Fragile Beauty is Huong Thanh’s fourth album under her name on ACT following Moon and Wind (ACT 9269-2), Dragonfly (ACT 9293-2) andMangustao (ACT 9423-2), all of which feature Nguyên Lê as producer, co-composer, arranger and accompanist on the guitar. As before, the name of the album speaks eloquently of the music. The steady flow of life, its ephemeral nature and fragility are central themes of Buddhist culture. Vietnamese poetry has found a multitude of images to describe this: flowers drifting on water, or the passage of the clouds or the swallows. The team Thanh/Lê draw their inspiration from this rich heritage of images and motifs. Their repertoire ranges from an excerpt from the noble 10th century national epic “The Pavilion of Crystallized Azure” through the modern impressionist “Drifting on the Water” to sometimes melancholy, sometimes happy work songs.

“With Thanh’s rich and expressive voice, Fragile Beauty simply is an album that captures the heart from the first note and leaves it hungering for more as the last one fades.”
All About Jazz