Hirmoni’s Sonic Bloom: Time Difference

Last week a coworker enlightened me to the music of Japanese keyboardist Hiromi Uehara and her work with Chick Corea. How I missed learning about this talented young lady escapes me. Therefore, I explored more of her other live performances and found one with her band, Hirmoni’s Sonic Bloom that I particularly liked. Their style is reminiscent of the fusion bands of the late 70s and early 80s.

This live performance of “Time Difference,” which originally appeared as the opening cut on their “Time Control” album, provides a perfect platform to expose the talents of this band. Hiromi shines on her Yamaha grand piano as well as her synth leads played on the Nord Lead 2 polyphonic digital (virtual analog) keyboard. Tony Grey is playing a Yamaha six string bass, which is not to be confused with a Fender VI of the 1960s. Adding to the rhythm section is Martin Valihora on drums.

Pay particular attention to the guitar work of David “Fuze” Fiuczynski. Born in America, but raised in Germany, Fiuczynski’s is not your grandfather’s jazz guitarist. His double neck 12/7 guitar is fretted on the bottom neck and fretless on the top neck. Although it is designed for a 12-string configuration on top, it is not a guitar, but actually an oud.  The low seventh sting is a "B."  The guitar was designed by Johan Gustavsson.

Fuze has also played with the Screaming Headless Torsos and an unusual Klezmar band called Hasidic New Wave.

These four are some of the tightest musicians on record (er, CD). Check them out.