Jazz Articles about Natsuki Tamura

Gato Libre: Kuro

by Jerry D'Souza
August 25, 2008

Gato Libre is back, carrying on the musical tradition that marked its last recording, Nomad(No Man's Land, 2007). Natsuki Tamura (trumpet), Satoko Fujii (accordion), Kazuhiko Tsumura (guitar) and Norikatsu Koreyasu (bass) play with an agile sense for melody and detail that suits the compositions to a nicety. Tamura uses Gato Libre to get away from the improvisatory music that marks his other projects, where the written word is more often than not a speck on the horizon, rather than the ...

Gato Libre: Kuro

by Budd Kopman
July 4, 2008

The enchanting Kuro is the third release from trumpeter Natsuki Tamura's group, Gato Libre, following Strange Village (Muzak, 2005) and Nomad (No Man's Land, 2007). Tamura shares the same fearless creative attitude that his wife and musical partner pianist Satoko Fujii (here playing accordion) has. His eclectic interests can be heard most recently on Cloudy Then Sunny (Libra, 2008), the second release from Fujii's Junk Box group, where his acoustic trumpet becomes a virtual sound machine.

Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii: Tobifudo

by Budd Kopman
April 10, 2008

"Tobifudo" means “Flying God" or “Flying Deity" in Japanese and the Shoboin Temple in Japan is dedicated to the Flying God. It is also the name of a group in which pianist Satoko Fujii and trumpeter Natsuki Tamura were members, and finally, the name of the first album in their large discography. As such, Tobifudo is the introduction to the phenomenon that is Fujii/Tamura (or Tamura/Fujii), and, while there is much worthy music within, it also gives ...

Satoko Fujii: Fujin Raijin

by AAJ Italy Staff
October 29, 2007

La pianista e compositrice Satoko Fujii ha più volte trovato ispirazione nel folklore del suo Paese ma la scelta non è mai stata così profonda e coerente come in questo disco, registrato il 25 maggio 2006 a New York. Al suo nuovo quartetto ha dato il nome di Min-Yoh Ensemble, riferendosi a quella forma di musica tradizionale giapponese nata come canto di lavoro contadino ed evolutasi nella prima parte del Novecento in forma anche strumentale. La sua identità artistica è ...

Natsuki Tamura: In Krakow in November, Nomad & Crossword Puzzle

by Kurt Gottschalk
September 8, 2007

Satoko Fujii/Natsuki Tamura In Krakow in November Not Two 2007 Gato Libre Nomad No Man's Land 2007 Double Duo Crossword Puzzle Libra 2007

Incessant touring schedules and a recorded output that rivals label contracts of the '60s can make the almost incessantly productive ...

Natsuki Tamura Quartet: In The Tank

by Dan McClenaghan
June 18, 2005

In a drifting and amorphous way, the sound on In The Tank feels as elemental as a delta blues; the opener, “Walking Squid," comes to life on a spare, tinny plucking of strings, like something you'd hear from Son House or Robert Johnson. Whether the plucking comes from a guitar or from Satoko Fujii reaching inside her piano to finger the strings (she's been known to employ the technique) matters not. The quartet consists of Natsuki Tamura on trumpet, Elliot ...

Natsuki Tamura Quartet: Exit

by Jim Santella
November 2, 2004

With his new electric quartet, trumpeter Natsuki Tamura explores a wider range of possibilities in the name of free jazz. Synthesized electronic moods and spiritual trumpet echoes recall the hubbub over the way Miles Davis ushered in the 1970s with fusion.

Now, in a new century of improvised music, Tamura turns loose the ties that hold jazz to specific timbres. With her synthesizers, Satoko Fujii is able to create a new kind of fusion. While electric guitar and ...