1) Hiromi Uehara (上原ひろみ, born 26 March 1979) is a Japanese jazz composer and pianist. She is known for her virtuosic technique, energetic live performances and blend of jazz with other musical genres such as progressive rock, classical and fusion in her compositions. She performs as a trio alongside bassist Tony Grey and drummer Martin Valihora. On October 19, 2006, the trio added guitarist David Fiuczynski (from the Screaming Headless Torsos), to form Hiromi's Sonicbloom.
Hiromi first mesmerized the jazz community with her 2003 Telarc debut, Another Mind. The buzz started by her first album spread all the way back to her native Japan, where Another Mind shipped gold (100,000 units) and received the Recording Industry Association of Japan's (RIAJ) Jazz Album of the Year Award. Her second release, Brain, won the Horizon Award at the 2004 Surround Music Awards, Swing Journal's New Star Award, Jazz Life's Gold Album, HMV Japan's Best Japanese Jazz Album, and the Japan Music Pen Club's Japanese Artist Award (the JMPC is a classical/jazz journalists club). Brain was also named Album of the Year in Swing Journal's 2005 Readers Poll. In 2006, Hiromi won Best Jazz Act at the Boston Music Awards and the Guinness Jazz Festival's Rising Star Award. She also claimed Jazzman of the Year, Pianist of the Year and Album of the Year in Swing Journal Japan's Readers Poll for her 2006 release, Spiral.
Hiromi continues her winning streak as Hiromi's Sonicbloom with the 2007 release of Time Control and her 2008 release of Beyond Standard.
Born in Shizuoka, Japan, in 1979, Hiromi took her first piano lessons at age six. She learned from her earliest teacher to tap into the intuitive as well as the technical aspects of music.
"Her energy was always so high, and she was so emotional," Hiromi says of her first piano teacher. "When she wanted me to play with a certain kind of dynamics, she wouldn't say it with technical terms. If the piece was something passionate, she would say, 'Play red.' Or if it was something mellow, she would say, 'Play blue.' I could really play from my heart that way, and not just from my ears."
Hiromi took that intuitive approach a step further when she enrolled in the Yamaha School of Music less then a year after her first piano lessons. By age 12, she was performing in public, sometimes with very high-profile orchestras. "When I was 14, I went to Czechoslovakia and played with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra," she says. "That was a great experience, to play with such a professional orchestra."
Further into her teens, her tastes expanded to include jazz as well as classical music. A chance meeting with Chick Corea when she was 17 led to a performance with the well-known jazz pianist the very next day.
"It was in Tokyo," Hiromi recalls. "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."
After a couple years of writing advertising jingles for Nissan and a few other high-profile Japanese companies, Hiromi came to the United States in 1999 to study at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. For as open as her musical sensibilities had already been when she came to the U.S., the Berklee experience pushed her envelope even further.
"It expanded so much the way I see music," she says. "Some people dig jazz, some people dig classical music, some people dig rock. Everyone is so concerned about who they like. They always say, 'This guy is the best,' 'No, this guy is the best.' But I think everyone is great. I really don't have barriers to any type of music. I could listen to everything from metal to classical music to anything else."
Among her mentors at Berklee was veteran jazz bassist Richard Evans, who teaches arranging and orchestration. Evans co-produced Another Mind, her Telarc debut, with longtime friend and collaborator Ahmad Jamal, who has also taken a personal interest in Hiromi's artistic development. "She is nothing short of amazing," says Jamal. "Her music, together with her overwhelming charm and spirit, causes her to soar to unimaginable musical heights."
At 26, Hiromi stands at the threshold of limitless possibility, constantly drawing inspiration from virtually everyone and everything around her. Her list of influences, like her music itself, is boundless. "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."
But she won't, as a matter of principle, put labels on her music. She'll continue to follow whatever moves her, and leave the definitions to others.
"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's official website is located at http://www.hiromimusic.com.
