Satoko Fujii: Sketches

Fujii makes judicious use of space. She can invent room so that they fall into the nooks she has shaped or drop clusters that reverberate and thunder through a two-handed attack. At first the pace is all too deliberate on the opening tune, but she soon weaves a pattern that adds vibrancy as her hands dance over the keyboards. This brings us to another tune, and another approach. Calling "Tin Can Cat" a tune would be an exercise in imagination, for she does not play one. Instead she uses everything that the piano has to set up a temperate exercise in rhythm, and never a musical note. There is a more linear approach and a melody that sings of the blues on "Clay Pot," a nice one indeed. In contrast comes the whirlwind of "Frozen Fire," heated and whipped with her hammer-lock attack, her accents sharp, scathing and dizzying. All of this makes looking forward to her next worth the while.

Visit Satoko Fujii on the web.