Co Nam Can Tho

Cô Năm Cần Thơ (real name Trương Thị Trắc) was born in 1917 in Cần Thơ, Cochinchina. She started appearing in Pathe, Beka and Asia Electric and other labels from the mid 1940s. Her career on records started right after World War Two, when Radio France-Asia featured her voice on their broadcasts. Allegedly, in 1946-1947, she performed for the Vietminh soldiers in Zone 7, which earned her a lot of respect among the people. Her career peaked in the 1950s, when she was given her own Tea Room by General Bảy Viễn in the Đại Thế Giới Casino (Grand World Casino), a place for known regime officers, affluent clients, named the Nightinggale (Chim Họa Mi). From her tea room, Cô Năm Cần Thơ trained various upcoming talents, some of which became well-known artists in their own right in the late 50s to 70s such as Út Trà Ôn, Hữu Phước, Thành Được, Út Bạch Lan, Kim Chưởng, Thanh Hương…

Around 1964, Cô Năm Cần Thơ retired, and for the next 10 years she went into obscurity. In 1974, she returned to her homeland and established her own tearoom with Duy Trì, a blind performer. They enjoyed some level of success until the fall of the Republic of Vietnam in 1975, after which she completely vanish from public view. Many assumed she had since passed away, but in 1994, she was spotted living in a makeshift tent in Tao Đàn park in Ho Chi Minh city. With help from the Artists Friendship Assosiation (Hội Ái Hữu Nghệ Sĩ), she was given some support and even shelter, much to her disdain, as she was used to the more free and tougher living conditions. It appears since her children all grown up to be capable for caring for themselves, the artist has no more burden, and spents her time playing cards with other artists that visited her. She even made a rare appearance in the early 2000s, much to the enjoyment of her life long fans. She passed away on the 24th January 2007.