Oracles

Description

The 10th album as a "leader" for this American pianist. She has accompanied on stage and on albums: Terri Lyne Carrington, Joe Chambers, Franck Lacy & Mingus Big Band, Wynton Marsalis, Clark Terry, and Scott Robinson, among others… Helen Sung is a shining example of the heroic journey towards self-realization through the art of jazz… That’s why [Oracles] is an essential album. You just have to listen to it. Wynton Marsalis A true tour de force of musical portraits highlighting its exceptional subjects, Oracles is a heartfelt tribute to jazz legends Clark Terry, Ron Carter, Jimmy Heath, Wayne Shorter, Barry Harris, Kenny Barron, Herbie Hancock, and Sir Roland Hanna, all of whom mentored her during the inaugural class of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance (now the Herbie Hancock Institute). The artistic director of the Institute at the time, bass legend Ron Carter, told Sung: “To find your voice in this music, you must compose your own music.” This was a revolutionary idea for this classically trained pianist and eldest daughter of Chinese immigrants: to be both an interpreter and a composer, free to create. Sung recalls what the great tenor saxophonist Jimmy Heath told her: “The stage of a jazz orchestra is where true democracy reigns. Everyone must understand their role and prepare by working hard, studying, and practicing. Everyone will have the opportunity to express themselves, but it is in the integration within the group that musicians ultimately create something greater, richer, and deeper.”