Page Text: "An extraordinary soundtrack to an extraordinary film about an extraordinary man. Black improvisational music meet traditional Vietnamese and classical styles and is a remarkable document of a never-to-be-repeated man and moment in time. 10/10"
Justin Turford - Truth and Lies
"...like Bang's life and music, the process of this film is a wild, harrowing, and often beautiful ride. As Bang himself puts it in the movie after a particularly moving musical collaboration: "What a journey, my friend."
Thomas Maresca - Asia Life
"This is deeply poignant music that offers invaluable catharsis to the horrors of war."
Kevin Le Gendre - Jazz Wise
Gilles Peterson - BBC Radio 6
“This final act may have been his best”
Karl Ackermann - All About Jazz
"It's fantastic, it's brilliant, it's very very good"
Robert Elms - BBC Radio London
“Billy Bang Lucky Man', which documented Billy Bang's return to Vietnam blew me away away. There were no punches pulled as we got to see this former GI - "a tunnel rat" - deal simultaneously with the people he once viewed and treated as the enemy while negotiating his own trauma and emotional turmoil. This film boldly documents the musical redemption, the journey to the light, that Billy Bang experienced as a result of that trip to the heart of darkness”.
Paul Bradshaw - Straight No Chaser
"Between the striking musical compositions and emotional reflections on life and humanity, Lucky Man is a bittersweet experience that will immerse any listener, and a wonderful tribute to Billy Bang"
Chloe McCormick - Black Grooves
Music From The Film
In association with IF Music, BBE Music presents ‘Lucky Man’: music from the eponymous documentary film, charting jazz violinist and Vietnam veteran Billy Bang’s brave return to the country, 40 years after the War.