Japanese
Facebook
My space
Short Biography
Satoko Fujii
BIOGRAPHY
SATOKO FUJII
"She is the Ellington of free jazz."\Bob Rusch, Cadence
gUnpredictable, wildly creative, and uncompromisingcFujii is an
absolutely essential listen for anyone interested in the future of
jazz." \ Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz
gFujii is clearly one of the most exciting musicians to come along in a while.h \ Robert Iannapollo, Cadence
Critics and fans alike hail pianist and composer SATOKO FUJII
as one of the most original voices in jazz today. A truly global
artist, she tours internationally leading several ensembles based in
Japan, Europe, and the United States. Just as her career spans
international borders, her music spans many genres, blending jazz,
contemporary classical, rock, and traditional Japanese music into an
innovative synthesis instantly recognizable as hers alone. Her
wide-ranging compositions can incorporate the simple melodies of folk
song, the harmonic sophistication of jazz, the rhythmic power of rock,
and the extended forms of symphonic composers. Although Fujiifs
compositions are full of sudden shifts in direction and mood, the
extremes are always part of a greater conceptual whole. The 2015 El
Intruso International Critics Poll recognized her as one of the
composers of the year and in 2016 she was named a Rising Star Composer
in the 64th Annual DownBeat International Critics Poll. As an
improviser, Fujii is equally wide-ranging
and virtuosic. In her solos, explosive free jazz energy mingles with
delicate melodicism and a broad palette of timbre and textures.
Born on October 9, 1958 in Tokyo, Japan, Fujii began playing piano at
four and received classical training until twenty, when she turned to
jazz. From 1985 to 1987, she studied at Bostonfs Berklee College of
Music, where her teachers included Herb Pomeroy and Bill Pierce. She
returned to Japan for six years before going back to the US to study at
the New England Conservatory in Boston, where her teachers included
George Russell, Cecil McBee, and Paul Bley, who appeared on her debut
CD Something About Water (Libra, 1996).
Since then Fujii has been an innovative bandleader and soloist, a
tireless seeker of new sounds, and a prolific recording artist in
ensembles ranging from duos to big bands. She has showcased her
astonishing range and ability on more than 80 CDs as leader or
co-leader. With each recording or new band, she explores new aspects of
her art.
Between 1997 and 2009, her New York trio with bassist Mark Dresser and
drummer Jim Black released seven critically acclaimed CDs. Cadence magazine described the group as gBeautiful and exciting by turns, and sometimes both at once.h Jason Bivins in Signal to Noise praised the gdynamite unith for its gimprov delirium, hot grooves, and melodic dances.h
In 2004 Fujiifs husband, trumpeter Natsuki Tamura, joined the trio to
form the Satoko Fujii Four, which released the critically acclaimed Live in Japan 2004 and 2006fs When We Were There.
At the same time, she and Tamura began documenting their intimate duo
music. By now, the pair has made five CDs for various labels in Europe
and Japan. In his four-star DownBeat review of Chun (2008), Ted Panken wrote, gFujiifs
orchestral technique, clear chromatic lines and eprepared pianof
devices contrast effectively with Tamurafs arsenal of extended
techniques which he executes with a warm, vocalized tone throughout the
trumpetfs full range.h Their sixth duet album is due out in 2017.
In 2001 came the radically different Vulcan
(Libra Records), an avant-rock/free-jazz fusion album by a new group,
the Satoko Fujii Quartet featuring Tatsuya Yoshida of the Japanese
avant-rock duo, The Ruins. gThe sensibility here is aggressive to the point of primitive,h said Bill Bennett in JazzTimes. gVulcan is c a masterpiece of jazz expression.h Between 2001 and 2007, each of the Japanese quartetfs five albums, including Zephyros (Polystar, 2004) and Angelona
(Libra, 2005), received equally enthusiastic approval. Toh-Kichi, her
duo with the quartetfs drummer Yoshida, released CDs in 2002 and 2004.
