Home » Jazz Articles » Live Review » Helen Sung at Jazz @ Jack's, Denver, CO
Helen Sung at Jazz @ Jack's, Denver, CO
Jazz @ Jack's
2014 Craft Brewers Conference
Denver, CO
April 9, 2014
Astaire and Rogers; Bogart and Bacall; Sponge Bob and Patrick... The entertainment world is full of classic pairings. Wednesday night's classic pairing was jazz and craft beer. Dropped in the middle of the 2014 Craft Brewers Conference in Denver, pianist
Helen Sung
pianoA graduate of the
Thelonious Monk
piano1917 - 1982
The confluence of the Craft Brewers Conference and Helen Sung at the same time in Denver created the obvious opportunity to match jazz and beer. North Coast Brewing provided the beer and Sung put together a cracker jack group. The geographically diverse band included
Jaleel Shaw
saxophone, altob.1978
Ron Miles
cornet1963 - 2022
The program drew heavily from Sung's recent album Anthem for a New Day (Concord, 2014). The new album includes a mix of Sung's original compositions and standards that she heavily rearranged. The first set began with Sung's "Brother Thelonious" which she also re-recorded for her new disc. Sung studied classical piano for years before making the switch to jazz. Her classical background came to the forefront early in the show with her cover of
Chick Corea
piano1941 - 2021
Paquito D'Rivera
clarinetb.1948
While slightly tentative at first, the pick-up band quickly hit the groove and played like a unified group throughout the evening. Garrison and Douglas locked in and maintained a solid foundation. Sung allowed ample time for each member to solo on most of the tunes. Miles is a musical chameleon, comfortable in a wide array of settings, and fit right in here, both in the ensemble playing and with his inventive yet very much in context solos. Shaw, like Miles, has several CDs under his own name as a leader and he, too, fit right into the program deftly executing Sung's arrangements and passionately improvising when called on. Sung's own solos displayed a breathtaking technical proficiency, no doubt engrained from her many years of classical training. However, at the same time, she incorporated jazz ideas and phrasing and kept it swinging.
An interesting song choice was the tune "Blue Moon." Normally, inclusion of that song in the set list would be unremarkable, but because the show was part of the Craft Brewers Conference, it was truly ironic. Blue Moon is the name of a product of the Coors Brewing Company, an industrial brewer and the antithesis of craft brewing. But Blue Moon bottles omit the Coors name, apparently in an attempt to look like a micro-brew. The craft brewers in attendance took it in stride, however, and continued to sip the real craft beer being served.
A highlight of the evening was Sung's arrangement of Monk's "Epistrophy." She kept most of the song's theme, but dropped the last phrase which resulted in some musical tension. It was like listening to someone speak who wouldn't quite finish a sentence, leaving your mind to fill in the blank. Another excellent cover was "Never Let Me Go." That's one of those songs that has been recorded so many times, a new version must have something different otherwise there would seem to be little point in yet another version of the same thing. Sung met the challenge with an arrangement that highlighted the beautiful melody and provided new insights all at the same time.
"Chaos Theory" was a Sung original and, as the name implied, sometimes drifted outside the typical boundaries of rhythm, time, melody and harmony. The song alternated between the chaotic, as the title described and more organized ensemble playing. On this one, Sung's playing reached further out as well, at times striking a dissonant sound.
Chaos, however, was nowhere to be found in the beer glasses. North Coast supplied the beer for the evening with Brother Thelonious taking center stage. Brother Thelonious, by the way, is dark in color, but has that classic Belgian taste (maybe a hint of clove?); and smooth as silk pajamas. Beer and jazz; perfect for swingin' and swiggin.'
Tags
Helen Sung
Live Reviews
Geoff Anderson
United States
Colorado
Denver
Thelonious Monk
Jaleel Shaw
Ron Miles
Chick Corea
Paquito D'Rivera
Comments
PREVIOUS / NEXT
Helen Sung Concerts
Oct
25
Sat
The Warren Wolf & Helen Sung Duo
Stony Run Meeting HouseBaltimore, MD
Support All About Jazz
All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.
Go Ad Free!
To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.
Denver
Concert Guide | Venue Guide | Local Businesses
| More...
Buy Now
