Post Description

Hiromi Uehara (born 26 March 1979) 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 jazz, progressive rock, classical and fusion in her compositions.

Hiromi - Another Mind
Rating 3
Release Date Apr 22, 2003
Recording Date Sep 16, 2002-Sep 18, 2002
Label Telarc
Genre Jazz
Format FLAC

Review by Rick Anderson
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.

1 - Xyz - Uehara - 5:37
2 - Double Personality - Uehara - 11:57
3 - Summer Rain - Uehara - 6:07
4 - Joy - Uehara - 8:29
5 - 010101 (Binary System) - Uehara - 8:23
6 - Truth and Lies - Uehara - 7:20
7 - Dancando No Paraiso - Uehara - 7:39
8 - Another Mind - Uehara - 8:44
9 - The Tom and Jerry Show - Uehara - 6:05

Anthony Jackson - Bass
Dave Dicenso - Drums
David Fiuczynski - Guitar
Hiromi Uehara - Piano, Keyboards
Jim Odgren - Sax (Alto)
Mitch Cohn - Bass