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Satoko Fujii: Altitude 1100 Meters
by Neri Pollastri
Satoko Fujii non smette di stupirci e deliziarci con le sue creazioni a getto continuo, nelle quali spesso indaga territori fin lì inesplorati: stavolta ci offre un lavoro che la vede alla testa di un sestetto completato da un quartetto d'archi (con contrabbasso al posto del violoncello) --tipo di ensemble con cui finora non si era mai cimentata--al quale si aggiunge la batteria di Akira Horikoshi. Nato come opera celebrativa del proprio sessantacinquesimo compleanno e titolato in omaggio ...
Continue ReadingSatoko Fujii: Endlessly Challenging
by Doug Collette
One of contemporary jazz music's most prolific artists, pianist/composer/bandleader Satoko Fujii refuses to repeat herself except with a purpose. While she is never reticent to embark on novel adventures in composing, playing, arranging and recording, she is likewise hardly averse to revisiting previous collaborations in search of fresh inspiration in the context of the familiar. Devotees of the prolific Japanese artist may find the deepest satisfaction in her efforts with small combos such as the Tokyo Trio--more opportunity to hear ...
Continue ReadingSatoko Fujii Tokyo Trio: Dream a Dream
by Alberto Bazzurro
Ormai da diversi anni ricevere e ascoltare a ritmo battente nuovi lavori di Satoko Fujii è un'abitudine che peraltro, salvo rarissimi casi, ci risulta sempre gradita. L'occhio della pianista nipponica verso la musica, con o senza il suo pendant fisiologico, Natsuki Tamura, possiede infatti una profondità, un'intenzionalità di gesto, e ovviamente concettuale, che le consentono di produrre dischi sempre con una loro cifra stilistica, un'identità, ben precise. Qui è all'opera il Tokyo Trio, già protagonista lo scorso anno ...
Continue ReadingSatoko Fujii: Altitude 1100 Meters
by John Sharpe
Even after over one hundred leadership dates, Japanese pianist Satoko Fujii still finds new avenues down which to take her invigorating music. For the first time she has composed for a string ensemble, though the inclusion of her own piano, as well as the drums of regular collaborator Akira Horikoshi, swiftly usher this set out of the chamber and into a more utilitarian space. The suite of five pieces was written during a sojourn in the highlands at the titular ...
Continue ReadingSatoko Fujii Tokyo Trio: Dream a Dream
by Dan McClenaghan
Pianist Satoko Fujii's artistic vision has held a sharp focus since her recording debut in the late '90s. She has maintained that focus in almost every jazz ensemble configuration imaginable. That unwavering focus, combined with a superhuman creative momentum, has resulted--as of 2025--in a discography of more than a hundred albums. She has been especially effective in her work with the piano trio format, opening up that door via her Satoko Fujii Trio with Mark Dresser and Jim Black, on ...
Continue ReadingNatsuki Tamura, Satoko Fujii, Ramon Lopez: Yama Kawa Umi
by Alberto Bazzurro
Il batterista franco-spagnolo Ramon Lopez, uno dei più personali della scena avant, specificatamente in quel suo approccio che definiremmo “tellurico" all'elemento percussivo, senza per questo mai esondare, si inserisce--si innesta, meglio ancora--su un duo d'arte e di vita largamente collaudato come quello formato da Satoko Fujii e Natsuki Tamura, generando un dialogo a tre voci decisamente sui generis, per la libertà che lo informa, a partire dal modo in cui vengono ribaltate le usuali gerarchie esistenti fra i tre strumenti ...
Continue ReadingSatoko Fujii GEN: Altitude 1100 Meters
by Dan McClenaghan
With over a hundred album releases in her discography, featuring solo outings and big band bashes and everything in between, pianist-composer Satoko Fujii could be thought to have “done it all." But there was a missing link. Strings. Though she had recorded in duet outings with violinists Mark Feldman and Carla Kihlstedt, she had never written for or worked with a string ensemble. Always (always, always always) up for a challenge, she convened a group she called GEN, Japanese for ...
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