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Jazz Articles about Satoko Fujii
Satoko Fujii Tobira: Yamiyo Ni Karasu
by Dan McClenaghan
Pianist Satoko Fujii, based now in Berlin, makes uniquely tumultuous music, intersecting a rolling and tumbling near chaos with moments of pastoral beauty and fierce, pounding grooves. Ever restless, she forms new groups filled with fearless musicians with always interesting results. She debuted her Satoko Fujii New Trio in 2013 with Spring Storm, (Libra Records), and now adds to that stew the provocative spice of trumpeter Natsuki Tamura, to make Satoko Fujii Tobira. Yamiyo Ni Karasu is the very successful ...
Continue ReadingSatoko Fujii Orchestra Berlin: Ichigo Ichie
by Mark Corroto
I'm going to propose a computer “app" called Big Band World Domination. With this software players would be able to go forward and backward in time to have big bands compete against each other. Spin back to the territory bands of the 1920s, 30s, all the way to the 1960s, and then up to today. We could face off Walter Page's Blue Devils against Jimmie Lunceford's Orchestra, or match Count Basie's band against the Lincoln City Jazz Orchestra. With certainty, ...
Continue ReadingIl gioco delle coppie! Drake-Mirra & Fujii-Tamura a Ostinati 2015 - Padova
by Enrico Bettinello
Cinema Torresino Padova 09.02.2015. Il poker, si sa, è una “scienza" esatta. Due coppie accostate fanno una doppia coppia e potrebbero diventare un poker d'assi solo se di ugual natura. Per fortuna la musica risponde a leggi differenti e può capitare che due coppie distinte formino non solo una doppia coppia, ma anche un bel poker d'assi, così come ci suggerisce l'ottimo avvio di stagione della rassegna Ostinati, organizzata come di ...
Continue ReadingSatoko Fujii Orchestra New York: Shiki
by Angelo Leonardi
Satoko Fujii è una delle figure più versatili e creative della scena musicale contemporanea. Dall'inizio degli anni Novanta ha prodotto un corpus di opere quanto mai vasto e articolato, comprendente molti capolavori. Com'è noto, uno dei suoi ambiti prediletti è la conduzione orchestrale, che ha portato avanti con regolarità e che nel 2014 ha registrato un ulteriore incremento: in gennaio ha formato la Fujii Orchestra Berlin, in febbraio s'è esibita in Francia con la grande orchestra Muzzix; in ...
Continue ReadingSatoko Fujii Orchestra New York: Shiki
by Hrayr Attarian
Pianist Satoko Fujii's Shiki is an intriguing albeit somewhat flawed album. Its dramatic title track and centerpiece clocks over 35 minutes and is filled with sweeping and thrillingly dissonant harmonies and provocative musical ideas. Opening with mournful, expectant drone it goes through a series of alternating symphonic vamps and stimulating instrumental conversations and monologues. These individual expressions, however, are like brilliant fragments of poetic narrative and never coalesce into a cohesive entity. The fascinating cinematic theme provides a ...
Continue ReadingSatoko Fujii Orchestra New York: Shiki
by John Sharpe
Even among established groupings Japanese composer and pianist Satoko Fujii continues to search for new means of expression. For the ninth disc from her New York Orchestra, Fujii departs from accustomed practice, particularly in the 36-minute plus title track which dominates proceedings. Truly orchestral in its scope, Fujii wields her composer's wand in a way which largely avoids some of the expected intricacy, in favour of more opaque connections, organically developed soundscapes and ragged choruses, from which the compositional signposts ...
Continue ReadingSatoko Fujii & Natsuki Tamura: Gen Himmel / Dragon Nat / Tornado
by Hrayr Attarian
Pianist Satoko Fujii and her husband trumpeter Natsuki Tamura are one of the most boldly creative and fearlessly innovative couples in contemporary music. For the past three years they have also been quite prolific, releasing eight albums on their own Libra Records alone. This increase in productivity, however, has not come at the expense of quality or originality. Whether together in one of their regular groups or alone they continue to push the boundaries of improvisation and composition.
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