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Satoko Fujii: Message
by John Sharpe
Even within the remarkably consistent output of prolific Japanese pianist Satoko Fujii, certain ensembles command special attention. The This Is It! Trio --named for her conviction that the group represented an ideal working unit has become one such forum. Message, the trio's third release, reunites Fujii with her crew -husband and trumpeter Natsuki Tamura and drummer Takashi Itani -for a program that underscores her strengths as both composer and catalytic improviser. Unlike in some of her other bands ...
Continue ReadingSatoko Fujii Quartet: Burning Wick
by Glenn Astarita
Few pianists alive match the relentless invention of Satoko Fujii. Born in Tokyo in 1958, she trained classically before studying jazz at Berklee and the New England Conservatory under mentors such as Paul Bley and Ran Blake. Since the 1990s she has released more than 100 albums, often marking her birthday with a new project that might drift toward meditative stillness or erupt into full-tilt big-band turbulence. The Quartet on Burning Wick--Fujii (piano), Natsuki Tamura (trumpet), Takeharu Hayakawa (bass) and ...
Continue ReadingSatoko Fujii Quartet: Burning Wick
by Dan McClenaghan
Japanese pianist Satoko Fujii is prolific. She has released well over 100 albums in a 30-year career, including a notable stretch in 2018 when she released an album a month. Solo piano outings, duo sets--including several with her husband, trumpeter Natsuki Tamura--trios, quartets, and larger ensembles of every size and shape. A general rule with Fujii: the larger the ensemble, the louder and more brazen the sounds. Her big bands are often particularly riotous. But her small ensembles ...
Continue ReadingNew Music from Satoko Fujii and Natsuki Tamura, Henry Threadgill and The Baltimore Jazz Collective
by Hobart Taylor
New Music from Satoko Fujii and Natsuki Tamura, Henry Threadgill, Carmen Bradford and The Baltimore Jazz Collective.Playlist Baltimore Jazz Collective “Intercession" from Baltimore Jazz Collective (Self-Produced) 00:00 Carmen Bradford “Boy, Do I Have a Surprise for You" from Carmen Sings Carmen (Artists Alliance Records) 6:35 Host Speaks 10:15 Don Was and the Pan-Detroit Ensemble “Insane" from Groove in the Face of Adversity (Mack Avenue) 11:14 Steve Allee Big Band “Ransom Place (Naptown Suite III)" from Full Circle (Jazzville) ...
Continue ReadingFujii/Tamura, Earscratcher, Sam Weinberg & Lisa Marie Simmons
by Maurice Hogue
Pianist Satoko Fujii and trumpeter Natsuki Tamura definitely are a power couple in the free jazz realm. Whether they are leading their own bands, playing in each other's groups, or collaborating as a duo, the music they make is amazing. Ki is their latest duet album and their tenth as a duo and surprise, it's an all-ballad affair. Poet & singer Lisa Marie Simmons has just released the third part of her Notespeak Series. Like the preceding two, Notespeak (In ...
Continue ReadingNatsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii: Ki
by Dan McClenaghan
The sound of Ki is deeply steeped in deliberation, dignity and old-world stateliness. This, coming from the long-term team of trumpeter Natsuki Tamura and pianist Satoko Fujii, might surprise those who have followed the duo's trajectory over its quarter-century-plus existence. Fujii and Tamura stir up musical pots and pans in a startling array of styles. Most of the dishes they cook up are avant-garde--Fujii's boisterous big band stews, Tamura's truculent treks spiced with electricity and/or extended trumpet technique tom foolery ...
Continue ReadingNatsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii / Ramon Lopez: Yama Kawa Umi
by John Sharpe
Encounters with Japanese pianist Satoko Fujii arrive with mindboggling regularity, yet her output remains remarkably immune to routine. Yama Kawa Umi reunites her with trumpeter (and husband) Natsuki Tamura and Paris-domiciled Spanish drummer Ramon Lopez, resuming the volatile chemistry first heard on Mantle (NotTwo, 2020). Across eight compositions--five by Fujii, three by Tamura--and a brief collective, the trio sculpts improvisations within shifting frameworks, where precision can erupt from apparent disorder and dissolve just as suddenly. Despite the sparse ...
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