Jazz Articles about Tomas Fujiwara

About Tomas Fujiwara

Album Review

When a band of four leaders in their own right still exists over ten years after its inception, then something worthwhile is afoot. Illegal Crowns comprises the familiar American triumvirate of guitarist Mary Halvorson, cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum and drummer Tomas Fujiwara, who first crossed paths with French pianist Benoît Delbecq in 2012. Their third album Unclosing follows on from an eponymous debut (Rogue Art 2016) and the sophomore No-Nosed Puppet (Rogue Art , 2020). An accomplished blend of accessibility ...

Radio & Podcasts

An Eclectic Mix Of New Releases

by Bob Osborne
March 9, 2023

On this show we present an eclectic mix of new releases from Tomas Fujiwara's Triple Double, Gerald Cleaver Brandon Lopez & Hprizm, Eldad Tarmu, Michael Rabinowitz, Avi Granite 6, Ralph Alessi, Bobo Stenson Trio, and Gianluigi Trovesi & Stefano Montanari.Playlist Show Intro 00:00 Tomas Fujiwara's Triple Double “March On" from March On (Bandcamp) 00:46 Gerald Cleaver, Brandon Lopez, Hprizm “Mainsource C" from In The Wilderness (Positive Elevation) 32:37 Eldad Tarmu “Cafe Sole" from Tarmu Jazz Quartet (Queen of ...

Album Review

Tomas Fujiwara's Triple Double: March

by Jerome Wilson
April 4, 2022

This is the second release by drummer and vibraphonist Tomas Fujiwara's unique double trio with himself and Gerald Cleaver on drums, Mary Halvorson and Brandon Seabrook on guitar and Taylor Ho Bynum and Ralph Alessi on brass, a group that can be configured as two trios, three pairs of instruments or something in between. The sound of the resulting combinations can come out ambient or raucous, but tends towards an angular prog-jazz fusion sound, that can pack the punch of ...

Radio & Podcasts

Tomas Fujiwara's Triple Double, MOTDTK & UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra

by Maurice Hogue
March 16, 2022

Tomas Fujiwara's one of the most respected drummers in the creative scene, and his new release with Triple Double reinforces that. March is a must-have for 2022. The UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra is the leading large ensemble, and their new Last Dance is a gem too. One of the hottest people around is saxophonist James Brandon Lewis and featured is an excerpt of his hook-up in London with John Edwards and Mark Sanders at Café Oto in a purely-improvised set. ...

Album Review

Tomas Fujiwara's Triple Double: March

by Mark Corroto
March 16, 2022

Drummer, composer and vibraphonist Tomas Fujiwara did not set out to rebut the saying “familiarity breeds contempt," but March from his sextet Triple Double does just that. His combination of three pairs of double instruments—guitarists Mary Halvorson and Brandon Seabrook, cornet/trumpets Taylor Ho Bynum and Ralph Alessi, plus double drummers Gerald Cleaver and Tomas Fujiwara himself—creates respect, the opposite of contempt. The harmonious and organic nature of this music, first heard on their self-titled debut album Triple Double (Firehouse 12, ...

Album Review

Tomas Fujiwara's Triple Double: March

by Troy Dostert
March 4, 2022

Drummer Tomas Fujiwara's March, another offering from his Triple Double sextet, was recorded in December 2019, prior to the widespread racial unrest that followed the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and many others in 2020. But it feels completely of a piece with those protests, with an unsettled anger and impatience that animate every moment of this absorbing album. Creating music that seems perfectly suited for a tumultuous age, Fujiwara's compositional instincts are spot-on, and he once again marshals ...

Album Review

Ben Goldberg: Everything Happens To Be.

Read "Everything Happens To Be." reviewed by Jerome Wilson

by Jerome Wilson
November 17, 2021

If you do not listen too closely, there are parts of this download-only release that sound soothing and gentle. That is not really the case and that is the fun part of this music. When the reed players play a pretty or swinging melody line, there is always some irritant factor elsewhere in the band to spice things up. All of these musicians are known for their experimental tendencies and have worked together before in various combinations. The ...