Hiromi Uehara & the Trio Project - Spark (2016)

En una semana dedicada a Hiromi dejamos el disco del día y su último trabajo, cerrando la saga japonesita-genia-bestia-deream team. Las tres bestias del Trio Project a full en el blog cabezón, como para empacharlos de técnica, ejecución y composición. Otro de los grandes discos del 2016 que se suma a la lista de joyas de la Biblioteca Sonora. Imagino que ya no hace falta que escriba mucho más...

Artista: Hiromi Uehara & the Trio Project

Álbum: Alive
Año: 2014
Género: Jazz rock / Fusión
Duración: 72:12
Nacionalidad: Japón

Lista de Temas:
01. Spark
02. In a Trance
03. Take Me Away
04. Wonderland
05. Indulgence
06. Dilemma
07. What Will Be, Will Be
08. Wake Up And Dream
09. All's Well

Alineación:
- Hiromi Uehara / piano, co-producer
- Anthony Jackson / bass and contrabass
- Simon Phillips / drums

Ac{a vamos nuevamente con Hiromi, en nuestro último discos de la nipona, espero que lo hayan disfrutado en esta semana a puro Hiromi. Yo ya no voy a agregar nada, ya conocen a la oriental y los dos que la acompañan, y ya saben de qué va el disco... pero por las dudas dejo algún comentario de terceros:

No es nada apresurado afirmar en abril que este es uno de los mejores discos del 2016. Al revisar cuidadosamente la hoja de vida de esta diminuta gigante, pianista japonesa no queda la menor duda de estar escuchando a una de las figuras más descollantes y meteóricas que por el ámbito del Jazz haya pasado hasta alcanzar, con pasmosa seguridad, un sitial sólo permitido para los genios que de vez en cuando aparecen. Cada álbum suyo es una cumbre que conquista, cada concierto otra oportunidad de saber que no pasará inadvertida, cada gira un raudal de admiraciones que va cosechando ante la crítica, la prensa y un público creciente que se va rindiendo a su maestría ante los teclados, que refuerza con su simpatía y su manera graciosa de asumir el enorme impacto que genera su arte chispeante de energía y entrega en un compromiso que asume como una misión única, el que el arte establece entre su exponente y su obra.
Este ascenso vertiginoso de Hiromi (como suele hacerse llamar, sin apellido)desde que grabó su primer álbum --“Another Mind”—para el sello Telarc en 2003, no es otra cosa que la resultante de una siembra descubierta y bien cosechada por su familia consciente de su temprana genialidad para la música y el teclado. Hiromi Uehara , hoy un símbolo para cualquier escolar japonés que quiera entregarse al piano, nació el 26 de Marzo de 1979 en Hamamatsu, prefectura de Shizuoka, Japón. Ya cuando comenzó con sus primeras lecciones de piano a sus 6 años de edad su primer profesor, Noriko Hikida, captó el potencial de aquella niña prodigio a quien instruyó y animó a que tocara de modo intuitivo, sin olvidar los aspectos técnicos de la música, ya que le descubrió desde un principio una gran energía y emoción difícil de contener. Fue el mismo Hikida quien le llevó por la senda del Jazz presentándole música de grandes pianistas como Errol Garner y Oscar Peterson, así como también la música Pop, tradicional y el Rock, de allí que hoy en día Hiromi describa su propia música sin etiqueta en particular, por ello ha declarado recientemente “No quiero ponerle un nombre a mi música pues es la unión de todo lo que he estado escuchando y lo que he aprendido hasta hoy, pues algunos elementos vienen de la música clásica, otros del Rock, y muchos aspectos del Jazz; por eso no quiero una etiqueta más para lo que hago al tocar y componer”. No es de desestimar en su curriculum que apenas a sus 17 años de edad Hiromi haya grabado un álbum doble , en vivo en Tokio, “Duet” con Chick Corea!
Ahora con su décimo primer álbum titulado “Spark” para el sello discográfico Capricorn Records en compañía del estadounidense Anthony Jackson (Steely Dan, Chick Corea, Jean-Luc Ponty, The O´Jays, etc.) al bajo eléctrico de seis cuerdas, y el británico Simon Phillips (The Who, Judas Priest, Toto, David Gilmour, Jack Bruce, etc.) a la batería, Hiromi Uehara (con quienes ya ha grabado los álbumes “Voice”, “Move” y “Alive”) vuelve más enérgica que nunca caracterizando su música como un cruce de post-bop, rock progresivo y música clásica donde lo creativo, lo inventivo, lo transformador y los aspectos románticos se dan a la vez como si de un chispazo (Spark) creador surgiera tanta pasión, virtuosismo y energía ; de allí que la especializada revista Down Beat haya expresado sobre este nuevo álbum , y de este formidable trío como “uno de los más emocionantes grupos que está funcionando en cualquier género hoy en día”.
Esa emoción es definitivamente hipnótica bajo una dinámica de a tres que no decae, donde la actitud es trasladarte a un estado optimista, a un trance que , tal como lo describe Hiromi “tocar en formato de trío, con este par de fabulosos artistas es como vivir una aventura que no tiene final, y el destino está en las fronteras de tu imaginación”. Son 9 títulos donde a primera escuchada la sensación es que allí hay una poderosa contienda entre el piano y la batería mientras el bajo los condiciona y los altera. Si antes no le habías puesto cuidado a la obra y estilo del baterista Simon Phillips, ahora , aquí para nadie pasa desapercibido, quizá reclamando –con todo derecho—un sitial propio que nos hace volver a la escuela Fusión dejada vacante por el gran Tony Williams. “Spark” es quizá la primera joya discográfica indiscutible del año 2016 .

