Anthem for a New Day (Concord Jazz, 2014)
Anthem for a New Day is the latest solo album by jazz pianist sensation Helen Sung. Even though Sung is well known as a reliable and skilled sideman, this is her great opportunity to demonstrate her considerable talent.
The material on Anthem for a New Day includes original compositions, a Chick Corea piece where Sung ventures successfully into Latin Jazz and a few jazz standards. “I have been working on and ‘trying on’ different approaches in jazz music,” reveals Sung. “With my previous albums, I was searching, experimenting – not that that ever ends. But this is the first project where I feel the most comfortable with who I am as an artist, where I am as an artist, what I’m doing as an artist. It brings the different pieces of my experience together in a way that’s organic and authentic. That kind of clarity is very exciting.”
Regarding the title of the album, Sung says: “When I hear the word ‘anthem,’ I think of flags or banners. This album is my way of planting my flag in the ground. The journey continues, but at this point, I feel a confidence unlike before.”
The lineup on Anthem for a New Day includes Helen Sung on piano and Fender Rhodes; Seamus Blake on saxophone; Ingrid Jensen on trumpet; Reuben Rogers on bass; Obed Calvaire on drums; and Samuel Torres on percussion. Guests include John Ellis on bass clarinet; Regina Carter on violin; and Paquito D’Rivera on clarinet.
“Along with the piano, I played Rhodes as well, which I haven’t done on my previous albums,” she explains. “Classical and jazz are the two primary genres I’ve been immersed in since I started playing music as a child. Early on, I played classical concertos and sonatas with their diverse and grand textures; then when I started jazz, in my quest to really swing, I found myself primarily just playing single lines in my right hand while playing chords with my left. Now I feel like it’s all starting to come together – in my playing, my improvisation, my writing, and with my arranging. All of this makes for an album that’s much bigger in terms of the sonic space it occupies.”
Anthem for a New Day is a splendid recording that shows the multiple dimensions and talent of Helen Sung as a pianist and composer.