When pianist-composer Hiromi Uehara met Edmar Castañeda at the Montreal Jazz Festival last year, she found him so amazing musically that she knew at some point they should collaborate together.
“The first time I heard Edmar, I simply said ‘WOW!’ in awe of his artistry,” Uehara commented. “And when we started playing together, it was magical and the chemistry was amazing.”
Castañeda added, “I think this is just the beginning of a relationship between harp and piano, Japan and Colombia.”
Their debut performance in 2016 at The Blue Note in New York City was unexpected and impulsive, a truly exciting coupling. What they created together musically was simply mesmerizing, with the audience spellbound.
Because of this connection musically, these two talents decided to join forces as a duet for a 2017 world tour and in September of this year, they released the album “Live in Montreal.”
Ever since the 2003 release of her debut Telarc CD, “Another Mind,” Hiromi has electrified audiences and critics east and west, with a creative energy that encompasses and eclipses the boundaries of jazz, classical and pop parameters, taking improvisation and composition to new heights of complexity and sophistication.
Since arriving in the United States in 1994, Castañeda has forged his own distinctive path in music, bringing not only an unfamiliar instrument but a wholly original voice to jazz, branching out into a world of different styles and genres.
The Hiromi Duet featuring Edmar Castañeda will take The Broad Main Stage at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 13. The venue is located at1310 11th St. in Santa Monica. Tickets start at $105. For more information, visit thebroadstage.org,