artist info

“Piano firebrand Hiromi has responded to the pandemic with creative punches — look no further than her exuberant performance at the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics. Her resilience can also be found on Silver Lining Suite, featuring a string quartet with jazz chops. The resulting ensemble, which she calls The Piano Quintet, is her vessel — a soaring starship that propels her piano heroics into the stratosphere. Titles such as ‘Isolation’ and ‘Uncertainty’ may hint toward a dismal headspace, but these compositions are joyous and ebullient, nodding at times towards Erroll Garner.” - WBGO.org Fall Preview 2021

Ever since the 2003 release of her debut, Another Mind, Hiromi has electrified audiences with a creative energy that encompasses and eclipses the boundaries of jazz, classical and pop, taking improvisation and composition to new heights of complexity and sophistication. On her new album, Silver Lining Suite, Hiromi further exemplifies her virtuosic hybridity and emotional range, finding strength and hope amidst the turmoil of the pandemic.

Born in Hamamatsu, Japanin 1979, Hiromi’s first piano teacher, Noriko Hikida, exposed Hiromi to jazz and introduced her to the great pianists Erroll Garner and Oscar Peterson. She enrolled in the Yamaha School of Music and started writing music.

Hiromi moved to the United States in 1999 and studied at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Among her mentors was jazz bassist/arranger Richard Evans, who took Hiromi’s demo to his friend, the legendary pianist Ahmad Jamal. Evans co-produced Another Mind with Jamal.

Another Mind was a critical success in North America and Japan, where the album shipped gold and received the Recording Industry Association of Japan’s Jazz" Album of the Year" Award. Hiromi’s astonishing debut was but a forecast of the shape of jazz to come.

In 2009, she recorded with pianist Chick Corea on Duet,a live recording of their concert in Tokyo. She also appeared on bassist Stanley Clarke’s Grammy-winning release, Jazz in the Garden.

In the summer of 2021, Hiromi performed at the opening ceremonies of the Tokyo Olympics.

“From introspection into our world's plight to exhilaration, this record covered the gamut. Moreover, in addition to the upper echelon musicianship, Hiromi's always superlative compositional skills reached a new pinnacle.” ****1/2 All About Jazz