''Spectrum'' is the eleventh studio album by Japanese jazz pianist

Hiromi Uehara , 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 ...

. The album was released by Telarc in Japan on 18 September 2019, with an international release to follow on 9 October 2019. It is her first solo album in 10 years after ''

Place to Be ''Place to Be'' is a solo album by Japanese jazz pianist Hiromi Uehara. It was released on September 5, 2009 by Telarc label. The album features eight original compositions plus two covers which are intended to musically describe Hiromi's travel ...

'' released in 2009 also by Telarc.

Background

Uehara explains that "The concept of this album is 'color' and the idea of the title track 'Spectrum' is the following: various colors connect and expand, just like the musical notes." She also mentioned that it was her first piano teacher who taught her to understand the instrument via colors. The title track "Spectrum" was released on YouTube in July 2019. Uehara announced a tour of Europe, USA and Japan to promote the album during October to December 2019. Says Uehara "Making a solo piano album, the biggest difference is that it’s only piano and it’s only me. So, I have to be a drummer, I have to be a bass player, I have to be like a multi-instrumentalist, only using the piano.”

Reception

Jon Regen of ''

Keyboard Magazine ''Keyboard'' is a magazine that originally covered electronic keyboard instruments and keyboardists, though with the advent of computer-based recording and audio technology, they have added digital music technology to their regular coverage, inc ...

'' said "Ten years after the release of her solo piano debut, ''

'' in 2009, Hiromi goes it alone once again on ''Spectrum''. The album celebrates the maturity and depth that have enriched her music in recent years, during her collaborations with artists like

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 ...

, Stanley Clarke and Michel Camilo." Thom Jurek of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

commented "This 75-minute recital portrays the nearly spiritual command Hiromi has of her instrument and its various languages to extend her astonishing technical facility. More than this, however, it underscores the visionary, authoritative place her pianism commands in modern jazz". Jim Worsley of '' All About Jazz'' stated "Remarkable in its scope and vivid in its illustration, Spectrum once again personifies the brilliantly gifted pianist's extraordinary skill set. Feeling and caressing every note empowers her to soar above the clouds and delicately shower her beauty upon us like heavenly drops of rain." Writing for ''

DownBeat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...

'', Phillip Lutz commented, "Few pianists exploit the potential of their instruments with the range of skill and emotion that Hiromi has at her disposal. Even at her most effulgent, she is the most intimate of pianists—an effortlessly charismatic communicator who, through her music, evangelizes for the instrument. And, in making that case, few documents testify more powerfully than ''Spectrum''." '' JazzTimes'' included the album in its list "The Year in Review: Top 50 Albums of 2019".

Background

Reception

Track listing

Personnel

Charts

References

External links