Tomas Fujiwara: Pith

  Percussionist Tomas Fujiwara leads his 7 Poets Trio, with Patricia Brennan on vibes and Tomeka Reid on cello, on the Out Of Your Head release Pith. Now, pith is a very interesting word, going back to before the 12th century. It originally meant a “central strand of spongy tissue in the stems of most vascular plants,” but came to also mean “the essential core”. These days, the word is most often heard as part of the adjective “pithy”. What does this have to do with the music, you may ask. The 7 Poets Trio dives right into the central conundrum of improvised music: with a given set of musicians, how can we balance their individuality and the need for group cohesion in a way that honors the music above all? That’s the pith of the situation. And the trio addresses that question with a series of delicately balanced and poised performances. Fujiwara composed all the material, save for Other, a collective free-for-all. His melodies serve as frameworks for inspired solos and dynamic interplay. As a teenager, Fujiwara studied with the great Boston drummer Alan Dawson before moving to New York to immerse himself in the scene there. His complex and inventive playing has enlivened many an ensemble, and he seems to be busy forming new ones all the time. The 7 Poets Trio is his latest venture, and it shows a lot of potential for further development. The imaginative cellist Tomeka Raid has quite a lot of tricks up her sleeves, from bass-like walking lines to extended arco technique. On the atmospheric and tempo-less Resolve, she delivers a ghostly sound with the bow while Fujiwara softly uses mallets on cymbals and drums. All the while Brennan is laying down an extended melodic line. Mysterious at first, the piece carefully turns into a peaceful ballad. Josho. with Fujiwara keeping a light and steady beat, is the most “jazzy” of his tunes, with Brennan and Reid each contributing succinct solos. On vibes, Brennan maintains a bright sound and a steady flow of ideas, making her a perfect foil to Fujiwara’s equally creative drumming. Pith is a thoroughly delightful release, highly recommended. 

Out Of Your Head OOYH 022; Patricia Brennan (vib) Tomeka Reid (clo) Tomas Fujiwara (d); New Haven, CT, April 15, 2023; Solace/Swelter/ Resolve/ Josho/ Other/ Breath;  38:44. www.outofyourheadrecords.com

Tomas Fujiwara’s Triple Double: March

  Tomas Fujiwara’s Triple Double is the ingenious name of Fujiwara’s double trio, with the unusual line up of two drummers (Fujiwara, doubling vibraphone, and Gerald Cleaver), a pair of electric guitarists (Brandon Seabrook and frequent Fujiwara collaborator Mary Halvorson), and two brass players (Ralph Alessi on trumpet and Taylor Ho Bynum on cornet, another of Fujiwara’s regular bandmates). The group’s second release is March, recorded in December 2019. Fujiwara’s pungent compositions engender passages of wild discord and chaotic beauty arising from the boundless improvisations of his co-conspirators. Without much of a template for this particular instrumentation, Fujiwara was liberated to create his own strategies. He notes that he “really wanted to hone in on the subtle shifts that can happen with the addition and subtraction of different musicians in the ensemble.” The song title Docile Fury Ballad hints at the contradictory feelings that Fujiwara consistently invokes. Largely eschewing long solos in favor of brief outbursts of sound, the emphasis throughout most of the program is on spirited collective improvisations. Pack Up, Coming For You starts the fun with a piece that starts out simply enough but grows in complexity and allure as it develops. Life Only Gets More skitters along at first with a friendly groove before breaking down into a quiet space, like coming across an unexpected clearing during a walk in the forest. The powerful Wave Shake and Angle Bounce is one of the disc’s real highlights, displaying an amazing sense of urgent propulsion and detailed interaction. A robust and cheerfully deranged guitar solo (by Seabrook, I think) takes over in the middle for a spell. There’s so much going on that it’s hard to know what to pay attention to at any given moment. And like many of Fujiwara’s pieces, it ends when you least expect it. I’m also enchanted by The March of the Storm Before the Quiet of the Dance, which evolves from a vaguely melancholy opening section into a complicated groove with squealing guitars fueled by the twin drumming of Fujiwara and Cleaver. Everything but the kitchen sink gets thrown into Docile Fury Ballad, which fuses trumpet pyrotechnics, casual guitar chords, an ever-quickening pace and a lot more into a potent example of the group’s many possible angles of attack. The atmospheric Silhouettes in Smoke follows, opening with a thumping beat and prominent guitars before falling back into another of Fujiwara’s quiet open zones where anything can happen as the music moves forward. Here it’s a trumpet/cornet duet against Fujiwara’s delicate vibes and low-ley drumming by Cleaver, leading to the closing section with the guitars. Closing the program is For Alan, Part II, a hypnotic and improvised drum duet, an extended tribute to the great Boston-area drummer Alan Dawson, who Fujiwara studied with as a child. March is highly recommended. 

