Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Satoko Fujii Quartet: Zephyros

165

Satoko Fujii Quartet: Zephyros

By

View read count
Satoko Fujii Quartet: Zephyros
Satoko Fujii has the capability of making music in several different contexts and breathing life into each one of them. She is back with her quartet for a third album—and if hope springs eternal, that hope is fully realised. The elements of surprise and change are the constants which make listening to her and her band well worth anticipating.

Fujii likes to compose at a tangent. There are no straight-ahead manifestations in her writing. Whatever the approach, whether it is immersed in dark swirling mist or in the calm flow of a ballad, there is always a dramatic air that ignites the interaction between the players. Even the fractured rhythm pronounced by drummer Tatsuya Yoshida on “First Tango” sets up the blithe run of Natsuka Tamura on trumpet who essays the melody enhanced by the bass of Takeharu Hayakawa, giving the song its rhythmic due. Fujii is chock-full of harmonic runs that she strongly accents with chords from her left.

The opening to “Flying to the South” is deceptive; Fujii plays open ended notes before slowly upping the tempo with thunderous chords. She is soon on to a balmier landscape abetted by Tamura, before the rest gather and head off into a happy, sunny atmosphere getting a shot of roiling bass from Hayakawa along the way. The array of sound and hue that carries “15 Minutes to Get to the Station” is compelling. The atmosphere crackles first from the use of open, into which is immersed the vocal cries of Yoshida, and then the whirlwind that sweeps through on Tamura’s trumpet eddied by the bass and drums as the song rocks strongly onward before reining in and ending on a gentle plain.

Whatever form the music may take, whatever directions it may break into, at the end it all coalesces into a cogent whole. And that is something worth listening to.

Track Listing

The Future of the Past; As Usual; Flying to the South; First Tango; One Summer Day; Clear Sky—for Christopher; 15 Minutes to Get to the Station.

Personnel

Natsuki Tamura: trumpet; Satoko Fujii: piano; Takeharu Hayakawa: bass; Tatsuya Yoshida: Canopus, drums.

Album information

Title: Zephyros | Year Released: 2004 | Record Label: NatSat Music

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.