Art Hirahara

Last updated
Art Hirahara
Born1971 (age 5253)
Genres Jazz
Occupation(s)Musician, composer
InstrumentPiano
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 recordedYear releasedTitleLabelPersonnel/Notes
2000Edge of This EarthArt HiraharaWith Bob Kenmotsu (tenor sax), Jeff Alkire (alto sax), Chuck MacKinnon (trumpet), Benjamin Rubin (bass), Jason Lewis (drums)
20102011Noble Path Posi-Tone Trio, with Yoshi Waki (bass), Dan Aran (drums, percussion) [7]
20132015Libations & MeditationsPosi-ToneTrio, with Linda Oh (bass), John Davis (drums) [8]
20152017Central LinePosi-ToneMost tracks trio, with Linda May Han Oh (bass), Rudy Royston (drums); some tracks quartet, with Donny McCaslin (tenor sax) added [9]
20172018Sunward BoundPosi-ToneQuartet, with Donny McCaslin (tenor sax), Linda May Han Oh (bass), Rudy Royston (drums, percussion) [10]
20182020Balance PointPosi-ToneQuartet, with Melissa Aldana (tenor sax), Joe Martin (bass), Rudy Royston (drums) [1] [11]
20202021Open SkyPosi-ToneMost tracks trio, with Boris Kozlov (bass), Rudy Royston (drums, percussion); three tracks quartet, with Nicole Glover (tenor sax, soprano sax) added; one track quartet with Behn Gillece (vibraphone) added [12]
20232024Good CompanyPosi-ToneTrio, with Ron Horton (trumpet), Paul Bollenback (guitar) [13] [14]

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 [15]
2023 Don Braden Earth Wind and Wonder Volume 2(Self-released) [16]

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">Roy Hargrove</span> American jazz trumpeter (1969–2018)

Roy Anthony Hargrove was an American jazz musician and composer whose principal instruments were the trumpet and flugelhorn. He achieved worldwide acclaim after winning two Grammy Awards for differing styles of jazz in 1998 and 2002. Hargrove primarily played in the hard bop style for the majority of his albums, but also had a penchant for genre-crossing exploration and collaboration with a variety of hip hop, neo soul, R&B and alternative rock artists. As Hargrove told one reporter, "I've been around all kinds of musicians, and if a cat can play, a cat can play. If it's gospel, funk, R&B, jazz or hip-hop, if it's something that gets in your ear and it's good, that's what matters."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stomu Takeishi</span> Japanese jazz bass player (born 1964)

Stomu Takeishi is a Japanese experimental and jazz bassist. He is known for playing fretless five-string electric bass guitar and a Klein five-string acoustic bass guitar, often using extended techniques and electronic manipulations such as looping.

<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 (born 1970)

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

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Craig Taborn</span> American keyboardist and composer (born 1970)

Craig Marvin Taborn is an American pianist, organist, keyboardist and composer. He works solo and in bands, mostly playing various forms of jazz. He started playing piano and Moog synthesizer as an adolescent and was influenced at an early stage by a wide range of music, including by the freedom expressed in recordings of free jazz and contemporary classical music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ambrose Akinmusire</span> American jazz trumpeter

Ambrose Akinmusire is an American avant-garde jazz composer and trumpeter.

<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">Brian Landrus</span> American jazz musician

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

Matthew Mitchell is an American jazz pianist and composer. He is also part of the faculty of the New York-based Center for Improvisational Music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leo Genovese</span> Argentine jazz pianist, keyboardist, and composer

Leonardo Genovese is an Argentine jazz pianist, keyboardist, and composer. He has played with The Mars Volta.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sullivan Fortner</span> American jazz pianist

Sullivan Joseph Fortner is an American jazz pianist. He was the regular pianist in trumpeter Roy Hargrove's band from 2010 to 2017, and has released two albums on Impulse! Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adam Birnbaum</span> American jazz pianist, composer, arranger (born 1949)

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

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

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.

Adi Meyerson is an American-Israeli jazz bassist, composer, and educator.

<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. "Noble Path". bandcamp.com. Retrieved December 8, 2024.
  8. "Libations & Meditations". bandcamp.com. Retrieved December 8, 2024.
  9. "Central Line". bandcamp.com. Retrieved December 8, 2024.
  10. "Sunward Bound". bandcamp.com. Retrieved December 8, 2024.
  11. "Balance Point". bandcamp.com. Retrieved December 8, 2024.
  12. "Open Sky". bandcamp.com. Retrieved December 8, 2024.
  13. Appelbaum, Larry (October 2024). "Art Hirahara: Good Company". DownBeat . Vol. 91, no. 10. p. 53.
  14. "Good Company". bandcamp.com. Retrieved December 8, 2024.
  15. Simms-Burton, Michele L. (April 2019). "Something Blue: Maximum Enjoyment". DownBeat. Vol. 86, no. 4. p. 61.
  16. "Witness to History". donbraden.bandcamp.com. Retrieved December 31, 2023.