MonfortInJazz: HIROMI

His new album“Sonicwonderland,” which has been hailed by most specialized critics as a masterpiece, has recently been released, and once again Monfortinjazz stands as an unmissable showcase for discovering extraordinary talents and magnificent musicians live.

Many will have already seen her on TV and been overwhelmed by her performance at the opening Tokyo 2020 show.

The New York Times wrote:

his athletic playing, in the Olympic sense: brutally efficient, singularly focused, imperious in his physicality

Hiromi is no piano athlete, however: her technical skills are undoubtedly mind-blowing, but they are the result of assiduous study and a passion for the instrument that she has repeatedly referred to as “my best friend.”

Few, through their virtuosity, can govern the dynamics like she can, being tiger and butterfly, and very few have come to create a dazzling personal style like Hiromi.

In this regard, again the New York Times writes:

The influences of swing, groove and ragtime are infectious in Hiromi’s performances as she dances between the lines of pop-jazz and blues. Musical traditions serve as a starting point for her to cross the stratosphere

The eclecticism of her approach to music is undeniable; several times critics and journalists have asked her what genre she plays.

Here is a very clear summary of his thinking:

I don’t want to name my music. Other people can name what I do. For me it is just the combination of what I have listened to and what I have learned. It has some elements of classical, it has some rock, it has some jazz, but I don’t need to name it. For me there are only two genres: the one that moves my heart and the one that doesn’t. I only play the music that moves my heart

Her biography tells us that she was born in Hamamatsu in March 1979, that from the age of four she was a student at the Yamaha School of Music, and that in 1999 she moved to the United States to specialize at Berklee College of Music in Boston.

There another story begins: no longer the child and then the wunderkind who thrilled Japan with her concerts, at Berklee she is immediately noticed by one of the faculty and introduced to Ahmad Jamal who will become her mentor.

Joining her on stage are Adam O’ Farrill on trumpet, Hadrien Feraud on bass and Gene Coye on drums in a powerful and irresistible jazz funk, interspersed with episodes of great pianism.

The Festival

Climbing through the narrow streets of Monforte d’Alba, a stupendous center of the Piedmontese Langhe and home to great Barolo producers, one is always won over by the beauty of theHorszowsky Auditorium, located on top of the ancient medieval village.

A unique place and one of the most special locations in the Italian festival scene: it is here that many of the best known and most appreciated protagonists of the international music scene have been giving life to a unique event for 43 years.

Artistic quality and refinement of performers come together in the program of Monfortinjazz and more to offer an increasingly international, educated and prepared audience an unrepeatable suggestion.

The open-air auditorium takes advantage of a natural cavea set between the ancient bell tower at the top, the oratory of St. Augustine on the left, and at the bottom, providing a backdrop for the stage, the walls of Scarampi Castle and the oratory of St. Elizabeth.

The capacity of this space is only 800 seats,including the grandstands that are set up high up exclusively for the festival.

The auditorium was named in 1986 after thegreat Russian pianist Horszowski on the occasion of one of his memorable concerts.

The acoustics ,precisely because of the particular conformation, is excellent and so is the visibility’ from every point of the cavea: all this in such a cozy space makes the concerts a unique and evocative experience for the spectators and for the great international artists who honor us with their presence.