Sung, who emerged in the 1990s, is one of the most distinguished US jazz pianists of her generation. She occupies a centrist position within swinging mainstream jazz, a place that some critics dismiss because it does not align with more aggressively modernist tendencies. My response to that kind of thinking is simple: appreciate the swing – often expressed here as an implied triplet feel and sophisticated polyrhythmic phrasing – for what it is, how it is framed, and whether it succeeds on its own terms, rather than judging it according to what it supposedly ought to be.
Certainly Oracles is neither phoney nor misjudged experimentalism. It feels like the work of a composer who has absorbed a tradition so thoroughly that the writing has taken root, flourished and now gives something back to the soil from which it grew.
Born and raised in Houston, Texas, to Chinese immigrant parents, Sung initially trained as a classical pianist before discovering jazz while studying at the University of Texas. A member of the inaugural class of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance, she established herself on the New York scene, working with figures such as Clark Terry, Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter and the Mingus Big Band. Alongside a substantial discography as a leader, she has become an important educator, serving on the faculties of Berklee, Juilliard and Columbia University, while developing a compositional voice that combines a deep knowledge of the jazz tradition with a contemporary sensibility.
I hear Sung’s influence on players far beyond America, and there are certainly musicians whose approach sits comfortably alongside hers. I could easily imagine Sung and the London pianist Nikki Yeoh – albeit a player more overtly influenced by Chick Corea – sharing a two-piano performance. There would be much in common between them, though Sung would probably swing in a slightly different manner.
Tributes, a “Pianism” suite, Wayne Shorter and Horace Silver interpretations are all part of a modern mainstream blended approach that pivots from powerplay to passion
There are several tributes here to jazz giants, including some of those already mentioned, and you can map Sung’s musical cosmology through them: Clark “Mumbles” Terry, mentor to Miles Davis; Wayne Shorter; Ron Carter; Jimmy Heath; and, among the pianists, Barry Harris, Kenny Barron and Herbie Hancock.
There is also some atmospheric audience-shot footage online of the hard-swinging, foot-stomping Tony Lujan composition ‘Bella Blue’, a tribute to the trumpeter’s wife, originally featured on the now difficult-to-find Live at Marian’s album. The piano is not always easy to hear, but Sung is there. Terry introduces the piece.
Sung performed with Terry on the album Clark Terry & The Young Titans of Jazz – Live at Marian’s Jazzroom, recorded in a Swiss jazz club and released more than twenty years ago.
Several of the musicians celebrated on Oracles were members of Miles Davis’ Second Great Quintet. The scale of that sound is, of course, magnified many times over by Sung’s big band, yet there remains more of a chamber-jazz sensibility than one might expect, rippling beyond the music’s central heartbeat. The trumpet section is particularly strong. Given Sung’s experience with the Mingus Big Band and Mingus Dynasty, certain similarities in approach are unsurprising. Yet this is not really Mingusian music. What I mean is that there is none of the relentless succession of bass-led riffs that often characterises Mingus ensembles. The themes of these compositions tend instead towards a more legato character than the crunch and thump of the Mingus Big Band at full tilt.
There is a great deal of light in the reeds writing – a breezy airiness – and the charts are voiced quite differently from the often raucous, bohemian approach of the Mingus Big Band. Yet the music is every bit as lively. There is nothing sterile about the result. Among the saxophonists is the outstanding Nicole Glover, while the band is anchored by the brilliant Vicente Archer on bass and Adam Cruz on drums, the latter well known for his work with the trio of Panamanian piano icon Danilo Pérez.
This is unquestionably one of the finest albums I have encountered this year. It belongs among the very best releases of 2026. More than anything, it showcases Sung’s exceptional gifts as a composer and bandleader. It deserves every accolade it receives and far wider exposure than a small jazz blog can provide.
The ‘Pianism’ suite contains many of the album’s most intriguing harmonic surprises, while the programme closes serenely with Horace Silver’s ‘Peace’, a melody whose quiet beauty never seems to diminish. Conducted by trombonist Alan Ferber, the ensemble produces a sound cloaked in optimism, sustained by big-band resilience and by a sense of collegiality that the musicians draw so convincingly from Sung’s charts.
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