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Hiroe Sekine
A native of Japan, Hiroe started playing at the age of four, imitating her mother playing Japanese folk songs on a pedal organ. Eventually changing to piano a year later, she began learning classical piano but simply reading music and basically playing what other people wrote was not for her. Combining a desire to create new tunes with her great ear for jazz, Hiroe’s arranging and composing talents bloomed.
While a music student at USC, Hiroe’s abilities as a composer and arranger earned her the school’s “Discovery Scholars” and “Jazz Chamber Music Ensemble” Awards in 2009.
In the summer of 2009, with the help of her producer Russell Ferrante, the keyboard player/arranger of the two-time Grammy awardee Yellow Jackets, she recorded her debut album, ”a-mé”, which means “rain” in Japanese. This album showcases Hiroe’s own compositions and arrangements of standards for a sextet, Hiroe Sekine (piano), with Bob Shephard (sax), Bob McChesney (tb), John Daversa (tp), Tony Dumas (bass), Peter Erskine (drums) et al.
Since its release in April 2010, the CD has been constantly played by radio stations throughout the US including FM88.1 Long Beach, and was ranked no. 45 in the number of spins in the US among all jazz albums in August of 2010. The CD has been highly acclaimed by many jazz DJ’s and critics (please go to Debut CD for some examples), and it was selected as one of the 25 best main stream and modern jazz CD’s released in 2010 by jazz critic Pico.
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Hiroe Sekine: After The Rainfall
by Dan Bilawsky
Pianist Hiroe Sekine's graceful touch and pleasant musical disposition are apparent from the first downbeat on After The Rainfall, but they don't make this an underwhelming affair. The record certainly has its share of gentle aural pleasantries, but that isn't the end of the story. Fusion-laced revisions of Thelonious Monk, swinging, up-tempo blues, and Brazilian getaways are also part of the package.Sekine retained the producing services of Russell Ferrante of the Yellowjackets. He also oversaw the work on ...
read morePianist-Composer, MS. Hiroe Sekine to Release Her Second CD on March 20
Source:
Michael Bloom Media Relations
Pianist-composer-arranger (and vocalist) Hiroe Sekine's second album, After the Rainfall (March 20, 2012 Release on Sekai Music), is a collection of her unique originals plus Brazilian songs, jazz standards, and a Beatles tune. The title suggests a sequel to her 2010 debut CD A-m (Rain), but Hiroe takes a new approach to this set of songs. Without having three horns in front of the rhythm sectionlike the little big band of the first albumHiroe Sekine (pronounced Hee-ROE-ay Say-KEE-Neh) used only ...
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Hiroe Sekine - A-me (2010)
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Something Else!
By PicoEven as a small child growing up in Japan, jazz pianist Hiroe Sekine loved to pick out melodies she heard, such as the Japanese folk tunes emanating from her Mom's pedal organ. Today represents a culmination of that life long passion with the release of her debut album A-mé, which means rain" in Japanese. Sekine chose to present a program of both standards and her own compositions for A-mé, but the first thing that grabs ...
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Pianist Hiroe Sekine Releases "a-me", New CD Featuring Peter Erskine, Bob Sheppard, Et Al.
Source:
Michael Bloom Media Relations
A talented musician, a gifted jazz pianist, composer, and arranger, Hiroe Sekine (Hee-ROE-ay Say-KEE-Neh) approaches jazz standards and her compositions using her very original voices and colors -- modern and fresh, yet classic. She has been writing and performing for nearly 20 years both in Japan and the U.S. Being a dedicated and truly professional musician, her energy and stage presence at her live concerts have proved magnetic to many audiences. a-me (Ah-MAY) is her debut album. A native of ...
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Music
Hiroe's Spirit
From: Hiroe's SpiritBy Hiroe Sekine