Jazz Articles
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The J. & F. Band: Me And The Devil
by Mark Corroto
We are back to the whippin' post with Me And The Devil, the fourth Allman Brothers-inspired release from Long Song Records, and the third by The J&F Band; and while it is far from being a guilty pleasure, the music does beg to be heard at high volume. In 2016, drummer Tiziano Tononi, bassist Joe Fonda, violinist, Emanuael Parrini and their smoking band recorded an Allman Brothers tribute Trouble No More...All Men Are Brothers (Long Song, 2017). It ...
read moreSatoko Fujii - Joe Fonda: 4
by Karl Ackermann
When pianist Satoko Fujii and bassist Joe Fonda first teamed up on Duet (Long Song Records, 2016), neither was familiar with the work of the other. Three short years later, “other" no longer applies, as the instantaneous rapport Fujii and Fonda found has led to a growing portfolio of cutting-edge music. 4 is the latest entry from these exceptional innovators. The prolific Fujii has released more than eighty albums, including a dozen in 2018, in recognition of her ...
read moreSatoko Fujii / Joe Fonda: Mizu
by Karl Ackermann
Listening to Mizu, it is hard to believe that, just two years ago, Joe Fonda and Satoko Fujii were not only unacquainted with each other, but also with one another's music portfolios. With their Libra label debut Duet (2016) and their recent Libra trio collaboration Triad (2018) with saxophonist Gianni Mimmo, it rapidly became apparent that these very different innovators shared a common bond resulting in some very remarkable music. Mizu--the Japanese word for “water"--is the seventh installment ...
read moreSatoko Fujii / Joe Fonda / Gianni Mimmo: Triad
by Mark Corroto
It's difficult to cherry pick recordings from pianist Satoko Fujii's 60th-year birthday celebration releases that are coming at us every month in 2018. There are solo recordings, sessions with her various jazz orchestras, duos, trios and quartets. Can you pinpoint her as a composer, arranger, or improviser? Yes, yes, and yes. She's accomplished in every aspect of jazz, from free to noted and folk to avant-garde. Her creative energies burn as brightly as that of David Murray in the 1990s, ...
read moreSatoko Fujii: Triad
by Karl Ackermann
Triad is the fifth of twelve monthly albums to be released as part of pianist-composer Satoko Fujii's extended celebration of her sixtieth birthday. It is also her second album with the legendary American bassist Joe Fonda. Duet (Long Song Records, 2016), recorded live in Portland, Maine in 2015, had brought the pair together at Fonda's request though the two were barely familiar with each other's music. Despite the album title, one of the two tracks included Fujii's trumpeter husband Natsuki ...
read moreSatoko Fujii / Joe Fonda: Duet
by Budd Kopman
The story behind the creation of the miraculous album, Duet by pianist Satoko Fujii and bassist Joe Fonda is one of those things that makes one a believer in karma. Although both have played with reed man Gebhard Ullmann in various configurations, Fujii and Fonda had never met, and had not heard much, if any, of each other's music. Now, this might seem strange since both are acknowledged leaders of free/avant-garde jazz, and both have powerful musical personalities ...
read moreSatoko Fujii / Joe Fonda with Natsuki Tamura: Duet
by Karl Ackermann
Two of creative music's most inventive forces come together on Duet. Musical restiveness is at the core of pianist/accordionist and composer Satoko Fujii. With a catalogue three-score deep, she has covered formations from large orchestra to solo where the common denominator is her wide and daring exploration of improvisational spaces. Her adroit aptitude for moving through--and sometimes combining--elements of her native Japanese folk music, classical and discordant free improvisation, have made her one of the more consistently interesting artists in ...
read moreGarrison Fewell/Gianni Mimmo: Flawless Dust
by Mark Corroto
With the passing of guitarist Garrison Fewell in the summer of 2015, the jazz world lost an educator, author and an extraordinary talent. Now that we can no longer exchange emails, or receive a music lesson from him, we still can explore his thoughts, via a fascinating book Outside Music, Inside Voices (Saturn University Press, 2014), which explored the link between creative improvised music and spirituality through interviews with musicians. Of course, the best way to know him ...
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