Sonicwonder is Hiromi’s “heaviest and funkiest” band, whose genesis began in 2016. This explosive quartet has no defined musical boundaries and has composed an unscrupulous electric and acoustic mix of jazz, rock and funk music. All this is firmly led by an artist who shows an increasingly complex identity.
Her talent escapes any label and genre classification. Rock, progressive, jazz and fusion influences make her an original artist who obtained important recognition and awards for all her projects.
“I don’t want to name my music. Other people can give a name to what I do. It is just the combination of what I have listened to and what I have learned. It has some elements of classical music, it has some rock, it has some jazz, but I don’t need to give it a name.”
A child prodigy (she was six when she first performed), Hiromi moved to the USA at 20, where she studied and graduated from Berklee College of Music. Since then, her career has been brilliant and constantly rising: among her highlights are the outstanding Trio Project and the duo with Chick Corea live at Tokyo’s Budokan Arena. In 2011, she took part in Stanley Clarke’s album, which won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album.
The Japanese pianist is much loved by the Umbria Jazz public, who had the opportunity to follow her most important steps. Hiromi debuted in 2002 at Umbria Jazz Winter #10, presented by Ahmad Jamal (her first debut album for Telarc was released a few months later). After that first time, she returned many times with different formulas, from piano solo to the duo with harpist Edmar Castaneda, and her increasingly numerous fans have always welcomed her warmly.
