Satoko Fujii & Myra Melford: Katarahi

 

   The two-piano format has never been a favorite of mine, but maybe I haven’t listened to the right players. Pianist/composers Satoko Fujii & Myra Melford joined one another on stage at a jazz festival in Austria, and the distilled results of their appearance is preserved on Katarahi. The album title is a Japanese word, meaning a heart-to-heart conversation between intimate friends, a beautiful concept and the clearest way to characterize the musical flow of their music. As Fujii says to Ed Hazell for his liner notes, “We both write a lot, and I enjoy playing her compositions.” Melford comments that “She’s so present in the moment that it’s easy to connect and build the music together.” That’s exactly what they do, utilizing a quartet of Melford’s pieces, a trio of Fujii’s, and a whole lot of intuitive improvisation. Almost silent at times, and poundingly intense the next, the music of Katarahi never fails to surprise and delight. Not to be missed. 

RogueArt ROG-0149; Satoko Fujii, Myra Melford (p); Leibnitz, Austria, September 24, 2024; Interlude I/ Signpost/ Pairs/ Chalk/ Kaiwa/ IV/ From Sometime; 51:38. www.roguart.com

Piano Trio Roundup 1! Hersch, Fukumori, Perazzo & Cardillo, Fujii, Donelian

     Since at least the 1950's, when pianists Red Garland, Bill Evans, Bud Powell, and Ahmad Jamal, among many others, led popular trios, the basic format of piano, bass, and drums has been a constant in the jazz world, encompassing a amazing array of styles and interactive approaches. It’s an instrumental lineup that never seems to get old, and every year brings new additions to the piano trio canon....

    Fifty or so years ago, I remember looking at a friend’s large record collection. Noticing that he had something like 50 Bill Evans records, I recall thinking how weird it was to have so much music by one pianist. That was then. I’ve learned my lesson over the decades, and although I don’t have 50 Evans titles, I do have quite a lot of piano trio albums by the likes of Red Garland, Cedar Walton, Ray Bryant, George Cables, Paul Bley, and Fred Hersch. Possibly the last major pianist to have learned his craft on the job, and not in school, Hersch is credited in the Jazz Discography with 58 sessions as leader since Horizons, his 1984 debut on Concord Records. That album featured a trio with Marc Johnson on bass and Joey Baron on drums. Baron and Hersch played together on a number of albums in the Eighties, and now they’ve reunited for The Surrounding Green, with bassist Drew Gress, a frequent partner for Hersch since 1992. Recorded in what’s become Hersch’s favorite space, the Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI in Lugano, Switzerland, the music unfolds with immense charm and deep feeling. The mix of original tunes and choice selections from the jazz world, like Ornette Coleman’s Law Years and Charlie Haden’s First Song, is typical of a Hersch program. ECM’s typically crustal-clear recording of the trio serves to enhance their interior dynamics. The Surrounding Green is not to be missed, with music that will be enjoyed over and over in the years to come.  ECM 2836; Fred Hersch (p) Drew Gress (b) Joey Baron (d); Lugano, Switzerland, May 2024; Plainsong/ Law Years/ The Surrounding Green/ Palhaço/ Embraceable You/ First Song/ Anticipation; 41:39. ecmrecords.com

