Pianist and composer Helen Sung brings her working team of John Ellis/wwinds, David Wong/b and Kendrick Scott/dr in juxtaposition with the Harlem Quartet (Ilmar Gavilan/vi, Melissa Whigte/vi, Jaime Amador/va, Felix Umansky/cel) on this richly textured album. The other key element of this session is that Sun either writes her own material or (mostly) interprets pieces from the rich history of female jazz composers, including Toshiko Akiyoshi, marian McPartland, Geri Allen and Carla Bley”
The strings are rich like Benjamin Britten on their featured “Melancholy Mood” while each member gets a chance out front as well. Amador is genteel on “Elegy For The City”, Umansky broods for “Lament for Kalief Broder”, Bavilan sighs for “Sunbird” and White is parlor elegant during “Mary’s Waltz”. Sung and Ellis on tenor gallop with the two sections on the post bopper “Feed The Fire” while the team jaunts to his flute on “Coquette”. The strings get pizzicato’d and quirky on “Wrong Key Donkey”, while Sung is in a rich bop atmosphere for “Long Yellow Road”.
This is an album that requires multiple listenings in order to appreciate each layer of the woven pieces that comprise the Raphaelesque tapestry of sounds.