Even as she led these disparate small ensembles, moving with equal
vigor in widely divergent directions, Fujii also embarked one of the
most important aspects of her career\composer, leader, and soloist with
some of the most innovative large jazz ensembles of the past twenty
years. Cadence magazine dubbed her gthe Ellington of free jazz.h
In 1996, she founded Orchestra New York, which boasts the cream of New
Yorkfs contemporary avant-garde improvisers, including saxophonists
Ellery Eskelin and Tony Malaby, trumpeters Herb Roberton and Steven
Bernstein, and trombonist Curtis Hasselbring, among others. Over the
course of seven albums, Fujii has greinvigorated the big-band concept for the new century – and placed herself at the forefront of the style at the same time,h according to Marc Chénard in Coda.
Orchestra Tokyo, founded a year later in 1997, draws on that cityfs
best improvisers, and has recorded five CDs to date. Writing in All About Jazz, Dan McClenaghan praised the band for its gPower,
exuberance, fierce soloingcmoments of beauty, serenity, delicacy
interspersed with seismic Elvis Costello ePump it Upf percussion/bass
modes that lead into gentle classical harmonyc Fujii is an absolutely
essential listen for anyone interested in the future of jazz.h
However, Fujiifs creative ideas for large ensemble cannot be fully
encompassed by a mere two big bands, and she has gone on to work with
two others\Orchestra Nagoya, with which she has recorded three CDs
since 2004, and Orchestra Kobe. In 2006 she released an unprecedented
four big band CDs\one by each of these orchestras\at one time.
Even four orchestras are not enough for the prolific
composer-improviser. At the 2013 Chicago Jazz Festival she premiered a
fifth big band, the Satoko Fujii Orchestra Chicago. In 2014, she added
Orchestra Berlin to her growing list of large ensembles, and recorded Ichigo Ichie. The album gswells
in oceanic crests from which its musicians soar wildly. The
four-part title suite repeatedly builds to thrilling, noisy,
near-hysterical climaxes,h wrote Derk Richardson in The Absolute Sound.
As the new century progressed, Fujii continued to establish new
ensembles. In 2007, Fujii formed ma-do, a quartet which included Tamura
on trumpet, bassist Norikatsu Koreyasu, and Akira Horikoshi, the
drummer in Orchestra Tokyo. The group showcased the latest developments
in her composition for small ensembles, while playing in a more
intimate acoustic setting that contrasted with the high-volume,
rock-influenced Quartet. They made three impressive CDs before the
tragic death of bassist Koreyasu in 2011. Alan Young in Lucid Culture called their second release, Desert Ship, a gcharacteristically
fascinating, emotionally varied, richly melodic one by her pretty
straight-up small combo ma-doc. Another triumph for this extraordinary
composer.h
In 2006, she established yet another acoustic quartet, the Min-Yoh
Ensemble with Tamura, trombonist Curtis Hasselbring, and accordionist
Andrea Parkins. Dedicated to developing written and improvised music in
the collective spirit of Japanese folkloric music, the band made two
CDs. Writing in All About Jazz, Budd Kopman called their debut, Fujin Raijin, ga
stupendous, almost terrifying record that shatters any and all
expectations during its six tracksc If any music has the ability to
change onefs life, this is it, making Fujin Raijin a powerful
experience in which to revel.h
In 2013, Fujii set off on a fresh musical adventure with the Satoko
Fujii New Trio, featuring bassist Todd Nicholson and drummer Takashi
Itani\her first piano trio since 2009. The group released their debut
recording, Spring Storm, that same year. gIt
is tempting to say the very focused, often gorgeous and always
thought-provoking Spring Storm\with its delicacy versus strength
dynamic, and melodic beauty beside the articulate and challenging
interplay\is her best work to date,h wrote Dan McClenaghan in All About Jazz.
