Jazz Articles about Satoko Fujii

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Satoko Fujii Ma-Do: Heat Wave

by Troy Collins
August 26, 2008

Heat Wave is the fourth record released in 2008 featuring the prolific and talented Japanese pianist Satoko Fujii. In honor of her 50th birthday, she organized an intensive release schedule, issuing three albums so far on her Libra imprint, including Trace a River with her veteran trio featuring bassist Mark Dresser and drummer Jim Black, Cloudy Then Sunny with the collective trio Junk Box, as well as appearing on her husband trumpeter Natsuki Tamura's recent Gato Libre album, Kuro.

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Satoko Fujii Trio: Trace A River

by Jerry D'Souza
August 24, 2008

Pianist and composer Satoko Fujii returns with Mark Dresser (bass) and Jim Black (drums) on another exciting recording. Not only does Fujii go further in her explorations, she also shows a deeper sense of harmony, developed in tandem with her band. Her writing is varied and accentuates her skill as a composer.

In the past, Fujii, Black and Dresser have shown that intuition plays a key role in the development of their music and they continue to do ...

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Satoko Fujii: Trace a River, Cloudy Then Sunny & Kuro

by Kurt Gottschalk
July 20, 2008

Satoko Fujii Trace a River Libra 2008 Junkbox Cloudy then Sunny Libra 2008 Gato Libre Kuro Libra 2008

The ever-prolific Satoko Fujii is celebrating the year of her 50th birthday by doing what she does ever year: touring, composing and recording relentlessly. The ...

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Satoko Fujii Trio: Trace a River

by Troy Collins
July 7, 2008

Japanese pianist Satoko Fujii celebrates her fiftieth birthday this year. A prolific and diverse artist, Fujii has one of the most impressive discographies in contemporary jazz. In honor of this milestone event she has concurrently released two very different trio albums on her label, the other being Cloudy Then Sunny, an experimental project from the collaborative trio Junk Box.

Fujii's trio features longstanding members Mark Dresser on bass and Jim Black on drums. Trace a River is her ...

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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 ...

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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 ...

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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 ...