mcgraham Posted September 8, 2008 Share Posted September 8, 2008 We've mentioned her name a few times but I thought it'd be worth starting a discussion on this amazing musician. I first heard her about 2 years ago when someone posted a vid of Tony Grey playing in the Hiromi trio on Youtube. I really liked his lines, but after that I turned my attention to her music and realised what an immense composer she is. Particularly after transcribing some of her stuff, you realise how clever she is as a composer, both in terms of theory and in terms of artistic ability. I'd heard that she was releasing an album sometime this year that would be her her interpretation of/take of/stab at jazz standards. I have just seen that is now available on iTunes (called 'Beyond Standard'). I plan on purchasing this album this evening. Anyone else dig Hiromi's stuff? Or not? Also, has anyone picked up/downloaded a copy of the above album and would like to share their thoughts? Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oscar South Posted September 8, 2008 Share Posted September 8, 2008 I really like her synth stuff and piano work inside a structured setting, but what I've heard of her more self indulgent piano playing just seems to drift off a bit too far a bit too soon. Really good piano player though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted September 8, 2008 Share Posted September 8, 2008 New album!? I'm now downloading from itunes, cheers for the headsup. I will post my thoughts on Hiromi shortly - little busy right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonic_Groove Posted September 8, 2008 Share Posted September 8, 2008 I saw them (Sonicbloome) at the Hague Jazz festival -- Fantastic -- I have subsequently purchased her last 3 Albums including Beyond Standard. BTW the guitarist that plays with them uses a Double neck with a fretless 12 string!!! Some very unique sounds from that. Brendan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcgraham Posted September 8, 2008 Author Share Posted September 8, 2008 (edited) Dave Fiuczynski is a very cool guitarist. I'm not saying I dig all of what he does (some of it sounds a bit like noise to me) but he is definitely a unique musician. I believe it's a 12 string fretless on the top neck and a 7 string fretted on the lower, but with only the top 6 strings being attached to a trem. She has a great band, and I think that having an electric guitar [i]really[/i] rounds out the sound. I can imagine that it may get a bit overwhelming having four virtuosic (or at least highly technical) musicians in the studio/rehearsal all improving together, but their recorded offerings and live performances certainly seem to leave the right amount of space (at least for my tastes). I'd like to see what she could do with some horns in her line-up, but that could prove to be a example of more actually being less. Mark P.S. Does anyone else think that her live recordings have significantly more energy than her studio offerings? Edited September 8, 2008 by mcgraham Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodster Posted September 9, 2008 Share Posted September 9, 2008 [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLPyGNIK4X8"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLPyGNIK4X8[/url] I never get tired of watching this awesome track...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oscar South Posted September 9, 2008 Share Posted September 9, 2008 [quote name='woodster' post='280122' date='Sep 9 2008, 06:01 AM'][url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLPyGNIK4X8"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLPyGNIK4X8[/url] I never get tired of watching this awesome track......[/quote] Just sounds like hanon shred to me, and I don't like the bass tone at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcgraham Posted September 9, 2008 Author Share Posted September 9, 2008 That's not the best representation. Try and find a live version of 'Time Out' if you can. That is my favourite example of Hiromi's live playing by far. I agree on the bass tone. I used to really like TG's tone (Fodera), but the more I listened to it, the more unremarkable it sounds to me. I actually greatly prefer his sound on his new Yamaha. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oscar South Posted September 9, 2008 Share Posted September 9, 2008 That one sounds a lot better but I'm still not a fan of this bands style really, the piano solo was really good though. She is a great artist, I just don't really like jazz-funk as an genre, and I think she fits a lot better into an acoustic or more traditional jazz setting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcgraham Posted September 9, 2008 Author Share Posted September 9, 2008 Hmmm. I've honestly not listened to enough jazz-funk to make such a call. I'd just prefer her to spend less time screwing around with a Nord. Sometimes it sounds good, but her choice of sounds gets a bit grating, and the excessive and poor pitchbending is just painful. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E_MaN Posted September 9, 2008 Share Posted September 9, 2008 (edited) [quote name='woodster' post='280122' date='Sep 9 2008, 06:01 AM'][url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLPyGNIK4X8"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLPyGNIK4X8[/url] I never get tired of watching this awesome track......[/quote] Isn't this track on F-Zero GX? , kinda funky, and reminds me of Dream Theatre in a Jazz context. The bit that starts at around 5.30 pretty cool...until she destroyed it with a pitch blend... Edited September 9, 2008 by E_MaN Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcgraham Posted September 17, 2008 Author Share Posted September 17, 2008 Well, I got the album, and I'm about half way through listening to it. It starts a bit slow, but her characteristic odd/push-and-pull rhythms together with her identifying unison/harmony lines kick in, along with quite catchy phrasing. The arrangements are good, Martin Valihora [i]finally[/i] gets some solo room, Tony Grey's recorded tone is significantly better than on previous albums, Dave Fiuczynski's guitar tone fits in well with the rest of it, and Hiromi actually has some tasteful Nord sounds going on! To me, they addressed several niggling and/or irritating issues that've cropped up in albums prior to this one. It's not as intense as her original arrangements (so far) but anyone who likes virtuoso talent combined with a strong composition should have a listen to this. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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