With the addition of trumpeter Tamura in 2014, the trio expanded into a
quartet called Tobira and toured North and South America. Their debut
release, Yamiyo Ni Karasu, grises to the top tier of her sprawling discography,h according to Steve Greenlee in JazzTimes.
In addition to leading her own ensembles, Fujii has engaged in many
collaborative projects and ad hoc groups, and appeared as a member of
ensembles led by others. With violinist Carla Kihlstedt, she has made
two CDs, including Minamo, which Ben Ratliff of the New York Times says gis extraordinary, a series of tight, dramatic events.h She has also released a limited edition duo recording with pianist Myra Melford, Under the Water. A meeting between Fujii and Tamura and Dutch pianist Misha Mengelberg and trumpeter Angelo Verploegen is documented on Crossword Puzzle. Her recent collaboration with bassist Joe Fonda, documented on 2016fs Duet, was called gmiraculoush and ga bravura performanceh by All About Jazz.
Increasingly since 2013, she and Tamura are joined by special guests,
such as laptop musician Ikue Mori and British guitarist John Russell,
as they tour around the globe. She has also toured and recorded with
saxophonist Larry Ochsf Sax and Drum Core, and appeared on albums by
drummer Jimmy Weinstein, saxophonist Raymond McDonald, and Japanese
free jazz pioneer, trumpeter Itaru Oki. She is a regular member of
Tamurafs groups, Gato Libre (in which she plays accordion) and First
Meeting, and played synthesizer in his quartet between 2002 and 2004.
In recent years she has worked with dance and music ensembles featuring
percussive dancer Mizuki Wildenhahn. Dos Dos includes Wildenhahn and
percussionist Faín S. Dueñas, a founder of the Grammy-nominated Radio
Tarifa; Hakidame ni Tsuru features trumpeter Tamura, as well as
percussionist Takaaki Masuko, and guitarist Usui Yasuhiro.
The cooperative group that currently claims most of her attention is
the international quartet Kaze, featuring Fujii and Tamura along with
trumpeter Christian Pruvost, and drummer Peter Orins from France. Kaze
has earned wide acclaim. As Virginia Schaefer said of a live show she
covered for JazzTimes, gIntense and playful, down-to-earth and international, Kaze communicates in a musical language of contrasts and continuity.h Jon Garelick writes in Giant Steps, gKaze takes jazz abstraction to a sublime limitc. There is suspense, virtuosity, mystery, calm.h Their debut recording Rafale (2011) earned acclaim from Mark Medwin in The New York City Jazz Record, as ga stunning achievement from note onech Their second CD Tornado (August 2013), earned similar acclaim. In 2015, they released their third album, Uminari, which Jazz Magazine (France) called, ga
compelling example of free jazz today. Compositions are perfectly
scripted, with a well-oiled interaction and playing of beautiful powerch In addition, Kaze appears as special guests with Orchestra Tokyo on their 2016 release, Peace.
In 2016 Kaze expanded to include a second pianist, Sophie Agnel, and a
second drummer, Didier Lasserre, to become Trouble Kaze, which released
an album in early 2017.
Fujii tours as relentlessly as she records. She has appeared live on
every continent except Antarctica, performing at festivals, concert
halls, and clubs. In 2013, she was honored with three nights on which
to present her music at the Bielefeld Festival in Germany. In August
and September of that year, she presented a week of music by several of
her bands at The Stone in New York City.
The year 2016 marked Fujiifs 20th anniversary in music as well the 20th
anniversary of Libra Records, which has released most of her
recordings. To celebrate, she embarked on a worldwide tour that
included completely improvised solo concerts once a month in Europe,
the US, and Japan; concerts in which she and Tamura were joined by
special guests; and performances by several of her small and large
ensembles, past and present.
Fujii tirelessly continues to explore the possibilities and expand the
parameters of the many groups shefs established over the years, and
there is certainly more provocative and exciting listening in store as
she pursues her ultimate goal: gI would love to make music that no one
has heard before.h
1/29/2017