Virtuoso pianist/composer Hiromi's new album, Silver Lining Suite, is a blend of classical composition and jazz invention. It is also her collaboration with violinist Tatsuo Nishie, concertmaster of the New Japan Philharmonic. The origins of this collaboration can be traced back to the pianist's Save Live Music series of concerts and livestreams, which took place at Blue Note Tokyo during the pandemic. It was Nishie who assembled the string quartet for this project.
Silver Lining Suite, out now on Telarc, is a soundtrack representing the emotional toll of the pandemic. It takes listeners on an emotional journey, from the isolation and uncertainty of its early days to the fortitude and optimism that carried Hiromi and so many others through these trying times. "[The pandemic] was weird, worrying and uncertain in the beginning, full of negative emotions," she says via a press release. "I tried to find something positive I could do under this situation."
