COMPOSERS: Hiromi
LABELS: Telarc
ALBUM TITLE: Hiromi Move
WORKS: Move
PERFORMER: Hiromi (piano), Anthony Jackson (bass), Simon Phillips (drums)
CATALOGUE NO: TEL3381402
My introduction to Hiromi’s work was her performance at the Brecon Jazz Festival some years ago, when the power and exuberance of her playing impressed me. These characteristics come across intact on her recordings, both with her ‘pure jazz’ groups and the fusion-tinged Sonicbloom.
The title track opens dramatically with ferocious, finger-busting staccato figures. Similarly intense passages feature on several other pieces in what is essentially a suite describing ‘a day in the life’. Hiromi’s ability to juggle and transform material is clear on most tracks, and her talent for creating compositions that successfully meld elements from blues, rock and jazz is well in evidence. But I confess I would have liked fewer repetitive power-house riffs and more melodic and harmonic development. Nonetheless, a new album by Hiromi is always welcome as far as I am concerned, and I enjoyed this one. If you haven’t heard her, give this a try.
Barry Witherden