Art Hirahara


Art Hirahara is an American jazz pianist and composer.

Life and career

Hirahara started playing the piano at the age of four. He studied at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and the California Institute of the Arts. While at Oberlin, he had jazz lessons with pianist Neal Creque. He has been part of the jazz scene in New York since 2003, after moving there from the San Francisco Bay Area.
Hirahara's debut album, Edge of This Earth, was released in 2000. In 2011 Posi-Tone Records released Hirahara's Noble Path, a trio album with Yoshi Waki, and Dan Aran. His next Posi-Tone album, Libations & Meditations from 2015, was a trio recording with bassist Linda Oh and drummer John Davis.
His album Central Line was released in January 2017.

Playing style

According to Nate Chinen at The New York Times, Hirahara "brings a broad base of knowledge to his enterprise: electronic composition, West African music, Balinese gamelan, multiple strains of the avant-garde".

Discography

An asterisk indicates that the year is that of release.

As leader/co-leader

As sideman