Hiromi: Time Control

On Time Control, the pianist largely restricts herself to the acoustic piano, giving the recording a firmly grounded tradition while her approach to the 88, coupled with Fiuczynski's guitar playing, hurl the music into hyperspace. The pianist's classical training is readily evident on pieces like the opening "Time Difference" and "Time Control, or Controlled by Time." Her chordal modulation is breathtaking in its virtuosity. "Time Control" evidences keyboard-guitar interplay with an impressive velocity. In total, this music is fresh and iconoclastic, bearing an assembly of styles and abilities. As it turns out, Hiromi has quite the sense of humor, as evidenced on "Real Clock" and the closing "Time's Up."

David Fiuczynski is given rock-star treatment as a member of the band. His playing on Time Control is reminiscent of the Jonas Hellborg/Shawn Lane collaborations on Time is the Enemy, Temporal Analogs of Paradise, and Personae. The guitarist's chops are beyond reproach, and in Hiromi's Sonicbloom, he finds a jazz soulmate. His presence on this recording helps the leader achieve her goal of perfectly integrated fusion. Hiromi Uehara is emerging as an important artist who stands to introduce significant and lasting changes in the idiom of jazz fusion.

Comments