Art Hirahara

Last updated
Art Hirahara
Born1971 (age 5152)
Genres Jazz
Occupation(s)Musician, composer
Instrument(s)Piano
Years active1990s–present
Website arthirahara.com

Art Hirahara (born 1971) is an American jazz pianist and composer.

Contents

Life and career

Hirahara started playing the piano at the age of four. [1] He studied at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and the California Institute of the Arts. [2] While at Oberlin, he had jazz lessons with pianist Neal Creque. [1] He has been part of the jazz scene in New York since 2003, [3] after moving there from the San Francisco Bay Area. [2]

Hirahara's debut album, Edge of This Earth, was released in 2000. [4] In 2011 Posi-Tone Records released Hirahara's Noble Path, a trio album with Yoshi Waki (bass), and Dan Aran (drums). [4] His next Posi-Tone album, Libations & Meditations from 2015, was a trio recording with bassist Linda Oh (bass) and drummer John Davis. [5] [3]

His album Central Line was released in January 2017.His music video for Brooklyn Express was the winner at the Audio Shoot International Video & Film Festival, the Queen City Film Festival, and the Raleigh Film and Art Festival, all in 2019. [6]

Playing style

According to Nate Chinen at The New York Times , Hirahara "brings a broad base of knowledge to his enterprise: electronic composition, West African music, Balinese gamelan, [and] multiple strains of the avant-garde". [2]

Discography

An asterisk (*) indicates that the year is that of release.

As leader/co-leader

Year recordedTitleLabelPersonnel/Notes
2000Edge of This EarthArt HiraharaWith Bob Kenmotsu (tenor sax), Jeff Alkire (alto sax), Chuck MacKinnon (trumpet), Benjamin Rubin (bass), Jason Lewis (drums)
2011*Noble Path Posi-Tone Trio, with Yoshi Waki (bass), Dan Aran (drums)
2015*Libations & MeditationsPosi-ToneTrio, with Linda Oh (bass), John Davis (drums)
2017*Central LinePosi-Tone
2018*Sunward BoundPosi-ToneMost tracks trio, with Linda May Han Oh (bass), Rudy Royston (drums); some tracks quartet, with Donny McCaslin (sax) added
2020*Balance PointPosi-ToneQuartet, with Melissa Aldana (tenor sax), Joe Martin (bass), Rudy Royston (drums) [1]
2021*Open SkyPosi-Tone

As sideman

Year recordedLeaderTitleLabel
1999*Adam LaneHollywood Wedding Cadence Jazz
2012Russ NolanTell Me
2013*Sean NowellThe Kung-Fu Masters Posi-Tone
2013*Akira TanaOtonowaVegamusic
2014*Nick HemptonOdd Man OutPosi-Tone
2014* Tom Tallitsch RidePosi-Tone
2016*Akira TanaStars Across the OceanVegamusic
2019*Akira TanaAi San San – Love's Radiance (愛燦燦)Vegamusic
2019? Something Blue Maximum EnjoymentPosi-Tone [7]
2023 Don Braden Earth Wind and Wonder Volume 2(Self-released) [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matthew Shipp</span> American pianist, composer, and bandleader

Matthew Shipp is an American avant-garde jazz pianist, composer, and bandleader.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jason Moran (musician)</span> American jazz pianist, composer, educator (born 1975)

Jason Moran is an American jazz pianist, composer, and educator involved in multimedia art and theatrical installations.

Kevin Hays is an American jazz pianist and composer. He began playing in New York while still at high school and led his first record date in 1990. He has recorded more than twenty albums as leader or co-leader, including three each for SteepleChase and Blue Note Records. He led a long-standing trio with bassist Doug Weiss and drummer Bill Stewart, and has also sung with his New Day Trio of bassist Rob Jost and drummer Greg Joseph.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brad Mehldau</span> American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger

Bradford Alexander Mehldau is an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Renee Rosnes</span> Canadian jazz pianist, composer, and arranger

Irene Louise Rosnes, known professionally as Renee Rosnes, is a Canadian jazz pianist, composer, and arranger.

