Hiromi
PROJECTS:
SONICWONDER
Over more than 20 years as a recording artist, the jazz piano phenomenon Hiromi has shifted seamlessly from one spellbinding project to the next. In the process, she’s earned a reputation as one of the most explosive live performers in jazz history and a global ambassador for the art form. Her many triumphs include an NPR Tiny Desk Concert that has racked up 2 million views; the opportunity to represent her native Japan with a performance at the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo; 2024 winner for Best Music Score for the animated feature film Blue Giant (Award of the Japanese Academy); and a GRAMMY Award for a collaboration with fusion hero Stanley Clarke. Her artistry is — to borrow a descriptor The New Yorker favored — “dazzling.”
In 2023, she released Sonicwonderland, debuting perhaps the most expressive, dynamic and versatile working band of her career. Called Hiromi’s Sonicwonder and featuring Hadrien Feraud on bass, Gene Coye on drums and the trumpeter Adam O’Farrill, the group furthered Hiromi’s distinctive musical alchemy: the spirit of classic jazz-rock fusion melded with classically rooted virtuosity, entrancing funk, pop flourishes and, through O’Farrill’s trumpet, acoustic jazz’s state of the art.
The album also did a remarkable job of capturing Hiromi’s mastery as a live entertainer. As The Guardian noted, “Sonicwonderland is perhaps the closest thing to Hiromi’s onstage exuberance.”
But that was only the beginning.
In recent years, Sonicwonder has continued to tour and work together consistently, advancing their deep chemistry and fearless sense of interplay. The results can be heard on Hiromi’s new Concord release and 13th studio full-length album, OUT THERE, in which the group’s powerful rapport meets the pianist’s astonishing abilities as a composer on equal footing. As Hiromi explains, “On Sonicwonderland, I had the concept and the songs first, and I was looking for the people who could play the music in the ideal way that I had in my mind.
“Being with this group for well over a year,” she continues, “playing a lot of shows together and understanding each other, I started to see more of their strength and what shines in them the most. So I started to write music with them in mind.”
PRESS QUOTES:
“One of jazz piano’s most brazenly virtuosic players.”
The New York Times
“Piano firebrand Hiromi has responded to the pandemic with creative punches — look no further than her exuberant performance at the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics.”
WBGO
“From introspection into our world's plight to exhilaration, this record covered the gamut. Moreover, in addition to the upper echelon musicianship, Hiromi's always superlative compositional skills reached a new pinnacle.”
All About Jazz
“One of the most remarkable pianists of the past half century.”
All Music Guide
