]
Download the album at
CDBaby
