Cuong Vu (Cường Vũ) (born 19 September 1969) is a Vietnamese-American jazz trumpeter. In addition to his own work as a bandleader, Vu was a member of the

Pat Metheny Group The Pat Metheny Group was an American jazz band founded in 1977 by guitarist and composer Pat Metheny, along with his core collaborating member, keyboardist and composer Lyle Mays. Other long-standing members included bassist and producer Steve ...

. He is the first American person of Vietnamese descent to win a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

. He won the

Best Contemporary Jazz Album The Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album was an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for works (songs or albums) containing quality ...

award twice through his work with the band. He is currently associate professor and chair of jazz studies at the University of Washington.

Biography

Born in Saigon on September 19, 1969, Vu immigrated to Seattle with his family when he was six. At 11, he began to play the trumpet. He received a scholarship from the

New England Conservatory of Music The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a Private college, private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. The conservatory is located on Huntington Avenue along Avenue of the Arts (Boston), the Avenue of the Arts near Boston Symphony Ha ...

. After graduating Vu moved to New York City in 1994, and formed the group Ragged Jack with Jamie Saft, Andrew D'Angelo, and Jim Black. Vu has worked with

Laurie Anderson Laura Phillips "Laurie" Anderson (born June 5, 1947) is an American avant-garde artist, musician and filmmaker whose work encompasses performance art, pop music, and multimedia projects. Initially trained in violin and sculpting,Amirkhanian, Cha ...

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

Dave Douglas David or Dave Douglas may refer to: Entertainment * David Douglas (director) (born 1953), Canadian cinematographer, director and writer * Dave Douglas (trumpeter) (born 1963), American jazz trumpeter * Dave Douglas (drummer) (born 1979), American ...

Myra Melford Myra Melford (born January 5, 1957) is an American avant-garde jazz pianist and composer. A 2013 Guggenheim Fellow, Melford was described by the ''San Francisco Chronicle'' as an "explosive player, a virtuoso who shocks and soothes, and who can m ...

Gerry Hemingway Gerry Hemingway (born March 23, 1955) is an American drummer and composer. Hemingway was a member of the Anthony Braxton quartet from 1983 to 1994. He has also performed with Ernst Reijseger, Anthony Davis, Earl Howard, Leo Smith, George E. ...

, and

Mitchell Froom Mitchell Froom (born June 29, 1953) is an American musician and record producer. He was a member of the bands Gamma and Latin Playboys, and is the keyboardist for Crowded House. He has produced albums for several artists, including David LaFl ...

. While a member of the Pat Metheny Group, Vu won two Grammy Awards for Best Contemporary Jazz Album: ''

Speaking of Now ''Speaking of Now'' is the tenth studio album by the Pat Metheny Group. It was released in 2002 by Warner Bros. Records, Warner Bros. The band was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album for the album in 2003. ''Speaking of N ...

'', ''

The Way Up ''The Way Up'' is the eleventh and final studio album by the Pat Metheny Group. It was released in 2005 and won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album in 2006. It is the last album in the prolific three-decade collaboration of Pat ...

''; and one nomination for

Best Pop Instrumental Performance The Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as th ...

for the song "As It Is." He worked with Metheny mainly as a trumpeter, but also contributed vocals, guitar and various small percussion. Vu's trio consists of bassist

Stomu Takeishi Stomu Takeishi (born 1964, in Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture) is a Japanese experimental and jazz rock bassist. He is known for playing fretless five-string electric bass guitar and a Klein five-string acoustic bass guitar, often using extended techn ...

and drummer

Ted Poor Ted may refer to: Names A shortened form of the following: * Edmund * Edward * Thaddeus * Theodore (given name) Art, entertainment, and media Fictional characters * Ted, a character in the post-apocalyptic short story '' I Have No Mouth, ...

. Vu serves as chair and professor in the jazz studies department of the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

's School of Music.

Discography

As leader

* ''

Ragged Jack ''Ragged Jack'' is an album by keyboardist Jamie Saft and trumpeter Cuong Vu which was released on the Japanese Avant label in 1997.Avant Avant can refer to: People * Avant, part of music production team Bloodshy & Avant * Avant (singer), Myron Avant, an American singer * Clarence Avant, a music executive * Jason Avant, is a US American football player Places * Avant, Oklahoma, ...

, 1997) * ''Bound'' (Omnitone, 2000) * ''Pure'' (

Knitting Factory The Knitting Factory is a nightclub in New York City that features eclectic music and entertainment and is co-owned and co-operated by Knitting Factory Entertainment. After opening in 1987, various other locations were opened in the United Stat ...

, 2000) * ''Come Play with Me'' (Knitting Factory, 2001) * ''It's Mostly Residual'' (

ArtistShare ArtistShare is the internet's first commercial crowdfunding website.Crowd-Funding 101: What Every Musician Needs for a Successful Campaign It also operates as a record label and business model for artists which enables them to fund their proje ...

/EMI, 2005) * ''Vu-Tet'' (ArtistShare, 2007) * ''Leaps of Faith'' (

Origin Origin(s) or The Origin may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Comics and manga * ''Origin'' (comics), a Wolverine comic book mini-series published by Marvel Comics in 2002 * ''The Origin'' (Buffy comic), a 1999 ''Buffy the Vampire Sl ...

