Luise Volkmann

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Satoko Fujii: Satoko Fujii's Bunker Ulmenwall Orchestra

by Dan McClenaghan
June 20, 2026

In an always courageous three-decade career, pianist Satoko Fujii's recorded output has never wavered. She excels at solo piano, duo outings--mostly with her life partner, trumpeter Natsuki Tamura--quartets, quintets, and lastly, big band/orchestral recordings. The one exception to the unwavering description is her big-band output. Entity (Libra Records) came out in 2019. Then a seven-year orchestral dry spell ensued. Blame this, in part, on the COVID-19 epidemic. But Fujii intends to make up for that lull in 2026, beginning with ...