Hiroe Sekine

First Album "A-me"
-- “On the first time out, Sekine seems to do everything right: performance, group interplay, composition and creative arrangements of standards.” – Pico, All About Jazz The Best of 2010, Part 4: Mainstream and Modern Jazz
-- "A fresh, new voice on the piano!" -- KSJS-FM, San Jose
-- “Hiroe takes timeless material and takes it to a new musical dimension." -- WICU-FM, Indianapolis
-- “She is not only a brilliant pianist (as evidenced by her extended solo on "All the Things You Are"), she is also a wonderfully original arranger.” -- Rochester City Newspaper
-- “Her compositions are beautifully arranged little pieces the likes of which you don't hear every day.” -- LA Weekly
-- “Her original compositions display a sense of originality and maturity associated with artists well beyond her age.” -- Capital Public Radio, Sacramento
-- “Her arrangements are fresh and invigorating…. Four original compositions complete this debut recording from a pianist who brings both depth and musical color to her artistic canvas.” – Jazz Society of Oregon
-- “In a psychic gulf that resides somewhere post-"Kind of Blue" and post-Weather Report", this straight ahead meets fusion session delivers the goods in such quantity that failing smooth jazz stations should cast an ear in this direction. A sterling set that doesn't let you down.” –– Midwest Record
-- “During my first listen of Hiroe Sekine’s debut album A-mé, I found myself stopped in the middle of the street…. This is not your everyday ‘All the Things You Are.’ This is different. This is what it means to put a new spin on an old tune….. However, the one track I keep coming back to over and over again is her solo piano take on Cole Porter’s ‘Every Time We Say Good-Bye.’ Stripped down and to-the-point, beautiful music always speaks for itself and this is no exception. -- Aaron Craven, JazzReview.com
-- “This disc mixes the pulse of jazz with the ambience of a Japanese garden to utmost perfection.” – JazzWeekly.com

Second Album "After the Rainfall"
-- “Once in a while, we encounter an artist who just has too much talent; Hiroe Sekine falls into that category. This Japanese-born young woman is a pianist, composer, arranger and vocalist — she sings in four languages — and she excels at each skill.” – Jazz Scan
-- “Pianist Hiroe Sekine’s graceful touch and pleasant musical disposition are apparent from the first downbeat on After the Rainfall, but they don’t make this an underwhelming affair. The record certainly has its share of gentle aural pleasantries, but that isn’t the end of the story. Fusion-laced revisions of Thelonious Monk, swinging, up-tempo blues, and Brazilian getaways are also part of the package…On After the Rainfall, Sekine finds balance between the breezy and the bold as she establishes herself as a talented composer, pianist, vocalist and arranger.” -- All About Jazz
-- “After an impressive debut recording, pianist Hiroe Sekine follow things up with an equally impressive second effort, After The Rainfall …An outstanding effort from start to finish.”
-- “Sekine, flowing right along with everything, thus shows she knows all the bases and will drop more than a few jaws as listeners progress from the CD’s refined openings to its much more fiery close. Move over, Rachel Z, you’ve got company.” – Fam

Third Album "One World One Sun"
“For her third outing as a leader, One World One Sun, Hiroe takes an incremental leap both conceptually and compositionally. A remarkably ambitious undertaking, One World One Sun organically blends jazz with elements of ethnic music from around the world. Conceived and composed entirely by Hiroe, this Russell Ferrante production once again includes Peter Erskine on drums along with bassist Michael Valerio and a bevy of special guests playing instruments from their respective cultures. Each tune on this singular concept album is named for some aspect of the sun and incorporates musical scales and other elements from such diverse countries as Japan, Spain, Ireland, Morocco, Indonesia, India and Peru.” -- Liner Notes by Bill Milkowski
-- “In a world perforated by bullets of war and muddied by cultural misunderstandings, Heroe Sekine endeavors to bring people together with new music that celebrates a variety of countries, pulled lovingly under the umbrella of jazz. She has composed every track on this compact disc with the obvious intention of showing us how much alike we are and unified, instead of divided. Music can do that.” – Musicalmemoirs’s Blog
-- “Hiroe Sekine’s One World One Sun is quite a trip.I cannot recommend this new album enough.” -- Carol Banks Weber, Jazz Medium
-- “I’m telling you here and now that I chime in with Sekine herself, who, proud of her creation, is quite sure no one has quite done it before. -- Mark S. Tucker, Vampirus Vertus - Various