21 Jan

[ January 26th, 2024 release via Libra Records: Satoko Fujii’s Tokyo Trio – Jet Black ]

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With Jet Black, Pianist and Composer Satoko Fujii’s Tokyo Trio Takes Its Place Among the Great Piano Trios of Our Time. Trio’s new recording to be released January 26, 2024 via Libra Records.

“Satoko Fujii’s Tokyo Trio isn’t even close to being a conventional jazz trio . . . But it is a Satoko Fujii ensemble in every sense, with the grace, sophistication, surprise and ingenuity found in every other of her ensembles. Only this time in a small, nimble, and deceptively familiar construction.” — Victor Aaron, Something Else!

“a beautifully present trio that speaks to us now and no doubt will stand the test of time . . .” — Grego Applegate Edwards, Gapplegate Music Review

01 Jun

[ June the 2nd, 2023 release via Libra Records – Satoko Fujii’s Piano Solo – Torrent ]

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Pianist-composer Satoko Fujii’s Vibrant New Solo CD Showcases the Full Range of Her Artistry

“Unpredictable, wildly creative, and uncompromising … Fujii is an absolutely essential listen for anyone interested in the future of jazz.” ―Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz

“Her music can’t get much closer to improvisational music perfection…” —Victor Aaron, Something Else!

16 Mar

[ March the 17th,2023 release via Circum/Libra: Satoko Fujii’s Kaze and Ikue Mori – Crustal Movement ]

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The pioneering musician Ikue Mori on laptop electronics joins Kaze – the cooperative quartet featuring Japanese composer-pianist Satoko Fujii and trumpeter Natsuki Tamura plus French trumpeter Christian Pruvost and drummer– for their innovative new album Crustal Movement, out March 17, 2023 via Circum/Libra. Album is a visceral, richly textured hybrid of pre-recorded music files exchanged during pandemic and live performance

“[Their music is] a well-judged amalgam of adventurous and empathetic ensemble playing, and striking individual flights,”—John Sharpe, All About Jazz

“So intriguing that you’ll listen to it as music, not noise, and you’ll start to think about the relationship between music and sound and then . . . you’ll be hooked–just as I am.”—Marc Phillips, The Vinyl Anachronist

01 Feb

[ February the 11th, 2022 release on Libra Records: Natsuki Tamura- Summer Tree ]

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release date: 11.02.2022 via Libra Records

“extremely beautiful music, defined by its intelligence and risk.” ― Jason Bivins, Cadence

“wondrous facility and articulation,… a musical sense of humor … a fresh approach to improvised music… Adventuresome and rewarding.” — Stuart Kremsky, IAJRC Journal

Trumpeter-composer Natsuki Tamura adds a new dimension to his unaccompanied music, several in fact, on his new multi-tracked solo album, Summer Tree. Only his fifth solo album in a career that has spanned more than five decades, Summer Tree displays all the inventiveness, lyricism, and wit as his previous solo albums, but with a few new wrinkles. For the first time, he

12 Nov

[ November the 19th, 2021 release via Libra Records – Satoko Fujii & Taiko Saito FUTARI Duo – Underground ]

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release date: 19.11.2021 via Libra Records

Pianist-composer Satoko Fujii and mallet virtuoso Taiko Saito delve deeper into their duo project with the help of the Internet to make “real, free art”

“The always adventurous pianist-composer teams with vibraphonist Taiko Saito . . . for a beautifully surreal journey.”—Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz

“Saito and Fujii are one-of-their-kind adventurous and highly imaginative improvisers. It is clear that Fujii found in Saito a musical partner that can navigate her into uncharted sonic territories.”—Eyal Hareumeni, Salt Peanuts

Half a world away from each other, pianist-composer Satoko Fujii and vibraphonist Taiko Saito recapture the delicate intensity of their duo, Futari, on their new CD, Underground.

09 Nov

[ November the 19th, 2021 release via Libra Records – Satoko Fujii’s This is It! Trio – Mosaic ]

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release date: 19.11.2021 via Libra Records

Pianist-composer Satoko Fujii records live via the internet for the first time with her trio “This Is It!”

“…can’t get much closer to improvisational music perfection” — Victor Aaron, Something Else!

“This project…has lifted her artistry to a new level…. Always fresh, always adventurous.” — Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz

01 Jul

[ July the 9th, 2021 release via Libra Records: Natsuki Tamura’s Koki Solo ]

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release date: 09.07.2021

“Tamura tempers his avant-garde antics with an innate lyricism.” — Steve Smith, Time Out New York

“You’ll never fit trumpeter Natsuki Tamura into any pre-fab category, he creates his own, then pulls you into them with him.”—Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz

“Captured on disc is an artist who is technically brilliant, academically and classically trained, but as free as a sudden thunderstorm that appears out of nowhere and rains profusely onto the outdoor bandstand. Instead of running from the storm, we sit in rapt attention, and get soaked in his jazz lyricism and daring creativity. No one even opens an umbrella as the elephants come stampeding towards us.” – Dee Dee McNeil, Musicalmemoir’s Blog

02 May

[ May the 7th, 2021 release via Libra Records: Satoko Fujjii’s Tokyo Trio – Moon on the Lake ]

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release date: 04.05.2021 via Libra Records

“The music rattles the bones as often as it soothes the soul and no composer is more masterful at balancing and grounding those extremes…continually absorbing and unlike anything else.”

– Karl Ackermann, All About Jazz

Pianist-composer Satoko Fujii brings together a new piano trio on her latest release Moon on the Lake captured live at Tokyo’s famous jazz venue, Pit Inn. The Tokyo Trio features Fujii with two of the most in-demand younger musicians on the Japanese jazz scene, bassist Takashi Sugawa and drummer Ittetsu Takemura. They form a lithe, quick witted trio, capable of terrific speed and excitement as well as subtle textures and tone colors. Moon on the Lake puts their wide range and capabilities on full display

02 Apr

[ April the 9th,2021 release via Libra Records: Satoko Fujii & Natsuki Tamura – Keshin ]

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release date: 09.04.2021 via Libra Records

“ The wife-husband team from Japan . . . consistently reveals a wide-open and unpredictable nature that makes its performance a thrilling ride for the listener.” – Steve Feeney, Portland Press Herald

“ Intuition and communication like that is rare.” – Adam Kinner, The Montreal Gazette

12 Mar

[ March the 19th, 2021 release via Libra Records: Satoko Fujii – Hazuki ]

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release date: 19.03.2021 via Libra Records

“She could be the most important creative musician of our time.” ― Michael Nastos, AllMusic

“Over the decades, Japanese pianist Satoko Fujii has demonstrated uncanny power and musicality . . . This music is infused with a wide-open spirit.” — Josef Woodard, DownBeat

Pianist-composer Satoko Fujii normally spends months on the road each year, but the COVID-19 pandemic has made touring impossible. On her new solo album, Hazuki, she lets the music travel for her.