Satoko Fujii: Piano Music

The solo piano works of Satoko Fujii often summon an ethereal ensemble of sounds. Prepared, or in its natural state, her piano speaks as a proxy for the always searching composer/improviser. Fujii's recordings are an ongoing stream of themes based on the here and now for an artist who does not fit neatly into any category. The loss of close band members, her kanreki (sixtieth birthday celebration), the pandemic, and her personal emergence, are all refrains that inform her creative process. A half-dozen solo albums in, Piano Music is one of her more ambitious projects.

Piano Music consists of two long pieces beginning with the eighteen-minute "Shiroku." From under the lid, Fujii evokes a lingering drone, a harp, and a distant yelp. Through a series of sounds, there is little that identifies Fujii's piano by its usual properties. The piece is often meditative but keeps the listener on their toes with adventurous sidebars. "Fuwarito" runs close to a half-hour. Noise is more prevalent here, but Fuji also injects a beautiful bit of melody while plucking the strings. Throughout the improvisation, she reconsiders and refreshes themes, moving from impenetrable solidity to veils of fog.

From her enormous orchestral projects to these intimate ventures, all of Fujii's work is defined by individualism. Piano Music is yet another improvisational opportunity with its quiet power and good-natured gaudiness. In parallel, the album is a defiant cuff at the significance of pandemic isolation and its effect on creativity. Fujii works in the contrasting aspects of her music in big tones, sound combinations and slight passages. Piano Music is highly recommended to exploratory listeners.