Satoko Fujii's Orchestra New York has been together since their 1997 debut South Wind (Leo Lab/Libra). A “super group" by any standards, it has remained largely intact over the course of twenty years, bringing the ensemble to its latest release, Fukushima, a memorial suite. The Fukushima nuclear accident was caused by a major earthquake and a ...

Song of the Day

Kunpuu

November 28, 2017

Album: Kisaragi
By Satoko Fujii
Label: Libra Records
Released: 2017
Duration: 2:14

Song of the Day

Liberation

November 27, 2017

Album: Aspiration
By Satoko Fujii
Label: Libra Records
Released: 2017
Duration: 5:40

Article: Album Review

Satoko Fujii Orchestra New York: Fukushima

Read "Fukushima" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
November 22, 2017

In 2011 an earthquake set into motion the events that would create a partial meltdown of fuel rods in the reactors in the nuclear power plant in Fukushima, Japan. Radiation was released. The effects are still felt, and will be for decades (at least)--an especially troubling situation for the only country to have experienced the initially ...

Article: Album Review

Satoko Fujii, Wadada Leo Smith, Natsuki Tamura, Ikue Mori: Aspiration

Read "Aspiration" reviewed by Alberto Bazzurro

by Alberto Bazzurro
October 24, 2017

Quattro pezzi di Satoko Fujii, uno di Natsuki Tamura e un'improvvisazione collettiva compongono questo album, riferibile in primo luogo alla pianista, ma che prosegue al tempo stesso la serie di produzioni discografiche della coppia Fujii/Tamura (che come molti sapranno sono moglie e marito), in questi ultimi anni particolarmente trafficata, con esiti non sempre all'altezza di quanto ...

Article: Album Review

Satoko Fujii: Aspiration

Read "Aspiration" reviewed by Franz A. Matzner

by Franz A. Matzner
September 15, 2017

A descent into minimalist precision and emotive texture, Satoku Fuji's Aspiration bequeaths listeners with the depths of creativity that stems from residing on the edge of the avant-garde for decades. Which is precisely where music pioneers pianist Fuji, long-time trumpet partner Natsuki Tamura, electronica experimentalist Ikue Mori, and innovator Wadada Leo Smith remain.The album's ...

Article: Album Review

Satoko Fujii: Aspiration

Read "Aspiration" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
September 6, 2017

The teaming of pianist Satoko Fujii with trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith, both artists possessed of unwavering and uncompromising artistic visions, comes to life with Aspiration. Trumpeter Natsuki Tamura, Fujii's husband and musical partner is here too, as is laptop/electronics wizardess, Ikue Mori, making it a quartet of iconoclasts. Smith and Tamura, two of the ...