Hiromi Makes Me Smile

So I realize that I haven't been bringin the love lately on the albums I have reviewed and I had every intention of posting about what has been my favorite find of the summer tonight (and promise I will in the next couple of days), but truth is it just wasn't in the cards today. I just returned from taking the family up to Cleveland this weekend where they are going to hang a few days before we head up for vacation on the big lake and had to return for a few more days of work and that just put a damper on the mood.

But while finishing up some work around the house and dealing with the prolific garden, I heard a great interview on WPFW with Hiromi Uehara who is playing at Blues Alley this weekend. Now Hiromi is someone who has been getting a lot of attention for the last few years as a young jazz/fusion piano player because one, she can play the ivory right off of the piano keys and two, because she is a young phenom who seems to attract some of the greats of jazz--Ahmad Jamal, Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke and more. But I am a bit stodgy about jazz, so I have my reservations.

But in her interview today, Larry Applebaum asked her what she thought success was for an artist and she said she just wanted people to smile--and was she was so damn sincere and innocent sounding, you had to believe her. So a little poking around on the tubes led me to some various tunes, and watching and listening to them, I could not help but, well, smile. And that is truly a wonderful thing. So while I am not able to offer up much critical reflection on her music (happy to hear it, if you got it), I am going to share a couple videos that will hopefully make you smile as well.

First up is some totally funked out jazz.

Next up, Oscar Peterson meets Tom and Jerry.