For 20-plus years as a recording artist, jazz pianist-composer Hiromi has shifted seamlessly from one captivating project to the next. In the process, the Japanese native has earned a reputation as a global ambassador for the art form. In January, Hiromi announced her 13th studio album, “Out There” (which Telarc will release April 4). It marks her second album with Sonicwonder, a quartet featuring Hadrien Feraud on bass, Gene Coye on drums and Adam O’Farrill on trumpet. 

Sonicwonder has been hailed for enhancing Hiromi’s distinctive musical alchemy — once described as the spirit of classic jazz-rock fusion melded with classically rooted virtuosity, entrancing funk, pop flourishes and acoustic jazz. “Out There” captures their deep chemistry and fearless sense of interplay amid nearly two years of touring and playing together. Hiromi invites her fans “to buckle up for a fun, thoughtful, and wild musical ride.” 

“On ’Sonicwonderland,’ I had the concept and songs first; I was looking for the people who could play the music in the ideal way that I had in my mind," said Hiromi (who performs an SCP Jazz concert April 4) in the liner notes. Being with this group for well over a year, playing a lot of shows together and understanding each other, I started to see more of their strength and what shines in them the most. So I started to write music with them in mind.” 

Hiromi’s Sonicwonder brings together world-class musicians of diverse backgrounds. French-born Feraud is a fusion virtuoso who has been compared to bass great Jaco Pastorius. Coye hails from Chicago, where he grew up playing in church; he combines technical mastery with a soulful knack for groove and pocket. Brooklyn-raised O’Farrill, part of a dynasty that includes his father and grandfather, Latin jazz titans Arturo and Chico O’Farrill, ranks among his generation’s most important and progressive trumpeters. Throughout the album, O’Farrill conjures up audacious sonic textures through electronics — part of his toolbox that Hiromi encouraged him to develop fully.  

“[Bass legend and collaborator] Anthony Jackson always told me that a first-class musician can do anything,” Hiromi said. “You don’t really have to put them in one genre or one category.” Knowing that anything she composed would be met with outstanding performances, Hiromi let her fiercest ambitions run wild when crafting the music for “Out There.”

“It all comes from curiosity,” she said. “I think curiosity is the key to everything. How can you express yourself more? How can you write more?”

The album begins with “XYZ,” a fresh take on the first song that Hiromi ever released, back in 2003. It’s a delirious burner that evokes the avant-garde-leaning Blue Note titles from the ’60s. “Yes! Ramen!!” is a tribute to Hiromi’s favorite food, percolating over synths, revved-up disco beats and a menacing riff. The band shares Hiromi’s love for ramen, especially O’Farrill and Coye, and they try to hit as many spots as possible on tour. “For this song, it was more like putting a soundtrack to the film I had in my head,” she said. “When the landscape changes, then different music comes in — different restaurant, different style.”  

The core of “Out There” is a four-part suite, which Hiromi would like fans to hear as a focused front-to-back listen. It opens with the rapid-fire melody of “Takin’ Off” and traverses the sly ’70s fusion grooves of “Strollin’,” which calls to mind Herbie Hancock, George Duke and Grover Washington Jr. “Orion” follows, with bold and triumphant bookends that could score a great work of science fiction. The suite closes with “The Quest,” which unites the chopped-up rhythmic thrust of current jazz with the synth pleasures of vintage prog-rock.

The album’s finale is “Balloon Pop,” which for many seems to be as much of an earworm as anything currently on the Hot 100. With O’Farrill on trumpet, its central theme summons up Miles Davis’ hook-filled ’80s recordings.

For the artwork, Hiromi has once again tapped artist Lou Beach, famous for album covers including Blink 182’s “Dude Ranch” and discs by Flying Burrito Brothers, Madonna and Weird Al Yankovic.

Hiromi’s many career triumphs include an NPR Tiny Desk Concert that has racked up 2 million views; the opportunity to represent her native Japan with a performance at the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo; 2024 best music score  honors for the animated feature film “Blue Giant” (2023), and a Grammy Award for a collaboration with fusion hero Stanley Clarke. Her artistry is — to borrow a descriptor that the New Yorker has favored — “dazzling.”

from https://cso.org