, 2011) * ''Holy Abyss'' (

Cuneiform Cuneiform is a Logogram, logo-Syllabary, syllabic writing system that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Near East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. Cuneiform script ...

/ E1, 2012) * ''

Cuong Vu Trio Meets Pat Metheny ''Cuong Vu Trio Meets Pat Metheny'' is a studio album by trumpeter Cuong Vu and guitarist Pat Metheny, with additional musicians Stomu Takeishi on fretless five-string bass guitar, and Ted Poor on drums. The album was released on May 6, 2016 via ...

'' ( Nonesuch, 2016) * ''Ballet (The Music of Michael Gibbs)'' (RareNoiseRecords, 2017) * ''Change In The Air'' (RareNoiseRecords, 2018)

As sideman

* 1993 – ''While You Were Out'' –

Orange Then Blue Orange Then Blue is an avant-garde big band from Boston, Massachusetts led by drummer George Schuller. Several well known jazz musicians have performed with the group as either members or guests, including trumpeters Dave Douglas and Cuong Vu, s ...

* 1996 – ''

Too Close to the Pole ''Too Close to the Pole'' is an album by Bobby Previte's Weather Clear, Track Fast released on the Enja label in 1996.Bob ...

'' –

Bobby Previte Bobby Previte (born July 16, 1951 in Niagara Falls, New York) is a drummer, composer, and bandleader. He earned a degree in economics from the University at Buffalo, where he also studied percussion. He moved to New York City in 1979 and began ...

* 1997 – ''

Sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred space, sacred place, such as a shrine, protected by ecclesiastical immunity. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This seconda ...

'' – Dave Douglas * 1997 – ''Interpretations of Lessness'' – Andy Laster * 1997 – ''Other Pocket'' – Jeff Song * 1997 – ''Rules of Engagement'' – Jeff Song * 1997 – ''Yeah/No'' –

Chris Speed Chris Speed (born February 12, 1967) is an American saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer. Early life and career Speed grew up outside of Seattle and studied classical piano and clarinet from an early age. He later began studying jazz, took up ...

* 1999 – ''Chamber Works'' –

* 1999 – ''Deviantics'' – Chris Speed * 1999 – ''Hold the Elevator: Live in Europe & Other Haunts'' – Orange Then Blue * 2000 – ''Emit'' – Chris Speed * 2000 – ''Luciano's Dream'' – Oscar Noriega * 2000 – ''The Hollow World'' –

Assif Tsahar Assif Tsahar (; born Israel, June 11, 1969) is an Israeli tenor saxophonist and bass clarinetist. He has lived in New York City since 1990. He has performed with Cecil Taylor, Butch Morris, William Parker, Mat Maneri, Hamid Drake, Peter Kowald, ...

& the Brass Reeds Ensemble * 2001 – "Your Turn to Drive" –

(single) * 2001 – '' Life on a String'' –

* 2002 – ''

'' –

* 2002 – ''Window Silver Bright'' – Andy Laster * 2003 – ''Speaking of Now'' (DVD) – Pat Metheny Group * 2004 – ''Transition Sonic'' – Matthias Lupri * 2004 – ''Where the Two Worlds Touch'' –

* 2005 – ''

'' – Pat Metheny Group * 2005 – ''Swell Henry'' – Chris Speed * 2006 – ''Grill Music'' – Jesper Løvdal * 2006 – ''The Image of Your Body'' – Myra Melford * 2006 – ''The Way Up'' (DVD) – Pat Metheny Group * 2008 – ''Coziness Kills'' – Jesper Løvdal * 2008 – ''Incendio'' – Los Dorados * 2009 – ''The Whole Tree Gone'' – Myra Melford * 2010 – ''Closer'' – Wasabi Trio meet Cuong Vu * 2010 – ''Gagarin'' – Mickey Finn + Cuong Vu * 2010 – ''Speak'' * 2014 – '' Alastor: Book of Angels Volume 21'' –

Eyvind Kang Eyvindur Y. Kang (born 23 June 1971) is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist. His primary instrument is viola, but has also performed on violin, tuba, keyboard instruments, keyboards and others. In addition to his solo work, Kang has w ...

* 2019 – ''Overseas'' –

Nguyên Lê 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. He has released albums ...

Awards

References

External links

Cuong Vu official siteaudio sampleInterview
*
Review of Naked Truth album Vu is onCuong Vu at Dutch television show 'Vrije Geluiden' with Bob van Luijt and Yonga Sun
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vu, Cuong 1969 births Living people Musicians from Ho Chi Minh City Musicians from Seattle Jazz fusion musicians Avant-garde jazz musicians American jazz trumpeters Vietnamese jazz trumpeters American musicians of Vietnamese descent Vietnamese emigrants to the United States Pat Metheny Group members 21st-century trumpeters Orange Then Blue members 20th-century trumpeters 20th-century American musicians 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American musicians 21st-century American male musicians Knitting Factory Records artists Cuneiform Records artists Nonesuch Records artists Origin Records artists RareNoiseRecords artists Jazz musicians from Washington (state) ArtistShare artists