Jazz Articles about Satoko Fujii

Junk Box: Cloudy Then Sunny

by Jerry D'Souza
July 3, 2008

Satoko Fujii is a prolific composer. Her writing has manifested itself in several projects used to launch her music, Junk Box being one of them. This is the group's second recording and it sees an expansion of the concept she calls composed improvisation, or “Com-Impro," that appeared on its first recording, Fragment (Libra, 2006). It is her form of musical notation that includes writing and some graphics, leaving the musicians to use any notes to express the compositions and free ...

Satoko Fujii: Cloudy Then Sunny

by Budd Kopman
July 2, 2008

Junk Box is the name of another group configuration lead by pianist Satoko Fujii, this time in the form of a trio with her husband and musical compatriot, trumpeter Natsuki Tamura, and percussionist extraordinaire John Hollenbeck. Audacious and challenging, Cloudy Then Sunny is their second release following the well-received Fragment (Libra, 2006).Approaching her fiftieth birthday this year, Fujii continues to explore new sounds and methods of musical communication, always expanding her means of expression and communication. Fujii composes ...

Satoko Fujii: Trace A River

by Budd Kopman
July 1, 2008

With the first high, floating, bowed notes from Mark Dresser's bass, supported by the equally ethereal chords from Satoko Fujii's piano and Jim Black's shimmering cymbals, Trace A River boldly announces the return of her “American" trio, four years after Illusion Suite (Libra, 2004). 2008 finds Fujii turning fifty and she shows no sign of letting up, also releasing the second recording by Junk Box, Cloudy Then Sunny, and playing accordion on Kuro (Libra, 2008), from her ...

Satoko Fujii featuring Paul Bley: Something About Water

by Budd Kopman
May 12, 2008

Pianist Paul Bley was one of pianist Satoko Fujii's teachers at the New England Conservatory of Music, which she attended on scholarship in 1993. Upon attaining her Graduate Diploma in Jazz Performance, she recorded the delicately beautiful and mysterious Something About Water (Libra, 1996), that has Bley playing with her on eight of the eleven tracks of free improvisation. While this release can be considered her debut recording, it is a fully mature effort where teacher and ...

Carla Kihlstedt / Satoko Fujii: Minamo

by Budd Kopman
March 13, 2008

For those listeners who enjoy free, truly spontaneous improvisation and the combination of violin and piano, Minamo with violinist Carla Kihlstedt and pianist Satoko Fujii cannot be recommended highly enough.Featuring two live recordings from performances at Rova Saxophone Quartet's 25th Anniversary Festival in San Francisco in 2002 and the Music Unlimited Festival in Wels Austria in 2005, this exhilarating record demonstrates the highest levels of musical interaction.Kihlstedt is known mainly for her work in the avant-garde ...

Satoko Fujii Min-Yoh Ensemble: Fujin Raijin

by Budd Kopman
January 5, 2008

If there is one thing certain in this world, it is that pianist Satoko Fujii will never stop expanding her musical horizons, nor stop amazing the listener. Fujin Raijin is a stupendous, almost terrifying record that shatters any and all expectations during its six tracks. Min-Yoh is Japanese folk music or folk songs in the way we westerners understand the terms: simplicity in form, scale and structure. Fujii is emphatic, however, not only about the effect this ...

Satoko Fujii Quartet: Bacchus

by Troy Collins
November 10, 2007

With a discography of forty plus albums featuring ensembles ranging from intimate duos to big bands, pianist Satoko Fujii is one of Japan's most prolific and versatile jazz artists. The fifth record by her long- standing quartet, Bacchus is preceded by the similarly titled Vulcan (Libra, 2001), Minerva (Libra, 2002), Zephyros (Natsat, 2003) and Angelona (Libra, 2005).

Regular members, trumpeter Natsuki Tamura, electric bassist Takeharu Hayakawa and drummer Tatsuya Yoshida once again accompany Fujii, blending straightforward popular music ...