Born in Hamamatsu, Japan, Hiromi Uehara—who goes by the singular Hiromi—was introduced to jazz by her piano teacher at just 8 years old. She went to the US to study at Berklee College of Music, where she was mentored by Ahmad Jamal, and had signed a record deal with Telarc before graduating. Her debut album, Another Mind, was released in 2003, and immediately made the jazz world take notice. Her dynamic performance style and ability to fuse jazz with classical, pop and rock have only grown her fanbase around the world.
Hiromi received a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album as part of the Stanley Clarke Band in 2011. She has released 21 albums, including live recordings, most recently this year’s Out There, by her ensemble Hiromi’s Sonicwonder, her second with this quartet featuring Adam O’Farrill (trumpet), Hadrien Feraud (bass) and Gene Coye (drums). In 2021, she released Silver Lining Suite with The Piano Quintet, featuring a string quartet assembled by violinist Tatsuo Nishie, concertmaster of the New Japan Philharmonic. The album was her artistic response to the Covid pandemic. She had the honour of performing at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games held in Tokyo in 2021, and in 2023 she wrote the soundtrack for the film of the popular jazz-themed manga series Blue Giant.