Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii / Ramon Lopez: Yama Kawa Umi

Encounters with Japanese pianist Satoko Fujii arrive with mindboggling regularity, yet her output remains remarkably immune to routine. Yama Kawa Umi reunites her with trumpeter (and husband) Natsuki Tamura and Paris-domiciled Spanish drummer Ramón López, resuming the volatile chemistry first heard on Mantle (NotTwo, 2020). Across eight compositions—five by Fujii, three by Tamura—and a brief collective, the trio sculpts improvisations within shifting frameworks, where precision can erupt from apparent disorder and dissolve just as suddenly.

Despite the sparse headcount, the sound often assumes orchestral scope. Fujii, Tamura and Lopez trade roles fluidly, rarely sustaining a full-group attack for long. Forms resist convention: "Cold Water" pares the material to a near skeletal, freeing Lopez to unleash rolling fusillades under rhythmically stabbed piano chords and fierce trumpet blasts. By contrast, "Dusk Sky" reveals its thematic core only in the final moments. The route there passes through two duets—Lopez with Tamura in a muted, pointillist exchange; Lopez with Fujii in a more dramatic, percussive dialogue—before converging in a mournful unison tinged with quiet resolve.

The uncompromising and unpredictable opener, "Headwaters," sets the aesthetic stakes. It begins with crashing waves of sound, which flail and froth before ebbing into a reflective calm. Here and elsewhere, Fujii moves easily between such extremes: from explosive clusters to meditative arpeggios. At times, Tamura leans into a lyrical sensibility familiar from his Gato Libre work, but more often employs a voice which toys with timbre and inflection. Both are buoyed by Lopez who brings the most overtly improv sensibility, equal parts patter and propulsion, nudging the music toward sudden turns.

If most themes here function primarily as springboards for improvisation, "Bolognaise" makes a case for memorability. Its free-form chatter—taps, flits and quick pivots—slyly hints at the resolution to come in the gently melodic theme, announced jointly by piano and trumpet. The performance underlines the group's ability to hold a destination in mind without telegraphing the path. Part of the album's allure lies in its refusal to settle. It is a record of constant negotiation, where that interplay—not the frames—becomes the listener's anchor.

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