, known professionally as Hiromi, is a Japanese

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

composer and pianist. She is known for her virtuosic technique, energetic live performances and blend of musical genres such as stride,

post-bop Post-bop is a genre of small-combo jazz that evolved in the early to mid 1960s in the United States. Pioneers of the genre, such as Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, John Coltrane and Jackie McLean, crafted syntheses ...

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. I ...

, classical and

fusion Fusion, or synthesis, is the process of combining two or more distinct entities into a new whole. Fusion may also refer to: Science and technology Physics *Nuclear fusion, multiple atomic nuclei combining to form one or more different atomic nucl ...

in her compositions.

Biography

Uehara was born in

Hamamatsu is a city located in western Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. the city had an estimated population of 791,707 in 340,591 households, making it the prefecture's largest city, and a population density of . The total area of the site was . Overview H ...

, Japan. She started learning piano at the age of six and was introduced to

by her piano teacher Noriko Hikida when she was eight. At age 14, she played with the

Czech Philharmonic Orchestra The Česká filharmonie (Czech Philharmonic) is a symphony orchestra based in Prague. The orchestra's principal concert venue is the Rudolfinum. History The name "Czech Philharmonic Orchestra" appeared for the first time in 1894, as the title ...

. When she was 17 years old, she met

Chick Corea Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea (June 12, 1941 – February 9, 2021) was an American jazz composer, pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and occasional percussionist. His compositions "Spain", " 500 Miles High", "La Fiesta", "Armando's Rhumba", and ...

by chance in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

and was invited to play with him at his concert the next day. After being a

jingle A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meaning that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually ...

writer for a few years for Japanese companies such as

Nissan , trading as Nissan Motor Corporation and often shortened to Nissan, is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the Nissan, Infiniti, and Datsun bra ...

, she enrolled to study at

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...

in Boston, Massachusetts. There, she was mentored by

Ahmad Jamal Ahmad Jamal (born Frederick Russell Jones, July 2, 1930) is an American jazz pianist, composer, bandleader and educator. For six decades, he has been one of the most successful small-group leaders in jazz. Biography Early life Jamal was born Fr ...

and had already signed with jazz label

Telarc Telarc International Corporation is an American audiophile independent record label founded in 1977 by two classically trained musicians and former teachers, Jack Renner (recording engineer), Jack Renner and Robert Woods (producer), Robert Woods. ...

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 A brain is an organ (biology), organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It is located in the head, usually close to the sensory organs for senses such as Visual perception, vision. I ...

'' 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 David Fiuczynski (born March 5, 1964) is an American contemporary jazz guitarist, best known as the leader of the Screaming Headless Torsos and David Fiuczynski's KiF, and as a member of Hasidic New Wave. He has played on more than 95 albums as ...

in a performance at the Jazz Factory in Louisville, Kentucky, to form Hiromi's Sonicbloom. Fiuczynski is also featured in the albums ''

Time Control A time control is a mechanism in the tournament play of almost all two-player board games so that each round of the match can finish in a timely way and the tournament can proceed. Time controls are typically enforced by means of a game cloc ...

'' (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 The Newport Jazz Festival is an annual American multi-day jazz music festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island. Elaine Lorillard established the festival in 1954, and she and husband Louis Lorillard financed it for many years. They hir ...

on August 8, 2009, and at the

Paris Olympia The Olympia (; commonly known as L'Olympia or in the English-speaking world as Olympia Hall) is a concert venue in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, France, located at 28 Boulevard des Capucines, equally distancing Madeleine church and Opéra ...

in Paris on April 13, 2010, and toured in the summer of 2010 with the

Stanley Clarke Stanley Clarke (born June 30, 1951) is an American bassist, film composer and founding member of Return to Forever, one of the first jazz fusion bands. Clarke gave the bass guitar a prominence it lacked in jazz-related music. He is the first ja ...

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 human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound producti ...

''. The Trio Project went on to make the albums ''

Move Move may refer to: People * Daniil Move (born 1985), a Russian auto racing driver Brands and enterprises * Move (company), an online real estate company * Move (electronics store), a defunct Australian electronics retailer * Daihatsu Move Go ...

'' (2012), '' Alive'' (2014), and ''

Spark Spark commonly refers to: * Spark (fire), a small glowing particle or ember * Electric spark, a form of electrical discharge Spark may also refer to: Places * Spark Point, a rocky point in the South Shetland Islands People * Spark (surname) * ...

'' (2016). ''Spark'' reached the number one position on the US Billboard Jazz Albums chart for the week of April 23, 2016. In 2021 she performed at the opening ceremony of the

2020 Tokyo Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

Instruments

In a 2010 interview, Uehara said she plays the Yamaha CFIII-S concert

grand piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

, Nord Lead 2, Clavia Nord Electro 2 73,

Clavia Nord Stage The Nord Stage is a digital keyboard or stage piano, manufactured by Clavia Digital Music Instruments of Stockholm, Sweden. There have been five editions of the instrument: the original Nord Stage in 2005, the Nord Stage EX in 2008, the Nord ...

