SACD / DSD

Hiromi – Hiromi’s Sonicbloom: Beyond Standard (2008)
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DST64 2.0 & 5.1 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 59:31 minutes | Scans included | 3,84 GB
or FLAC 2.0 Stereo (converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Full Scans included | 1,26 GB
Features 2.0 Stereo and 5.1 multichannel surround sound | Telarc # SACD-63686

After four Telarc albums dedicated to original material, keyboardist Hiromi Uehara and her talented Sonicbloom trio tackle that most treasured of jazz traditions, the standard. Only 27 when this was recorded in 2008, her song choices and execution are less orthodox than other jazz artists’, hence the album’s intriguing title. The pops and clicks of an old vinyl record intro the proceedings, which officially kick off with a smooth rendition of Oscar Hammerstein’s “Softly As in a Morning Sunrise.” While it’s not unrecognizable from the original, bassist Tony Grey quickly steers into a solo that shifts the approach to improvisation and fusion-tinged waters, followed by Hiromi and guitarist David Fiuczynski trading licks. Ultimately the melody becomes obscured by the magnificent playing, as is typical of the jazz approach to interpretations. Debussy’s “Clair de Lune” is handled in a more traditional swinging style that soon shifts into slightly experimental territory with a hyperactive take on the Duke Ellington chestnut “Caravan.” Again Fiuczynski’s nimble guitar commands attention, twisting notes, playing with time and driving the arrangement, with Hiromi’s acoustic piano coming in later as the nearly nine-minute performance winds through its changes. Hiromi’s flying fingers and percussive attack are matched by Martin Valihora’s lively drum work. Some song choices are more unusual, with a funky “Sukiyaki” (listed by its original Japanese title “Ue Wo Muite Aruko”), Hiromi covering herself on “XYG” (the original “XYZ” substitutes “G” for added guitar) and Jeff Beck’s “Led Boots,” where Hiromi pulls out the synths and electric piano and plunges into full bore electrified fusion. She pays tribute to John Coltrane with “My Favorite Things” as she and the band slide and sidestep around the chorus and chords. She closes the hour-long disc with a solo “I’ve Got Rhythm,” which features her hyperventilating speedy runs. It’s a classy, impressive set that displays Hiromi’s obvious talents on keyboards, but also her commendable ability to integrate solos into the band format without losing the thread of the original song’s structure. Co-billing her talented Sonicbloom musicians is well earned, since they are nearly as much a part of this album’s success as its star. (more…)

Hiromi – Hiromi’s Sonicbloom: Time Control (2007)
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DST64 2.0 & 5.1 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 61:33 minutes | Scans included | 3,84 GB
or FLAC 2.0 Stereo (converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Full Scans included | 1,23 GB
Features 2.0 Stereo and 5.1 multichannel surround sound | Telarc # SACD-63665

Hiromi Uehara’s version of jazz is unique without being willfully strange — clearly deeply rooted in the straight-ahead jazz verities, she nevertheless writes with a distinctly postmodern sensibility, gleefully juxtaposing wildly disparate musical elements and infusing everything with a joyful energy. In fact, joyful energy is probably the most significant hallmark of her music; on her latest album, even her attempt at a ballad eventually winds up in swinging uptempo territory, and just about everything else either rushes headlong or rocks out strongly in midtempo. This is actually something of a concept album centered on the idea of time, the control of time, and the effects of time on humans. It opens with the frantic but lovely “Time Difference,” on which guest guitarist David “Fuze” Fiuczynski is given ample room to rock out, and then lapses into the slower, funkier, but no less energetic “Time Out” (an Uehara original, not the Dave Brubeck standard). “Time Travel” starts out strong but runs out of gas about halfway through its eight and a half minute length, but “Real Clock vs. Body Clock = Jet Lag” is a real hoot — a surf-rock theme that alternates with a barrelhouse barroom piano theme and then becomes an exercise in advanced guitar and synthesizer tonal insanity. One of the most interesting things about this album is the way that Fiuczynski’s tonal experimentation draws out a similar adventurousness in Uehara, to the extent that it’s sometimes hard to tell which of them is playing a solo. Several tracks on this album are several minutes too long, but overall it’s a real treat. You’ll be tired at the end, but it will be a good tired. (more…)

Hiromi – Another Mind (2003) {2.0 & 5.1}
PS3 Rip | ISO | SACD DST64 2.0 & 5.1 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 70:11 minutes | Scans included | 4,37 GB
or FLAC 2.0 Stereo (converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | 70:16 min | Scans included | 1,42 GB
Jazz / Post-Bop / Piano Jazz | Features 2.0 Stereo and 5.1 multichannel surround sound

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. (more…)

Hiromi – Brain (2004) [2.0 & 5.1]
PS3 Rip | ISO | SACD DST64 2.0 & 5.1 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 61:00 mins | Scans included | 3,75 GB
or FLAC 2.0 Stereo (converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Scans included | 1,2 GB
Jazz / Post-Bop / Piano Jazz | Features 2.0 Stereo and 5.1 multichannel surround sound | Telarc # SACD-63600

Hiromi Uehara (上原ひろみ), known as Hiromi, is a jazz composer and pianist born in Hamamatsu, Japan. She is known for her virtuosic technique, energetic live performances and blend of musical genres such as post-bop, progressive rock, classical and fusion in her compositions. (more…)

Hiromi – Spiral (2006) [2.0 & 5.1]
PS3 Rip | ISO | SACD DST64 2.0 & 5.1 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 65:18 mins | Scans included | 3,91 GB
or FLAC 2.0 Stereo (converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Scans included | 1,25 GB
Jazz / Post-Bop / Piano Jazz | Features 2.0 Stereo and 5.1 multichannel surround sound | Telarc # SACD-63631

Hiromi Uehara (上原ひろみ), known as Hiromi, is a jazz composer and pianist born in Hamamatsu, Japan. She is known for her virtuosic technique, energetic live performances and blend of musical genres such as post-bop, progressive rock, classical and fusion in her compositions. (more…)