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Jazz Articles about Taiko Saito
Potsa Lotsa XL: Amoeba's Dance
by Ian Patterson
Like an amoeba, whose shape-shifting properties enable it to adapt to its surroundings, Silke Eberhard's Potsa Lotsa expands and contracts according to its needs. Originating as a four-horn ensemble inspired by the music of multi-instrumentalist/composer Eric Dolphy, Potsa Lotsa blasted off with Potsa Lotsa: The Complete Works Of Eric Dolphy (Jazzwerkstatt, 2010). An auspicious debut, Eberhard's quartet stripped Dolphy's compositions down to their melodic essence before reimagining--a fittingly inventive homage. Then came Potsa Lotsa Plus, an octet featuring ...
Continue ReadingSatoko Fujii: Hibiki
by Doug Collette
Expanding upon the Futari duo concept of pianist/composer Satoko Fujii and vibraphonist Taiko Saito, as depicted on Underground (Libra Records, 2021) and Beyond (Libra Records, 2021), Trio SAN incorporates drummer/composer Yuko Oshima, the album of whose, Hibiki, is a proportionately intense companion piece to the aforementioned pair of releases. As if simultaneously beckoning the audience at Kesselhaus, Berlin in June of 2022 as well as invoking their muse as a new collaboration, Trio San begins Hibiki with its ...
Continue ReadingTrio San: Hibiki
by Dan McClenaghan
Put a vibraphone into a small ensemble, listen in and the label “exotica" might come up--that exotic music pioneered by Martin Denny and Juan Garcia Esquivel. The pairing of pianist Satoko Fujii and vibraphonist Taiko Saito--a duo they call Futari--on their two terrific albums, Beyond (2021) and Underground (2022), both on Libra Records, sounded like exotica from the Twilight Zone. There is something about the glowing murk of vibes combined with the out-of-this-world sounds of Fujii's prepared piano ruminations that ...
Continue ReadingTaiko Saito: Tears Of A Cloud
by Dan McClenaghan
In 2021 Japanese-born, Berlin-based mallet virtuoso Taiko Saito received a well-deserved profile bump via her teaming with pianist Satoko Fujii in a duo tagged Futari, on Beyond and Underground. both on Libra Records. The marimba player & vibraphonist returns in 2023 with a solo outing, Tears Of A Cloud, an arresting follow-up to the Futari outings. Saito has found the key to artistic success by taking a handful of inspirations--her mentors Prof. Keiko Abe and Prof. David Friedman, ...
Continue ReadingPotsa Lotsa XL & Youjin Sung: Gaya
by John Sharpe
German saxophonist Silke Eberhard received deserved plaudits for her trio effort Being The Up And Down (Intakt, 2021), but Potsa Lotsa, which has been one of her prime outlets for considerably longer, also merits attention. Originally a wind quartet convened to realize The Complete Works Of Eric Dolphy (Jazzwerkstatt, 2010), and named after one of his tunes, the outfit has grown in both repertoire and size. Now a ten-piece band, hence the XL, they are primarily a vehicle for Eberhard's ...
Continue ReadingPotsa Lotsa XL & Youjin Sung: Gaya
by Ian Patterson
Potsa Lotsa, the moveable feast headed by saxophonist/clarinetist Silke Eberhard, began life in 2010 as a wind quartet, debuting with The Complete Works Of Eric Dolphy (Jazzwerkstatt, 2011), an innovative tribute to the tragically short-lived multi-reedist. The quartet expanded to an octet--Potsa Lotsa Plus--for Plays Love Suite By Eric Dolphy (Jazzwekstatt, 2014), breathing new life into a little-known Dolphy work that was incomplete at the time of his death. Potsa Lotsa XL featured even more hands in 2017, but with ...
Continue ReadingFutari: Underground
by John Sharpe
Pandemic enforcement of geographic separation in no way inconveniences the adventurous combo of pianist Satoko Fujii and vibraphonist Taiko Saito, working together under the banner Futari. Having explored the option of a virtual band on Mosaic (Libra, 2021) by her This Is It! trio, Fujii tries a different approach on Underground, her second album with Saito following Beyond (Libra, 2020). Each recorded their parts separately in their respective residencies, Fujii at home in Kobe in Japan, and Saito 5500 miles ...
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