Piano, and

Korg , founded as Keio Electronic Laboratories, is a Japanese multinational corporation that manufactures electronic musical instruments, audio processors and guitar pedals, recording equipment, and electronic tuners. Under the Vox brand name, th ...

microKORG.

Personal life

Uehara married Japanese fashion designer Mihara Yasuhiro in 2007. They met after she performed at one of his fashion shows in Milan the year before.

Discography

Studio albums

As "Hiromi" * '' Another Mind'' ( Telarc Jazz, 2003) * ''

'' (Telarc Jazz, 2004) * ''

Spiral In mathematics, a spiral is a curve which emanates from a point, moving farther away as it revolves around the point. Helices Two major definitions of "spiral" in the American Heritage Dictionary are:Place to Be'' (Telarc Jazz, 2009) * ''

Spectrum A spectrum (plural ''spectra'' or ''spectrums'') is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary, without gaps, across a continuum. The word was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of colors ...

'' (Telarc Jazz, 2019) As "Hiromi's Sonicbloom" * ''

'' (Telarc Jazz, 2007) * '' Beyond Standard'' (Telarc Jazz, 2008) As "The Trio Project" * ''

'' (Telarc Jazz, 2011) * ''

'' (Telarc Jazz, 2012) * '' Alive'' (Telarc Jazz, 2014) * ''

'' (Telarc Jazz, 2016) As "Hiromi The Piano Quintet" *''

Silver Lining Suite '' Silver Lining Suite'' is the twelfth studio album by pianist Hiromi Uehara. The album was released by Concord Jazz on 8 October 2021. Background Uehara recorded and produced the album during the quarantine period brought on by the COVID-19 pa ...

'' (Universal Music Classic, 2021)

Live albums

With

* ''

Duet A duet is a musical composition for two performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a harmony, as the performers take turns performing a sol ...

'' ( Stretch, 2008) - live at

Blue Note In jazz and blues, a blue note is a note that—for expressive purposes—is sung or played at a slightly different pitch from standard. Typically the alteration is between a quartertone and a semitone, but this varies depending on the musical c ...

in 2007 DVD-Videos * ''Hiromi's Sonicbloom Live in Concert'' (2007) * '' Hiromi Live in Concert'' (2009) – recorded in 2005 * With Chick Corea, ''Duet'' (2009) - released in Japan only * '' Solo Live at Blue Note New York'' (2011) * '' Hiromi: Live in Marciac'' (2012) * '' Move: Live in Tokyo'' (2014)

Other appearances

* The

Trio featuring Hiromi and

Lenny White Leonard "Lenny" White III (born December 19, 1949) is an American jazz fusion drummer who was a member of the band Return to Forever led by Chick Corea in the 1970s. White has been called "one of the founding fathers of jazz fusion". He has won ...

, '' Jazz in the Garden'' (Heads Up, 2009) * Flashback, ''Triangle'' Soundtrack (BMG Japan, 2009) *

Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra , commonly abbreviated by fans as Skapara or TSPO, is a Japanese ska and jazz band formed in 1988 by the percussionist Asa-Chang, and initially composed of over 10 veterans of Tokyo's underground scene. At the time, the band's sound was unlike t ...

, ''Goldfingers'' (cutting edge, 2010) *

The Stanley Clarke Band ''The Stanley Clarke Band'' is an album by the Stanley Clarke Band led by jazz bassist Stanley Clarke. It was released by Heads Up Record in June 2010 and was produced by Clarke and Lenny White. Band members include Ruslan Sirota on keyboard ...

featuring Hiromi, ''

'' (Heads Up, 2010) - in "No Mystery", "Larry Has Traveled 11 Miles and Waited a Lifetime for the Return of Vishnu's Report", "Labyrinth" and "Sonny Rollins" *

Akiko Yano is a Japanese pop and jazz musician and singer born in Tokyo and raised in Aomori and later began her singing career in the mid-1970s. She has been called "one of the major musical talents of the Japanese popular music world", and her vocals and ...

and Hiromi, ''Get Together – Live in Tokyo'' (Universal, 2011) * Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra, ''Walkin (cutting edge, 2012) * Kelly Peterson, ''Oscar, With Love'' (Two Lions, 2015) - reissued (Mack Avenue, 2017) in "Take Me Home' and 'Oscar's New Camera" *

and Hiromi, ''Ramen-na Onnatachi'' (Universal, 2017) * Hiromi &

Edmar Castañeda Edmar Castañeda (born 1978) is a Colombian harpist. He performs his own compositions as well as tapping into native music of Colombia and Venezuela. He leads a trio with David Silliman on drums and Marshall Gilkes on trombone. He has also been a ...

, ''Live in Montreal'' (Telarc, 2017)

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Uehara, Hiromi 1979 births 21st-century pianists 21st-century Japanese women musicians Berklee College of Music alumni Women jazz composers Grammy Award winners Hosei University alumni Japanese jazz composers Japanese jazz pianists Japanese women in electronic music Japanese women pianists Jazz fusion pianists Living people Musicians from Shizuoka Prefecture People from Hamamatsu Ragtime composers Women jazz pianists 21st-century women pianists