Jordán Quintero

Jazz y música contemporánea de excepción con esta japonesita que nos estará visitando en Argentina. Y toda esta saga vino justo para su presentación próxima, por algo será que apareció como temática en los videos de los viernes... y hablando de viernes, hoy es viernes, así que vamos terminando con el dream team y veo qué video les puedo compartir.

Cuando allá por el lejano 2003 apareció la pianista japonesa Hiromi Uehara la escena del jazz internacional asistió bastante pasmada a la irrupción de una joven con una energía descomunal y un jazz donde se mezclaban una técnica abrumadora, producto de una importante formación clásica, con una notable capacidad improvisadora.
Quienes tuvimos la oportunidad de verla en la 45 edición del donostiarra Heineken Jazzaldia al lado del bajista Stanley Clarke, vimos como la pianista japonesa le devoraba sin despeinarse el concierto al ex Return to Forever.
La carrera de Hiromi se divide en dos grandes partes; su trayectoria en solitario y aquella en la que está acompañada por su trío, compuesto por el bajista Anthony Jackson y el baterista Simon Philips, con los que ha grabado ya cuatro discos, el último este ‘Spark’.
La música que este trío presenta es una suerte de ‘power jazz’; composiciones contundentes, tocadas con mucha rapidez, con una base rítmica muy sólida y dura, muy en la onda del jazz rock progresivo, y donde Hiromi se adentra para mostrar todas sus cualidades.
Es muy posible que en la primera audición este ‘Spark’ no acabe de entrar, pero en las siguientes escuchas se descubre que Hiromi, Jackson y Philips, siguen siendo una máquina de hacer jazz contundente, enérgico y vital. Y andamos muy necesitados de este tipo de propuestas ante tanto místico del jazz.

Jaun Ez

No creo que haga falta, pero aquì van algunos comentarios de terceros y en inglès. Sólo queda disfrutar este trío de ases de la mùsica.

Japanese pianist and composer Hiromi is one of the more unpredictable, captivating talents in modern jazz. Her Trio Project with drummer Simon Phillips and contrabass guitarist Anthony Jackson, now into its sixth year, has matured into one of the most fluidly inventive on the scene. Spark, recorded over four days in October of 2015, is the group's fourth offering. Like its predecessors, it has a loosely connected thematic scheme. In this case, it's the spark of inspiration that leads to creation, risk-taking, spiritual connection, and development via an album-length dream sequence. The established hallmarks of the trio are abundant -- tight, twisting, turning, sometimes incendiary dialogue in constantly evolving themes and motifs that embrace everything from post-bop to proggy rockisms to funky soul-jazz. The title track is introduced by an inquisitive, nocturnal piano figure before a wash of electric keyboards enters underneath, and the band is off, playing one theme after another in widening circles. Hiromi's invention in the lower and middle registers resonates with Jackson's roiling bass patterns, Phillips' syncopated breaks, and insistent fills that never lose the pocket. "Take Me Away" has a trance-like repetition in its intro. It expands its textural foundation with Jackson playing guitar-esque fills and Phillips riding the snare and cymbal as agents of hypnosis. A sweeping refrain, followed by a knotty bridge that leads to a crescendo, introduces a souled-out groove that recalls Ahmad Jamal. The trio swings on a vamp played by Jackson. The percussive pulse of "Wonderland" gives way to something approaching a classical fugue before opening wide into expansive post-bop then folds back again before Hiromi takes her solo. It's rife with emotive arpeggios and fluid harmonic investigation. The rhythm section swings hard, adding dimension via extension and extrapolation. Phillips uses octobans -- high-tuned tom-toms -- to create a near theatrical fantasia that the pianist answers with high-wire lyricism and choppy chords. Drama and dynamic are in constant conversation on "Dilemma." Pulse, speed, and force are balanced by moments of near sublime inquiry as the lines between jazz, prog, and classical crossover vanish. The uptown electric jazz funk of "What Will Be, Will Be" feels light in contrast. A careful listen reveals the influences of Stevie Wonder and Herbie Hancock in its finger-popping groove consciousness. Closer "All's Well" is based on a swinging midtempo blues. It pushes boundaries on all sides yet never sacrifices feel. Spark integrates each element in this band's arsenal to create a whole that is provocative and seamless. Hiromi's band challenges modern music norms with authority. Their spirit of restless creativity is expressed with as much warmth and humor as technical acumen. The tunes here, though rigorous musical workouts, all reach the level of song -- not an accomplishment most piano trios can claim.

