Jazz Articles about Helen Sung

About Helen Sung

Album Review

Jordan VanHemert: Survival of the Fittest

Read "Survival of the Fittest" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
May 8, 2025

Although the title of saxophonist Jordan VanHemert's fifth album, Survival of the Fittest, may elicit images of a crash course in self-defense, that is not at all what he had in mind. The music is thematic, he says, and represents the twin lodestars of adversity and resilience. Even that, however, becomes largely irrelevant once VanHemert and his supporting cast launch what is at its heart a narrative of contemporary post-bop jazz. It is a cast that varies in ...

Album Review

Jordan VanHemert: Deep in the Soil

Read "Deep in the Soil" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
September 1, 2024

Energy and enthusiasm fairly leap from the speakers--or headphones--on Sharel Cassity's daring “Call to Order," the opening number on Korean-born saxophonist Jordan VanHemert's fifth album as leader, Deep in the Soil. Alas, that same ardor doesn't reappear until track seven (of eight), trombonist Michael Dease's boppish “ST in the House." In between, VanHemert and his companions (group sizes vary from sextet to duo) offer some agreeable music but nothing that approaches the ebullience or cogency of the themes already named. ...

Liner Notes

Jordan VanHemert: Deep in the Soil

by C. Andrew Hovan
March 20, 2024

Born in Korea and raised in Michigan, Jordan VanHemert counts himself among those youngsters that got involved in his school music program by starting out on the alto saxophone. Also like many of his fellow saxophonists, VanHemert eventually moved away from the smaller horn to devote his full energies to the tenor sax, an instrument emblematic of the jazz heritage. “In my formative years, I was almost exclusively an alto saxophonist," VanHemert explained from his current home base in Oklahoma. ...

Live Review

Helen Sung Quartet + 1 at SFJAZZ Center

by Harry S. Pariser
April 7, 2022

Helen Sung Quartet+1 Joe Henderson lab at SFJAZZ Center San Francisco, CA March 18, 2022 Raised by immigrants from Taiwan in Houston, Texas, Helen Sung does not fit the traditional stereotype of a jazz musician. Sung was set to be a classical pianist, earning her bachelor's and master's degrees in classical piano at the University of Texas at Austin in 1993 and 1995, respectively. But she was lured to the community of jazz musicians, leaving ...

Live Review

Helen Sung Quartet with guest Jenny Scheinman at SFJAZZ

by Roy Strassman
March 30, 2022

Helen Sung Quartet with guest artist Jenny Scheinman Joe Henderson Lab at SFJazz San Francisco, CA March 18, 2022 Last night the Helen Sung Quartet plus violinist Jenny Scheinman graced the stage of the Joe Henderson Lab at San Francisco's premier jazz venue, SFJazz. Ms. Sung, a Guggenheim fellow, has a winsome, energetic, stylish, and captivating presence and is a strong advocate for women jazz composers and performers. She kicked ...

Radio & Podcasts

New Releases and Music For The New Year

by Mary Foster Conklin
September 20, 2021

This broadcast presents new releases from pianists Champian Fulton, Helen Sung, Antonio Adolfo, vocalists Roseanna Vitro, Sheila Jordan, Sasha Dobson and the Kate McGarry & Keith Ganz Ensemble plus a new collaboration from John Finbury with Camille Bertault, with birthday shoutouts to Maria Muldaur, Lorraine Feather, Mel Torme, Ariel Pocock, Tom Wopat and more. Thanks for listening and please support the artists you hear by purchasing their music during this time of pandemic so they can continue to distract, comfort ...

Album Review

Diego Rivera: Indigenous

Read "Indigenous" reviewed by Kyle Simpler

by Kyle Simpler
February 16, 2021

The old saying, “a picture is worth a thousand words" might be a cliché, but it also contains an element of truth. Some of the most powerful messages come across without relying on words. And when it comes to music, lyrics are not always needed to convey a message. Such is the case with Diego Rivera's Indigenous. Named after the famous Mexican artist, Diego Rivera has established himself as a major figure in jazz music. Since 2000, he ...