Jazz Articles about Satoko Fujii

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Satoko Fujii Orchestra New York: Summer Suite

by Troy Collins
November 29, 2008

In addition to numerous small combos, industrious Japanese pianist Satoko Fujii leads four different Orchestras (Kobe, Nagoya, New York, and Tokyo). In honor of her fiftieth birthday, Fujii has released a total of seven albums in 2008. The latest installment includes Chun (Libra), an intimate duet with her husband, trumpeter Natsuki Tamura, and two big band records, Sanrei (Bakamo), by her Orchestra Nagoya, and Summer Suite, the seventh recording by her Orchestra New York, a veritable super group of Downtown ...

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Satoko Fujii: Trace a River

by AAJ Italy Staff
November 24, 2008

Di progetto in progetto, di pubblicazione in pubblicazione, la statura artistica di Satoko Fujii negli ultimi anni è cresciuta a dismisura. E nel meraviglioso universo di situazioni che la vedono coinvolta, dal duo col marito trombettista Natsuki Tamura alle scritture per big band, dal quartetto Gato Libre al sodalizio con la violinista Carla Kihlstedt, il piano trio con Mark Dresser e Jim Black occupa senza dubbio una posizione centrale. Una centralità ribadita anche dall’ultima fatica in studio della band, Trace ...

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Satoko Fujii Orchestra New York: Summer Suite

by Budd Kopman
November 18, 2008

Continuing the stream of recordings in her 50th birthday year, pianist Satoko Fujii presents Summer Suite from the New York big band, as well as Sanrei (BKM, 2008) from the Nagoya band. These two are in a series of thirteen big band releases dating back to Jo (Buzz, 1999)--besides the forty-odd other recordings she has lead or played on. You do the math. Fujii is a complete modernist, bound by no rules, eclectic in predilections and influences, ...

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Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii: Chun

by Budd Kopman
November 5, 2008

With seemingly endless energy and a bottomless well of inspiration, pianist Satoko Fujii continues to celebrate her fiftieth birthday year with three new recordings, all three simultaneously released on Libra. Chun, a duo recording with trumpeter Natsuki Tamura, her husband and musical partner and two big band releases, one West and the other East--Summer Suite (New York) and Sanrei (Nagoya). Fujii's music is a delicious mix of opposites: melody and pure sound, intense energy and calm introspection, ...

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Satoko Fujii: Four And More

by Jason Crane
October 20, 2008

For pianist Satoko Fujii, 50 is the new 20.

That refers to her age, although you could almost believe it refers to the number of albums she's released in 2008 alone. Fujii appears on four records this year: a trio session called Trace A River (Libra, 2008); a quartet session with her band ma-do called Heat Wave (Not Two, 2008); a session with a completely different trio called Cloudy Then Sunny (Libra, 2008); and an album with the ...

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Satoko Fujii Quartet: Bacchus

by Budd Kopman
September 23, 2008

The jazz of today is the most vibrant ever. It has shaken off the straitjacket of “jazz as style," replacing it with the concept of “jazz as an attitude or aesthetic." Paradoxically, the music produced by the players embracing this concept is called avant-garde; primarily because it cannot be immediately pigeonholed and is inherently challenging. In truth, however, jazz has always been a moving target, and has always challenged those who choose to remain comfortable. Pianist Satoko ...

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Satoko Fujii ma-do at Dizzy's, San Diego

by Dan McClenaghan
September 11, 2008

Satoko Fujii ma-doDizzy's San Diego, California August 31, 2008 The Satoko Fujii ma-do quartet kicked off its North American tour in support of their CD Heatwave in the middle of the three-day Labor Day Holiday at Dizzy's in downtown San Diego.Pianist/composer Fujii leads numerous ensembles: crazy, freewheeling, riotous big bands (several), trios (at least two) and two other quartets. Her sound is characterized--in any of her chosen formats--by constant audacity and ...