By Wayne Zade
AAJ: Please describe your introduction to music as a child. Through family, school?
SF: I was very shy when I was little and was never comfortable playing outside with other kids. I spent all day long with my mother inside. She is a music lover, who likes classical music and some world music like Italian songs and Argentinian tango. Because of her taste, the first music that I listened to was very dramatic and passionate music.
AAJ: Was the piano your first instrument? Did you play other instruments?
SF: Yes, the piano was my first instrument. Since I didn't feel comfortable being in kindergarten, my parents thought it might be better to take me someplace where I could meet and communicate with other people some way. And they put me in piano class.
AAJ: At what point did you first hear jazz? Can you describe your response?
SF: I began to listen to pop and rock music when I was in junior high. I remember that I didn't like jazz then. Jazz sounded too harsh to my ear. Around that time I decided to enter classical conservatory to study to become a musician; I didn't even know what kind of music I wanted to play, though. In Japan, we have to pass an entrance exam and an audition to gain admission to college, including conservatory training. To prepare for the admission process, I started to study with Mr. Koji Taku, who was classical piano department chairman at Tokyo Art and Music College. He then quit his work as chairman and began to play jazz in some local clubs and cabarets when he was over 60 years old. It was not the usual thing that people in Japan do. But he didn't care about his status in society-he just followed his feeling. I was so impressed with the example of his life. I never went on to the conservatory because of his influence. I began to listen to jazz because I wanted to see why he was so into it. I listened to a jazz program on FM radio, and was knocked out by A Love Supreme. That was a great experience for me, to be so moved by something that I could not understand.
AAJ: Did you study jazz by listening to recordings? Who were your favorite artists?
SF: Yes, I listened to recordings, and like other jazz musicians I copied solos and played along with recordings. I had many favorite artists whom I copied, such as Herbie Hancock, Phineas Newborn, Jr., McCoy Tyner, Bill Evans, Blue Mitchell, and many more.
AAJ: Were you able to study jazz formally in Japan?
SF: Well, I'm not sure what you would call "formal." If you call studying in a college where we could get a certificate or degree formal, I was not able to do so in Japan. There was no jazz school where we could complete a degree. I studied with Mr. Fumio Itabashi privately. He showed me how he loved music, and I think that this is the most important thing.
AAJ: Can you describe your opportunities to attend jazz performances in Japan? Did you go to clubs, concert halls, or both?
SF: I was born in Tokyo and grew up in a suburb, so it was very easy to go to many jazz clubs and many concert halls. As you probably know, the cultural activity of listening to music is kind of expensive in Japan. But there are many things going on in Tokyo, the big city.
AAJ: Have you traveled outside of Japan to study jazz? In the U.S., Europe?
SF: I attended Berklee College of Music and New England Conservatory in Boston. After I graduated from NEC, I moved to New York City to gain professional experience outside the classroom. I was in New York for only a year and a half, but I learned a lot in clubs.
AAJ: As a woman in Japan, did you encounter resistance in playing jazz?
SF: I have been asked about this by many Americans. The position of women in Japan is not as bad as many people think. Women have big power in the family in Japan, though perhaps not in society. I think if I worked for certain companies in Japan, I couldn't be happy because of the situation for women in them. But being a musician is totally different from that. If someone makes great music, he or she is accepted-sex, race, age don't matter.
AAJ: At what point did you become involved in big band jazz?
SF: My first professional work was as a cabaret house big band pianist. I hadn't listened to big band music before that time. We had to play a lot of the Count Basie repertoire, so I began to listen to Basie's band. The most interesting thing in playing in a big band was the sound pressure, the especially the horns' sound.
AAJ: Can you describe the influences of Japanese music on your conceptions of jazz?
SF: In Japan, we don't have that many opportunities to listen to Japanese music. This is very sad and it's not right. After the Meiji period, the government set the school music program and we study Western music mainly. Besides that, most music on TV and radio in Japan is Western music. For many Japanese, Japanese music sounds very exotic.
I had studied classical music from the age of four to 20 and began to play jazz after that. I had never tried to experience Japanese music until I was told how it is a strange thing by an American jazz musician. I had to agree. Then I began to learn Japanese folk singing. It is difficult to describe. I was very excited by Japanese music-more than "very" excited. It felt different in my heart and soul when I listened to it. I would love to put this feeling into my music. I don't know if I can do it, but at least I know the feeling now. Using only technical things in Japanese music like scales and rhythms cannot get me to this feeling. I am trying to find out the way.
AAJ: Can you tell me how you put together your New York band?
SF: When I moved to New York, I went to clubs almost every night. There are so many great musicians there. The downtown improv scene was especially exciting to me. When I heard interesting musicians, I invited them to play my music. That is how I made up the New York orchestra. That is why I can trust them 100%.
AAJ: What qualities of jazz do you think appeal most to Japanese jazz fans?
SF: If I knew the answer to this, I would have more success! I guess there are several types of jazz fans in Japan. Some love straightahead classic jazz and hate free stuff. Others like free jazz from the '60s. I actually get many progressive rock fans in my audiences. Maybe that is because I play with Tatsuya Yoshida, who is the drummer in Ruins, a progressive rock bass and drums unit. To be honest, people who only like straightahead stuff seem not to like the music that I play.
AAJ: How would you assess the current jazz scene in Japan?
SF: I moved back to Japan three years ago. Right after that, I did the same thing that I did in New York. I went to as many clubs as I could, and I found that the Japanese creative musical scene is very alive. There are many interesting musicians making unique, deep music that is never picked up in the jazz magazines in Japan. Because of that, these musicians cannot get much of an audience. But they are making music for themselves and for a small audience, though they cannot make enough money doing that. I don't think the press and record companies can really make the scene lively without genuine musicians like them. I hope these musicians and music business people can get together to make the scene real sometime soon.
