Composer-pianist Satoko Fujii Imagines a Better World on After the Storm, Her New Recording with Orchestra Kobe. The second of her five new 2026 orchestral discs will be released August 7, 2026, 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
“One might liken Fujii to Charles Mingus, Graham Collier, Carla Bley or Sun Ra for adventurousness and intensity, but her music is distinctive, standing alongside those other explorers, not in their shadow.” – Barry Witherden, Jazz Journal (UK).
Six years ago, during the global Covid-19 pandemic, composer-pianist Satoko Fujii tried to imagine what the world would be like after the danger passed. Her latest CD, After the Storm (out August 7, 2026 via Libra Records), written for and performed by her Orchestra Kobe, embodies her vision of the future. “I was dreaming that the world would finally find complete peace after the pandemic,” she says. “We all faced the same problem—Covid—and we found that we needed to work together to solve this problem. We finally were able to unite. I was dreaming we would have no war, no weapons, no violence after the pandemic.” Alas, that’s not how things worked out. “Actually, the situation has gotten worse,” Fujii laments. “After the pandemic, there were so many wars and so much conflict, and I was so disappointed.”
But she still felt her message of optimism and hope was worth recording. The result is one of her most uplifting albums, a hymn to the human potential for love and community. Keishiro Saito’s solo bass eases listeners into the stately first theme of “Part 1,” followed by a glowing statement by trombonist Yuichiro Tamagaki that climaxes in full-throated, songful phrases soaring over a richly voiced reprise of the opening melody. Then one of the band’s two drummers, Hiromasa Sadaoka, plays a solo that develops into a grand melding of rhythm, melody, and harmony as the band plays towering dissonant chords. Tenor saxophonist Tsutomu Takei takes things over the top with a wailing solo accompanied by full-bore shredding from guitarist Takumi Seino and the drummers before the triumphant return of the melody.
“Part 2” places more emphasis on individual and subgroupings of instrumentalists only to have them join in a joyous, full ensemble celebration of coming together again at the end. Although much of “Part 2” is improvised, one can hear the shaping hand of composer Fujii as she cues soloists and ensemble in and out, creating a spontaneous narrative. The trio of baritone saxophonist Keizo Nobori, trumpeter Natsuki Tamura, and guitarist Seino opens with a boldly colored and intricate improvisation. Drummer Yoshikazu Isaki and tenor saxophonist Eiichiro Arasaki maintain a madly energetic pace as swooping glissandi from the full ensemble sweep them forward. A final subgroup
including bassist Saito and trombonists Yasuko Kaneko and Yuichiro Tamagaki provide low strings and brass textures that set up the joyous full ensemble reunion. The piece is large in scale, yet intimate in its focus on individual and small group interaction. Trumpeter Tamura and drummer Isaki are the featured soloists on “Part 3,” which evolves from subdued rumbling and growling into an imposing wall of brilliant sound. Tamura pours molten lines of
scalding notes over the already fiery ensemble. Sadaoka finishes the orchestral outburst with a subdued drum solo.
The album ends on an upbeat note with the jaunty “Part 4.” Leaping in with an angular cheerful theme, this last section of the suite sets up playfully imaginative solos from trumpeter Rabito Arimoto, trombonist Yasuko Kaneko, and another high-voltage solo from guitarist Seino. Fujii’s arrangement keeps things varied and unpredictable until the piece ends on a bright, triumphant note. “We musicians are human beings, same as anyone else,” Fujii says. “We all live in a social situationthat none of us can escape, so we must keep imagining how we can make our society better and more peaceful, no matter how difficult it is.”
After the Storm is the second of five projected orchestra recordings Fujii plans to release in 2026. In a way, she is making up for lost time. “Before this year, my last orchestra CD was released in 2019,” she notes. “Then the pandemic hit and I couldn’t play with large ensembles until it ended in 2022.” After the pandemic, Fujii became busy recording and touring with small ensembles. “I kept writing ‘orchestra recording’ on my to-do list for four years,” she says. Then concert producer Wolfgang Gross sent her a recording of a 2014 orchestra concert and “It inspired my recording plans for this year,” Fujii says. Titled Satoko Fujii’s Bunker Ulmenwall Orchestra, the album kicks off her series of orchestra albums on July 10. In addition to the first two albums, there will be new releases by Satoko Fujii Orchestra Berlin (September 4), Satoko Fujii Orchestra Nagoya (October 2) and Satoko Fujii Orchestra Tokyo (November 6). “ I will have to save New York for 2027,” she says.
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photo by Natsuki Tamura
Pianist and composer Satoko Fujii, “an improviser of rumbling intensity and generous restraint” (Giovanni Russonello, New York Times), is one of the most original voices in jazz today. For nearly 30 years, she has created a unique, personal music that spans many genres, blending jazz, contemporary classical, rock, and traditional Japanese music into an innovative synthesis instantly recognizable as hers alone. A composer for ensembles of all sizes and a performer who hasappeared around the world, she was the recipient of a 2020 Instant Award in Improvised Music, in recognition of her “artistic intelligence, independence, and integrity.” Frequently cited in the DownBeat Critics’ Poll, in 2024, she ranked high in three categories—piano, big band, and arranger. In 2022, she released Hyaku, One Hundred Dreams, her 100th album as a leader. On the way to this impressive milestone, she has led some of the most consistently creative ensembles in modern improvised music, including a piano trio with Mark Dresser and Jim Black (1997-2009). In addition to a wide variety of small groups, Fujii also performs in a duo with trumpeter Natsuki Tamura, with whom she’s recorded nine albums since 1997. She and Tamura are also one half of the international freejazz quartet Kaze, which has released seven albums since their debut in 2011. Fujii has established
herself as one of the world’s leading composers for large jazz ensembles. Almost a quarter of her albums have been with jazz orchestras, prompting Cadence magazine to call her “the Ellington of free
jazz.”
Satoko Fujii Orchestra Kobe — After the Storm
Libra Records – Catalog Number: 215-084, Recorded February 5, 2026
Release date – August 7, 2026
www.satokofujii.com/
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