Firehouse 12 FH12-04-01-035; Ralph Alessi (tpt) Taylor Ho Bynum (cnt) Mary Halvorson, Brandon Seabrook (g) Tomas Fujiwara (d, vib) Gerald Cleaver (d); New Haven, CT, December 10-11, 2019; Pack Up, Coming For You/ Life Only Gets More/ Wave Shake and Angle Bounce/ The March of the Storm Before the Quiet of the Dance/ Docile Fury Ballad/ Silhouettes in Smoke/ For Alan, Part II; 53:21. firehouse12records.com

Thumbscrew: The Anthony Braxton Project

  Thumbscrew is the trio of guitarist Mary Halvorson, bassist Michael Formanek, and drummer and vibraphonist Tomas Fujiwara. Each is each a leader of their own ensembles and mutual participants in other bands, and they adopt a cooperative ethos when gathering for this group. On their fifth Cuneiform release, the trio elected to focus on the extremely influential music of Anthony Braxton, who turned 75 in June 2020. The Anthony Braxton Project offers succinct explorations of nine of his compositions, ranging from the early Composition No. 14 (heard here three times in solo renditions by each player) to Composition No. 274. While Braxton’s music and philosophy have been critically important to many musicians, his pieces are not often played outside of his own groups. Each of the players in the band has a particular association with Braxton. Halvorson probably has the strongest connection, having studied with him at Wesleyan. She’s been a member of many different Braxton groups. Fujiwara met Braxton through trumpeter Taylor Ho Bynum, and has performed with the composer on several occasions. Formanek first encountered Braxton’s music back in the mid-Seventies, then followed Braxton’s output over the years until he finally worked with him in New York in the late Nineties. The trio had the unique opportunity to spend a long afternoon looking through Braxton’s archived scores. Halvorson notes that the “idea was for us to choose compositions of Anthony’s, mostly early compositions, which hadn’t been previously recorded.” They ended up with “pieces that captured our imagination and that we thought would work well for the instrumentation ... Our choices included graphic scores, complex notated pieces, and everything in between.” With the luxury of a four-week residence at Pittsburgh’s City Of Asylum, Thumbscrew could take the time to hone their interpretations of this famously difficult material. The most recent piece the trio tackled is Composition No. 274, a completely notated work from Braxton’s Ghost Trance Music series. Formanek notes that it’s “about how you deal with music that’s almost impossible to play and what happens when you do them with someone else, opening up possibilities you couldn’t plan.” Music that’s “almost impossible to play” presents the ultimate challenge to creative musicians, a challenge that is more than met by Thumbscrew on this endlessly fascinating release. Definitely recommended. 

Cuneiform Rune 475; Mary Halvorson (g) Michael Formanek (b) Tomas Fujiwara (d, vib); Pittsburgh, PA, September 8-11, 2019; Composition No. 52/ Composition No. 157/ Composition No. 14 (Guitar)/ Composition No. 68/Composition No. 274/ Composition No. 14 (Drums)/ Composition No. 61/ Composition No. 35/ Composition No. 14 (Bass)/ Composition No. 150/ Composition No. 79; 46:50. www.cuneiformrecords.com

