Home »
Jazz Articles » Album Review » Fumi Endo: Cold Light In Warm Blue
Fumi Endo: Cold Light In Warm Blue
Born in Tokyo, Japan, in 1993, pianist Fumi Endo has been performing since 2017, mainly playing jazz and improv. Although she played piano on three albums released in 2022
Musical Procedure (Ftarr Classical, 2022) with Takumi Ikeda on electric percussion and Kokichi Yanagisawa on electric guitar,
Toy-Piano Sokubaikai (Zappak, 2022) a duo with Suzueri on toy piano, and
Masahide Tokunaga (Hitorri, 2022) with Tokumaga on alto sax and Tomoki Tai on viola de gamba
Cold Light In Warm Blue is the first album to feature her alone and the first to bear her name. In the concert space at Ftarri, Tokyo, on two separate days, in July and August 2022, neither with an audience, Endo recorded improvised solo performances of her playing Ftarri's piano, an old '60s upright in a non-soundproofed room. While that may sound a far from ideal situation, Endo clearly rose to the occasion as the resulting five tracks which comprise the album illustrate. Each track is titled with its duration, a total of fifty-four minutes. On first acquaintance with Endo's improvised piano pieces, the immediate impression is that she shares some characteristics with the German-based Wandelweiser group. Straight from the beginning of the first piece "(13:59)," she plays single notes which are allowed to resound until they fade into silence before sounding the next note. As an opening gambit, it nails her colours to the mast, but it soon becomes clear that she is not going to be dogmatic about what she plays. She does not shy away from playing two notes in quick succession and allowing them to interact and fade together, not always with predictable results. Of course, improvising freely by oneself removes the influence of other players and what they are playing, constantly leaving the lone player to decide how they wish to sound and develop. It is to Endo's credit that her playing never makes one aware of her thought processes; instead, the ways in which her improvised playing develops sound natural and logical. This means that her music can either be taken for granted as pleasingly soothing ambient music or, for those who wish, can lead to anticipation of what will happen next... Either way, Endo has produced a solo album which is uniquely her own, one which leads to anticipation of where she will go next...
Track Listing
(13:59); (10:24); (7:21); (1557); (6:01).
Personnel
Album information
Title: Cold Light In Warm Blue
| Year Released: 2023
| Record Label: Hittoro
PREVIOUS / NEXT
Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.
Go Ad Free!
To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to
future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by
making a donation today.