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Keiji Haino / Natsuki Tamura: What Happened There?
by Mark Corroto
Unexpected one-off collaborations in creative music have often thrilled and captivated listeners, yielding results as unpredictable as they are unforgettable. Consider Embraced (Pablo Live, 1978) by Cecil Taylor and Mary Lou Williams, the genre-spanning brilliance of Duke Ellington & John Coltrane (Impulse!, 1963), or the boundary-pushing sonic landscapes of My Life in the Bush of Ghosts by Brian Eno and David Byrne. The avant-garde met turntablism in Guitar, Drums 'n' Bass (Avant, 1996), an experimental collision between Derek Bailey and ...
Continue ReadingNatsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii / Ramon Lopez: Yama Kawa Umi
by Dan McClenaghan
In a nearly thirty-year career, Satoko Fujii (pianist, bandleader, composer, provocateur, sonic experimenter in the first degree) has shown herself to be one of the most daring and uncompromising artists in music. In a way, she is like Thelonious Monk in that--upon an initial experience with Monk's music (and Fujii's)--the uninitiated may not know quite what to make of what they are hearing, because neither of these artists follows a rule book. They were/are themselves. Best advice to those unfamiliar: ...
Continue ReadingSatoko Fujii: Dog Days Of Summer
by John Sharpe
With its aggressively pushy opener, full of attitude, the reunion of Japanese pianist Satoko Fujii's Quartet, last heard on Bacchus (MZCO, 2007), seems to be asking: “well, did you miss us?" Certainly there is no missing the foursome on Dog Days Of Summer, completed by regular partner Natsuki Tamura on trumpet, along with the snarling electric bass of Hayakawa Takeharu and the bombastic drums of Tatsuya Yoshida of progressive rock duo Ruins fame. Although the PR material ...
Continue ReadingKira Kira: Kira Kira Live
by Glenn Astarita
Kira Kira, a Japanese avant-garde ensemble has been at the forefront of improvisational music since 2017. Their name, translating to “glittering" or “shining" in Japanese, fittingly reflects the radiant quality of their sonic explorations. The ensemble includes an all-star lineup: trumpeter Natsuki Tamura, pianist Satoko Fujii, keyboardist Alister Spence and drummer Tatsuya Yoshida. Together, they blend semi-structured jazz with shades of other genres, creating a sound that is as frenzied and bustling as it is introspective and exhilarating. The album ...
Continue ReadingNatsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii: Aloft
by John Sharpe
By the time of its ninth release a band might be struggling to produce something new. Not so the Japanese wife-and-husband duo of pianist Satoko Fujii and trumpeter Natsuki Tamura. They reap the benefits of a long association while sidestepping potential downsides to keep things fresh and unpredictable. While previous albums have often featured the compositions of one or both, on Aloft they dispense with charts altogether and trust in their instincts. That trust is amply repaid. It ...
Continue ReadingNatuski Tamura, Jim Black: NatJim
by Alberto Bazzurro
Un bel dialogo franco e convincente illumina le varie città evocate nei diversi momenti della giornata e stati d'animo dai titoli degli otto brani che coprono la parte preponderante del CD, tutti a firma di Natsuki Tamura, dove peraltro il propellente-Black è senz'altro decisivo per tracciare il perimetro espressivo, il climax, dell'album attraverso una prova di grande sostanza cui il trombettista nipponico si adegua assolutamente di buon grado. Un quarto di secolo dopo il loro primo incontro ...
Continue ReadingSatoko Fujii Quartet: Dog Days Of Summer
by Dan McClenaghan
Satoko Fujii Quartet's Dog Days Of Summer has been a long time coming. It is the re-emergence of one of her most exciting bands, the Satoko Fujii Quartet. They had a great run from 2002's Vulcan (Libra Records) until 2008's Baccus (Muzak Records). Then the group went into a dormancy. In the meantime, Fujii has released over a hundred albums--including twelve in 2018 alone--in every imaginable format, from solo piano to big bands and almost everything in between.
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