Hiromi

Whether performing unaccompanied, alongside a compact trio, backed by a high-voltage electric ensemble, or joined by a full orchestra, the exploratory pianist and composer Hiromi Uehara routinely fuses post-bop with funk and pop with classical elements, frequently within a single piece. From the moment her 2003 debut Another Mind appeared on Telarc, produced by Ahmad Jamal, she upended conventional category boundaries through instrumental mastery, harmonically daring choices, and intricate rhythmic design. The 2005 concert recording Spiral captured her studio trio in a direct-to-disc session. Four years afterward she met Chick Corea for a sequence of piano duets at Tokyo’s Blue Note. Following two albums alongside bassist Stanley Clarke, she established the enduring Trio Project with contrabassist Anthony Jackson and drummer Simon Phillips; their inaugural release, Voice, in 2011, united progressive, vanguard, and post-bop idioms with spontaneous fire and blues-inflected interpretations of Beethoven. That same year she issued the first of two live collaborations with pianist/vocalist Akiko Yano, Get Together: Live in Tokyo. In 2017 she documented a partnership with composer and harpist Edmar Castaneda on Live in Montreal. Two years later she unveiled her first unaccompanied piano album, Spectrum, and in 2021 she presented Silver Lining Suite for chamber-string quintet. Her newest venture, Sonicwonder, surfaced in 2023.

Born in Shizuoka, Japan, in 1979, Hiromi began studying piano at age six and entered the Yamaha School of Music the following year, where its forward-looking curriculum nurtured her developing technique, compositional voice, and stage presence. Relocating to the United States in 1999, she earned a full scholarship to Boston’s Berklee College of Music. There her listening habits broadened to embrace sources ranging from J.S. Bach to Sly & the Family Stone, and she performed with jazz-piano giants Oscar Peterson, Chick Corea, and her eventual mentor Ahmad Jamal. After completing her studies she returned to Telarc for Brain in 2004 and the live trio set Spiral in 2006. Expanding the group with avant-fusion guitarist Dave Fiuczynski, she released Time Control in early 2007; its thematic sequel, Beyond Standard, arrived a year later. The solo-piano collection Place to Be followed in 2010.

For the electro-acoustic album Voice in 2011 she assembled the Trio Project with Anthony Jackson and Simon Phillips. A DVD captured at Marciac appeared in 2012. After a hiatus and festival dates, the ensemble reconvened for Move in 2013, then the fully acoustic Alive in 2014 before embarking on a world tour. The same unit returned to the studio in 2015 and emerged with The Spark in April 2016. Live in Montreal with Edmar Castaneda came out in 2017, followed by a second recording with Akiko Yano, Move: Live in Tokyo. Spectrum marked only her second solo-piano outing in 2019.

During the COVID-19 restrictions of August and September 2020, Hiromi streamed thirty-two solo recitals over sixteen days from Tokyo’s Blue Note. Planning a second series for December and January, she chose not to appear alone again. After earlier performances with the New Japan Philharmonic she had formed a friendship with its concertmaster, violinist Tatsuo Nishie, and the notion of a piano quintet took shape. Nishie assembled violinist Sohei Birmann, violist Meguna Naka, and cellist Wataru Mukai—musicians capable of navigating her classically informed writing while steering it toward jazz. The resulting Silver Lining Suite was recorded in Tokyo and issued by Concord in October 2021. That year she also appeared at the opening ceremonies of the Tokyo Olympics. Two years later she introduced Sonicwonder, featuring bassist Hadrien Feraud, drummer Gene Coye, and trumpeter Adam O’Farrill; the group’s Telarc debut, Sonicwonderland, arrived in August 2023.