Jazz Articles about Lenora Zenzalai Helm

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Kate McGarry, Lenora Zenzalai Helm, Lois Deloatch, Nnenna Freelon: The Sistering

by Jacob Sylvester
May 24, 2026

The collaborative album created by jazz vocalists Kate McGarry, Lenora Zenzalai Helm, Lois Deloatch, and Nnenna Freelon, titled The Sistering, is a powerful musical journey that explores the bonds of friendship and heritage. Released in early 2026, the project uses the metaphor of “sistering"--a building technique where two boards are joined to make a structure stronger--to show how these four women support one another. The album begins with the “River Song," which introduces the idea of life as a flowing ...

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Lenora Zenzalai Helm: Precipice

by Mark F. Turner
September 1, 2002

With a unique style and the gift of creativity, Lenora Zenzalai Helm expands the boundary of jazz vocalists with her new recording entitled Precipice. Accompanied by an extremely adept rhythm section consisting of emerging jazz lions Nasheet Waits on drums, Taurus Mateen on bass, and the ultra-talented pianist Stanley Cowell; Helm offers a view into her rich repertoire. A multifaceted artist, LZH is a composer, teacher, and also served as the U.S. Jazz Ambassador in 1998. But at the heart ...

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Lenora Zenzalai Helm: Spirit Child

by Jack Bowers
April 1, 1999

After reading Stanley Cowell’s acclamatory liner notes to Spirit Child, I was prepared to embrace the second coming of Sarah, Billie, Ella and Carmen in one glorious package. Lenora Zenzalai (“Zen–zay–lay,” Zulu for “spirit child”) Helm is a talented young singer who certainly shows promise, but no one could live up to the kind of advance praise that is showered upon her. I suppose I should have listened first, read later. Writers who are being paid by the compliment can ...

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Lenora Zenzalai Helm: Spirit Child

by Jim Santella
April 1, 1999

In her debut recording, singer Lenora Zenzalai Helm scat-sings and transforms poignant lyrics in an array of jazz styles. Helm, who has a vocal degree from The Berklee College of Music in Boston and has represented the U.S. State Department on a month-long tour of Africa, has put together a winning team effort. However, the singer’s tendency to allow the pitch to waver and to withhold support when vocal projection is demanded by the arrangement, detracts in specific instances.

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