09 Nov

[ November 10th, 2023 release on Jazzdor Records Trio SAN – Hibiki ]

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Trio San, featuring pianist-composer Satoko Fujii, mallet virtuoso Taiko Saito, and master drummer Yuko Oshima showcase their immediate and profound group chemistry on their debut album Hibiki out November 10, 2023 via Jazzdor Records. Recorded near the end of a European tour, Hibiki finds them immersed deeply in their own private musical world, a world full of delicate beauty, thunderous energy, and sudden surprises.

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

“Oshima’s rigorously developing rudiments, as well as wild crescendos and diminuendos, seem to tell a stor ywith every stroke.” – Tampere Jazz Happening

“Saito celebrates mystery, clarity of vision, and rejection of blueprints and “best-laid plans” in favor of discovery and surprise combined with a wide-ranging sense of wonder.” – Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz

21 Apr

[ April the 28th, 2023 release via Trouble in the East Records: Taiko Saito – Tears of a Cloud ]

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Available April 28, 2023 via Trouble in the East Records

“Taiko´s performance . . . embodied everything that moves me . . . Taiko not only displayed exceptional technique, but more importantly she projected her own voice on an instrument that dares one to uncover.” —Mike Mainieri, vibraphonist of Steps Ahead

★★★★ “Uncompromising originality…Tears Of A Cloud is spacious music, deliberative and way off the beaten path, hinting at some form of nondenominational spirituality, a mallet religion which makes time stand still, full of unexpected textures, holy resonances and colors we have never heard or seen before.” – Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz

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.

10 Jan

[ January the 22nd, 2021 release via Libra Records: Satoko Fujji & Taiko Saito Futari – Beyond ]

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release date: 22.01.2021 via Libra Records

“Persistent and inexhaustible imagination with emotion, power and everything else…[Fujii] does not leave a single second to be bored or indifferent.” – Phontas Troussas, Vinylmine

“Taiko not only displayed exceptional technique, but more importantly she projected her own voice on an instrument that dares one to uncover . . . even more impressive was her daring to dive in some uncharted waters which she glided through with ease.”—Mike Mainieri, vibraphonist

Beyond, the recorded debut of Futari, a duo of pianist-composer Satoko Fujii and vibraphonist Taiko Saito, features lyrical intensity from two fearless explorers of new sounds. The combination of piano and vibes is an uncommon one, but Fujii and Saito navigate the new terrain of their collaboration with imagination and a spirit of adventure.