1. Time Difference
2. Time Out
3. Time Travel
4. Deep into the Night
5. Real Clock vs. Body Clock = Jet Lag
6. Time and Space
7. Time Control, or Controlled by Time
8. Time Flies
9. Time’s Up
Hiromi Uehara – Piano, keyboards
David Fiuczynski – Fretted and fretless guitar
Tony Grey – Bass
Martin Valihora - Drums
What
happened? Hiromi’s previous album presented
her as a pianist whose firework displays were
impressive for their subtlety and technical
brilliance. But this CD (her fourth for Telarc)
starts off with a noisy electronic clatter
which almost submerges the grand piano. Hiromi
appears to be using more electronic keyboards
here - and this, combined with a fuzzy guitar,
puts the track into jazz-fusion territory.
It’s almost heavy-metal jazz. The addition
to Hiromi’s regular trio of guest guitarist
Dave Fiuczynski (who has apparently appeared
with groups called the Screaming Headless
Torsos and Lunar Crash) seems to have turned
her down a noisier path. To complete the background
information, Hiromi is a Japanese graduate
from Boston’s Berklee College of Music, bassist
Tony Grey is British and drummer Martin Valihora
is Slovakian – two other Berklee alumni. The
album was recorded in Nashville, the home
of country music!
Time
Out continues the fusion mode, with that
assertive guitar thrusting the music along
and bending notes wildly. It’s interesting
and well-played but different from the Hiromi
I had got to know, although she contributes
a solo on acoustic piano which displays her
dexterity. Time Travel continues the
electronic bias, with more extrovertly screaming
guitar. Not until Deep into the Night
does Hiromi indulge the acoustic pianistics
which previously endeared her to us. She improvisies
with agility and style on a beautifully lyrical
melody, followed by David Fiuczynski resorting
to some guitar heroics.
Real
Clock vs. Body Clock = Jet Lag
has the same sort of brooding air of menace
as the Shadows’ Man of Mystery (remember
those terrible Edgar Lustgarten crime films
we endured as second features in the old days?).
Mysteriously but amusingly, it turns into
a Goonish piece of vaudeville before the brooding
returns. Dave makes his guitar sound like
a sitar and Hiromi’s keyboards make clucking
chicken sounds. It certainly conjures up the
disorientation of jet lag and proves that
Hiromi can see the funny side of things. Time
and Space is also playful, tinkering around
with sounds and rhythms. – almost psychedelic.
Here and throughout the album the bassist
and drummer fit in perfectly with what is
going on – however weird! And the SACD sound
quality is excellent.
The
title track is a complex piece which reminds
us of Hiromi’s enviable technique – whizzing
up and down the keyboard in a way which explains
why she has been compared to Art Tatum. Bassist
Tony Grey plays a shapely solo before the
band moves into a rather irritating riff beneath
a drum solo. Hiromi retrieves credibility
with a fine solo on the concert grand. Time
Flies opens meditatively, with a tune
whose melodiousness may remind you of Pat
Metheny in his collaborations with Lyle Mays.
Hiromi’s piano solo sparkles. Time’s Up
closes the album with a bit of a giggle.
Overall
this is a fascinating album, even if at times
it sounds like an aural assault (thanks mainly
to the addition of guitarist Dave Fiuczynski).
Every tune (all compositions by Hiromi herself)
has something surprising to keep the listener
alert - and the complexity is part of the
appeal. It’s no surprise that, in an interview,
Hiromi confessed to being a fan of Mark Chagall
and Salvador Dali!
Tony Augarde
CD Reviews
Telarc
SACD 63655