 
     It only takes a couple of minutes to realize that pianist Michika Fukumori is a distinctive composer and an utterly self-assured presence at the keyboard. A long-time student of pianist Steve Kuhn, she wrote the first seven tunes on the enjoyable Eternity And A Day, where she’s joined by Steve Whipple on bass and veteran Adam Nussbaum on drums. Fukumori and Whipple have played together frequently over the last decade, and their rapport is apparent. Nussbaum got his start in the late Seventies, playing on record dates led by prominent jazzmen like Dave Liebman and John Scofield, and he’s appeared on over 300 sessions since then. Another Tomorrow gets things off to an excellent start with a hard bop styled melody, influenced by Horace Silver and Bobby Timmons. The title track is a calm and introspective ballad. Fukumori’s other original tunes follow, comprising a sort of suite: the Brazilian-flavored Acaso, the jaunty Our Future (Reiwa), the tender The Light of Dawn, the gentle blues of Port (The Departure) and ending with There is Always Light, another mellow theme with a definite blues feeling. The four pieces from other sources reveal Fukumori’s wide-ranging exploration of the jazz repertoire. Kurt Weill’s Speak Low, written for the Broadway musical, One Touch Of Venus, was a 1943 hit single by Guy Lombardo & His Orchestra. In spite of that dubious pedigree, the song was frequently performed by singers including Billie Holiday and Tony Bennett, as well as instrumentalists like Chet Baker, Booker Ervin, Woody Shaw, and dozens of others. The Fukumori trio has a lot of fun with the song, starting out pretty briskly and really surging into high gear after Fukumori and an energized Nussbaum trade fours. The glacial opening to the solo piano medley of Chopin’s Prelude No. 28 and Jobim’s How Insensitive is slightly jarring at first, but the piece showcases the delicacy of her touch. Similarly, the rubato introduction to Fats Waller’s immortal Jitterbug Waltz belies the elegantly swinging rendition that follows. The song has been recorded 525 times since 1942 according to Tom Lord’s online Jazz Discography, and yet, in the right hands, it always sound brand-new. Nussbaum shines here, matching wits with Fukumori, and shadowing Whipple’s tasteful solo with some lovely brushwork. Closing the generously long program is Nicholas Brodszky’s Be My Love in a graceful solo performance by Fukumori. Eternity And A Day is genuine pleasure from beginning to end, and it is warmly recommended. Summit DCD 838; Michika Fukumori (p) Steve Whipple (b) Adam Nussbaum (d); Brooklyn, NY, August 5, 2023; Another Tomorrow/ Eternity and a Day/ Acoso/ Our Future (Reiwa)/ The Light of Dawn/ Port (The Departure)/ There is Always Light/ Speak Low/ Prelude Op. 28, No. 4 - How Insensitive/ Jitterbug Waltz/ Be My Love; 70:22. www.summitrecords.com

 
    When a well-traveled and highly praised master musician like bassist Buster Williams writes that Tommaso Perazzo & Marcello Cardillo “are two truly gifted musicians” and takes the time to record with them, it makes sense to take a listen. Pianist Perazzo and drummer Cardillo were joined in New York by Williams to make the satisfyingly swinging Portrait Of A Moment. The trio jumps right in with a Perazzo original, Back at the Right Spot!, and they surely are at the right spot. The pleasures of listening to this piano trio grow as they delve into a few more originals, a pair of Williams’ compositions (the lovely ballad Christina and Where Giants Dwell), Wayne Shorter’s frequently played Footprints, and Mulgrew Miller’s Soul Leo. The deep and soulful spirit of the ensemble comes through loud and clear on every piece. Williams writes that he “so much enjoyed making this record ... I hope you the listener enjoy it also.” Here’s one listener that’s loving every minute. Recommended. Red RR123354; Tommaso Perazzo (p) Buster Williams (b) Marcello Cardillo (d); NYC, June 14, 2023; Back at the Right Spot/ Alba Sur Mare/ Kind of Blues/ Christina/ Where Giants Dwell/ Footprints/ Soul Leo/ Ricordi/ For Wayne (bonus; digital only); 45:58. redrecords.it

