HIROMI
Spiral
Telarc
Read
the Jazzitude review of Hiromi/Another Mind
Read the Jazzitude
Review of Hiromi/Brain
Read the
Jazzitude Review of Hiromi/Time Control
Pianist Hiromi Uehara doesn’t seem to
listen to what people might say about her music, and that
is a very good thing. For example, many jazz listeners and
critics have decried the ‘Third Stream’ music
that emerged in the 1960s and 1970s, combining European
classical musical structures with jazz improvisation as
boring, pretentious, and relatively static music. Yet here
is Hiromi, offering a 28-minute suite of music in four movements
entitled “Music for Three-Piece-Orchestra.”
Then there are those who dismiss the later fusion music
created by groups like Chick Corea’s Return to Forever,
Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin, and others as being too focused
on energy and technique at the expense of lyricism and musicality.
Hiromi ignores that, offering a follow-up to her piece “Return
of Kung-Fu World Champion” on which she blazes away
at the synth with all the magnificent indulgence of those
musicians and that era.
Hiromi also doesn’t care to follow anyone
else’s expectations, and that is why much of her music
seems fresh and new, her combination of classical lyricism,
improvisational skills and ability to swing, and rock-star
energy make her a distinctive piano voice in jazz music
at the moment. The opening number, “Spiral,”
has a beautiful theme, sparkling with facets of Jarrett
and Hancock, but ultimately being fully Hiromi by virtue
of her ability to combine all of these elements into a coherent
musical statement that is actually a pleasure to listen
to. This is not music you listen to because you feel that
you should, it is music you love because it feels alive.
Occasionally a bit florid for some tastes, there’s
something here for everyone to love, and also something
here that will challenge every listener’s prejudices
and expectations.
For those who hold that Hiromi is too technical
a player, listen to her grand gesture at 3’ 52”
into “Edge,” the final movement of “Music
for Three-Piece Orchestra.” It’s worth remembering
that Ahmad Jamal was one of Hiromi’s closest mentors,
and it comes through loudly in her restless search for new
ideas and sound, her heightened sense of romanticism, and
her ability to execute any musical idea she chooses cleanly
and beautifully. “Love and Laughter,” the final
‘regular’ track on Spiral is dedicated
to Jamal, and allows Hiromi to show, clearly, that she can
play in a bluesy jazz idiom and that she can swing like
hell.
“Return of Kung-Fu World Champion,”
the ‘bonus track’ is, of course, a revisiting
of musical ideas first explored in the track “Kung
Fu World Champion” on her last album, Brain.
It opens up a bit to allow Hiromi and her trio, bassist
Tony Grey and drummer Martin Valihora an opportunity to
stretch out. It’s also a bit less furious than its
predecessor. There’s a bonus DVD included that features
a performance of the original “Kung Fu World Champion”
recorded live in Japan in 2004. Anyone who doubts the ability
of this group to pull off this music live will have those
doubts laid firmly to rest by watching Hiromi and company
tear through this showcase piece. Far from the typical image
of the jazz musician, Hiromi comes off like some weird hybrid
of Chick Corea, Keith Emerson, and Kraftwerk. But that’s
only one side of Hiromi, and while it has garnered her much
attention, it’s great to see that she hasn’t
allowed it to paint her into any kind of stylistic corner.
Spiral is the third in a string of
continuously exciting and innovative CDs that Hiromi has
released in America following her signing with Telarc Records.
It’s awe-inspiring that to date, each of her three
CDs has been better than the last. Spiral shows
an incredibly mature merging of diverse stylistic elements
into what is rapidly developing into one of the most interesting
and unique voices in jazz and improvisational music today.
Check it out, it’s definitely a keeper.
