Helen Sung Big Band Oracles Vinyl Release
The Pocket130 West 46th Street, New York 10036
Helen Sung brings her Big Band to The Pocket for the vinyl release of Oracles, her debut large-ensemble project. The music draws on original compositions and arrangements shaped as tributes to the jazz masters who mentored Sung at the Thelonious Monk Institute, including Clark Terry, Ron Carter, Jimmy Heath, Wayne Shorter, Barry Harris, Kenny Barron, Herbie Hancock and Sir Roland Hanna. It is a release-night performance centered on Sung’s writing, piano playing and bandleading.
Houston-born and now based in New York, Sung is a pianist and composer whose work bridges jazz and classical traditions. She was part of the inaugural class at the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance and has received the Kennedy Center’s Mary Lou Williams Jazz Piano Competition, a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Claudette Sorel Award. Her collaborators include Clark Terry, Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter, Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Regina Carter, Terri Lyne Carrington and Cécile McLorin Salvant. The New York Times writes that she “plays with crisp swing and elegant invention,” while WBGO calls Oracles “a Masterclass in Syncopation, Improvisation, and Star-Studded Jazz Tributes.”
The Pocket offers a close-up encounter with world-class jazz musicians in a small, focused setting where every note feels immediate and unfiltered. The room is designed to bring listeners near the performers, creating a direct connection that makes the music feel personal and vivid. Seating is limited and arranged to emphasize attentive listening rather than casual socializing, with a bar available to complement the experience. Shows are ticketed, encouraging an audience that is there to fully engage with the performance. The venue’s location in Manhattan places it within easy reach of the city’s vibrant cultural pulse, making it a perfect spot for an evening dedicated to serious jazz appreciation without distractions.