Hiromi Uehara

Hiromi came into our life some years ago, but also not really – as a part of the piano wave that we were riding. Maybe because of Chick Corea, maybe independently. I think the first time we heard Hiromi’s music was 7-8 years ago, when we were lucky enough to see Chick Corea and Stanley Clarke live in Istanbul. After our visit to “Lale Plak” we left with a lot of things, including the joint album by Hiromi and Chic Corea “Duet” and we instantly fell in love with the beauty and the energy of that record. 

There were months of addiction – all albums and all collaborations. 

And that is when she came out with a new project – a piano trio with Simon Philipps on drums and Anthony Jackson on bass. And that project came through Belgrade, where we got to hear it live. 

Hiromi Uehara is a musical force, purely because besides Carla Bley and Sylvie Courvoisier there aren’t many female pianists in jazz. Women on instruments in jazz are generally a rare find. 

A couple of things come to mind here – Japan as a place is very rich in terms of this kind of music. Haruki Murakami himself had a chain of jazz clubs back in the day. And Hiromi was discovered by Chick Corea. They incredibly intimate album „Duet“, recorded at „Blue Note“ in Tokyo during concerts, is as alive as it was years ago, when we bought it. 

But Hiromi live is a completely different ball game. I once called her a comet, now I’d call her a force. Because of her strong will for life and her massive body of work. Because of her dedication to music and the lack of compromises. Because of her balance and wisdom. She can take you through a whole range of emotions, just like that – with two songs. To laugh and cry together with you – truthfully. As we got to see live. 

Hiromi’s music raises the bar – there’s no arguing with that. Back in the day we were lucky to discuss her with a really good classical pianist, who said: „She is crazy! “.  In the most positive sense of the word. Madness means talent here. Hiromi carries us through the world like a magician, very innocent, but powerful – full of strength and life!

And we are lucky to present two pieces by her today and to dive in her magical world, because telepathy is in the air. 

Pieces, where there’s a double and triple common thought, surpassing the general ideas of such. 
A solo.
A duet.
A trio.

June 2019

Photo © MA