Art Hirahara

Art Hirahara – Verdant Valley (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 58:38 minutes | 1,04 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Posi-Tone Records

Pianist Art Hirahara unearths the heavenly landscapes of “Verdant Valley” on his eighth album for Posi-Tone Records. Searching for new realms of engaging expression, Hirahara perseveres steadily along on his personal journey of musical unfoldment. With a steady hand, Hirahara displays a clear sense of creative continuity, and succeeds in creating a bold impassioned statement with significant and meaningful contributions from his trusted collaborators: tenor saxophonist Donny McCaslin, bassist Boris Kozlov, and drummer Rudy Royston. The program is eminently lyrical and clearly suggestive of a modern jazz sensibility, while the focus remains melodically straight forward with a steady flow of thoughtful interplay and hard swinging highlights. With an amazing combination of talents and an evocative program of brilliant performances, “Verdant Valley” is sure to bring bright moments of intense delight to serious listeners and jazz fans everywhere.
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Art Hirahara – Sunward Bound (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 55:05 minutes | 1,05 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Posi-Tone Records

Pianist Art Hirahara turns his attention above and within and blasts off Sunward Bound for his fourth leader album for Posi-Tone. Reaching steadily towards new realms of expression, Hirahara perseveres steadily along on his musical journey of unfoldment. Sunward Bound displays a clear sense of creative continuity that can be traced back on his previous albums from his joyous first steps along the Noble Path through his trials and tribulations of Libations And Meditations and into his deep explorations of the distant pathways in the Central Line. Once again Hirahara succeeds in creating a bold impassioned statement that also features significant and meaningful contributions from his trusted collaborators tenor saxophonist Donny McCaslin, bassist Linda May Han Oh, and drummer Rudy Royston. The program of original compositions are lyrical and clearly suggestive of a modern jazz sensibility, but the focus of the music always remains straight forward with some hard swinging highlights. With an amazing combination of talents, brilliant performances, and an evocative program of new original compositions, Sunward Bound is sure to bring bright moments of intense delight to serious listeners and jazz fans everywhere.

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Art Hirahara – Open Sky (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 59:55 minutes | 1,06 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Posi-Tone Records

Pianist Art Hirahara turns his musical aspirations toward an “Open Sky,” unveiling a subtly evocative set of melodic insights and intimate emotional expressions for his sixth release on Posi-Tone. Spreading his sensitivities and talents across the piano keyboard, Hirahara presents listeners with a seamless aggregate of brilliant next level compositions and graceful interpretations amalgamated by accompaniment from some the finest musicians on the scene today. This captivating collection of hard hitting performances features Hirahara playing alongside bassist Boris Kozlov and drummer Rudy Royston, as well as guest appearances from saxophonist Nicole Glover and vibraphonist Behn Gillece, all of whom come together to employ a wide palette of harmony and color to elucidate the structures while steadily holding down the backline groove with a cavalcade of contrapuntal rhythms. Featuring a tour de force combination of talents, brilliant musicianship, and an evocative program of new compositions, Hirahara’s “Open Sky” is guaranteed to bring a wide range of bright moments and intense joy to jazz fans everywhere.

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Art Hirahara – Central Line (2017/2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 59:53 minutes | 1,04 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Posi-Tone Records

Pianist Art Hirahara makes bold and personal statements while taking us along for the ride on a journey of self-exploration. Central Line is the sincere demonstration of a forward-minded artist seeking to discover the inner continuity of his life, and to pay respect and homage to the music of his family, ancestors and homeland. Hirahara utilizes his visionary talents as a bandleader and musician to uncover the hidden possibilities latent in the compositions. He also makes a bold and original statement while ultimately remaining true to himself. With an amazing combination of talents and hard swinging highlights by bassist Linda Oh, drummer Rudy Royston and special guest Donny McCaslin on a few selections, and an evocative program of music, Hirahara s Central Line is elegantly lyrical and clearly suggestive of a modern jazz sensibility that is sure to bring bright moments of intense delight to jazz fans everywhere.

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Art Hirahara – Balance Point (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 01:05:34 minutes | 1,19 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Posi-Tone Records

Pianist Art Hirahara undergoes a transformative journey of self-exploration to discover the “Balance Point” on his fifth release for Posi-Tone. This engaging new record also features several standout performances and meaningful contributions from his trusted collaborators tenor saxophonist Melissa Aldana, bassist Joe Martin, and drummer Rudy Royston. Hirahara utilizes his visionary talents as a bandleader and virtuoso musician to uncover the hidden possibilities latent in the inner nature of the songs to help make bold collaborative statements while ultimately remaining true to himself. All of the original compositions and arrangements of traditional melodies always contain lyrical elements that are clearly suggestive of a modern jazz sensibility while holding a keen focus on remaining straight forward with some hard swinging highlights. With insightful leadership, an amazing combination of talent and musicianship, along with an evocative program of music, Hirahara’s latest release, “Balance Point,” is sure to bring bright moments of intense delight to serious listeners and jazz fans everywhere.

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