Left of center pianist and composer Satoko Fujii continues to create a large catalogue of avant garde recordings. She and her team always display incredible tone and touch, whether in small or larger ensembles. Here are the two most recent releases.
On Yamiyo Ni Karasu, Fujii brings together Natsuki Tamura/tp, Todd Nicholson/b and Takashi Itani/dr-perc for seven originals. Tamura has a rich a clear town, but uses it for effects such as squawks and squeals while Fujii chimes along on “Hanabi.’ The horn and rhythm teams swirls around on’Fuki” and the team stomps through with Itani hitting hard on “Potential Energy” while the closing “ Yamiyo Ni Karasu” is filled with bips, bops and things that go bump in the night. Aggressive and rambunctious.
Satoko Fujii’s Orchestra Berlin includes 3 reeds, 4 brass, 2 drummers and a rhythm team of Fujii with Jan Roder/b and Kazuhisa Uchihashi/g. The main thrust of the album is a fuor part “Ichigo Ichie” which includes a thunderous tidal wave of percussion and horns along with a flutte4ring trombone by Matthias Muller. An avalanche of drums, electic guitars and piercing trumpets are found on p”Part 2” while Paulina Owczarek’s baritone sax clucks through a scrunching “Part 3” and drums and tenor saxes flail around on a cataclysmic “Part Four.” Percussive rustling with a coughing trombone and blowing bari close the exhausting disc on “ABCD” with the listener grabbing for air.
Libra Records