Hiromi Uehara

Hiromi Uehara (上原 ひろみ, Uehara Hiromi, born 26 March 1979), known professionally as Hiromi, is a Japanese jazz composer and pianist. She is known for her virtuosic technique, energetic live performances and blend of musical genres such as stride, post-bop, progressive rock, classical and fusion in her compositions.[1]

Hiromi
Moers Festival 2007
Background information
Birth nameHiromi Uehara
Born (1979-03-26) March 26, 1979
OriginHamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan
GenresJazz, jazz fusion, post-bop, classical
Occupation(s)Musician, composer
InstrumentsPiano, keyboard, synthesizers
Years active1996-present
LabelsTelarc International
Websitehiromimusic.com

Biography

Uehara was born in Hamamatsu, Japan.[2] She started learning piano at the age of six and was introduced to jazz by her piano teacher Noriko Hikida when she was eight.[1][3] At age 14, she played with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. When she was 17 years old, she met Chick Corea by chance in Tokyo and was invited to play with him at his concert the next day. After being a jingle writer for a few years for Japanese companies such as Nissan, she enrolled to study at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.[4] There, she was mentored by Ahmad Jamal and had already signed with jazz label Telarc before her graduation.

She debuted in 2003 with her album, Another Mind, and has toured and appeared in jazz festivals regularly since then. She formed an initial trio with bassist Mitch Cohn and drummer Dave DiCenso, and in 2004, she recorded her second album Brain with fellow Berklee alumni bassist Tony Grey and drummer Martin Valihora, as well as bassist Anthony Jackson, who was a guest on three tracks. She continued to record and tour with Grey and Valihora until 2009. On October 19, 2006, the trio added guitarist David Fiuczynski in a performance at the Jazz Factory in Louisville, Kentucky, to form Hiromi's Sonicbloom. Fiuczynski is also featured in the albums Time Control (2007) and Beyond Standard (2008). Due to Fiuczynski's teaching commitments at Berklee, guitarist John Shannon performed with the group when Fiuczynski was unavailable.

Drummer Mauricio Zottarelli joined Hiromi's Sonicbloom for the 2009 tour. Uehara also performed at the Newport Jazz Festival on August 8, 2009, and at the Paris Olympia in Paris on April 13, 2010, and toured in the summer of 2010 with the Stanley Clarke Band.

Anthony Jackson, who was previously a guest on the Brain album, joined Uehara along with drummer Simon Phillips as part of the Trio Project for the 2011 album Voice. The Trio Project went on to make the albums Move (2012), Alive (2014), and Spark (2016).[5] Spark reached the number one position on the US Billboard Jazz Albums chart for the week of April 23, 2016.[6] In 2019, she continued to tour with Jackson and Phillips, including concerts in Manchester and in a church in South London.[7]

Instruments

In 2010 interview, Uehara said she plays the Yamaha CFIII-S concert grand piano, Nord Lead 2, Clavia Nord Electro 2 73, Clavia Nord Stage Piano, and Korg microKORG.[8]

Personal life

Uehara married Japanese fashion designer Mihara Yasuhiro in 2007, after meeting him to perform at his fashion show in Milan the year before.[9]

Discography

Studio albums (as "Hiromi")

Studio albums (as "Hiromi's Sonicbloom")

Studio albums (as "The Trio Project")

DVD-Videos

  • Hiromi's Sonicbloom Live in Concert (2007)
  • Hiromi Live in Concert (2009) – recorded in 2005
  • Solo Live at Blue Note New York (2011)
  • Hiromi: Live in Marciac (2012)
  • Move: Live in Tokyo (2014)

Other appearances

References
  1. Jackson, Grant (April 23, 2010). "Hiromi On Piano Jazz". NPR Music. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
  2. "Hiromi Uehara". Berklee College of Music. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  3. Thurman, Chad (8 November 2016). "No Strings Attached". VIE Magazine.
  4. Greenlee, Steve (January 29, 2010). "Her place in the sun". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  5. "Hiromi". Concord.com. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  6. "Jazz Music: Top Jazz Albums & Songs Chart". Billboard.com. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  7. "Hiromi". The Bridgewater Hall. Retrieved 2020-06-06.
  8. "Hiromi :The Solo Piano Sorcery of Place To Be". Keyboard Magazine. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
  9. Rao, Priya (1 February 2010). "Hiromi Uehara Pushes the Limit". WWD.
  10. "Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra "Goldfingers" - Tokyo's Coolest Sound". Coolestsound.jp. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  11. "Oscar, With Love [Standard 3-CD]". Mackavenue.com. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  12. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2017-10-08. Retrieved 2017-10-08.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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