Hiromi / Simply WOW!

LinearLineman

There are so many mighty things about this trio. Amazingly, this playing brought tears of joy to my eyes. That’s quite a high bar, indeed. Hiromi is a unique artist, from the joyful expression you see and feel when she plays, to the complex and utterly jazzful message she communicates, and to the Nord keyboard sitting atop the Yamaha grand.

Hers is an original voice, IMO, that pays honest homage to those who have gone before her not only in the historical jazz genre, but in classical, filmic and fusion as well. Her compositional skills are diverse and first rate. Her soloing more than lives up to the provocative themes she sets out, traditionally, at beginning and end.

I was, frankly, surprised, and, tho not envious, I felt that rare feeling of wishing I were more gifted as a player, as in if only I could play like that! Of course, lol, I’m much too lazy and undriven to have accomplished those abilities. Which makes me even more grateful that there are those out there who do surmount the musical Everests and K3s.

Mention must be made of The contrabass guitarist (I don’t think I had seen one quite like that) Anthony Jackson. At first I was wishing for an acoustic bass, but that wouldn’t have been to Hiromi’s hybrid vision, I think. By the end it was very cool and different, actually. And Steve Smith, a very capable drummer (and Ben Kingsley lookalike), was pretty great, too. Certainly, as a group they put out a torrent of simpatico music, once again proving how monumental a simple trio can be.

One last thing… it is simply marvelous, and almost incomprehensible, that music, possibly more than any other egocentric (in a neutral sense) endeavor, tears down every wall of difference between us, gender, race, nationality… they all crumble in the face of the onslaught of music. I’m not saying there is not prejudice and even hatred… it’s made by humans, after all… just that it comes closer to the ideal many of us wish for than perhaps any other, non charitable, expression.

As you can probably tell, I liked this… a lot. Happy Sunday, y’all!

audiblevideo

@LinearLineman
I'm excited by the things you're excited about, because it's usually outside of what I know of and definitely well worth my time.

NeonSilicon

She is incredible.

SamSamSam

and when she revisits "rhapsody in (various shades of) blue"...

https://youtube.com/watch?v=TEn-r0OUP10

I had some tickets for her 2020 tour... that was cancelled due to the pandemic. I am still mourning this concert : )

michael_m

I wish I had half as good a command of the keyboard as she does.

MrStochastic

Wow is all you can say. All of them. I can't imagine having such coordination; not to mention muscles and tendons.

GeoTony

Thanks for posting… I think she epitomises the sort of musician that irrespective of their style of music vs your musical preferences just makes your jaw drop and brings a smile to your face (if that’s possible). Also she just exudes a joy for playing which is lovely to behold.

Wrlds2ndBstGeoshredr

Something about her energy reminds me of Tania Maria:

LinearLineman

@Stochastically, indeed. But, I posit (after crying for joy off and on thru the whole concert), that they all are using non muscular energy. I'm not saying they don’t have stamina and it doesn’t take a lot of energy… still, it is the very state of relaxation that allows such a tremendous output. Muscular energy would crash and burn. I noticed, particularly, in Steve Smith’s solo around 1:00:00 how loose he was during a titanic outpouring. You could just see it in his shoulders. Remarkable. All masters.

Notable that Margaret Agerich sent a message to Hiromi near the end praising her to the skies. Well deserved!

If you like jazz at all, I strongly recommend you give this a listen.

Gravitas

@LinearLineman

I’ve been listening to Hiromi off and on now for quite a number of years.
She’s simply mind blowing.

She has that Thelonious Monk quality for me.
That “other” something.

McD

I just had to jump to the Beethoven after the first tune to see what she would do with that lovely Sonata theme. I was not disappointed by the injection of the blues... I'm assuming all the rest are her compositions. I'll eventually will in the gaps. Her humor is a joy to hear in a world that can take itself so seriously... she has the audience top of mind and that's dangerous for most of us. But she's pretty fearless.

michael_m

@Gravitas said:
@LinearLineman

I’ve been listening to Hiromi off and on now for quite a number of years.
She’s simply mind blowing.

She has that Thelonious Monk quality for me.
That “other” something.

