Hiromi 2016 Spark torrent

There are three reasons why some people will not enjoy Spark, the fourth
album from the Trio Project featuring Hiromi Uehara, the Japanese-born
pianist and composer and drummer Simon Phillips and bassist Anthony
Jackson:
1. It's too complex. 2. It rocks too hard to be jazz. 3. It's long (72 minutes).
None of these are good reasons. Here are three reasons which are good ones.
1.
Simplicity has its place. So does complexity. 2. Jazz is not a
hyphenated word. It's just jazz. 3. You can't make and bake a cake in
two minutes. Patience is its own reward.
Hiromi
continues to be one of the most inventive and awe-inspiring pianists in
jazz today. Phillips' drumming is alternatingly both dynamic and
precise. Jackson is the silent partner of the band, but is the glue
which holds it together so it doesn't fly apart into undisciplined
soloing.
That's the risk involved in a
Hiromi recording. At what point will her dazzling proficiency give way
to just spraying notes all around the joint like an Eddie Van Halen
freak-out turned up to "11" on the overkill scale? This is an entirely
fair comparison. Hiromi can match a guitar god like Van Halen for speed,
frenzy and mindless self-indulgence when she goes off.
"Spark"
leads off with a gently synth/piano solo that takes off as soon as
Phillips comes in and Hiromi engages in dueling leads as they chase each
other in musical game of "tag." Good luck with figuring out what the
time signature is. The stuttering stop-start of "In A Trance" shows off
the favored approach of the Trio Project to jazz: aggressive, inventing
and very, very fast and furious.
Even
when "In A Trance" slows down to a more traditional approach, it isn't
long before it reverts to the highly individualized nature of the
players. Phillips launches into a drum solo, shows off some hot licks,
and then ends up with some killer fills and cymbals work until Jackson
and Hiromi come back in with a vaguely Latin piano riff.
Is
"Indulgence" a playful jab at the naysayers who accuse the piansit of
being more style than substance? Maybe so and maybe no, but whatever the
intent it, along with "What Will Be, Will Be" is a showcase for
Jackson's contrabass guitar work and some mighty fine funky grooves and
the restrained solo piano piece "Wake Up and Dream" washes over the
listener like warm spring rain.
Like it
or not (and some jazzheads don't), Hiromi is much more than an
programmed automaton who can play really fast. The rollicking closer
"All's Well" is funky good fun which connects emotionally on every
level. For jazz to resonate beyond its base it has to—repeat—has to
develop and promote artists the way rock, pop and country does. It
cannot thrive and will not survive unless the new generation is alerted
of the new innovators residing among them just beyond their range of
hearing. Hiromi is one of those innovators.
Oscar
Peterson said, "Too many jazz pianists limit themselves to a personal
style, a trademark, so to speak. They confine themselves to one type of
playing. I believe in using the entire piano as a single instrument
capable of expressing every possible musical idea. I have no one style. I
play as I feel."
Hiromi Uehara is living what Peterson advised. Hers is the piano in the Spark.