Sungbird

SSC1173 2007-08-28

Track List

Prelude - 1:50
Tango - 2:23
Preamble - 1:12
Shall We Tango? - 6:29
Malagueña Miniatura - 2:10
Malagueña - 3:16
Serenata - 3:42
Sungbird - 6:10
Capricho Catalan - 3:35
Capricho American - 3:28
Free Fusion - 5:50
Encore: Zortzico - 2:27

Musicians

Helen Sung - piano
Marcus Strickland - saxophone
Samuel Torres - percussion
Nasheet Waits - drums
Reuben Rogers - acoustic bass

When Helen found Isaac Albéniz's “España, Op.165”, a suite of 6 pieces for solo piano, it was what she was looking for: beautifully written pieces that were distinctive, simple yet profound, concise and with room for adaptation! The resulting jazz pieces range from simple orchestrations to complete transformation. Although she opted not to adapt the “Serenata,” happily her own piece “Sungbird” turned out to be an appropriate “trade.”
"Having come to jazz relatively late (during college when I thought I wanted to be a classical pianist), I've spent most of the years since trying to swing and soak in the blues. At the same time, there is the desire to improvise and write with increasing clarity and variety of texture seen in the classical music I played. Perhaps this CD project is an attempt to begin integrating the different parts of my musical experience. "