Thom Jurek

I have been following Hiromi’s career for quite a while – I have always been in awe not only of her unique approach to jazz piano but also her fiery performances either as a bandleader or a side player with Stanley Clarke, which I was fortunate enough to hear not once but twice – at the Blue Note (with Lenny White on drums) and later that year at Central Park Summerstage.
When playing live, she becomes almost one with the music, using her entire body to deliver the music. She has incredible speed and her tunes mix more traditional contemporary jazz with electronic elements. When performing with her band, the sound is incredibly tight, and their chemistry is palpable.
On Spark (Telarc/Concord), Hiromi reunites with the trio project from 2010’s “Move” (Telarc/Concord), which is rounded out by Anthony Jackson (electric bass) and Simon Phillips (drums). The disc opens with the title track, a nine-minute tour-de-force that begins with a mellow, classically inflected piano solo that evolves into a progressive piece in which the bandleader exercises her creativity with a solid backbeat from the rhythm section.
“In a Trance” is a fast-paced in which Phillips doubles the entire piano’s notes with the drums – everything is played with incredible speed that it takes a few hearings to fully grasp everything, but just as you adjust the song changes pace into a Brazilian-like, laid-back feel before it goes back to the original melody. Things don’t quite slow down until “Wake Up and Dream,” a mellifluous solo piano ballad reminiscent of 2009’s “Place to Be,” her only solo piano album to date. “Spark” closes with “All’s Well,” a straight-ahead, bluesy tune that allows the band to stretch and showcase a more playful side.
With “Spark,” Hiromi has not veered from her path of musical exploration, and the tunes have welcome twists that surprise even fans familiar with her previous works.

Ernest Barteldes

Over the last five or so years, the freakishly good pianist Hiromi Uehara — or just Hiromi — has been fine-tuning her own jazz trio characteristic that sounds so familiar and so singular at once. Since she formed a small band of virtuosos with electric bassist Anthony Jackson and drummer Simon Phillips, Hiromi has crafted whiplash-inducing jazz that ignores the melodicism/musicianship continuum by place heavy emphasis on both. Her approach is neither fully committed to electric nor acoustic formats and, in a sense, she also dispenses with trying to fit neatly into either category.
Spark, available April 1, 2016 from Telarc International, is Hiromi’s fourth venture down this road in the last five years, a formula that might get a little tiresome by now if she wasn’t so danged daring and exuberant in how she goes about it.
Hiromi, as usual, seems intent on fending off listener boredom. The first four tracks of Spark alone bristle with enough energy and twists for an entire album. After a lithe piano-only prologue into “Spark,” the trio wastes little time to show what it’s made of. Supple, fluid bass lines underpin impossible rhythm sequences executed flawlessly by Phillips and Hiromi; the inseparable union between harmony and rhythm is a Hiromi hallmark heard on nearly every one in this bundle of all-original songs. Another nine-minute tour-de-force called “In A Trance” is even more energetic, led by a two fisted attack on all eighty-eight keys. Phillips’ drums is a non-stop rolling ball of thunder, culminating in a combustible solo (of which there are plenty) segueing into an Afro-Cuban figure and eventually circling back to original motif. No ground is left uncovered.
Caribbean influences are also present on “Wonderland,” starting with Phillips’ toms at the intro which are tonally correct for the song. Hiromi works the groove hard with fleetness and fluidity. Jackson’s poetic upper register bass figures launch “Take Me Away,” acting as a proxy for a guitar. Hiromi mixes fire with grace, wit and gospel funk, contrasting with a gently flowing main melody.
Some synthesizer intrudes on “What Will Be, Will Be” and its Mardi Gras shuffle, but the main attraction is how Hiromi’s piano closely integrates with her band mates to make rhythm and melody work hand in hand. “Indulgence” finally slows down the pace but still grooves with a head-nodding shuffle, and Hiromi remains in a playful mood. Only when we reach “Wake Up and Dream” near the end does Hiromi completely winds down, undertaking this classical influenced melody with wonderfully flowing arpeggiated chords.
Hiromi has settled into a pattern with Anthony Jackson and Simon Phillips with another one-word album (following Voice, Move and Alive) but in her case ‘settling’ doesn’t equate to ‘mediocre’. The one word that comes to mind when taking in Spark is ‘stimulating.’

