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Artwork Hirahara – ‘Echo Canyon’
(Posi-Tone. Album evaluate by Adam Sieff)
It’s twenty years because the pianist and composer Artwork Hirahara moved to New York Metropolis from the Bay Space, and in that point he’s turn out to be extremely revered as a frontrunner, sideman and educator. That is Hirahara’s ninth album for Posi-Tone Data, the Los Angeles-based unbiased label owned and operated by producer Marc Free and engineer Nick O’Toole.
Echo Canyon was recorded on 9 February this 12 months at Acoustic Recording in Brooklyn with Hirahara’s shut collaborators, double bassist Boris Kozlov and drummer Rudy Royston, each Posi-Tone regulars and leaders in their very own proper. O’Toole then blended and mastered the outcomes at his personal Woodland Studio in Oregon. The sound high quality is great.
The chance to file had come on the final minute, benefiting from a studio cancellation by one other artist. As there was little particular new music to work with, this grew to become a chance to revisit repertoire that had beforehand been written for and recorded on different releases by the label. There are six of Hirahara’s compositions and three by Kozlov, however should you didn’t know the way this album had come collectively, it wouldn’t make any distinction, as listening to it in a single sitting it feels cohesive, full and immensely satisfying.
A few the tracks had been written for trumpeter Alex Sipiagin, Hirahara’s deftly repeating (echoing) title monitor and Koslov’s driving Shura with a tremendous drum solo from Royston. There’s a deeply swinging The Extra Issues Change written by Hirahara for Kozlov and the closing Spider Dance written for the saxophonist Alexa Tarentino additionally works extraordinarily nicely. There are deeply transferring moments, particularly the reverential To The Sky, a hymn resonating with deep respect in honour of the younger black photographer Tyre Nichols who was murdered by the Memphis police at the start of this 12 months.
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One specific favorite is the deftly carried out and beguiling Aoi Blu, the title made up of the Japanese and Italian phrases for the color blue, reflecting on his heritage and that of his Italian spouse Sara and the parallels within the two cultures. One other is the cinematic Mia Bella, once more written for his spouse, and it’s merely stunning. The very good musicianship is sort of taken with no consideration, as on this, and all through the album, Hirahara, Kozlov and Royston sound so snug collectively and play for every composition, with simply the best steadiness of financial system with each melodic observe in its rightful place.
Adam Sieff’s “Jazz on the Seaside” is on Substack
Launch date: 20 October 2023
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