Fez — Hiromi brought one of Jazzablanca’s most dazzling performances last evening, leading her quartet through a set that felt explosive, playful, and almost impossible to pin down.
Performing with Adam O’Farrill on trumpet, Hadrien Feraud on bass, and Gene Coye on drums, the Japanese pianist and composer turned the stage into a high-speed conversation between control and surprise. Her quartet, “Hiromi’s Sonicwonder,” was confirmed for Jazzablanca’s July 9 date in Casablanca, with the same lineup built around trumpet, bass, drums, piano, and keyboards.
From the first moments, the performance carried the feeling of motion. Hiromi moved between piano and keyboards with the energy of someone building worlds in real time. Her playing could be sharp and percussive, then suddenly lyrical, then burst again into fast, bright passages that pushed the band forward.
A quartet built for adventure
The chemistry of the quartet gave the set its force. O’Farrill’s trumpet added color, lift, and melodic tension, often cutting through the music with clean, searching lines. Feraud’s bass gave the performance its muscular pulse, while Coye’s drumming kept the music elastic, driving it forward without closing off its sense of freedom.
Together, the group made complexity feel joyful. The arrangements carried the precision of classical training, the risk of jazz improvisation, and the electricity of progressive music. Yet the concert never felt cold or overly technical. It kept returning to wonder.
That sense of wonder is central to Hiromi’s world. Speaking to MWN Lifestyle magazine before the show, she said her sound comes from a life of listening without strict boundaries.
“My first piano teacher happened to be a classical piano teacher, but she loved jazz music and she also loved Earth, Wind & Fire, Jackson 5, and of course, all the classical greats,” Hiromi said. “She was introducing me to all of them, not by genre. This is great music.”
That approach was clear in Casablanca. Hiromi blended styles naturally, as if classical music, jazz, funk, and rock were all different colors in the same imagination.
Moroccan tea and musical curiosity
Before the performance, Hiromi also spoke warmly about her first impressions of Morocco, saying the country’s tea had already become one of her favorite parts of the visit.
“So far, the Moroccan tea,” she told MWN Lifestyle magazine. “I have been drinking Moroccan tea too much, I think. It is amazing. It is such a pure and strong flavor. I love it.”
She smiled when Aya from MWN Lifestyle magazine mentioned mint tea and answered with the Moroccan word for it.
“Atay, as we call it,” she said. “Beautiful.”
That same openness appeared on stage. Hiromi played with total command, but also with the visible delight of someone still discovering new paths inside music. Her presence made the concert feel alive not only because of her speed or technique, but because of her curiosity.
“I always feel like I am just a curious kid in music,” she said. “I love performing, I love piano, and I love my band. The stage is like a playground.”
That line captured the spirit of the evening. Hiromi’s quartet did not simply perform difficult music. They played with it, ran through it, challenged it, and turned it into shared joy.
