Jazz Articles

Satoko Fujii Four: When We Were There

by Jim Santella
February 4, 2007

Satoko Fujii creates tone poems on When We Were There, which her quartet uses as stepping stones to enter the world of improvised jazz. Each member, an experienced veteran, turns it loose with unexpected surprises at every corner. At the piano, Fujii romps with quasi-rhythms and mood-changing harmonies. The dissonance and consonance of her pieces overlap, so you're not sure whether the next phrase will proceed with lyrical charms or eerie nightmares.

What makes Fujii's avant-garde music different ...

Satoko Fujii Four: When We Were There

by Jeff Dayton-Johnson
January 14, 2007

"Sandstorm, the opening cut on this album, is one of those all-hands-on-deck-and-make-some-noise extravaganzas that seem to be coming back into fashion (check out “3:10 Local on Dan Willis's Velvet Gentlemen (OmniTone,2006), or “Cosmic Tomes For Sleep Walking Lovers Part 1 on the Exploding Star Orchestra's We Are All From Somewhere Else (Thrill Jockey, 2007)). But, though it's a spirited performance, it's slightly false advertising: When We Were There is an adventurous record, indeed, but quieter and less free than the ...

Satoko Fujii Four: When We Were There

by Jerry D'Souza
December 29, 2006

Satoko Fujii, Natsuki Tamura, Mark Dresser and Jim Black took time off from their touring schedule in the fall of 2005 to record this CD. There were a couple of changes from their earlier efforts: this was the first time they had Tamura in the studio, and the pieces are shorter than what one has come to expect from Fujii. Nevertheless, they continue to be a deft combination with yet another persuasive album.

Fujii does away with her usual persuasion ...

Satoko Fujii Four: When We Were There

by Dan McClenaghan
November 23, 2006

Pianist/composer Satko Fujii--one of the more prolific jazz artists around--leads a variety of ensemble configurations from duos to to bands, and everthing in between. One of her longest-standing groups is her trio with drummer Jim Black and bassist Mark Dresser. When We Were There is the eighth CD she has recorded with the Dresser/Black team, and the second one for which she's brought in her husband and oft-times musical collaborator, trumpeter Natsuki Tamura, to join them.Earlier this year, ...

Satoko Fujii Four: When We Were There

by Troy Collins
November 20, 2006

When We Were There is the first studio album by pianist Satoko Fujii's new quartet. Her long-running trio with bassist Mark Dresser and drummer Jim Black was recently augmented on 2004's Live In Japan (MTCJ) by her husband and frequent collaborator, trumpeter Natsuki Tamura. Eschewing the long form, multipart compositions she is known for, she shifts her focus towards shorter, more concise pieces on this session (her eighth with Dresser and Black).

Equally proficient at inside and outside ...

Satoko Fujii Four: Live in Japan 2004

by Glenn Astarita
January 25, 2006

Pianist/composer Satoko Fujii looms as a modernist via her adventurous big band endeavors, side projects and longstanding trio, featured here. With the addition of freewheeling trumpeter Natsuki Tamura on certain tracks, the band enjoys some added depth. But this is a unit that is sharply focused, and in certain instances it conveys the epitome of classic jazz improvisation, dappled with a free-form edge. Nonetheless, the musicians seemingly have loads of fun by cleverly deconstructing motifs amid some razzle-dazzle and Fujii's ...

Satoko Fujii Four: Live in Japan 2004

by Jim Santella
December 10, 2005

When pianist Satoko Fujii, along with her New York trio and her husband, performed this concert in Saitama, Japan on July 28, 2004, their cohesiveness brought a satisfying sensation before the audience. They built each piece with deliberation and stretched out with a free spirit.

“Illusion Suite" was recorded by Fujii's trio and released last year as part of an album of the same name. Here, in a concert setting, the trio forges “Illusion Suite" with a gradual ...

Satoko Fujii Four: Live in Japan 2004

by Dan McClenaghan
December 5, 2005

Satoko Fujii creates one of the most original sounds in jazz, in any setting, though the word “jazz" is too confining to describe what she does. The ever-prolific Japanese-born pianist has recorded with about fifteen different ensemble configurations--everything from solo and duo outings to quartets and big bands, and much in between. Live in Japan 2004 finds the ever-mercurial artist with her Fujii/Dresser/Black trio, augmented by trumpeter Natsuki Tamura.Fujii's longest-standing recording associations are with her trio, and her ...

Satoko Fujii: Live in Japan 2004

by Kurt Gottschalk
October 22, 2005

Japanese pianist Satoko Fujii has been one of the most exciting arrangers, as well as a compelling composer and performer, in outside jazz in recent years. Unusually with the company she keeps, improvisation beyond soloing has never been a part of her work. But a recent record shows a new leaning toward improv, to varying results. Live in Japan adds to her longstanding trio of bassist Mark Dresser and drummer Jim Black her husband and increasingly frequent collaborator Natsuki Tamura. ...

Itaru Oki Unit: Live

by Eyal Hareuveni
January 23, 2005

Itaru Oki Unit Live Polystar 2004

Japanese trumpet player Itaru Oki is one of the pioneers of the free jazz scene in Japan, but for the past thirty years he's lived in France, first in Lyon and now in Paris, where he collaborated with fellow free-minded expatriates such as bass and synthesizer player Alan Silva, bassist Kent Carter, drummer Sunny Murray, and many other European musicians, such as bass clarinetist Michel Pilz. ...