Jazz Articles about Satoko Fujii

About Satoko Fujii

Album Review

Satoko Fujii Orchestra Tokyo: Kappa Ondo

Read "Kappa Ondo" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
October 24, 2026

Stepping into the sounds of a Satoko Fujii big band performance is like slipping into an alternate universe. It is an odd sonic world, full of odd surprises. The pianist/composer has chosen 2026 to release five orchestral albums, each featuring a different ensemble. Fujii has been ambitious, consistently so, over a 30-plus-year career. Kappa Ondo is her fifth and final large ensemble recording of this project. The Kappa Ondo universe has its origins in a song written by ...

Album Review

Satoko Fujii - Myra Melford: Katarahi

by John Sharpe
October 17, 2026

On Katarahi, pianists Satoko Fujii and Myra Melford revel not in contrasts but in empathy. Although no longer the novelty they once were, piano duets exist in a rarefied plain. For a start, few venues or studios possess two high-quality grand pianos. Then the widescreen potential of the piano, with its possibilities for voices in each hand, throws down a challenge to would-be collaborators: can you do something more worthwhile together than you could do individually? Fujii and Melford answer ...

Radio & Podcasts

New Music From Satoko Fujii, Russell Gunn, Oscar Evans And More

by Bob Osborne
October 15, 2026

A continuing look into the fascinating orchestral works of Satoko Fujii bookends an impressive selection of new and forthcoming releases encompassing the best in contemporary jazz.Playlist Satoko Fujii Orchestra Nagoya “Korekara Part 1" from Korekara (Libra Records) 00:00 Russell Gunn and Blackhawk “Cahokia Pyramids" from Afrikan Amerikan Book of the Dead : The Book of Going Forth By Any Means Necessary (Vainglorious Arts) 14:26 Oscar Evans “Goose" from Sound Permutations (Self Released) 22:34 Stefan Orins New Trio “Richard ...

Catching Up With

Satoko Fujii on Sound, Freedom, and Not Two

by Cezary L. Lerski
September 11, 2026

Across nearly three decades, Not Two Records has documented some of the most adventurous music in improvised art--and few artists embody that spirit more fully than Satoko Fujii. A pianist, composer, and bandleader of extraordinary range, Fujii has released over 100 albums, each marked by curiosity, fearlessness, and emotional clarity. Her relationship with Not Two is one of the label's defining stories: built on trust, shared values, and a commitment to music that exists outside commercial expectations. In ...

Album Review

Satoko Fujii Orchestra Kobe: After The Storm

Read "After The Storm" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
September 2, 2026

Pianist, composer and orchestra leader Satoko Fujii tends to resist comparisons between her career and that of Duke Ellington. The analogy, however, is difficult to avoid. At a time when maintaining a large ensemble is an increasingly rare undertaking, Fujii has led an astonishing number of them. Alongside her solo work, duos and quartets, there have been Orchestra Berlin, Orchestra Kobe, Orchestra Nagoya, Orchestra New York, Orchestra Tokyo and the Bunker Ulmenwall Orchestra recordings. Her command of large ensembles can ...

Album Review

Satoko Fujii: Second Attempt

Read "Second Attempt" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
August 31, 2026

Satoko Fujii has spent three decades assembling large ensembles the way other composers assemble scores, treating personnel as raw material shaped alongside melody and structure. Her Berlin orchestra, formed during a 2014 residency, reunites nine years later. Recorded live in Berlin on May 3, 2026, the album closes out a tour Fujii nearly abandoned after a family medical emergency pulled her back to Japan mid-way. It unfolds across five continuous movements, “Part 1" through “Part 5." “Part 1" ...

Album Review

Satoko Fujii: Satoko Fujii's Bunker Ulmenwall Orchestra

Read "Satoko Fujii's Bunker Ulmenwall Orchestra" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

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 ...