The prolific pianist/composer Satoko Fujii is celebrating her 60th birthday year with a deluge of music in the “CD of the month marathon.” The feast begins with her solo piano performance in Yawatahama, Japan, simply titled Solo. As she notes, the concert was performed with no particular program in mind. She writes that the “preparation might be that I’ve played piano for 55 years, over 30 of them as a professional musician.” Her music is intensely focused, frequently expressed in a calmly ruminative style, as if she’s never quite sure what she’s going to play next but confident in the suitability of whatever she comes up with. She’s also unafraid to utilize the totality of the piano as instrument, with her keyboard and pedal work punctuated by taps on the outside and direct string manipulation on the inside. Her relaxed approach to the solo situation results in extended investigations of older pieces including the opening Inori, first performed in a quartet from 2005, the dramatic Spring Storm, from a 2013 trio release, and Gen Himmel, premiered on a solo recording in 2012. The most energetic piece is a new one, the torrential Up Down Left Right. This concert in a small city in the southwestern part of Ehime Prefecture came about because of a simple wish by self-described music lover Mitsuru Itani. It was his “secret wish” to hear “Fujii play solo - on a concert grand piano, if possible a Steinway D274.” His liner notes describe the process of making his dream come true, and his reward, and ours too, is this gem of creative musicianship. Arigato, Mitsuru Itani, for making your secret wish a reality.
Libra 201-046; Satoko Fujii (p); Yawatahama, Japan, July 9, 2017; Inori/ Geradeaus/ Ninepin/ Spring Storm/ Gen Himmel/ Up Down Left Right/ Moonlight; 66:10. www.librarecords.com
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