 
    The tireless pianist Satoko Fujii has a new project, the Satoko Fujii Tokyo Trio. Dream A Dream is the group’s first studio album after two live sets. As is often the case with prolific composer/instrumentalists, the line between composition and improvisation is blurred to the point of unimportance. It’s the chemistry of the collective that becomes the key to grasping the intent of the music. Bassist Takashi Sugawa and drummer Ittetsu Takemura are preternaturally attuned to Fujii’s emotional range and her dynamic approach to performance, and it makes for a deeply intriguing and adventurous set of performances. By turns quiet and moody or brash and excitable, these five pieces stretch the concept of the piano trio with surprising and gratifying results. Second Step begins with a dazzling display of piano mastery. That’s followed by a jagged bass interlude and then a hushed floating feeling is established only to lead into a triumphant-sounding and rising melody that is soon splintered and ... well, you get the idea. Fujii’s compositions for trio are journeys in sound that start in one place and go through a lot of changes before coming to an end. I’m particularly taken with drummer Takemura’s eccentric playing on the title track, inspiring bassist Sugawa into an extended rapturous solo. Fujii’s piano darts in and out of the music, eventually taking over the piece with a delicate solo that gradually increases in intensity as bass and drums hover around her. And there’s a lot more in this almost 19-minute piece. Sometimes it’s the silences embedded in the performances that are most telling, providing an element of suspense and anticipation. I’ve been listening to a lot of Paul Bley’s music lately, and Fujii’s studies with Bley still reverberate in her approach to the piano thirty-one years after they recorded a series of piano duets. Dream a Dream is heartily recommended. Libra 203-079; Satoko Fujii (p) Takashi Sugawa (b) Ittetsu Takemura (d); Paris, France, May 22, 2024; Second Step/ Dream a Dream/ Summer Day/ Rain Drop/ Aruru; 56:31. www.librarecords.com

 

    Stargazer, recorded in 1980, was veteran pianist Armen Donelian’s debut as a leader. While it’s not typical for a first album to feature all original compositions, Donelian had the expert assistance of bassist Eddie Gómez and drummer Billy Hart in navigating the intricacies of his tunes. Originally made for Atlas Records in Japan, Sunnyside Records has now reissued the date and added Queen of Light, a previously unreleased performance. The set leads off with the title track, a tune that Donelian has revisited many times since this premiere performance. You couldn’t ask for a more sympathetic bass and drums team back then, and both Gómez (who turned 81 recently) and Hart (now 84 years young) are still making strong contributions to jazz. In addition to their abilities as astute accompanists, both Gómez and Hart are stirring soloists. Gómez was a member of the Bill Evans trio for over a decade, where he soloed frequently to great effect. The only non-original on the album is Free at Last, a lightly grooving collective improvisation which features Donelian and Gómez simultaneously soloing over Hart’s steady beat. The mellow ballad Southern Belle is distinguished by a dense and playful Gómez solo. Donelian is totally enjoyable on his Love’s Endless Spin, an upbeat samba that gallops along with Hart and Gómez providing stellar support. Hart solos with brushes to lead off Monday, which develops into a high-spirited three-way conversation. The delicately playful waltz Silent Afternoon concluded the original release. Queen of Light, the bonus track, is vaguely funky, with a strong solo by Gómez. If a jazz piano trio fan were to listen to Stargazer without knowing anything about it, she might say it was recorded last week or last year or maybe twenty or thirty years ago. Stargazer, reissued forty-five years after its initial release, is a sturdy session of piano jazz, and a reminder of the timeless pleasures of the format. Sunnyside SSC 4039; Armen Donelian (p) Eddie Gómez (b) Billy Hart (d); NYC, April 15, 1980; Stargazer/ Free At Last/ Southern Belle/ Love’s Endless Spin/ Monday/ Silent Afternoon/ Queen of Light; 47:54. sunnysiderecords.com

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

Ikue Mori/Satoko Fujii + Natsuki Tamura: Prickly Pear Cactus (Pandemic duos and trios, #2)

