Artist description Art Hirahara's sextet is comprised of some of the hottest jazz players in the SF Bay Area. They all work together to create an uplifting and highly conversational jazz sound.

Music Style Jazz

Musical Influences Kenny Barron, Bill Evans, John Coltrane, Brad Mehldau, Billy Strayhorn

Similar Artists Kenny Barron, Brad Mehldau

Artist History The band came together for the recording of Art's CD, "Edge of This Earth" in 1999. It's members continue to play separately, but perform Art's music as a group at concerts and festivals.

Group Members Chuck MacKinnon - trumpet, Jeff Alkire - alto saxophone, Bob Kenmotsu - tenor saxophone, Art Hirahara - piano, Benjamin Rubin - bass, Jason Lewis - drums

Instruments trumpet, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, piano, bass, drums

Albums Edge of This Earth

Press Reviews Art Hirahara has had a strong background in the Asian-American jazz scene, and he puts his considerable chops to use both compositionally and as a piano player on his first self produced CD. Except for the venerable "All the Things You Are", all the tunes are written by the pianist, and well performed by his sextet. Digging into a straight-ahead date, Hirahara shows his sensitive side in the wonderfully-played "And She Hoped" and "Should Sun Follow Rain." Hirahara gives plenty of room for his players to interact with the feel of the tunes and with each other, giving the ensemble more than just a "made in the studio" sound. And with players like Chuck MacKinnon on trumpet and Jason Lewis at the drum kit, the results are first rate.—Michael Handler, www.jazzwest.com Art Hirahara, musical director for Asian Crisis, has just self-released a gorgeous new jazz album called Edge of This Earth. Performed by himself on piano with his sextet, Hirahara's debut album is highly recommended to any fan of straight-ahead jazz in the vein of Blue Note and Impulse recordings. For anyone who's ever been curious about this thang called jazz music and wants something more contemporary than Count Basie but not as esoteric as Ornette Coleman, Edge of This Earth is it.—Oliver Wang, aonline.com

Location San Francisco, CA - USA

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