Hiromi Uehara

Hiromi
Moers Festival 2007
Background information
Birth name	Hiromi Uehara
Born	(1979-03-26) March 26, 1979
Origin	Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan
Genres	Jazz, jazz fusion, post-bop, classical
Occupation(s)	Musician, composer
Instruments	Piano, keyboard, synthesizers
Years active	1996-present
Labels	Telarc International
Website	hiromimusic.com

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

History

Hiromi started learning classical piano at age five, and was later introduced to jazz by her piano teacher Noriko Hikida. At 14, she played with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. When she was 17, 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. There, she was mentored by Ahmad Jamal and had already signed with jazz label Telarc before her graduation.

Since her debut in 2003, Hiromi has toured the world and appeared in numerous jazz festivals. She 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.

Trio

Hiromi's trio initially consisted of bassist Mitch Cohn and drummer Dave DiCenso. In 2004, she recorded her second album Brain with fellow Berklee alumni bassist Tony Grey and drummer Martin Valihora and has been recording and touring with them ever since. Bassist Anthony Jackson was guest artist on two Brain tracks and is featured on her 2011 album Voice, 2012 album Move and 2014 album Alive, along with drummer Simon Philips. Her most recent tour (2015) featured Anthony Jackson and Simon Phillips.

Hiromi's Sonicbloom

Hiromi at the Moers Festival, 2007

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. He is also featured in the albums Time Control and Beyond Standard. 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.

Instruments

In an interview published in 2010, Hiromi 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.

Discography

Studio albums (as "Hiromi")

• Another Mind (2003)
• Brain (2004)
• Spiral (2006)
• Place to Be (2009) - solo piano with guest Akiko Yano on a bonus track

Studio albums (as "Hiromi's Sonicbloom")

• Time Control (2007)
• Beyond Standard (2008)

Studio albums (as "The Trio Project")

• Voice (2011)
• Move (2012)
• Alive (2014)
• Spark (2016)

DVDs

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

Other appearances

• Chick & Hiromi - Duet (2008, Japan; 2009, international) - live album recorded with Chick Corea at the Tokyo Blue Note
• The Stanley Clarke Trio (featuring Hiromi and Lenny White) - Jazz in the Garden (2009)
• Flashback - Triangle Soundtrack (2009)
• Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra - Goldfingers (2010)
• The Stanley Clarke Band - The Stanley Clarke Band (2010)
• Akiko Yano and Hiromi - Get Together -LIVE IN TOKYO- (2011)
• Kelly Peterson - Oscar, With Love (featured on 'Take Me Home') (2015)

See also

• List of jazz pianists

External links

• (English) Official web (hiromimusic.com)
• (Japanese) Official web in Japanese (HiromiUehara.com)
• Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz interview
• Voice review on Prog Sphere
• Article by C.J Shearn on the New York Jazz Workshop blog