Does the fact that one is using musical instruments mean that music is actually being played? Here are a couple of albums that both asks and answers the question.
Legendary pianist Satoko Fujii forms a trio with trumpeter Natsuki Tamura and drummer/percussionist Takashi Itani for 5 of her “compositions”. Tamura gasps and sighs over the military march and build up of “Habana’s Dream” while he experiments with his mouthpiece in various sounds on “Sleepless Night”. Fujii throws in a dash of Monk on the splattering “Kuazemi” while there are vibes and organic voicings on “Dieser Zug” before things close out on the screaming outer spaced “76 RH”. Is there a transcription for this, or will a Jackson Pollock painting suffice?
Intuitive pianist Satoko Fujii adds her voice to team up with taiko Saito on vibes and marimbas. I wouldn’t say that these recordings from her home and studio are “compositions”, but rather moods and atmospheres. Saito’s vibes sound like static electricity or heat waves on the title tune and the resonant “Break In The Clouds”, coming across like tinnitus rather than tunes. Fujii brings Morse Code dots and dashes to “Finit or Infinite” and dark clouds to hover over “Frost Stirring” . Is that the sound of smoke or breathing created by Saito on “Air”? How about strings or just resonant ambience for “Meeresspiegel”? Music or musings?