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2) For the Japanese R&B singer Hiromi Miyake see 宏実 https://www.generasia.com/wiki/Hiromi
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3) For the Japanese pop singer Hiromi Yanagihara see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiromi_Yanagihara
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4) For the Japanese idol singer Hiromi Kurosawa see 黒沢ひろみ http://jpop.wikia.com/wiki/Kurosawa_Hiromi
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5) For the '70s Japanese pop singer Hiromi Iwasaki see 岩崎宏美 https://www.discogs.com/artist/1826046-Hiromi-Iwasaki
Voice
Hiromi Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
うつろぎな気持ち
ゆらりと揺れているよ
幼い瞳は 手にとるものすべて
大事そうに 抱きしめて見つめる
海の小島に 鳥達が輪をかいて
朱くなる空に 優しく名を呼ぶ声
母の腰に 手を回して嗅いだ
香りを覚えている
誰にもあるものさ 見えない記憶が
暖めてるものよ 想い出を
あなたへと響く 心の声は
何処からくるの？
ビルの隙間から
こぼれるあの日差しは
胸の奥にある 遠い日を思い出す
幼い瞳は 急ぎ足の世界を
忘れかけてた 何かを探している
誰にもあるものさ つらく悲しい夜
暖めてくれるよ 想い出が
あなたの中にある 心の声が
Here is a voice in the voice
The song "Voice" by Hiromi is a beautiful and nostalgic reflection on memories and the emotions they evoke. The opening verse describes a child's hand catching the rays of sunlight and the fleeting feelings that come with it. The child's eyes hold a deep appreciation for everything they hold, while birds circle over an island and lovingly call out to each other. The child remembers the scent of their mother's embrace and holds onto the intangible memories that warm their soul.
The second verse speaks to the power of memories to transport us back to a time long ago when we were young and naive. Light pouring through the gaps in buildings brings to mind days gone by and the child, lost in thought, wanders the world searching for something they can't quite put their finger on. The lyrics offer the idea that memories, both happy and sad, can warm our hearts on cold nights and help us find our true selves within.
Overall, the song is a beautiful meditation on the power of memory to shape who we are and how we view the world around us. It reminds us to cherish the moments that shape our lives, hold onto them with all our might, and let them guide us through the ups and downs of life.
Line by Line Meaning
木漏れ日が届く 小さな手のひらに
The fleeting feeling of the sunbeams touching the small palm of a hand, gently swaying.
うつろぎな気持ち
An indescribable feeling, fleeting and ephemeral.
ゆらりと揺れているよ
Swaying gently and peacefully.
幼い瞳は 手にとるものすべて 大事そうに 抱きしめて見つめる
Young eyes, gazing lovingly at everything held in their hands, cherishing their preciousness.
海の小島に 鳥達が輪をかいて 朱くなる空に 優しく名を呼ぶ声
On a small island in the sea, birds singing softly to the reddening sky, calling out gently.
母の腰に 手を回して嗅いだ シャボンのような 香りを覚えている
Remembering the fragrance of soap, as a hand wraps around a mother's waist and smells her.
誰にもあるものさ 見えない記憶が 暖めてるものよ 想い出を
Everyone has them, unseen memories that bring warmth and comfort - memories.
あなたへと響く 心の声は 何処からくるの？
The voice of the heart that resonates within you, where does it come from?
ビルの隙間から こぼれるあの日差しは 胸の奥にある 遠い日を思い出す
The sunbeams trickling through the buildings, reminding you of the distant past that lies deep in your heart.
幼い瞳は 急ぎ足の世界を 忘れかけてた 何かを探している
Young eyes, searching for something - almost forgetting the hurried pace of the world.
誰にもあるものさ つらく悲しい夜 暖めてくれるよ 想い出が あなたの中にある 心の声が
Everyone has them, memories that bring comfort on lonely and sad nights - memories and the voice of the heart that reside within you.
Here is a voice in the voice
This is a voice within the voice.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: ひろみ 浅井
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
El Mojatak
To be honest, she is probably one of the major jazz contemporary artist. Her style is unique with syncopation, unusual musical scale, rhythm changes and some synthesizers.
I really think we will remember her in some decades.
Khalil Boutira
I'm sure we will
ENTP ENTP
이미 그녀는 수많은 사람들의 마음 안에 각인되었다
Wurst Finger
there is maybe emmet cohen. not that spectacular, but a real heavy weight.
Zycopolis TV
Totally agree ;=)
Casper Meijer
emmet Cohen
Martti Suomivuori
Hiromi makes piano faces, Anthony makes bass faces and Steve makes drum faces.
They are totally in the music. They have become the music. This is it.
Emanuele Cotardo
I totally agree
Jakob Wayne
If this isnt it, there isnt any ! :D
Edward Macarchick
I have never seen any musician smile as much as her! You can tell she loves to play!