Satoko Fujii: Renaissance Figure Extraordinaire

Satoko Fujii is that rare artist whose technical and intuitive talents are as readily apparent in collaboration with others as when she is working on her own. To that end, she seems bent on deeply exploring the seemingly innumerable combinations of musicians and instruments, in as wide a variety of settings available to her on both the stage and in the studio. The inspired blends of talent and skill she in turn leads, then contributes to, illustrate the breadth of her ambitions as much as the command of her talent. And, as fully evidenced on this pair of titles, those practical distinctions stand quite apart from her intangible gift(s) as a fully-functioning catalyst of inimitable flair.

Joe Fonda Quartet
Eyes On The Horizon
Long Song Records
2024

For Eyes On The Horizon, bassist/composer Joe Fonda forges a wide-ranging confluence of skills that befits the album's title (not to mention its front cover art and the bucolic images in the eight-page booklet). Writing a series of pieces based on his experience working with and learning from trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith, Fonda engages the latter, drummer Tiziano Tononi as well as pianist Satoko Fujii on some idiosyncratic material wherein the line is impossibly thin between predetermined structure and free improvisation. "Inspiration opus #1" is an ideal commencement for the record's sixty-three-some minutes (and not just because it directly references Smith): it is a collective invocation of each musician's muse, designed to unify their creative efforts. Likewise, homages to other figures of note such as Dr. Cornel West ("Listen to...") present flashpoints for the various assemblages of ideas that mesh through the purposeful engagement of the leader and his empathetic collaborators; to Fujii's great credit (not an inordinate ego), she is oftentimes the most distinctive participant at any given time, whether in the forefront or in the background. The deliberate pace the collective undertakes on "My song opus #2," illustrates not only how patience is a profound virtue for the musicians here, but also how suitable a premise it is for those hearing this record.

Satoko Fujii Quartet
Dog Days of Summer
Libra Records
2024

Reaffirming Satoko Fujii's bond with the quartet she founded in 2001, Dog Days of Summer is very much of a piece with the pianist/composer/bandleader's one hundred-plus other releases as well. A collection of performances like (the appropriately self-referential?) opener "Not Together" is indicative of the oftentimes raucous and heavily percussive sound. Yet, as Natsuki Tamura brays on the trumpet, Fujii pounds the piano, Hayakawa Takeharu generates deep rumbles from the bass and Tatsuya Yoshida flails at this drums, the foursome conducts itself with a precision comparable to the bandleader's more atmospheric work such as Hibiki (Jazzdor Series, 2024). Recorded, mixed and mastered in fairly short order around the midpoint of 2024, the music is thus equally enticing in both the visceral and cerebral senses. In keeping with that history, "Haru wo Matsu" begins at a lower volume, at a deliberate tempo, before intensifying to roiling intricacy; the manifest ebb and flow of that track (similar to the dynamics of in the title-song conclusion) mirrors the overall progression of the bandleader's seven original compositions. And, over the course of this album's development, each of the quartet members takes the opportunity to declaim his/her individual persona, a process by which the four musicians ultimately blend into a fluid whole greater than the sum of its distinctive parts. In the end its fifty-five plus minutes are a direct reflection of Dave Wade's cryptic cover photo.

Tracks and Personnel

Eyes On The Horizon

Tracks: Inspiration Opus #1; My Song Opus #2; We Need Members Opus #4; Like No Other (for Bobby Naughton); Listen To Dr. Cornel West; Bright Light Opus #5; Eyes On The Horizon Opus #3.

Personnel: Joe Fonda: double bass, flute; Satoko Fujii: piano; Wadada Leo Smith: trumpet; Tiziano Tononi: drums.

Dog Days Of Summer

Tracks: Not Together; Haru wo Matsu; Metropolitan Expressway; A Parcel for You; Circle Dance; Low; Dog Days of Summer.

Personnel: Natsuki Tamura: trumpet; Satoko Fujii: piano: Hayakawa Takeharu: bass; Tatsuya Yashida: drums.

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