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| 6.080 Ft
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| 1. | Conundrum
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| 2. | One Step Forward, Two Steps Back
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| 3. | On a Clear Day
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| 4. | Push
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| 5. | Beauty for Ashes
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| 6. | The Fourth Maria
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| 7. | Bittersweet
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| 8. | Speak Low
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| 9. | The Waiting Game
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| 10. | Ugly Beauty
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Jazz / Jazz Instrument, Piano Jazz
Recorded in New York City, February 2001
Marcus Strickland (ts), Helen Sung (p), Richie Goods (b), Brian Blade (d), Jeffrey Haynes (perc)
"I first heard Helen Sung when she was a student at the Monk Institute when it was located at the New England Conservatory. I was impressed with her flawless technique, great imagination, great harmonic conception and real understanding of the language of jazz. Since that first hearing, I've also know Ms. Sung as a brilliant composer as you will also hear when you put this CD in the player. I expect great things for Ms. Sung and great, challenging music for her". - Kenny Barron
"It's always a good sign when the opening cut has you snapping your fingers about fifteen seconds in.
Push is pianist Helen Sung's debut effort. The song that elicited the fingersnaps is "Conundrum," a swinger that features some clean-lined tenor sax work by Marcus Strickland. It hits a groove early, and a couple of minutes in Sung sparkles into an effervescent solo. The pianist - who semi-finaled in the 1999 Thelonious Monk Jazz Piano Competition - exhibits some sharp angularities again when the sax blows back in.
"Vivacity" is the word that keeps coming to mind as I listen to Ms. Sung's music. Her approach brims with life, solid compositions and fine playing. "One Step Forward, Two Steps Back," sans sax - with percussionist Jeffrey Haynes joining the pianist, drummer Brian Blade and bassist Richie Goods - bubbles and jumps. Helen Sung is - it's obvious - having a helluva good time as her imagination soars.
The disc's title tune features a marvelously imaginative Sung solo and some of Strickland's finest blowing on the set. Sung has a way of keeping the listener on her/his toes as the rhythm guys settle into a groove behind her while she takes the melody on some surprising twists and turns.
The set is a nicely arranged mix of trio/quartet, uptempo/ballad offerings, and Marcus Strickland switches from tenor to soprano to keep the sound interesting. The song "Bittersweet" sounds just like its title, with the soprano and piano playing the opposing emotions. "The Waiting Game" sounds Monk-ish, and the record closes on a perfect note with Thelonious's "Ugly Beauty," a pensive little solo gem in the hands of Helen Sung."
---- Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz (Jan 2004)
Helen Sung
Active Decade: '00s
Genre: Jazz
Styles: Classical Crossover, Jazz Instrument, Piano Jazz
The winner of the 2007 Mary Lou Williams Piano Competition, pianist Helen Sung is an adroit improviser with a bent toward straight-ahead jazz and post-bop. A native of Houston, TX, Sung studied classical piano growing up and attended Houston's High School for the Performing Arts before earning both undergraduate and graduate degrees in classical piano from the University of Texas at Austin. It was during her time in college that Sung became interested in jazz, and after graduating in 1995 she enrolled in the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance, which was then at Boston's New England Conservatory of Music. Eventually, Sung relocated to New York City, where she currently resides. She has performed with a bevy of name artists including trumpeter Clark Terry, drummer Terri Lyne Carrington, saxophonist Wayne Shorter, trumpeter Jon Faddis, and many others, and performs regularly with the Mingus Big Band. On her own, she has released several albums including 2004's Push, 2006's Helenistique, 2007's Sungbird (After Albeniz), and 2010's Going Express.
--- Matt Collar, Rovi
Of Chinese heritage and a native of Houston, Texas, Helen attended Houston's High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (HSPVA). She initially aspired to be a classical pianist but was bitten by the jazz bug while pursuing undergraduate studies at the University of Texas at Austin!
Her choice to switch to jazz piano was decided in 1995 when Helen was accepted into the inaugural class of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance at the New England Conservatory of Music. An intensive program accepting only seven students (forming a jazz septet), the Institute proved to be an unprecedented opportunity to study and perform with some of the greatest masters of jazz music.
The septet performed with Clark Terry, Wynton Marsalis, Jimmy Heath, Jackie McLean, Harry "Sweets" Edison, and James Moody; and studied with such artists as Ron Carter (artistic director of the program), Barry Harris, David Baker, Slide Hampton, Lewis Nash, Jon Faddis, Curtis Fuller, Albert "Tootie" Heath, Bennie Maupin, and Sir Roland Hanna. The class toured India and Thailand with Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter, performed at the Kennedy Center, and presented workshops for students.
After graduating from the Institute in 1997, Helen dove into the Boston area jazz scene – some highlights include presenting a jazz music workshop with the late, acclaimed bassist Ray Brown, performing with fellow artists at the Tanglewood Jazz Festival, and being featured on local television shows. She also taught a group piano class for low-income elderly adults sponsored by New England Conservatory's Continuing Education Program & the YMCA.
Helen presently lives in New York City. She has worked and/or recorded with such jazz masters as Slide Hampton, Benny Golson, Buster Williams, and legendary composer and saxophonist Wayne Shorter; and with such jazz luminaries as Regina Carter, Steve Wilson, and Lonnie Plaxico. She has also played with the Mingus Big Band, Clark Terry's "Young Titans of Jazz" Big Band, and Diva. Most recently, she can be seen performing with drummer T.S.Monk, trombonist Steve Turre, and trumpet giant Clark Terry.
In addition to her work as a sideman, Helen is steadily gaining prominence as a bandleader. She was a featured guest on Marian McPartland's acclaimed NPR Piano Jazz show and XM Satellite's In the Swing Seat w/Wynton Marsalis. In print, Helen has feature pieces in such publications as Downbeat, JazzTimes, JazzIz, and AllAboutJazz-New York. Her band works both nationally & internationally, headlining at venues & festivals including Bern's celebrated Marian's Jazzroom, Andorra's 2006 Temporada di musica i dansa, the American Jazz Museum's ‘Blue Room,' Cleveland's Tri-C Jazz Festival, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, and some of New York City's finest jazz clubs.
Helen's experience at the Monk Institute inspires her to remain committed to educational endeavors, such as working with JazzReach, the Newark Boys Chorus, and conducting masterclasses/clinics at various colleges and universities. She is also a recipient of a 2006 Chamber Music America grant, enabling her band to conduct a jazz residency program benefiting Camden's (of New Jersey) Urban Promise Academy and Camden Forward Schools
-Sunnyside Records |
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