Jazz Articles about Tomas Fujiwara

About Tomas Fujiwara

Album Review

Michael Formanek has never been content to anchor a bandstand and call it a career. Over decades of work--from sideman stints with Stan Getz and Joe Henderson to the long-running Thumbscrew trio with Mary Halvorson and Tomas Fujiwara--he has operated as a composer and architect, building rooms rather than merely inhabiting them. New Digs recorded over two days in Torres Vedras, Portugal, stands as an ambitious project via this seven-piece trans-Atlantic ensemble shaped by a precise sonic design.

Album Review

Tomeka Reid Quartet: Dance! Skip! Hop!

Read "Dance! Skip! Hop!" reviewed by Jeff Cebulski

by Jeff Cebulski
April 30, 2026

Spring arrives; along with the typical climactic inconsistencies, the jazz market blooms. One of the early blossoms is a minor label treat, Dance! Skip! Hop! from the cellist Tomeka Reid and her quartet. This could be a major season for the adopted Chicagoan Reid, who is also featured on an ECM album from pianist Craig Taborn, Dream Archives (ECM Records, 2026). Dance! Skip! Hop! Is the album of choice, the second album from the quartet that includes the guitarist du jour Mary ...

Album Review

Tomeka Reid Quartet: Dance! Skip! Hop!

Read "Dance! Skip! Hop!" reviewed by Don Ball

by Don Ball
March 19, 2026

If the fourth album from the Tomeka Reid Quartet proves nothing else, it is that the group has shown a remarkable capacity for getting better with each release. Not just in the strength and quality of the compositions, but also through the tightness and cohesiveness of the band. The title Dance! Skip! Hop! is apt for the album as the rhythms roll along through every song, all tying together like an album-long suite. With a band that tends ...

Radio & Podcasts

Esmeralda Sella, Tomas Fujiwara, Roxana Amed, Wayne Horvitz & More

by Ludovico Granvassu
November 1, 2025

Jazz-inflected renditions of pop songs, Hammond B-3 romps, and magmatic textures make up a playlist which proves that great music rarely happens on major labels--or emerges from algorithms.Happy listening!Playlist Ben Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 Roxana Amed “Salir de la melancolía" Todos los Fuegos (Sony) 0:16 Host talks 3:04 David Helbock, Julia Hofer feat. Mahan Mirarab “Sexy M.F." Faces of Night (ACT) 4:40 Host talks 7:15 Fabrizio Bosso Spiritual Trio ...

Album Review

Mary Halvorson: About Ghosts

Read "About Ghosts" reviewed by Doug Collette

by Doug Collette
June 13, 2025

Since Mary Halvorson began her prolific affiliation with Nonesuch Records, she has refused to repeat herself except with a purpose. The simultaneous release of Amaryllis & Belladonna (Nonesuch Records, 2022) was the precursor to the expansive Cloudward (Nonesuch Records, 2024), while About Ghosts represents a retrenchment, albeit a productive one. On five of these eight cuts, the identical Amaryllis Sextet that appeared on the latter LP interacts smoothly with guest saxophonists Immanuel Wilkins and Brian Settles. Such synchrony ...

Album Review

Adam O'Farrill: For These Streets

Read "For These Streets" reviewed by John Sharpe

by John Sharpe
June 11, 2025

With For These Streets, trumpeter and composer Adam O'Farrill presents a sharply contoured, richly imagined statement for mid-sized band--his most complete vision to date. Drawing on an eclectic range of influences, from 1930s-era music, literature and film to the rhythms of contemporary urban life, O'Farrill leads a wily crew of his peers through a program that moves with narrative cohesion. Though not a suite in the formal sense, the album unfolds like one, the pieces linked by emotional throughlines and ...

Album Review

Adam O'Farrill: For These Streets

Read "For These Streets" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
June 10, 2025

Trumpeter and composer Adam O'Farrill distills a heady mix of inspirations into For These Streets, the debut release from his new octet. Drawing on music, literature and the ambiance of the 1930s, the album reflects his immersion in the era--Henry Miller's prose, Charlie Chaplin's City Lights, and the sonic worlds of Stravinsky, Ravel, Carlos Chávez and Kurt Weill. None of this background is necessary to appreciate the music, nor is it mentioned in the packaging. But knowing it adds a ...