a r t i s t : Hiromi Uehara
t i t l e : Place To Be
d a t e : 2009
l a b e l : Telarc
g e n r e : Jazz
r l s. d a t e : Feb/2010
t r a c k s : 13
b i t r a t e : VBRkbps
s i z e : 89,6 MB
_______________________________________________________________________
Hiromi Chronicles Her World Travels On Her First Solo Piano
Recording
If all the world is indeed a stage, pianist-composer Hiromi
Uehara has played on just about every corner of it. Since the
beginning of the decade, she has supported her impressive body
of studio work with an ambitious tour schedule that has
electrified audiences throughout the U.S., Europe, Asia and
elsewhere with performances that have pushed the limits of
piano jazz to new frontiers of compositional and technical
skills.
Each stop on her journey û be it the world-class metropolis,
the quiet college town or something in between û has
introduced her to a new and singular vibe that has left an
indelible impression on her creative sensibilities. Indeed,
she has come away from every new place with just as much as
she has brought to it, and perhaps even more.
Hiromi chronicles just a few of the many places and moments
where she has experienced the almost mystical exchange between
performer and audience on Place To Be (CD-83695), her new CD
on Telarc International, a division of Concord Music Group.
The album is her first solo piano recording.
ôI really wanted the record to be a kind of travel journal,ö
she says. ôIÆve traveled so much in the last few years that
IÆve started to wonder exactly where is the place that IÆm
supposed to be. Traveling takes so much out of you. It can be
exhausting. But as soon as I go on the stage and I see people
who are very happy because of what IÆm doing, it just erases
all of the struggles and the craziness that can come with all
the traveling, and it really fulfills me.ö
To HiromiÆs way of thinking, music is something much more than
just notes on a scale or a series of black and white keys.
Rather, it is a naturally occurring phenomenon to be plucked
out of the air, a vibration to be captured and re-transmitted
to receptive ears and open hearts. ôSome places have such a
special vibe,ö she says. ôSometimes a melody emerges in and
around a place without me having to think about it at all. I
can just walk down the street and I hear it. IÆm always
thinking about composing, and always trying to find what parts
of the world around me can be musical. Sometimes it just comes
to me in a beautiful moment.ö
In addition to being a musical travelogue, Place To Be also
represents a personal milestone for Hiromi, who recorded the
album just days before her thirtieth birthday in March 2009.
ôI wanted to record the sound of my twenties for archival
purposes,ö she says. ôI felt like the people whom I met on the
road during my twenties really helped me develop and mature as
a musician and as a person. So in addition to making a record
that represented all of these places that have inspired my
music, I also wanted it to be a thank-you to those people. I
feel very fortunate to have spent this part of my life
traveling to all these places and making people happy.
_______________________________________________________________________
01-Bqe [05:58]
02-Choux A La Creme [05:30]
03-Sicilian Blue [08:27]
04-Berne, Baby, Berne! [03:01]
05-Somewhere [05:39]
06-Cape Cod Chips [05:42]
07-Islands Azores [04:31]
08-Pachelbel's Canon [05:28]
09-Viva! Vegas - Show City,show Girl [03:57]
10-Viva! Vegas - Daytime In Las Vegas [04:30]
11-Viva! Vegas - The Gambler [05:42]
12-Place To Be [06:43]
13-Green Tea Farm [japanese Bonus Track] [04:09]
-------
69:17 min