  Ikue Mori/Satoko Fujii + Natsuki Tamura have their own file-trading project, Prickly Pear Cactus. Step right into their world of bleeps, bloops, distorted piano, and a myriad of other-worldly noises on the opening title track, where electronic musician Mori and pianist Fujii are joined by Fujii’s husband, the audacious trumpeter Natsuki Tamura. It’s the kind of onslaught that separates the potential audience into those who are merely curious and those who are thrilled by the passionate creativity that’s displayed. Count me among the fiercely committed, open to whatever weirdness these radically adventuresome players provide. The blend of Fujii’s piano musings, full of surprising leaps and startling shifts in tempo, with Mori’s everything but the kitchen sink electronics is unusually absorbing. Tamura’s bravura trumpet stylings add another layer of craziness to the proceedings on four tracks. With Fujii and Tamura at home in Kobe City, Japan, and Mori at home in New York, the pieces evolved in various ways, with Mori providing the final mix and edits. The line between composition and improvisation, shaky at best in a wide variety of situations, becomes more blurred in the deliberate and time-delayed nature of the file sharing process. Even more than usual with improvised music, a blow-by-blow description of the music on Prickly Pear Cactus would be totally beside the point. So I’ll just say that Prickly Pear Cactus is a gas, and one of the few positive ramifications of the Earth’s plague year. Great on headphones, too! 

Libra 203-062; Natsuki Tamura (tpt on *) Satoko Fujii (p) Ikue Mori (elec); NYC (Mori) & Kobe City (Fujii & Tamura), 2020; Prickly Pear Cactus*/ Sweet Fish/ Guerrilla Rain/ Mountain Stream*/ Overnight Mushroom/ Empty Factory/ In the Water*/ Turning/ Muddy Stream*/ Sign; 53:50. librarecords.com

Gato Libre: Koneko

    The current incarnation of Gato Libre is a trio with trumpeter/composer Natsuki Tamura, accordionist Satoko Fujii, and trombonist Yasuko Kaneko. Koneko, recorded last December, begins with Kaineko. Tamura’s plaintive trumpet and Kaneko’s mournful trombone trade lines to begin, with Fujii’s touchingly fragile accordion joining in. The nearly seven minutes of the tune take them through a maze of musical locales. There are passages of frenzy and others of peaceful co-existence as the trio creates a wholly original soundworld based on Tamura’s seemingly simple concoctions. The eight pieces on the disc unfold as a sort of suite, a long round of solos, duos, and trios. Tamura has said that he wants the “improvisations of the band to carry the atmosphere of the compositions, which is serene and calm.” In its own relatively quiet and slowly paced way, the music on Koneko can be surprisingly intense. With carefully recorded sound that’s fully revealing of the nuances of each instrument, and the often startling beauty of the music, Koneko is an exceptional listening experience. Highly recommended. 

Libra 103-060; Natsuki Tamura (tpt) Yasuko Kaneko (tbn) Satoko Fujii (acc); Tokyo, Japan, December 5, 2019; Kaineko/ Noraneko/ Yamaneko/ Koneko/ Ieneko/ Bakeneko/ Doraneko/ Kanbanneko; 51:18. www.librarecords.com

 

Mahobin: Live At Big Apple In Kobe

Mahobin literally means “magic bottle” in Japanese and is used as the word for a Thermos bottle. To keep the musical proceedings both hot and magical, Satoko Fujii is using it as the name of a new quartet with Natsuki Tamura on trumpet, Lotte Anker on saxophone, and Ikue Mori on electronics. Their first release, and the eighth in Fujii’s 2018 marathon, is Live At Big Apple In Kobe. The disc offers a free-wheeling soundscape conjured by Tamura’s brash trumpet, Anker’s passionately fluid sax, Fujii’s complex piano stylings, and the utter unpredictability of Mori’s electronic manipulations. It all makes for an indescribable brew with new adventures in improvisation coming at you all the time. Most of the disc’s time is given over to a piece that they call Rainbow Elephant, an instantaneous concoction that finds its own balance in a natural blend of solo and collective improvisation. The comparatively brief Yellow Sky is edgier, a sort of sonic game with the players maneuvering to bounce the listener’s focus quickly from event to event. It all sounds like it was a great night for improvising at the Big Apple, with music now happily available for repeated home enjoyment.
Libra 204-050; Natsuki Tamura (tp) Lotte Anker (sax) Satoko Fujii (p) Ikue Mori (elec); Kobe, Japan, February 23, 2018; Rainbow Elephant/ Yellow Sky; 49:32. www.librarecords.com

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

Satoko Fujii: Solo

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