Pianist/composer Satoko Fujii makes you ask a key question, namely, “when is music jazz, and when isn’t it?” These two recent releases, one in the form of a trio, and one with him leading a quartet, leave us with fewer answers than we started with.
The trio disc with Todd Nicholson/b and Takashi Itani/dr-perc is comprised of 3 tunes over twn minutes, one just under nine, and two between 3-5. The shorter ones are the most digestible, with themes that actually keep your attention, without dissolving into a bombastic cataclysm. The longer pieces like ”Convection” and the title track display formidable technique, but who cares when your ears are being assaulted?
The quartet session with Natsuki Tamura/tp, Norikatsu Koeyasu/b and Akira Horikoshi/dr could easily be defined as 21st Century classical, yet the hints of Tamura’s bopping trumpet cross it over the line. Again, though, we have meandering and aggressive tunes such as “Fortitude” and “Broken Time” that may be exciting to see if you catch it one time in a club, but to listen to it over and over is not my idea of expanding my mind with America’s Music.
Libra Records
Not Two Records