The Tribe Jazz Orchestra

Hendersonville Theatre is proud to bring The Tribe Jazz Orchestra to Western North Carolina. The Tribe Jazz Orchestra is an ensemble of musicians led by vocalist Lenora Zenzalai Helm with a unique approach to the music of the big band tradition. With a diverse amalgam of the top men and women performers in jazz today, the instrumentation features a combination of jazz orchestra and modern chamber ensemble to bring a swinging and soulful concert full of groove and excitement covering many styles.

The members of the Tribe have performed together in various configurations and have appeared in noted concert halls and international music festivals in the United States, Europe, Asia, Africa and South America. The musicians have each garnered an international audience of followers and critical and professional acclaim for the last few decades.

Helm has six previous commercial recordings and has performed with some of the biggest names in jazz leading her groups in renowned jazz festivals and venues worldwide, including Jazz Standard, NYC, Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Dizzy Club Coca Cola Women’s Jazz Festival, Schomburg Center's Women in Jazz Festival, JVC Jazz Festivals, Clifford Brown Jazz Festival, Cape Town Jazzathon, South Africa, Fiji Jazz & Blues Festival, NCCU Jazz Festival and the Art of Cool Jazz Festival in Durham.

Her creative practice includes being a performing musician while educating emerging artists in jazz as the Director of the NCCU Vocal Jazz Ensemble and Assistant Professor of Vocal Jazz at North Carolina Central University, and being sought after internationally for workshops, clinics and master classes. She plays a leadership role in creating communities of practice for teaching artists and producing forums where music performances and edutainment events serve families in local and regional communities.

A former U.S. Jazz Ambassador, and a two-time Fulbright Senior Music Specialist, she earned dozens of music and leadership-in-music awards and international accolades, including being a MacDowell Composer Fellow and the first Black woman vocal musician selected as a Chamber Music America/New Works Doris Duke Composer. Their CD release, For the Love of Big Band, launched March 9, 2020, received critical acclaim, and reached the JazzWeek Top 50 list of recordings for 2020. The next recording release will launch Spring 2023, Journeywoman, a recording of all original compositions.