Baba Israel in Vietnam with the Dana Leong Band.

Baba Israel in Vietnam with the Dana Leong Band.

Vietnam was a whirlwind experience of nature, pollution, exotic food and drink, and great audiences. We started the trip in Ho Chi Min city. Our time was spent learning to cross the streets. Engaging traffic moves somewhere between a trust exercise, Frogger, and a dance piece. The streets are filled with hundreds of motor scooters. The air was thick with pollution.



We spent the day in the main market place. Here people were getting their hustle on. Selling everything from t-shirts, pants, shoes, spices, jewelry, crafts, pickled meats, and giant King prawns. The merchants grabbed, poked, tickled, and engaged in anyway to make contact. Bargaining is part of the game and I respectfully talked a down a few shirts. I ended up beatboxing in the food market area and a woman jumped in in making beats on her pots and pans.

We played at the Ho Chi Minh Opera house and had the historical honor of being the last group to play before renovation. The concert went off with Dana and I jumping into the crowd and getting folks on stage to dance and vibe out! We turned the Opera House into a club for the night!








We played with a great local Jazz musician Tran Manh Tuan, and also jammed at his club in Ho Chi Minh city. In Denang we had one day of beach time by the China Sea. It was good to breathe the ocean air and recharge from the pollution. From there we traveled to Haifan which was a very laid back place with a beautiful park. Jason and I went for a late night walk and marveled at the unique street culture. There were people cooking and sharing food in groups right on the sidewalk. At the town square we found the old folks doing their nigh time exercises. We joined in doing some qigong. Then we were approached by some local guys who showed us some Kung Fu forms.


In Hanoi we did a workshop for young musicians. It was challenging at first because of the language barrier. We soon realized that it was actually their eagerness to get up and jam. There were piano players, drummers, and horn players. We had a great jam with Dana, Elliot, and Jason passing on their knowledge and helping to assign parts and arrange the jam. I flowed over the jam and afterwards broke into some beatbox. The drummers got really excited and I went into beatbox workshop mode! They translated their drum skills to their mouth with the quickness! After a great show in Hanoi we were ready to go as the pollution and traffic was getting the best of us! In Hanoi we encountered the infamous Snake Wine? Did I drink some?

Nah, I am a vegetarian