News from the Mission
Helen Sung & NuGenerations Jazz Up Jozi
May 15, 2009
Jazz artist Helen Sung and her band NuGenerations ended their southern African tour with concerts in Johannesburg and Cape Town.
The US Consulates in Johannesburg and Cape Town hosted these concerts by the American Rhythm Road jazz musicians May 15 to May 24 2009. In Johannesburg they performed at the Bassline in Newtown where the concert was preceded by a reception hosted by Chargé Helen LaLime and graced by high level governmental, media, cultural and entertainment personalities.
The concerts received extensive media attention with SAfm, the Star, Mail & Guardian giving coverage and radio interviews on SAfm, Jozi FM, and Radio Today. The concerts were so well-received that she was even invited to interview on national broadcaster SABC’s Morning Live show.
Well known jazz artist and Fulbright Alumni, Johnny Mekoa invited Helen & NuGenerations to his Gauteng Academy of Music. The group both performed and held master classes for music students, mostly previously-disadvantaged scholarship students. The day finished off with a “jam session” with everybody from the group and the students taking turns to perform.
While in the Cape, they did two workshops in Nyanga and Manenberg, where they played with local musicians. Their visit coincided with the annual Cape Town Big Band Festival, a competition for school bands. NuGenerations played concerts for the school bands, as well as doing workshops and talks.
Helen Sung and her jazz band, NuGenerations, were on tour as part of the Rhythm Road program run by the Lincoln Center in New York and funded by the US State Department. The program selects ten bands to visit various regions of the world to promote styles of music that are associated with the United States, such as bluegrass or jazz. The tour had taken them to Namibia, Zimbabwe and Swaziland.
Jazz Pianist Helen Sung has established herself as an exceptional young artist. Her playing has been called “passionate,” “brimming with life,” “astonishing,” and her latest release Helenistique, has been described as “...one of the year’s most exciting listens.” (JazzTimes).
More on Helen at All About Jazz and on her website