Photo by Andrea Canter

"I don't want to put a name on my music," she says. "Other people can put a name on what I do. It's just the union of what I've been listening to and what I've been learning. It has some elements of classical music, it has some rock, it has some jazz, but I don't want to give it a name."—Hiromi

Of all the great performers at the Twin Cities’ 2004 Hot Summer Jazz Festival, a young Japanese pianist named Hiromi, only a few years past her Berklee graduation, was arguably the most electrifying. The 26-year-old artist has impressed no less than Oscar Peterson, Chick Corea and Ahmad Jamal, wowed critics with her Telarc debut recording (Another Mind) in 2003, and garnered even more impressive acclaim with her second CD (Brain), released last spring. [Click here for a review of Brain]. Now Hiromi is back in town for two nights at the Dakota, May 24-25.

A native of Shizuoka, Japan, Hiromi Uehara started playing piano at age 5, and enrolled in the Yamaha School of Music at age six. By age 12, she was performing in public, and at 14 performed with the Czech Philharmonic. When she was 17, she met Chick Corea in Tokyo: "He was doing something at Yamaha, and I was visiting Tokyo at the time to take some lessons. I talked to some teachers and said that I really wanted to see him. I sat down with him, and he said 'Play something.' So I played something, and then he said, 'Can you improvise?' I told him I could, and we did some two-piano improvisations. Then he asked me if I was free the next day. I told him I was, and he said, 'Well, I have a concert tomorrow. Why don't you come?' So I went there, and he called my name at the end of the concert, and we did some improvisations together."

Hiromi was immersed in classical and jazz through her earliest teachers and throughout her training, which culminated in her enrollment at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. An early influence was Oscar Peterson, with whom she was ultimately connected through Yamaha and who has been a significant supporter. Ahmad Jamal has overseen her recent career and was co-producer of her first recording. "I love Bach, I love Oscar Peterson, I love Franz Liszt, I love Ahmad Jamal," she says. "I also love people like Sly and the Family Stone, Dream Theatre and King Crimson. Also, I'm so much inspired by sports players like Carl Lewis and Michael Jordan. Basically, I'm inspired by anyone who has big, big energy. They really come straight to my heart."

Photo by Andrea Canter

And “big, big energy” is an apt description of Hiromi’s approach to the keyboard. Those who saw her performance at the Dakota in 2003 and on Peavy Plaza at the Hot Summer Jazz Festival in 2004 were blown away by her dynamic range, percussive attack, and creative compositions that echo the wild playfulness of the Bad Plus as much as the sophisticated complexities of Tyner, Jamal and Jarrett.

True to her generation, Hiromi throws in rock elements but the underlying foundation is high-flying improvisation. Listening to her recordings, like her live performance, is an acoustic feast. Although performing in a trio format, one is struck by the pianist’s uncanny ability to evoke all three instruments—even her solo passages feel like a trio. Her left hand provides dazzling bass lines, her attack is as percussive and driving as a drum kit; and her keyboarding as challenging and musical as the Bad Plus’ Ethan Iverson while showing greater complexity. Hints of her classical upbringing peek through, but like Debussy on psychodelics. She can be alternatingly haunting and majestic, as on the title track of Another Mind, channeling bells, violins, even Bill Evans without letting the listener forget there’s a firestorm raging nearby. The Los Angeles Times praised Another Mind for its tendency to "vibrate and surge with the non-stop sensory stimulation of the ginza, with busy bass lines and crisply dissonant harmonies."

Photo by Andrea Canter

Brain gives further proof that Hiromi is maturing into one of the most daring and creative voices of her generation, or perhaps of any working generation in jazz today. Joined by Berklee-trained musicians Tony Grey on bass and Martin Valihora on drums (guest Anthony Jackson provides bass on two tracks), this second recording focuses less on technical wizardry (still readily apparent) and explosive motifs and more on creating solo and ensemble lines that beautifully linger in heart and memory. The artist’s website aptly describes Brain as “a virtual gallery of evocative musical pictures.” All tracks, as on her debut recording, are original compositions.

Listeners who have already encountered and enjoyed Hiromi will find surprising new layers in this amazing musician’s compositions. Anyone discovering Hiromi for the first time will identify a rich heritage of influences that defy classification. As a composer, she draws from a bottomless well of ideas; as a performer and ensemble leader, she turns time and melody inside-out, true to the unbridled spirit of her generation, be it a mystical lunar “Desert” or an incendiary battle of “Kung Foo Champions.”

"Hiromi is changing the musical landscape. Her music, charm and spirit let her soar to unimaginable heights. She is nothing short of amazing."—Ahmad Jamal

Hiromi will perform two sets each night at the Dakota, May 24-25, 7 and 9 pm. For reservations, visit www.dakotacooks.com or call 612-332-1010. The Dakota is located in downtown Minneapolis at 1010 Nicollet Mall. Hiromi appears at the Dallas Art Museum on May 26^th, and will be at the Iridium in New York City, June 2-5; after stops in Japan, she will perform at the Montreal Jazz Festival on June 30^th. Visit the artist’s website at www.hiromimusic.com