Michael Josef Longo was an American jazz pianist, composer, and author.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aaron Goldberg</span> American jazz pianist

Aaron Goldberg, is an American jazz pianist. Described by The New York Times as a "post-bop pianist of exemplary taste and range," Goldberg has released five albums as a solo artist and has performed and collaborated with Joshua Redman, Wynton Marsalis, Kurt Rosenwinkel, and Guillermo Klein, among others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ralph Alessi</span> American jazz trumpeter and composer

Ralph Alessi is an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and ECM recording artist. Alessi is known as a virtuosic performer whose critically-acclaimed projects include his Baida Quartet, with Jason Moran, Drew Gress, and Nasheet Waits, and This Against That, his quintet with Andy Milne, Gress, Mark Ferber, and Ravi Coltrane. Alessi has also recorded and performed with artists including Steve Coleman, Uri Caine, Fred Hersch, and Don Byron.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donny McCaslin</span> American saxophonist

Donald Paul McCaslin is an American jazz saxophonist. He has recorded over a dozen albums as a bandleader in addition to many sideman appearances, including on David Bowie's final studio album, Blackstar (2016).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Escreet</span> Musical artist

John Escreet is an English pianist, composer and improviser. He has lived in the United States since 2006 and currently resides in Los Angeles, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Landrus</span> American jazz musician

Brian Landrus is a jazz saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, and educator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adam Birnbaum</span> American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger

Adam Birnbaum is an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. He was the winner of the 2004 American Pianists Association Cole Porter Fellowship in Jazz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florian Weber</span> German jazz pianist and composer

Florian Weber is a German pianist and composer of modern jazz.

Glenn Zaleski is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, composer, and arranger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacob Sacks</span> American jazz pianist and composer

Jacob Sacks is an American jazz pianist and composer.

<i>Andando el Tiempo</i> 2016 studio album by Carla Bley / Andy Sheppard / Steve Swallow

Andando el Tiempo is an album by American composer and pianist Carla Bley with saxophonist Andy Sheppard and bass guitarist Steve Swallow released on the ECM label. Though the musicians are longtime collaborators, this is their third album as a trio and second on the ECM label. It is Bley's first complete album of new compositions in eight years and is titled after a three part meditation on addiction and recovery, inspired by a friend's struggle with alcoholism.

Theo Hill is an American jazz pianist. He has recorded four albums as a leader.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linda May Han Oh</span> Australian jazz bassist and composer (born 1984)

Linda May Han Oh is an Australian jazz bassist and composer. She is currently Associate Professor at the Berklee College of Music and is also part of the Institute for Jazz and Gender Justice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexa Tarantino</span> American jazz Musician

Alexa Tarantino is an American jazz saxophonist, woodwind doubler, composer and educator.

<i>Perfection</i> (album) 2016 studio album by David Murray, Geri Allen, and Terri Lyne Carrington

Perfection is an album by the Murray, Allen & Carrington Power Trio, featuring saxophonist David Murray, pianist Geri Allen, and drummer Terri Lyne Carrington. It was recorded at Avatar Studios in New York City in June 2015, and was released by Motéma Music in 2016. Guest musicians Wallace Roney (trumpet), Craig Harris (trombone), and Charnett Moffett (bass) appear on one track.

References

  1. 1 2 3 West, Michael J. (August 2020). "Collaboration Fuels Hirahara". DownBeat . Vol. 87, no. 8. p. 15.
  2. 1 2 3 Chinen, Nate & Ratliff, Nate (January 5, 2015) "Albums from Art Hirahara and Death Grips". The New York Times.
  3. 1 2 "Art Hirahara" Archived 2017-08-08 at the Wayback Machine . Posi-Tone Records. Retrieved March 27, 2015.
  4. 1 2 Micallef, Ken (August 2011) "Art Hirahara – Noble Path". Down Beat. p. 70.
  5. Bilawsky, Dan (December 16, 2014) "Art Hirahara: Libations & Meditations (2014)". AllAboutJazz.
  6. "arthirahara.com – Art Hirahara jazz pianist and composer" . Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  7. Simms-Burton, Michele L. (April 2019). "Something Blue: Maximum Enjoyment". DownBeat. Vol. 86, no. 4. p. 61.
  8. "Witness to History". donbraden.bandcamp.com. Retrieved December 31, 2023.