Jazz Articles about Satoko Fujii

Satoko Fujii Quartet: Angelona

by Jim Santella
March 5, 2006

Forming a progressive alliance of jazz and rock, Satoko Fujii unleashes Angelona with a flash-bang authority that grabs you hard and fast. It's her quartet's best performance to date. While Vulcan (2001) was named after the Roman god of fire, Minerva (2003) was named after the Roman goddess of wisdom, and Zephyros (2004) was named after the Greek god of the west wind, this one contains an allure that applies to all audiences. Angelona's program represents a collage of musical ...

Satoko Fujii Four: Live in Japan 2004

by Glenn Astarita
January 25, 2006

Pianist/composer Satoko Fujii looms as a modernist via her adventurous big band endeavors, side projects and longstanding trio, featured here. With the addition of freewheeling trumpeter Natsuki Tamura on certain tracks, the band enjoys some added depth. But this is a unit that is sharply focused, and in certain instances it conveys the epitome of classic jazz improvisation, dappled with a free-form edge. Nonetheless, the musicians seemingly have loads of fun by cleverly deconstructing motifs amid some razzle-dazzle and Fujii's ...

Satoko Fujii Four: Live in Japan 2004

by Jim Santella
December 10, 2005

When pianist Satoko Fujii, along with her New York trio and her husband, performed this concert in Saitama, Japan on July 28, 2004, their cohesiveness brought a satisfying sensation before the audience. They built each piece with deliberation and stretched out with a free spirit.

“Illusion Suite" was recorded by Fujii's trio and released last year as part of an album of the same name. Here, in a concert setting, the trio forges “Illusion Suite" with a gradual ...

Satoko Fujii Four: Live in Japan 2004

by Dan McClenaghan
December 5, 2005

Satoko Fujii creates one of the most original sounds in jazz, in any setting, though the word “jazz" is too confining to describe what she does. The ever-prolific Japanese-born pianist has recorded with about fifteen different ensemble configurations--everything from solo and duo outings to quartets and big bands, and much in between. Live in Japan 2004 finds the ever-mercurial artist with her Fujii/Dresser/Black trio, augmented by trumpeter Natsuki Tamura.Fujii's longest-standing recording associations are with her trio, and her ...

Satoko Fujii: Live in Japan 2004

by Kurt Gottschalk
October 22, 2005

Japanese pianist Satoko Fujii has been one of the most exciting arrangers, as well as a compelling composer and performer, in outside jazz in recent years. Unusually with the company she keeps, improvisation beyond soloing has never been a part of her work. But a recent record shows a new leaning toward improv, to varying results. Live in Japan adds to her longstanding trio of bassist Mark Dresser and drummer Jim Black her husband and increasingly frequent collaborator Natsuki Tamura. ...

Satoko Fujii Orchestra: Blueprint

by Jim Santella
February 1, 2005

With her sixteen-piece New York “West" orchestra, Satoko Fujii explodes with a free spirit and unleashed emotions. Her all-star unit of improvising artists operates cohesively in interpreting adventures for which she determines the mood. The result is a program that ranges from intense and dramatic imagery to contemporary celebrations and placid landscapes.

Fujii leads from the piano, offering key phrases that provide obvious direction. In turn, her partners jump in with responses that may be agitated, languorous, or ...

Satoko Fujii Orchestra Nagoya Version: Nagoyanian

by Eyal Hareuveni
January 29, 2005

Pianist and composer Satoko Fujii leads three different bands under the title of the East Orchestra--one in Tokyo, the other in Kobe, and the wildest one in Nagoya, which is just now releasing its debut outing on guitarist and producer Yasuhiro Usui's new label, Bakamo. This sixteen-piece orchestra features Fujii's partner and close musical collaborator, trumpeter Natsuki Tamura; tenor saxophonist Kenichi Matsumoto; and baritone saxophonist Ryuichi Yoshida, who played with other versions of the East Orchestra ( Double Take, EWE ...