Satoko Fujii Tokyo Trio: Jet Black

The January 2024 release of Jet Black starts the year out right. It is the Satoko Fujii Tokyo Trio's sophomore recording, presenting the Japanese pianist in one of her most compelling modes of expression: the piano trio. This is not foreign territory for her. She headed up a superb threesome with drummer Jim Black and bassist Mark Dresser from 1997 until 2009, crafting gems like Illusion Suite (Libra Records, 2004) and Trace A River (Libra Records, 2008). As in any of her outings—duos with her husband, trumpeter Natsuki Tamura, her numerous free-flying quartets and a dozen or so big bands—Fujii creates idiosyncratic sound worlds. Her cohorts are given seemingly endless freedom, and results are often surreal and bracingly out there.

Jet Black runs the gamut from three-way melees to near-subliminal creakings and moans—haunted house sounds interspersed with rumbles in the alleyways. When the tag avant-garde is applied to piano players, the name Cecil Taylor often comes up. In her way, Fujii is even freer than Taylor, with ivory-pounding cacophonies interspersed with beautiful lyricism and whispered asides. She plays inside the piano, making unidentifiable sounds, bassist Takashi Sugawa bows elastic, antagonistic drones and drummer Ittetsu Takemura slams the dumpster lid and knocks the iron pot off the countertop and down to the floor, while Fujji hits the piano keys as if it were burning hot, giving off sparks in the process.

The question arises: Is it music? A quarter century of listening to Fujii says it most certainly is—the oddest, most stimulating kind of music. Challenging, perhaps, but offering huge rewards for those who are willing to go for the immersion into Fujii's musical mind.

Jet Black, and all of Fujii's music, is best experienced by letting go, to take in the sounds without any descriptive words in mind.