This is Hiromi’s second solo album, showing her wide range of talents, as she’s done settings in her own trio, fusion, with Stanley Clarke, duets with Chick Corea and beyond. Her core worldview of music comes out grandly here, displaying all of the shades of her musical prism.
Her chops are at times frantically Lisztian with her left hand relentless on the modern “Kaleidescope” and adds blues to the mix for the feverish “Spectrum,” with dashes of water lilies on the Debussyesque “Whiteout.” Wild bop chops mix with ragtime on “Mr. CC” and her inquisitiveness comes forth as she converses with herself via piano strings and ivories on the clever “Yellow Wurlitzer Blues.” The opus here is a 22 minute read of the Gershwin classic, titled “Rhapsody In Various Shades of Blue” with Hiromi going from Whiteman to White Heat and back, mixing in hints of Coltrane and the rock group The Who without dropping a stitch. The energy glows off both her fingers and her skull from the physical and mental stimulation. If you haven’t seen her in tour yet, consider this an invitation.