There are definitely places where that's coming over for me too.

rs2000

Wow. Gorgeous!

mrufino1

She is incredible and has a very unique sense of joy when she plays.

Sadly, Anthony Jackson can no longer play as he did following a very serious stroke. He is absolutely my favorite bassist of all time, such a unique approach to the instrument (heck, he invented the 6 string). I was very fortunate to meet and talk to him at a Michel Camilo gig many years ago and he is incredibly nice and very humble. I also know a few people who know him very well and I’ve gotten some incredible stories from them.

Here’s one of the greatest clips ever:

And while we are at it, here’s Steve smith and Anthony Jackson at the 55 bar with Mike stern (with Bob Malach on sax)

And of course, finally, Steve smith “back in the day”

LinearLineman

@mrufino1 that is such sad news. I had never heard of him. So much effort lost because we are fragile bags of water and trace elements. I can relate as someone I love is slowly losing cognition. Tears and joy… if you’re lucky.

CracklePot

@LinearLineman said:
@Stochastically, indeed. But, I posit (after crying for joy off and on thru the whole concert), that they all are using non muscular energy. I'm not saying they don’t have stamina and it doesn’t take a lot of energy… still, it is the very state of relaxation that allows such a tremendous output. Muscular energy would crash and burn. I noticed, particularly, in Steve Smith’s solo around 1:00:00 how loose he was during a titanic outpouring. You could just see it in his shoulders. Remarkable. All masters.

Notable that Margaret Agerich sent a message to Hiromi near the end praising her to the skies. Well deserved!

If you like jazz at all, I strongly recommend you give this a listen.

Holy shit.
Steve Smith of Journey.
I watched some of his YouTube videos before, but I really had no idea he was out there doing this amazing stuff.
Great post, LL.

mrufino1

@LinearLineman said:
@mrufino1 that is such sad news. I had never heard of him. So much effort lost because we are fragile bags of water and trace elements. I can relate as someone I love is slowly losing cognition. Tears and joy… if you’re lucky.

I’m sorry to hear about the person you love going through that, it’s a terrible thing.

Here’s an Anthony Jackson one you know for sure, which he did when he was 21, and he got a writing credit on this one.

He’s also on Me and Mrs. Jones by Billy Paul.

During the 70’s and 80’s tons of pop and rock sessions- Paul Simon, steely Dan, chick corea, Al dimeola, Luther vandross (a house is not a home is Anthony on bass and my friend Buddy Williams on drums), rachelle Ferrell, michel Camilo, and Chaka Khan’s first 3 solo records, which is up there with the best music ever recorded in my opinion.

Yeah, I’m a little obsessed, and i can’t play anything like him, but i just love what he does. Just look up “Anthony Jackson bass” on YouTube and it will be a fun collection of videos.

mrufino1

LostInFoundation

Just to make you a little envious…this festival (Estival jazz) takes place here, in the Italian speaking side of Switzerland, and it’s ALL FREE. If I showed you the list of the people who performed there, you would probably think to move and take home here (Lugano is even a very nice little city, with the lake and surrounded by mountains). Sometimes having so many big banks (who sponsor this kind of events) is a good thing (…I said sometimes…).
I had the chance to attempt this concert (and I think you can understand how being there LIVE makes the difference) like many others during my life (I still have to thank my parents for bringing me to listen to Sun Ra when I was 8 yo…probably part of my open mind musically speaking…and in the same evening, Pharoah Sanders with McCoy Tyner, Astrud Gilberto and Many others…ALL FREE).
And then Miles at 10, the same evening Wayne Shorter; Art Blakey, Stan Getz And Zawinul Syndicate at 12; BB King and Sun Ra again at 13 (yes, I did like him when I was 8, strangely); Ornette Coleman and Etta James at 14; Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock with Wayne Shorter at 15; Ahmad Jamal and Lester Bowie at 16; Roy Ayer’s at 17…and so on…ALL FOR FREE…

This and the Montreux Jazz Festival make me so happy to live here.

