Helen Sung's "Sung With Words" at Smalls Jazz Club

SUNG WITH WORDS — Using jazz and poetry as powerful catalysts to create inspired music, Sung With Words is a multi-movement work and pianist/composer Helen Sung's first program of all original songs using the poems of Dana Gioia as lyrics.

Written in conjunction, the music and poetry aim to present a modern sensibility exploring themes that are both timeless and contemporary - love, betrayal, wonder, mundanity, mystery. When asked about her inspiration to create Sung With Words, Sung replied:

 “I have a certain envy of vocalists with their special link to the listener via words. At the same time, I found poetry intimidating because I could never feel sure of meaning. Dana helped me get past this by his belief that poetry is musical, best read out loud, and that meaning would come through the sound and rhythm of the words. So I thought, why don’t I try to write songs with words?”

Made possible by a 2014 Chamber Music America New Jazz Works Grant (funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation), Sung With Words brings together the jazz and literary worlds in a thoroughly engaging musical experience — stay tuned for the recording