Sunward Bound Art Hirahara

• 1 Ruse For Blues Shoes 03:35
• 2 Brooklyn Express 06:11
• 3 Akatombo 02:52
• 4 Sunward Bound 05:42
• 5 Unbound 05:15
• 6 Points Of View 06:21
• 7 Ringo Oiwake 05:55
• 8 Beyond Right And Wrong 06:07
• 9 Up Turn Out 04:59
• 10 Suspended 05:45
• 11 Inverted Fountain 02:19
• Total Runtime 55:01

Info for Sunward Bound

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.

"Although Sunward Bound is principally a trio outing, McCaslin comes across as much more than a hired hand—blending effectively with Hirahara on “Brooklyn Express” and adding a gauzy layer to Oh’s tender bass on the title track. When he shreds on “Unbound,” it sounds like Hirahara wrote it with him in mind. When Hirahara steps out alone to close with David Ake’s “Inverted Fountain,” he brings all his characteristics together: the sinewy touch, breadth of scope and innate sense of swing." (James Hale, downbeat.com)

Art Hirahara, piano
Linda May Han Oh, bass
Rudy Royston, drums
Donny McCaslin, saxophone

Art Hirahara
a jazz keyboardist and composer based in New York, NY. Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, Art moved to New York in 2003 to be challenged by its pool of world-class musicians. Here he has honed his craft, performing in a wide range of musical situations ranging from straight ahead standards to time cycle-based progressive jazz to free improvisation. From the traditional to the avant-garde, Art has found a sound of his own that cuts across genres and boundaries.

Art began his training in music at the age of four, studying with Sue Shannon, an unconventional classical piano teacher who taught improvisation and composition from the earliest stages of musical development. This provided the foundation for his awakening to jazz during his studies at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where he earned a degree in Electronic and Computer Music. During his junior year, he began jazz piano studies with the Cleveland jazz giant, Neal Creque.

He then continued at California Institute of the Arts, where he was mentored by David Roitstein, Charlie Haden and Wadada Leo Smith. It was there that he immersed himself in world music, focusing on West African drumming and dance, Balinese gamelan and North Indian tabla. After his move to New York, Art studied at the Banff Workshop in Jazz and Creative Music program with Dave Douglas in 2004.

Art has had the privilege to perform with Stacey Kent, Freddy Cole, Akira Tana, Rufus Reid, Don Braden, Roseanna Vitro, Dave Douglas, Vincent Herring, Victor Lewis, Travis Sullivan s Bjorkestra, Jim Black, Jenny Scheinman, Greg Cohen, Fred Ho, Sean Nowell, royal hartigan and Hafez Modirzadeh. He has performed around the world in Europe, Asia, Africa, South America, the Middle East and extensively around the United States.

In New York, he has played at the city ’s premier venues, including Birdland, Smalls, Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Jazz Standard and 55 Bar. In addition to performing, Art is an educator. He has taught master classes both domestically and abroad. He taught at the Brooklyn-Queens Conservatory and was a performing member of NY PopsEd, an educational organization focusing on bringing music to elementary and secondary schools.

Art ’s piano and compositional sound are an amalgamation of the varied musical influences he has studied and the wide range of leaders he has worked for. Art is constantly seeking new situations to challenge his musicality. Most recently has worked as a producer for recordings and musical director for various artists of different genres.

This album contains no booklet.