Jazz Articles
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Hiromi: Spectrum
by Mike Jurkovic
A beacon for jazz to come, since her adrenaline-pumped debut Another Mind (Telarc, 2003), pianist-composer Hiromi Uehara launches herself into her fourth decade with Spectrum, her second album alone at her Yamaha. The music, she hopes, celebrates the closing of one decade and the opening of the next and, without pause, it does, brimming with all the capricious three-dimensional imagination and invention that indelibly mark many fine recordings--her first solo Place To Be (Telarc, 2010), Voice (Telarc, 2011), ...
read moreHiromi: Spectrum
by Jim Worsley
In an interview in 2019, legendary double bassist Ron Carter discussed his solo record All Alone (EmArcy, 1988). He stated that, “I wanted each track to have its own story. It wouldn't sound like the last tune or the next tune." If Hiromi had this mindset going into Spectrum, then in baseball terminology, she hit a home run. Perhaps, more like a grand slam. She wastes no time in this carefully structured solo endeavor, diving into and broadly ...
read moreHiromi: Hiromi & Edmar Castaneda Live In Montreal
by Jeff Winbush
Here's a good rule of thumb to consider when reviewing a jazz record and by that, I mean any jazz record. Jazz music is live music so if it sounds good in the studio will it sound even better on the stage? In other words, if you're willing to pay $50 for a ticket, you're probably not getting burned spending $15 for a record. Of course, if it's a live album and Hiromi & Edmar Castenda/Live in Montreal ...
read moreHiromi: Spark
by Jeff Winbush
There are three reasons why some people will not enjoy Spark, the fourth album from the Trio Project featuring Hiromi Uehara, the Japanese-born pianist and composer and drummer Simon Phillips and bassist Anthony Jackson:1. It's too complex. 2. It rocks too hard to be jazz. 3. It's long (72 minutes).None of these are good reasons. Here are three reasons which are good ones.1. Simplicity has its place. So does complexity. 2. Jazz is not ...
read moreHiromi: Alive
by Jeff Winbush
If jazz has become a niche market in the music industry (and it is), a contributing factor for its slide into cultural irrelevance is a failure to promote and support new artists. No matter what sub-genre of jazz you personally love, across the board there is no sustained effort to develop a roster of first-tier talent in jazz. Every so often along comes a Esperanza Spalding who joins the long list of previous “saviors" of jazz such as Wynton Marsalis ...
read moreHiromi: Move
by Glenn Astarita
Keyboardist Hiromi once again reaps the benefits of her superstar rhythmic section, drummer Simon Phillips (The Who, Toto, David Gilmour) and contrabassist Anthony Jackson (Paul Simon, Chick Corea, Steely Dan). A largely acoustic set, she yields an action-packed schema, teeming with intricately designed arrangements while zooming in for the kill on many occasions. However, Hiromi's breadth of scope is rather monolithic, since her arrangements are of the whirlwind variety, where nuance, tonal shadings and ballad-like intricacies complement and contrast her ...
read moreHiromi: Move
by Jeff Winbush
In a world where the path to commercial success is to play it safe and keep faith in formula, it is only within jazz where being unpredictable is not only a virtue, but an expectation. Hiromi marks her first decade of music-making on her terrific ninth album, Move featuring her Trio Project with bassist Anthony Jackson and drummer Simon Phillips.Reunited with Jackson and Phillips for a second outing after 2011's superb Voice, (Telarc, 2011) the two veteran musicians ...
read moreTab Benoit: Legacy: The Best of Tab Benoit
by C. Michael Bailey
Louisiana-born guitarist and singer Tab Benoitis from so deep in the wetlands that it's almost all ocean. Hailing from Houma, the seat of Terrebonne Parish, Benoit has indisputable bayou bona fides and the exposure to that musical and cultural melting pot called the Gulf Rim that comes with it. Telarc's Legacy: The Best of Tab Benoit demonstrates his expansive musical palette and sure grasp of zydeco, creole, blues, R&B, and rock as viewed through the NOLA prism. Selected from Benoit's ...
read moreHiromi: Voice
by Ian Patterson
Hiromi's Voice--her seventh album for Telarc--carries the hallmarks of her previous works: prodigious piano playing, a dash of electro-funk, and strong melodic hooks, served up in a power trio setting. What has changed is the personnel, with Hiromi's rhythm section since' 04 of drummer Martin Valihora and bassist Tony Grey making way for all-rounder Simon Phillips on drums and the innovative Anthony Jackson, on contrabass guitar. Phillips, who impressed most recently on the Trilok Gurtu/NDR Big Band recording 21 Spices ...
read moreHiromi: Voice
by Jeff Winbush
If there's no guitar are you playing rock n' roll? If there's no singing does it make any sense to call an album Voice? Sure it does because after all, this is a Hiromi record and, while there is no guitar within earshot, there is plenty of rocking and rolling going on.Voice is not--repeat---not a rock album or a jazz-rock album--or fusion or any other such hybrid. It's a jazz record and the seventh Hiromi album is much ...
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