Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii: Aloft

Pianist/composer Satoko Fujii has released over one hundred albums since 1996 and, in line with that prolific output, Aloft is the third record she has appeared on just in 2024; see also the Kaze ensemble's Unwritten (Libra Records, 2024) and the Tokyo Trio's Jet Black (Libra Records, 2024).

While it is fair to say she does not make a habit of repeating herself, she is nevertheless aware of what settings offer self-renewing sources of inspiration to her seemingly boundless creative urges. Hence her duo effort with trumpeter Natsuki Tamura, Aloft, the ninth in a series.

As clearly depicted on the opener of "Migration," these two musicians instinctively know how to complement each other's movements whether in restful or anticipatory states. "Wintering" likewise mirrors the combination of peace and action depicted in the album's cover image: as abrasive lines from the horn alternate with tranquil notes from the piano, the circular nature of the musical dynamic emerges, then more clearly evolves as these fifty-plus minutes proceed.

While no literal explosion of sound occurs at any time during the continuous flow of the musicianship, by the time "Traveling Bird" commences, the suspense becomes palpable: the experience is not altogether different than actually watching the flight of birds, a thematic undercurrent to which only "On The Flyway" alludes directly.

Without words like those Alan Drouot utilizes for his essay on the double-fold insert sheet with Aloft, Tamura and Fujii posit some philosophical questions about the nature of life via these half-dozen performances of co- composed material. That their inquiries both together and separately resonate so deeply without electric amplification is testament to their shared depth of feeling and intellect.

The deceptively random percussion sounds on "Lifting" thus become the seeds of random thoughts prior to the crystallization thereof. "Waiting For Dawn" is another manifestation of that process on a larger scale, the drama therein the cumulative result of two musicians engaged in purposeful exploration(s) of imagination, together and apart. Little wonder Natsuki Tamura and Satoko Fujii have returned to this setting so often over the nearly two decades since their first such enterprise.