Jazz piano phenomenon Hiromi has seamlessly shifted from one spellbinding project to the next in her two decade-plus recording career. In the process, she’s earned a reputation as one of the most explosive live performers in jazz history. Furthermore, she has become a global ambassador for the art form. Her many triumphs include an NPR Tiny Desk Concert that has racked up 2 million views. She also had the opportunity to represent her native Japan with a performance at the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. She won the 2024 Best Music Score for the animated feature film Blue Giant (Award of the Japanese Academy). Finally, a Grammy award for a collaboration with fusion hero Stanley Clarke. Her artistry is — to borrow a descriptor The New Yorker favored — “dazzling.”
She released Sonicwonderland in 2023, debuting perhaps the most expressive, dynamic and versatile working band of her career. Featuring Hadrien Feraud on bass, Gene Coye on drums and trumpeter Adam O’Farrill, the group furthered Hiromi’s distinctive musical alchemy. Here, she melds the spirit of classic jazz-rock fusion with classically rooted virtuosity, entrancing funk, pop flourishes and, through O’Farrill’s trumpet, acoustic jazz’s state of the art.
The album also did a remarkable job of capturing Hiromi’s mastery as a live entertainer. As The Guardian noted, “Sonicwonderland is perhaps the closest thing to Hiromi’s onstage exuberance.”
But that was only the beginning.
Sonicwonder has continued to tour and work together consistently, advancing their deep chemistry and fearless sense of interplay. The results can be heard on Hiromi’s new album, 2025’s Out There. Here, the group’s powerful rapport meets the pianist’s astonishing abilities as a composer on equal footing.
Recommended for fans of Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett, Herbie Hancock and Weather Report.
📸: Mitsuru Nishimura
