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24-year-old Samson Trinh’s debut jazz compositional album, Very Strange Night was a project he worked on during his last year as a Jazz Studies major at Virginia Commonwealth University. The majority of the songs on the album were school assignments. For the recording, Samson hired 48 of the best musicians in Richmond including his 17-piece Upper East Side Big Band and vocalists Adrian Duke, Jackie Frost, Terri Murphy and international jazz trumpeter, Rex Richardson. All the songs were composed, arranged, orchestrated, conducted, and produced by Samson Trinh.
Very Strange Night is a concept album, which takes the listener on a musical journey across genres. The disc itself looks and feels like a record vinyl that starts the album off with a needle-drop sound effect. The night’s exhilarating experience includes lush jazz string orchestra arrangements, big band, country influences from the 1960s, classical, funk, and long song titles that also challenges the listener’s ear such as “I Tried To Talk To Her, But She Thought I Was Too Weird.”
In conclusion, Samson was the first student ever in VCU history to have a CD release party at his Senior Recital, which covered works from Very Strange Night. All the seats were filled at the concert hall and hundreds of CDs were sold. Samson also encouraged students that night to make an album during their last year of school. Very Strange Night is not just a student project; it is an album crafted by a hard working composer and his colleagues to capture creative ideas within a moment and to showcase most importantly, Samson’s writing abilities, that feature songs which will make a listener smile over and over again.
"There is nothing remotely tentative about Samson Trinh’s idiosyncratic and ambitious debut. The CD works on a variety of levels: as varied entertainment, as a surprising mature statement from a young artist, and as a vivid snapshot of the Richmond jazz scene circa 2006.” (Four Stars)
Peter McElhinney, Style Weekly
“What is most impressive about VERY STRANGE NIGHT is that Samson Trinh has gathered a group of Richmond’s finest pickers, singers, and players.”
Scott Fraley, 9X Online Magazine