Helen Sung - Anthem For A New Day (2014)

Although she has released several trio albums, Helen Sung's 2014 album, Anthem for a New Day, is the pianist's first quintet album. As the 2007 Mary Lou Williams Piano Competition winner, Sung has displayed her virtuosic abilities backing such luminaries as trumpeter Clark Terry, saxophonist Wayne Shorter, and trumpeter Jon Faddis, just to name a few. Here, Sung takes center stage backed by a stellar cast of supporting players including saxophonist Seamus Blake, trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, bassist Reuben Rogers, drummer Obed Calvaire, and others. In a jazz world split between more esoteric avant-garde albums and safe, standards-heavy albums, with Anthem for a New Day Sung finds the perfect balance between intellectual, exploratory improvisation and no-nonsense, finely tailored jazz arranging. On Anthem for a New Day, Sung primarily delves into a handful of new compositions, from the buoyant "Armando's Rhumba" to the expansive "Hidden," as well as several well-chosen covers, including a gorgeous "Never Let Me Go," featuring violinist Regina Carter, and the tense yet funky "Epistrophy." These are immaculate and organically arranged pieces, all played in a swinging, straight-ahead style that allows for all musicians involved to shine. All of which is even more impressive when you consider that Sung, a classical student in college, didn't seriously began exploring jazz until after graduating from the University of Texas in 1995. After years of paying her dues as a sideman and "shedding" her chops in trio settings, with Anthem for a New Day Sung has delivered the soundtrack to the next phase of her career as a jazz leader. ~  by Matt Collar, AMG. 

Concord Records, CJA-34496-02, 2014
Recorded at Systems Two Studios, Brooklyn, New York 

Musicians:
Helen Sung - Piano, Fender Rhodes, Handclaps & Foot-Stamping (#2)
Ingrid Jensen - Trumpet
Seamus Blake - Soprano & Tenor Saxophones
Reuben Rogers - Bass
Obed Calvaire - Drums, Handclaps & Foot-Stamping (#2)
Samuel Torres - Percussion, Handclaps & Foot-Stamping (#2) 

Guests:
Regina Carter - Violin (#3,7)
Paquito D'Rivera - Clarinet (#2)
John Ellis - Bass Clarinet (#6) 

Tracks:
01. Brother Thelonious {Helen Sung} (5:37)
02. Armando's Rhumba {Chick Corea} (4:37)
03. Hidden {Helen Sung} (5:48)
04. It Don't Mean A Thing [If It Ain't Got That Swing] (Ellington, Mills} (4:10)
05. Hope Springs Eternally {Helen Sung} (5:33)
06. Anthem For A New Day {Helen Sung} (5:43)
07. Never Let Me Go {Ray Evans, Jay Livingston} (7:18)
08. Chaos Theory {Helen Sung} (5:04)
09. Epistrophy {Kenneth Clarke, Thelonious Monk} (5:30)
10. Equipoise {Stanley Cowell} (2:16) 

Total Time: 51:40 

Credits:
Producer, Liner Notes - Helen Sung
Recording Engineer - Mike Marciano
Mixing Engineer - Jeremy Loucas
Mastering Engineer - Paul Blakemore
Art Direction - Albert J. Roman
Photography - Kat Villacorta

Steve Turre - Lotus Flower (1997)

You might call Lotus Flower an act of relaxation after the strenuous exercise of the Steve Turre album, for Turre reduces forces and idioms to a more-or-less straight-ahead sextet and concentrates almost entirely upon the trombone. In doing so, he re-stakes his claim to being one of the outstanding voices on the trombone of his time, turning some lovely playing on "The Fragrance of Love" and "Sposin'" and some extremely agile bop work at a fleet pace on "Blackfoot" -- to cite two extremes. But this sextet has no ordinary front line; Turre shares the spotlight with a violinist (Regina Carter) and a cellist (Akua Dixon), thus deliberately managing to avoid the trumpet/saxophone axis entirely. Now and then, Turre also throws in a seventh element, Kimati Dinizulu's percussion or Don Conreaux's gong, to add exotic and spiritual flavors to the menu. Carter gets far more swinging time than Dixon on the album -- indeed, Carter's spiritual forefather seems to be Joe Venuti -- while Dixon gets typecast into the warm, lyrical role that cellists usually fulfill. Mulgrew Miller (piano, Buster Williams (bass) and Lewis Nash (drums) form the solidly mainstream rhythm section that is, however, occasionally asked to do unconventional things. Fortunately, there are enough off-center textures and quirks on this album to sustain Turre's yen for adventure in the '90s -- and on the rhythmically Balkanized "Shorty," Turre's conch shells make a welcome if brief cameo return. ~ by Richard S. Ginell, AMG. 

Verve Records, 559 787-2, 1999
Recorded And Mixed 28th-29tth December, 1997 at Edison Recording Studios, New York 

Musicians:
Steve Turre - Trombone, Shells, Conch (#10)
Regina Carter - Violin
Akua Dixon - Cello
Mulgrew Miller - Piano
Buster Williams - Bass
Lewis Nash - Drums
Kimati Dinizulu - Djembe (#1), Percussion (#10)
Don Conreaux - Gong (#3,5) 

Tracks:
01. The Lotus Flower {Steve Turre} (5:52)
02. Chairman Of The Board {Steve Turre} (6:40)
03. The Inflated Tear {Rahsaan Roland Kirk} (6:55)
04. The Organ Grinder {Woody Shaw} (6:28)
05. Passion For Peace {Steve Turre} (2:03)
06. S'posin' {Andy Razaf, Paul Denniker} (6:48)
07. The Fragrance Of Love {Steve Turre} (6:22)
08. Blackfoot {Steve Turre} (7:03)
09. Goodbye {Gordon Jenkins} (7:23)
10. Shorty {Steve Turre} (5:42) 

Credits:
Producer - Billy Banks
Executive-Producer - Richard Seidel
Production Manager - Camille Tominaro
Engineer - Gary Chester
Assistant Engineer - Jim Murray, Yvonne Yedibalian
Coordinator [Release Coordination] - Beverly Harris
Art Direction, Design - Chika Azuma
Artwork - Istvan Banyai
Arranger - Steve Turre