Satoko Fujii: Torrent

  Blessed with a fecund musical imagination and fleet fingers wedded to impeccable technique plus formidable determination, the prolific pianist Satoko Fujii is at her best on Torrent. The pandemic limited her to playing at home, either solo or with her husband, trumpeter Natsuki Tamura. This solo piano recital was recorded in the municipal theater in Iwo City, Japan, and was totally spontaneous. As she notes, after the restrictions due to Covid, she says she feels “more comfortable now playing unaccompanied. It’s like looking down into myself.” The audience, both in Iyo City and now at home, reaps the benefits of her introspection. Besides playing the piano at home, she must have done a fair amount of experimentation with pedals and playing the insides of the instrument. Some of the sounds she produces for this concert are other-worldly, almost electronic in places. The use of extended techniques is most pronounced on the endlessly fascinating Cut the Painter, with manipulation of the strings, bangs on different parts of the instrument, and a curious drone effect, plus gentle melodies from the keyboard. All of her music is wildly unpredictable, as short phrases lead to dense passages and calm sections are contrasted with turbulent bursts of sound. Light on the Sea Surface is one of the more impressive pieces on the program. In the first half, a constant flow of ripples from the right hand is contrasted with some heavy and dark chords from the left hand. The second half of the performance is somewhat solemn, with lots of silence and more strong work at the bass end of the piano. The track ends with a thunderous attack, heavy on the bass, before dissolving into silence. The first few minutes of the peaceful Horizon combine a gentle melody with occasional light strums directly on the piano’s strings. Slowly, the music becomes more aggressive and stormy. The finale, Wave Crest, starts out with a call-and-response pattern between the two hands. The approach is reminiscent of Cecil Taylor’s solo performances, both at the start and as the piece evolves into dense and busy flurries of notes in a sumptuous display of Fujii’s formidable and occasionally forbidding playing. Torrent is a total triumph, beautifully recorded, and a journey worth savoring again and again. 

Libra 201-072; Satoko Fujii (p); Iyo City, Japan, October 10, 2022; Torrent/ Voyage/ Light on the Sea Surface/ Cut the Painter/ Horizon/ Wave Crest; 52:56. satokofujii.bandcamp.com www.librarecords.com