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Jazz Articles about Tomas Fujiwara
Mary Halvorson's Code Girl: Artlessly Falling
by Vic Albani
Esistono due donne nel mondo del jazz moderno che hanno mostrato di conoscere e capire in toto il genio musicale di Robert Wyatt. La prima, molto tempo fa e quindi in tempi non sospetti, è stata Carla Bley e non c'è altro da aggiungere. La seconda, che è invece colei di cui vogliamo scrivere, è Mary Halvorson, chitarrista newyorkese di Brooklyn, da almeno una dozzina di anni indicata dalla critica più attenta e intelligente quale una delle più intriganti personalità ...
Continue ReadingMary Halvorson's Code Girl: Artlessly Falling
by Troy Dostert
Aside from her most obvious musical talents, including her phenomenal guitar chops and her budding talent as a lyricist, Mary Halvorson has a special gift for understanding the abilities of her bandmates and drawing out their strengths to the fullest. Part of it is the way she tends to keep the same company in her assorted projects: bassist Michael Formanek and drummer Tomas Fujiwara are the leading examples, having recorded extensively with her in their trio Thumbscrew, as heard on ...
Continue ReadingThumbscrew: The Anthony Braxton Project
by Mark Sullivan
The Thumbscrew trio celebrates avant-garde legend Anthony Braxton's 75th birthday with this project. Given access to the Tricentric Archives of Braxton's work, they focused on previously unrecorded pieces by the composer, multi-wind master and bandleader. In addition to their playing history together guitarist Mary Halvorson, double bassist Michael Formanek and drummer/vibraphonist Tomas Fujiwara have all had extensive experience working with Braxton, making them ideally suited to these interpretations of his music. Seeking scores that fired their imaginations (as ...
Continue ReadingPeter Hess Quartet: Present Company
by Jim Worsley
What word to say first, refreshing or wow? Perhaps, wow, this is refreshing! With the assorted amount of experimental jazz that often needed more time in the lab, that is an assault on the unsuspecting ear, the Peter Hess Quartet have concocted their own penicillin. No longer lab rats, minds can be allowed to thrive and grow. With seven original compositions, the first five by Hess, this quartet was clearly not content to rely on the tried and ...
Continue ReadingTomeka Reid Quartet: Old New
by Ian Patterson
Tomeka Reid cut her teeth in Chicago, recording with Anthony Braxton, Roscoe Mitchell and Nicole Mitchell, but the cellist's 2016 move to New York seems to have fired her creative juices even more. The prolific Reid has appeared on nearly twenty recordings in that time, notably including the Art Ensemble of Chicago's We Are On The Edge (Pi Recordings, 2019), and also touring with the group in celebration of its fiftieth anniversary. Given the demands on Reid's time, it is ...
Continue ReadingTomas Fujiwara: Triple Double
by John Sharpe
Drummer Tomas Fujiwara's dynamite new outfit Triple Double deploys the cream of the NYC scene in three instrumental pairings, a mini musical Noah's Ark if you will. Marching ahead are the trumpet and cornet of Ralph Alessi and Taylor Ho Bynum respectively, flanked by the twin guitars of Mary Halvorson and Brandon Seabrook, with Fujiwara bringing up the rear in the company of fellow sticksman Gerald Cleaver. In doing so Fujiwara draws on the seasoned team responsible for the excellent ...
Continue ReadingTomas Fujiwara: Triple Double
by Vincenzo Roggero
La più popolare delle forme musicali nordamericane -il blues -introdotta da due delle chitarre meno convenzionali in circolazione, disturbata da un paio di trombe che proprio canoniche non sono e da una coppia di poderose batterie che sostengono e il tutto. È questo l'incipit di Triple Double e i dieci minuti abbondanti di «Diving for Quarters» la dicono lunga sull'approccio che questo fantastico doppio trio mette in campo per dar voce alla musica di Tomas Fujiwara. Che, ...
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