Helen Sung and All-Star Quartet Come to the Hammer Theatre, San Jose

Acclaimed pianist/composer Helen Sung comes to downtown San Jose with an all-star quartet and special guest vocalist to present a program of original compositions and arrangements by landmark women composers, as part of the Black Cab Jazz series presented by Hammer Theatre Center and San José State University.

For this special series curated by San Jose Jazz, Sung will perform live on stage 7:00pm, Saturday, March 19 at the Hammer Theatre's intimate Hammer4 which offers cabaret seating at 4-top tables and a rare chance to see today's hottest artists up close (this performance also available to view from home via Livestream).

Celebrating the release of her latest album Quartet+, selected one of the "Best of 2021 Albums" by Downbeat, this evening will feature Sung's vividly blended, original compositions along with arrangements by major female composers including Geri Allen, Mary Lou Williams, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Carla Bley, and Marian McPartland. A 2021 Guggenheim Fellow, the remarkable Sung has performed with luminaries that include the late Clark Terry, Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter, Wynton Marsalis, and MacArthur Fellow Regina Carter, as well as Grammy Award-winning artists Terri Lyne Carrington, Cécile McLorin Salvant, and the Mingus Big Band. Helen Sung will perform 7:00pm, Saturday, March 19, 2022 at the Hammer4, 101 Paseo De San Antonio, San Jose.

For tickets ($25-$35 in-person; $15 Livestream) or more information, the public may visit hammertheatre.com or call (408) 924-8501. Other upcoming performances in the Black Cab Jazz series include Cameron Graves (April 6) and Miguel Zénon Duo (April 28).

Vaccination requirements are subject to change according to local city, state, and county mandates. Please visit Hammer Theatre's COVID FAQ page for the most up-to-date information concerning COVID protocols: https://hammertheatre.com/faq/.

A native of Houston, Texas, Helen Sung eschewed her classical piano upbringing after a chance encounter with jazz at a Harry Connick, Jr. concert during undergraduate studies at The University of Texas at Austin. She went on to become part of the inaugural class of the Thelonious Monk Institute (now the Herbie Hancock Institute) at the New England Conservatory of Music. Sung's releases include Sung With Words (Stricker Street), a collaborative project with renowned poet Dana Gioia, and Anthem For A New Day (Concord Jazz) - both of which topped the jazz charts. Quartet+ (Sunnyside Records) followed suit, garnering a 4.5-star DownBeat review and inclusion in its "Best of 2021 Albums" list, as well as a JazzTimes cover story (January 2022). Having lived much of her life at the intersection of different worlds - classical and jazz, and as the American-born daughter of Chinese immigrants - Sung's desire to harmonize these worlds with joy and humanity is at the heart of Quartet+, which celebrates women's artistry and their music. Sung's "NuGenerations" Project was named a Rhythm Road Jazz Ambassador, touring southern Africa for the US State Department. Recent engagements include debuts at the London Jazz Festival, Jazz at Lincoln Center Shanghai, Blue Note Beijing, and the Sydney International Women's Jazz Festival. Sung is a Steinway Artist and has served on the jazz faculties at Berklee College of Music, the Juilliard School, and Columbia University, where she was also the inaugural jazz artist-in-residence, pursuing the intersection of jazz and neuroscience at its prestigious Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute.

Black Cab Jazz is a collaboration between San Jose Jazz, San José State University, and the Hammer Theatre, bringing audiences an intimate cabaret experience featuring some of the best names in modern jazz.

Founded in 1986, San Jose Jazz is a public benefit organization celebrating jazz as a dynamic, evolving art form and is producer of the annual San Jose Jazz Summer Fest and Winter Fest. San Jose Jazz innovates trend-setting initiatives to foster artistic ingenuity and preserve the jazz tradition as a forward-thinking movement. Through diverse music and educational programming, San Jose Jazz offers singular content and events by investing in the SF Bay Area ecosystem of exceptional talent for local and national audiences to enjoy.

Owned by the City of San Jose and operated by San Jose State University, the Hammer Theatre Center is a state-of-the-art performance venue located in the heart of downtown San Jose at 101 Paseo De San Antonio, between 2nd and 3rd Streets. The theatre has presented an array of offerings including outstanding professional productions, community-based works, SJSU shows, and concerts, as well as dance, music, talks, film screenings-even live aerial performances with dancers suspended outside, scaling the sides of the iconic blue building. From jazz performances to mariachi extravaganzas, National Geographic Live! speaker series to National Theatre Live film screenings, Cinequest film festival presentations, ballet and modern dance shows, kid-friendly performances, live art and more, the Hammer's mission is to serve the community through artistic and educational programming that express the unique characteristics and diverse cultures of Silicon Valley.

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