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Miho Hazama
Grammy-nominated composer, Miho Hazama is one of the most promising and talented composers/arrangers of her generation. Lauded in Downbeat as one of “25 for the Future”, Miho developed her signature jazz chamber orchestra “munit”. Now having three full length releases on Universal Music Japan/ Sunnyside Records, Miho has written for and expertly showcased the abilities of guest artists such as Joshua Redman, Lionel Loueke, Stefon Harris, and Gil Goldstein, to name a few. Her debut album received the Jazz JAPAN rising star award, and she has been featured in such influential publications as Downbeat, The New York Times, NPR, JazzTimes among others. The m_unit’s third album “Dancer In Nowhere” was nominated to the 62nd GRAMMY Awards.
Composition is her true calling, and in addition to her effort with m_unit, she has created works for many different musical contexts. Most notably, she has composed for Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Ashley Bouder Project Ballet Company, Yamaha Symphonic Band, to name a few. Miho became a composer in residence of Siena Wind Orchestra in 2017, and she is a composer of the year 2019 of Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa.
In 2019, Miho took up a post as the chief conductor of Danish Radio Big Band (DR Big Band) after Thad Jones, Bob Brookmeyer and Jim McNeely, to name a few. Miho released the first album featuring DR Big Band “Imaginary Visions” in 2021.
Miho also became the permanent guest conductor of Metropole Orkest in 2020. Besides them, Miho has worked as a conductor with WDR Big Band, Clasijazz Orchestra and Bohemian Caverns Jazz Orchestra, to name a few. She is the Associate Artistic Director of the New York Jazzharmonic.
As an arranger, Miho has worked for many ensembles for concerts, recordings, television and film, including Ryuichi Sakamoto, Vince Mendoza, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Shiro Sagisu and many more.
Miho’s awards and honors include the Charlie Parker Jazz Composition Prize (2015), 24th Idemitsu Music Award (2014), ASCAP Young Jazz Composer Award (2011), and she was a Scholarship Recipient of the Manhattan School of Music (2010). She has a degree in classical composition from the Kunitachi College of Music and a masters degree in jazz composition from the Manhattan School of Music, and was honored by the Scholarship Program of Overseas Study for Upcoming Artists from the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs.
Awards
GRAMMYs nomination (2019)
Charlie Parker Jazz Composition Prize (2015)
24th Idemitsu Music Award (2014)
ASCAP Young Jazz Composer Award (2011)
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Miho Hazama M_Unit: Beyond Orbits
by Angelo Leonardi
Uno degli eventi al Monterey Jazz Festival del 2021 è stato il concerto dell'M_Unit di Miho Hazama, la giovane compositrice e bandleader giapponese che s'è imposta tra le figure più innovative della sua generazione. In quell'occasione Hazama ha presentato la suite in tre movimenti Exoplanet" che--incisa poi in studio--costituisce il fulcro del disco appena pubblicato dalla Edition Records. Chi conosce i suoi lavori di questi anni, sa quanto la scrittura della bandleader risulti coinvolgente per l'abilità di ...
read moreMiho Hazama's M_Unit: Beyond Orbits
by Chris May
Beyond Orbits is the fêted composer and conductor Miho Hazama's fourth album with M_Unit. She founded the band in 2012, two years after moving from Tokyo to New York and while she was still studying for a masters in jazz composition at the Manhattan School of Music. Hazama released M_Unit's first album in 2013. The band's third, Dancer In Nowhere (Sunnyside, 2019), was nominated for a Grammy. Among her other achievements, Hazama was in 2019 appointed chief ...
read moreMiho Hazama, Sheila Jordan and Others
by Jerome Wilson
This show covers a wide range of music from big band work by Miho Hazama and William Parker to the vocals of Sheila Jordan and Karin Krog and the out there" explorations of Joe McPhee and Thumbscrew. Playlist Henry Threadgill Sextett I Can't Wait Till I Get Home" from The Complete Novus & Columbia Recordings of Henry Threadgill & Air (Mosaic) 00:00 Emile Parisien Jojo" from Louise (ACT) 1:03 Gilles Grethen Quartet Delirium" from State of Mind (Challenge) ...
read moreArt of the Arranger
by David Brown
This week, large ensembles and horn sections arranged Don Sebesky for Freddie Hubbard, Mary Lou Williams for the Twelve Clouds of Joy, Quincy Jones for The Dizzy Gillespie Orchestra plus arrangements by Miho Hazama, Melba Liston, Kamasi Washington and more. Then, jazz and spoken word from Charles Mingus, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, and Darius Jones. Then, new releases from Yuko Fujiyama, Lisa Ullen & Brandon Seabrook. Playlist Remy Le Boeuf Assembly of Shadows Minnesota, WI" from Architecture Of Storms ...
read moreSize Matters: (Mostly New) Jazz for Big Bands and Orchestras, Part 2
by Ludovico Granvassu
As we continue our journey in the recent work of some of the most compelling jazz orchestras and big bands of today, and a few from the past that were so ahead of their time that their music still sounds fresh. [Click here to listen to the part 1]. Happy listening! PlaylistBen Allison Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 Orchestre National de Jazz Who Is Clutterbuck?" The Party (Jazz Village) 0:16 Host ...
read moreI nuovi progetti di Miho Hazama
by Angelo Leonardi
È da mezzo secolo, ovvero dai tempi Toshiko Akiyoshi, che dal Giappone non emergeva una bandleader così talentuosa. A soli 33 anni Miho brucia letteralmente le tappe: presenta il terzo disco a capo del suo collettivo M_Unit Dancer in Nowhere e, quasi in contemporanea e sempre per la Sunnyside Records, la sua personale rilettura dei classici di Thelonious Monk, alla guida della Metropole Orkest Big Band. Dopo il diploma in composizione conseguito in Giappone a 23 anni ...
read moreJohn Scofield, Bill Frisell, Miho Hazama & other great new releases
by Ludovico Granvassu
The summer is almost over and the pace at which new albums are being released is picking up... This week we focus on a few new gems, including two remarkable tributes to Thelonious Monk, the mighty Work: The Complete Compositions of Thelonious Monk (in six volumes!) by Miles Okazaki and the idiosyncratic The MONK: Live at Bimhuis by Miho Hazama with the Metropole Orkest Big Band. Ah... and new works featuring John Scofield, Bill Frisell, Steve Cardenas, Manu Codjia and ...
read moreComposer, Arranger, And Pianist Miho Hazama Releases Second Album On Sunnyside Records, "Time River," Out October 2nd, 2015
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Hazama Draws on Her Former Life in Tokyo and Her New One in New York City, Displaying An Ambitious and Nuanced Musical Temperament Time River Features Hazama’s m_unit, a hybrid big band/chamber ensemble with special guests saxophonist Joshua Redman & accordionist Gil Goldstein On her knockout debut album, Journey To Journey, composer/arranger/pianist Miho Hazama marked the transition from the world of academia to the stages and studios of jny: New York City, her native Tokyo, and the wider world. Three ...
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“At a time when orchestral jazz is either ultra- polished, exceedingly high brow, or a pedestrian pandering to sentimental tastes of yore, Hazama’s boldly organic and singularly exciting collective is a breath of fresh air. Her uncanny ability to remain intellectually stimulating and vibrantly spirited is what makes her work singularly innovative.” - All About Jazz “...classy large ensemble that keeps the listener guessing and enchanted...something is always lurking and ready to pounce; then skitter away again.” - Jazz Times