Here is a complete list of the performers during the years, if you really want to become envious…or if you want to plan your next summer holidays in Switzerland:

https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artisti_che_hanno_partecipato_all'Estival_Jazz

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_performers_at_the_Montreux_Jazz_Festival

Ps: funny anecdote: Deep Purple’s Smoke On The Waters has been written in Montreux, while they were on their hotel on the other side of the lake watching Montreux Casino set on fire by Frank Zappa’s fans during his concert … and when a dying Freddie Mercury wrote the album Made In Heaven… heaven was Montreux (where he retired since he could live quietly his last days without people arassing him (we polite Swiss people 😂))

AppleJax

@LinearLineman said:
There are so many mighty things about this trio. Amazingly, this playing brought tears of joy to my eyes. That’s quite a high bar, indeed. Hiromi is a unique artist, from the joyful expression you see and feel when she plays, to the complex and utterly jazzful message she communicates, and to the Nord keyboard sitting atop the Yamaha grand.

Hers is an original voice, IMO, that pays honest homage to those who have gone before her not only in the historical jazz genre, but in classical, filmic and fusion as well. Her compositional skills are diverse and first rate. Her soloing more than lives up to the provocative themes she sets out, traditionally, at beginning and end.

I was, frankly, surprised, and, tho not envious, I felt that rare feeling of wishing I were more gifted as a player, as in if only I could play like that! Of course, lol, I’m much too lazy and undriven to have accomplished those abilities. Which makes me even more grateful that there are those out there who do surmount the musical Everests and K3s.

Mention must be made of The contrabass guitarist (I don’t think I had seen one quite like that) Anthony Jackson. At first I was wishing for an acoustic bass, but that wouldn’t have been to Hiromi’s hybrid vision, I think. By the end it was very cool and different, actually. And Steve Smith, a very capable drummer (and Ben Kingsley lookalike), was pretty great, too. Certainly, as a group they put out a torrent of simpatico music, once again proving how monumental a simple trio can be.

One last thing… it is simply marvelous, and almost incomprehensible, that music, possibly more than any other egocentric (in a neutral sense) endeavor, tears down every wall of difference between us, gender, race, nationality… they all crumble in the face of the onslaught of music. I’m not saying there is not prejudice and even hatred… it’s made by humans, after all… just that it comes closer to the ideal many of us wish for than perhaps any other, non charitable, expression.

As you can probably tell, I liked this… a lot. Happy Sunday, y’all!

Your passionate expression and love for the music is palpable and damn near brings tears of joy to my own souls windows. I particularly would like to say that the sentiments in the last paragraph are very much a beautiful conceptualization and one that resonates loudly within my own experience.

Gravitas

@LinearLineman

“One last thing… it is simply marvelous, and almost incomprehensible, that music, possibly more than any other egocentric (in a neutral sense) endeavor, tears down every wall of difference between us, gender, race, nationality… they all crumble in the face of the onslaught of music. I’m not saying there is not prejudice and even hatred… it’s made by humans, after all… just that it comes closer to the ideal many of us wish for than perhaps any other, non charitable, expression.”

@AppleJax

I particularly would like to say that the sentiments in the last paragraph are very much a beautiful conceptualization and one that resonates loudly within my own experience.

Agreed.

oldschoolwillie

You better get a box of Kleenex before watching these Lineman

Hazel Scott -

Hazel Scott-

Martha Davis

cian

Nothing really to add other than Hiromi is a great Jazz pianist.

Japanese Jazz generally is a very interesting scene I think, and the way it's influenced Japanese pop music is kind of interesting. J-pop tends to have more sophisticated harmony than contemporary US pop music. Which granted isn't super hard.

raindro

Fantastic post @oldschoolwillie . I hadn't heard any of these maestros before.

That Hiromi and Edmar duet is mesmerizing.

LinearLineman

Those were great @oldschoolwillie and @raindro. I seem to have moved on to Gypsy Klezmer. Catch me if you can 😉😘🙏

mrufino1

@LinearLineman said:
Those were great @oldschoolwillie and @raindro. I seem to have moved on to Gypsy Klezmer. Catch me if you can 😉😘🙏

Now that I have no info on for you!

pbelgium

Reviving this thread after stumbling upon this amazing version of Pachabel's Canon in D by Hiromi.