Thumbscrew: Ours/Thumbscrew: Theirs

They each lead a number of bands and play in other groups, but when guitarist Mary Halvorson, bassist Michael Formanek, and drummer Tomas Fujiwara convene as Thumbscrew, the collective identity of the trio becomes the key to the enterprise. The band had a pair of well-received discs on Cuneiform (skremsky.tumblr.com/search/thumbscrew) before the label decided to go on hiatus. But Thumbscrew persisted, convincing label owner Steve Feigenbaum to put out not one but two new releases recorded during a June 2017 residency at Pittsburgh’s City of Asylum. Ours, a collection of original songs by each of the three bandmembers, and Theirs, a selection of covers by disparate composers including Stanley Cowell, Misha Mengelberg, Benny Golson, Wayne Shorter, and Julio De Caro, form a matched pair with 100 minutes of dynamically balanced and lively creativity. Start with Theirs, a carefully sequenced program of some truly lovely compositions. Does anyone ever tire of hearing expressive renditions of Herbie Nichols’ exquisite House Party Starting or Jimmy Rowles’ The Peacocks? I hesitate to pick any favorites from this bounty of stimulating performances, but I’m quite partial to their unusual high-spirited treatment of Brooks Bowman’s East of the Sun and the unstoppable groove the trio applies to Cowell’s Effi, first released on Max Roach’s Members, Don’t Get Weary album from 1968.

The equal balance of the playing extends to the composing chores on Ours, with each member of the band contributing three pieces specifically designed for this group. Halvorson’ Snarling Joys lead off the disc with a snaky low-key groove that provides a fine occasion for a lovingly textured Formanek bass solo. Fujiwara’s Saturn Way features some energetic drumming and some of Halvorson’s delicately spiky playing. Her crafty playing emphasizes the acoustic properties of her hollow-body electric guitar, with subtle sculpting by way of sparingly used effects. Formanek’s warm arco bass plays a big role here as well. The bassist’s jittery Cruel Heartless Bastards is up next, with staggered rhythms that evoke a mutant surf sound. Halvorson’s Smoketree is a slightly bittersweet ballad at first before the beat moves things in a heavier direction. There’s more of Halvorson’s innovative guitar spirit in a wild solo full of unexpected leaps, and an energetic Formanek bass solo is also prominent. Her piece Thumbprint is similarly digressive while mostly keeping the focus on Halvorson’s angular guitar lines. A pair by Fujiwara follow. One Day is hushed at first before Fujiwara moves from brushes to sticks and the piece blossoms into a mid-tempo romp. The fairly mellow Rising Snow gives Halvorson a chance to stretch out with a crisply understated solo. The final two pieces are by Formanek. His Words That Rhyme puts the emphasis on the group’s interaction with a stop/start structure that might falter without the dynamic elucidation that this tightly integrated unit provides. Unconditional closes the program with what may be the most conventional music of the date, a gently loping and restful ballad. Halvorson is impressive on this one, with an engaging solo over Fujiwara’s mallet work and Formanek’s measured walking bass. Somehow Halvorson, Formanek and Fujiwara successfully balance their fierce individuality with an equally unrelenting commitment to the collective and the music, and they make it work every time. Ours and Theirs are triumphs of creative music-making, and both are strongly recommended. 

Ours: Cuneiform Rune 439; Mary Halvorson (g) Michael Formanek (b) Tomas Fujiwara (d); Pittsburgh, PA, June 22-25, 2017; Snarling Joys/ Saturn Way/ Cruel Heartless Bastards/ Smoketree/ Thumbprint/ One Day/ Rising Snow/ Words That Rhyme with Spangle (angle bangle dangle jangle mangel mangle strangle tangle wangle wrangle)/ Unconditional; 55:54. 

Theirs: Cuneiform Rune 441; Mary Halvorson (g) Michael Formanek (b) Tomas Fujiwara (d); Pittsburgh, PA, June 22-25, 2017; Stablemates/ Benzinho/ House Party Starting/ The Peacocks/ East of the Sun/ Scarlet Ribbons (For Her Hair)/ Buen Amigo/ Dance Cadaverous/ Effi/ Weer is een dag voorbij; 46:07. www.cuneiformrecords.com