http://kolinateng.com

Vienna Teng @ Yoshi's Jazz Club

When I first discovered Vienna Teng in 2004, I knew she had to be awesome. After all, we share the same family name. (Yesterday I found out “Vienna Teng” is her chosen stage name, thus confirming the awesomeness of “Teng”.) Upon listening to her music and being blown away by her beautiful narrative lyrics, clear and smooth vocals, and emotional piano music,  I tried to figure out if we were long-lost relativies (I had also done the same for the great late singer Teresa Teng). Alas, we are not.

Nevertheless, I jumped on the opportunity to see her perform at Yoshi’s Jazz Club at Jack London Square, Oakland yesterday night. The venue is pretty intimate, and even in the farthest table possible, our group still had a good view of Vienna. She performed with the Vienna Teng trio, which consisted of herself on piano and keyboards, and two very versatile accompanying artists on everything from cello to drums to electric guitars, and many other odd instruments in between. 

While I thought Vienna was amazing on her recorded tracks, her music live is better than I could have ever imagined. Better yet, she was able to connect with her listeners through her witty anecdotes interwoven between songs in the set. And what makes her particularly special to me and others in this area, is that her roots are in the Bay Area; she grew up in Saratoga, studied CS at Stanford, and worked at Cisco before she quit to pursue music professionally. And she’s Taiwanese! +1 point from me.

For her very last song in the encore, she sang the Mandarin Chinese song made famous by Teresa Teng, Green Island Serenade, a capella and in Mandarin. I wonder if Vienna chose her stage name based on Teresa Teng? +10 points. I’m naming my future kid Vienna Teresa Teng. Even if it’s a boy.