While traveling from big Tokyo to the more modest Fukuoka, we got off in Okayama to see a music concert. Hiromi Uehara is my favorite musician EVER. The vituroso pianist/beautiful human being just-so-happened to be performing with her TRIO Project that night, and, through clever train scheduling, we managed to grab seats. We got off our train with minutes to spare, and got pretty good seats down-center. As we waited, I explained to the others a little bit about Hiromi: She's a jazz pianist, but her music spans genres, generations, and locations (she's written arrangements of the Japanese folk song "Sakura, Sakura" to Debussy's "Claire De Lune"). She's an incredible improviser and has this unbridled joy that can't help but be contagious.
But enough of that. Hear for yourself some of what we experienced that night.
"Trumpets basses saxophones, rhythm making love. People wearing fancy clothes, it's the voice of my people...for me, jazz is all the truth to be found, never mind who's putting it down. Jazz ain't nothing but soul." - Esperanza Spalding
-Rick
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