On the cutting edge of the outside of music, accordionist Satoko Fujii and trumpeter Natusuki Tamura collaborate on a pair of albums, one an intimate affair, and the other a large orchestration of ideas.
Gato Libre consists of Natsuki Tamura/tp, Satoko Fujii/acc, Yasuko Kaneko/tb, and Kazuhiko Tsumura/g on eleven originals. The pieces are consistent in their spaciousness and impressionistic qualities, with various emphasis of tones, lines and sounds on the pieces. Brass mouthpieces make some squacks on “Nanook” while clear and long tones are observed on “Dudu.” Most impressive are when Tsumura’s acoustic guitar takes the front with Fujii’s ambient accordion as on “Cirencester” and the tango-ish “Scramble” while folk themes veer in and out of “Mouse.” Impressive thoughts and moods.
The 15 pieces satoko Fujii Orchestra New York teams up for just three pieces, consisting of 36, 6 and 10 minutes respectively. You’ve got some heavy hitting guests stars here with Tony Malaby/ts, who gives a couple agonizing solos here and there. The half hour “Shiki” opens with a lengthy and moody legato that slowly leaks in with percussion before all builds up into a climactic avalanche of sounds, making the wave close the piece with ripples of sound breaking away into various directions. Pizzicato and chirping horns and strings dominate the melancholy “Gen Himmel” while a funky tribal backbeat drives the wild vocals and hard hitting trumpet on “Bi Ga Do Da.” Must be something to see live, but something is lost without the visuals.
Libra Records