Hiromi - Another Mind (2003/2018) [Hi-Res]

“I don’t want to put a name on my music. Other people can put a name on what I do. It’s just the union of what I’ve been listening to and what I’ve been learning. It has some elements of classical music, it has some rock, it has some jazz, but I don’t want to give it a name.” —Hiromi Uehara

Japanese native Hiromi Uehara may still be a student at Berklee School of Music in Boston, but there’s already a great deal that she could teach those in the music world whose ears and minds are sufficiently open. Her debut album, Another Mind, offers a glimpse into the highly creative inner world of a gifted young pianist whose roots are in jazz but whose potential is unlimited. Mentored by keyboard giants like Oscar Peterson, Ahmad Jamal and Chick Corea, Hiromi turns jazz tradition on its head and plunges into a universe of new ideas where others of her generation have barely scratched the surface.

Born in Shizuoka, Japan, in 1979, Hiromi took up the piano at age six. Within a year, she was a student of the Yamaha School of Music, whose progressive approach to musical training allowed the young student to tap into her emotions as well as mastering the technical aspects of writing and performing. “I could really play from my heart,” she says, “and not just from my ears.”

She came to the United States in 1999 to continue her studies at Berklee. The cross-cultural experience has opened her ears and her mind to new and varied musical tastes that encompass everyone from J. S. Bach to Franz Liszt to Sly and the Family Stone to King Crimson. An ambitious and engaging debut, Another Mind is a distillation of all of these sensibilities and more. Though rooted in jazz, the album’s nine tracks make frequent forays into pop, R&B and avant-garde. From the first measures of “XYZ,” Hiromi commands the listener’s attention with insistent, syncopated keyboard riffs that churn forward with locomotive intensity. “Double Personality” sets up a taut balance of rhythm and melody that careens through various interludes of high-speed and high-energy freeform.

Later in the sequence, the relaxed and easygoing “Joy” is a departure from the intensity that characterizes the lion’s share of the album. Also noteworthy are the quirky, techo-flavored “010101 Binary System,” the melodic and hypnotic title track and the whimsical bonus track, “The Tom & Jerry Show.” Along the way, Hiromi is supported by a fine team of musicians that includes her own backup unit of bassist Mitch Cohn and drummer Dave Di Censo, as well as three formidable guest players: bassist Anthony Jackson, alto saxophonist Jim Odgren and guitarist Dave Fiuczynski.

Jackson, a seasoned session player with a mile-long list of credits dating back to the early ‘70s, heaps high praise on the young talent: “Hiromi stands in the front rank of the greatest players that I’ve ever worked with,” he says, “and I’ve worked with quite a few of them.”

“Hiromi continues to change the musical landscape everywhere she performs,” says pianist Ahmad Jamal, who co-produced Another Mind (along with veteran bassist/ arranger / producer and Berklee professor Richard Evans) and has taken an active interest in her career. “Her music, together with her overwhelming charm and spirit, causes her to soar to unimaginable musical heights. She is nothing short of amazing.”

"On the back of the CD case is a photo that is basically a heads-up as to what you can expect from this debut album by 23-year-old jazz pianist Hiromi Uehara. She is standing outside wearing a black dress and a strange yellow-and-white wrap. Her face is turned up to the sky, her eyes and mouth closed, her jaw clenched; her arms are held straight down by her sides with her fingers splayed wide. It's a stance that bespeaks intense energy and a certain defiance. Most of the music contained in the CD seems to have been made in a similar attitude, for better and, occasionally, for worse. Uehara plays with an almost demonic energy and amazing stamina; on a program that consists entirely of original compositions, most of them delivered in a standard piano trio format, she zips from style to style with a sense of urgency that borders at times on the manic. Her propulsive "XYZ" opens the album with churning intensity; "Double Personality" finds her alternating between nearly harmolodic free improvisation and carefully composed modern jazz; "Joy" offers a gentle breath of fresh air before she resumes her headlong musical charge. The album ends with a bonus track, an unaccompanied piano piece called "The Tom and Jerry Show," which alternates between loopy, Carl Stalling-esque avant-gardism and high-speed ragtime. By the end of this album you'll be tired, but it's a good tired. Heaven only knows what her next album will sound like, but the laws of physics would seem to dictate that she'll have to slow down a bit." (Rick Anderson, AMG)

Hiromi Uehara, piano
Mitch Cohn, bass
Dave DiCenso, drums
Guests:
Anthony Jackson, bass
Jim Odgren, alto saxophone
Dave Fiuczynski, guitar

Recorded in Avatar Studio C, New York City, September 16-18, 2002
Produced by Richard Evans, Ahmad Jamal