Kaze: Atody Man

Satoko Fujii’s 60th birthday marathon continues with Atody Man, six tunes performed by Kaze, a coöp quartet with trumpeters Christian Pruvost and Natsuki Tamura and drummer Peter Orins joining Fujii on piano. Fujii seems to delight in unconventional instrumental groupings, and this lineup practically insures that no one is in their comfort zone, even after several previous releases and tours. Brassmen Pruvost and Tamura begin Orins’ composition Hypnotique Sympathie with long tones, in unison at first but slowly diverging. Fujii’s piano enters the music carefully at the 5 minute mark, with minimal accompaniment from drummer Orins. The sparse soundscape soon grows fuller and more heated as the trumpeters compete for space over an increasingly engaged piano and drums. Something like a groove eventually emerges in this curiously episodic piece. Orins’ fractured drumming takes the lead on Fujii’s Moving, an over-long excursion that includes a gritty trumpet duet, boldly dynamic pianistics from Fujii, and calmly sympathetic percussion work. The curious Méta-blizzard is another Orins composition. The music is very quiet and edgy to start, slowly developing into a trumpet showcase with clattery piano and drums before arriving at an actual melody with a quickened tempo and a feeling of hurried exuberance. By now, it should be quite clear that the only constant in the music of Kaze is continual change. As a listener, just when you think you have a good handle on what’s going on, the music shifts and moves in a new and wholly unexpected direction. Tempos stagger, the lead voice changes almost imperceptibly, themes emerge briefly only to be discarded, and the players frequently coax unusual timbres from their instruments. The quartet’s interplay is impressive, but for me the music of Kaze, while effective and admirable, is not necessarily lovable. Still, it’s definitely worth a listen.
Circum-disc/Libra 204; Christian Pruvost, Natsuki Tamura (tp) Satoko Fujii (p) Peter Orins (d); New Haven, CT, June 24, 2017; Hypnotique Sympathie/ Moving/ Méta-blizzard/ Morning Glow/ Inspiration 2/ Atody Man; 69:17. www.librarecords.com; circum-disc.com