Jazz Greats (4): Hiromi

 

Hiromi Uehara has emerged as a leading exponent of solo jazz piano, in the tradition of Art Tatum and Oscar Peterson.  She did her first international performances at the age of 14.  In 1996, when she was 17, she met Chick Corea during Chick’s tour of Japan.  She played a short improvisation for him, and on the spot he invited her to join him on stage for his next performance.  She eventually went on to study at Berklee, was mentored by Ahmad Jamal among others, and did several more collaborations with Chick. She frequently tours internationally, and was one of the featured performers in the opening ceremony at the recent Tokyo Olympics

 

 

“Yellow Wurlitzer Blues” (Hiromi)

Hiromi is a dedicated student of jazz history, and it shows in this piece.  She weaves together throwback elements from stride piano, a la Scott Joplin and Art Tatum, with Thelonious Monk-like excursions into odd time signatures and unexpected dissonances, and even throws in a little boogie-woogie.  Somehow it all works, and it's really fun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxFdRQtgwcc

 

 

“Concierto de Aranjuez” (Rodrigo) (duet with Chick Corea)

“Concierto” is one of the most influential pieces of classical music ever written.  You’ve heard bits of it a million times in movie soundtracks.  I previously posted Jim Hall’s jazz version of it here: (http://zapatosjam.blogspot.com/2020/07/guitar-magic-1-paco-de-lucia-jim-hall.html).  Here, Hiromi and Chick turn in a madly innovative rendition that defies description.  The entire session was published on their CD “Duet”.  Set aside 12 minutes or so—it’s well worth it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s11ER546zBM

 

 

“Robert Trujillo” One Minute Portrait (with Robert Trujillo)

Hiromi has done a series of one-minute improvisations with artists from all over the map.  Here she jams with Robert Trujillo, long-time bassist for Metallica.  Needless to say, this was a bit unexpected! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzCTIeKa7XM