S. Victor Aaron

Hiromi Uehara’s tenth album showcases the virtuosic pianist’s formidable technique and range. She has a wild energy, an eclectic compositional talent, a strong left hand and a gymnastic right hand that sparkles with melodic lyricism.
Spark is the fourth album she has made in her Trio Project with contrabass guitarist Anthony Jackson and drummer Simon Phillips. The group is a slick, tightly-arrayed unit, supremely confident and relaxed. They shift between rhythms and tempos with such facility it can be intimidating, but they abound with passion and feeling. Hiromi has a penchant for bluesy tinged licks and boogie-woogie figures that leaven the group’s core angular jazz fusion. Simon Phillips’s drumming, even at its most multidextrous, can sometimes languish teasingly behind the pulse, bringing the swing. Six-string bass pioneer Anthony Jackson is a virtuosic player, but is always locked into the direction of the ensemble.
Spark continues precisely where 2014’s Alive (link to review below) left off. If anything it’s more exciting, though nothing on Spark is quite as fearsome as that album’s title track, nor as instant as Seeker. They can really fire off a lot of notes, as on the skittish In a trance and the juddering Dilemma. They know when and how to strip it down to a simple groove; the languorously melodic Indulgence has the feel of nineties R&B jams. The tender Wake Up And Dream recalls the ballads of the American songbook while Hiromi’s expanded harmonic language brings a contemporary edginess.
The nine tracks are listed with little existential descriptions like “Living in the very moment,” “Should you step ahead or backward?” and “Dream for a new beginning” intended to document Hiromi’s personal journey. The album suggests she’s been keeping her eyes and ears open along the way. At seventy-five minutes it’s a journey for the listener too, but a diverse and engaging one — a masterclass in exciting and dynamic trio playing.

A. J. Dehany

There are three reasons why some people will not enjoy Spark, the fourth album from the Trio Project featuring Hiromi Uehara, the Japanese-born pianist and composer and drummer Simon Phillips and bassist Anthony Jackson:
It's too complex. 2. It rocks too hard to be jazz. 3. It's long (72 minutes).
None of these are good reasons. Here are three reasons which are good ones.
Simplicity has its place. So does complexity. 2. Jazz is not a hyphenated word. It's just jazz. 3. You can't make and bake a cake in two minutes. Patience is its own reward.
Hiromi continues to be one of the most inventive and awe-inspiring pianists in jazz today. Phillips' drumming is alternatingly both dynamic and precise. Jackson is the silent partner of the band, but is the glue which holds it together so it doesn't fly apart into undisciplined soloing.
That's the risk involved in a Hiromi recording. At what point will her dazzling proficiency give way to just spraying notes all around the joint like an Eddie Van Halen freak-out turned up to "11" on the overkill scale? This is an entirely fair comparison. Hiromi can match a guitar god like Van Halen for speed, frenzy and mindless self-indulgence when she goes off.
"Spark" leads off with a gently synth/piano solo that takes off as soon as Phillips comes in and Hiromi engages in dueling leads as they chase each other in musical game of "tag." Good luck with figuring out what the time signature is. The stuttering stop-start of "In A Trance" shows off the favored approach of the Trio Project to jazz: aggressive, inventing and very, very fast and furious.
Even when "In A Trance" slows down to a more traditional approach, it isn't long before it reverts to the highly individualized nature of the players. Phillips launches into a drum solo, shows off some hot licks, and then ends up with some killer fills and cymbals work until Jackson and Hiromi come back in with a vaguely Latin piano riff.
Is "Indulgence" a playful jab at the naysayers who accuse the piansit of being more style than substance? Maybe so and maybe no, but whatever the intent it, along with "What Will Be, Will Be" is a showcase for Jackson's contrabass guitar work and some mighty fine funky grooves and the restrained solo piano piece "Wake Up and Dream" washes over the listener like warm spring rain.
Like it or not (and some jazzheads don't), Hiromi is much more than an programmed automaton who can play really fast. The rollicking closer "All's Well" is funky good fun which connects emotionally on every level. For jazz to resonate beyond its base it has to—repeat—has to develop and promote artists the way rock, pop and country does. It cannot thrive and will not survive unless the new generation is alerted of the new innovators residing among them just beyond their range of hearing. Hiromi is one of those innovators.
Oscar Peterson said, "Too many jazz pianists limit themselves to a personal style, a trademark, so to speak. They confine themselves to one type of playing. I believe in using the entire piano as a single instrument capable of expressing every possible musical idea. I have no one style. I play as I feel."
Hiromi Uehara is living what Peterson advised. Hers is the piano in the Spark.

Jeff Winbush

 

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