The Squid's Ear Magazine


Amu (Fujii / Tamura / Itani / Wildenhahn): Weave [CD & DVD] (Libra)

Mizuki Wildenhahn adds an unusual percussive instrument through dance to the multi-arts Amu quartet of Wildenhahn, trumpeter Natsuki Tamura, pianist Satoko Fujii, and percussionist Takashi Itani, heard on the CD and seen on the DVD of this 2-disc set of their unorthodox and absorbing live performance at Kanagawa Prefectural Lake Sagami-ko Exchange Center in 2018.
 

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product information:

Personnel:



Mizuki Wildenhahn-percussive dance

Natsuki Tamura-trumpet, percussion

Satoko Fujii-piano

Takashi Itani-percussion


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DVD is NTSC format, 720x480 16:9 wtih PCM 2-channel audio, region free. Include a 6 page foldout insert with text in English and Japanese.

UPC: 4562169330511

Label: Libra
Catalog ID: 204-051/052
Squidco Product Code: 26615

Format: CD & DVD
Condition: New
Released: 2018
Country: Japan
Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold w/ booklet
Recorded at Kanagawa Prefectural Lake Sagami-ko Exchange Center, Kanagawa, Japan on July 1, 2018, by Tatsuya Yoshida (.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"Weave, a special CD/DVD set by multi-arts quartet Amu, blends dance and improvised music into a unique sensory experience. With sound and motion, pianist Satoko Fujii, trumpeter Natsuki Tamura, percussionist Takashi Itani, and percussive dancer Mizuki Wildenhahn make music so vivid and colorful you can practically see it and percussive footwork that adds a dimension to the dance that you can hear. Weave will be released on October 26, 2018 via Libra Records

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Amu is the latest project in a 17-year friendship and artistic collaboration between Wildenhahn, Fujii, and Tamura. Bassist Mark Dresser introduced them at an Orchestra Tokyo concert in Japan back in 2001 and they immediately clicked. They have since toured Germany, Japan and the U.S. in several different ensembles including Hakidame-ni-Tsuru with guitarist Yasuhiro Usui and percussionist Takaaki Masuko, and Dos Dos, a quartet that also featured percussionist and Radio Tarifa musical director Faín S. Dueñas. "It is hard to explain our chemistry," Fujii says. "I can feel what she is dancing, even without looking, although I do watch her dance when we perform together, because I like her dancing. I think we are using a kind of sixth sense when we play." Weave at last documents their extraordinary audio-visual magic.

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Amu, which means "to knit" in Japanese, is the perfect name for a quartet that so effortlessly interlaces melody, sound, rhythm, and motion into intricate and beautiful patterns. Each of the six completely improvised quartet tracks (the seventh, "Hajori" is by the instrumentalists alone) is a collective orchestration of a dazzling range of sound and motion.

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The opening "Megosona" evolves from the subtle sounds of trumpet half valve squeaks, the quiet dragging of a foot along the floor, and nuanced piano chords into a high-energy climax highlighted by Fujii's rapidly developing lines buoyed by Wildenhahn's clearly articulated heel and toe rhythms and Itani's percolating explorations of rhythm and timbre. There's a similar conversational ebb and flow to "Ubega," a beautifully shaped improvisation that opens with a multi-hued kaleidoscopic percussion solo, then moves into a collective improvisation blending flamenco-influenced footwork, soaring, whooshing trumpet, and Fujii's short, flitting motifs and calm, stately chords. On each track the band seems to discover something new and beguiling to investigate. The bright, powerful "Bittagando" revels in speed and energy. "Gorondari" swings between sonic extremes, with Tamura's slightly mad and frantic trumpet muttering giving way to a spacious dance and percussion duo.

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The crackling conclusion features Fujii and Tamura freewheeling improvisations powered by Wildenhahn and Itani's locked-in rhythms."

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The artfully directed DVD gives viewers the fully immersive experience of the band in action, with Wildenhahn's gestures and body movements integrated into the sound. Fujii conceives of the CD more as an invitation to the listener's imagination. "A friend of mine said it was quite interesting to listen to the CD while imagining the dance," Fujii says. "I think you can listen to the CD like that. In Japan we have a sense of beauty in which what is left unsaid is important. The artist doesn't have to explain or express everything and you can enjoy reading between the lines. I really hope listener can enjoy the CD in this way."-Libra


DVD is NTSC format, 720x480 16:9 wtih PCM 2-channel audio, region free. Include a 6 page foldout insert with text in English and Japanese.

Artist Biographies

"After a long stay in Madrid, Mizuki Wildenhahn worked as a flamenco dancer in Hamburg, but increasingly combined rhythmic and motor elements of flamenco with genres of other genres in her projects, thus developing her own kind of percussive dance.

Today she collaborates with artists of various styles such as jazz, rock and experimental and free improvised music in Europe, as well as in the United States, Japan and South Korea, such as:

GE-SUK YEO, PETER JACQUEMIN , TATSUYA NAKATANI, GUSTAVO AGUILAR: with the living in Hamburg soprano / electro-acoustic / video artist Ge-Suk Yeo, uA folding chair festival in the "place" of the Peter Kowald Society, Wuppertal, as well as in various projects with international artists, such. For example the performance 'acoustic sculptures' with contrabassist Peter Jaquemin from Belgium and percussionist Tatsuya Nakatani from Japan / USA, and also 'experimental live' with percussionist Gustavo Aguilar (USA).

AKI TAKASE (p), performing at her 'Ornette Coleman Anthology' CD presentation in Berlin with SILKE EBERHARD (Sax.) .; as guest with the duo Evergreen with Rudi Mahall;

MIB: with various members of the Music Initiative Bremen; Performances at Breminale Festival, MIB-Festival and Jazz en Bloc Festival.

FAÍN S. DUEÑAS (perc): with his Latin-Grammy nominated group 'Radio Tarifa', 'Double Kick' and other projects.

JE-CHUN PARK (perc.) and MIYEON (p): various projects in Korea with the avant-garde duo 2005, '06, '08 and 'Drum on Drum' with international cast, tour of South Korea with appearances at various festivals; with Samulnori group 'Molgae' (traditional Korean percussion).

SATOKO FUJII (p), NATSUKI TAMURA (tr): Tour in Japan 2008, 2012, 2014 and 2016; various projects such as 'Hakidame ni Tsuru' and `MMM', Tour Germany 2013: appearances Forum for New Music Hamburg, Japan Jazz Festival Bielefeld, Japanisches Kulturinstitut Köln.

YASUHIRO USUI (git), TAKAAKI MASUKO (perc): Hakidame ni Tsuru Tour Japan 2012, 2014, 2016 and Germany 2013.LEA FRESENIUS (dance), CHRISTIAN RIBAS (e-git), JUAN RODRIGUEZ (git) : Group 'Double Kick', Art Patch Festival 2010, Eigenarten Festival 2011, 2012.

SHAHZAD ISMAILY (b., Ceramic Dog et al.), MARVIN SEWELL (Git., Lizz Wright, et al.), and JEFF HAYNES (perk.; Cassandra Wilson et al.), USA"

-Mizuki Wildenhahn Website (Translated by Google) (http://mizukiwildenhahn.tumblr.com/Bio)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Japanese trumpeter and composer Natsuki Tamura is internationally recognized for a unique musical vocabulary that blends extended techniques with jazz lyricism. This unpredictable virtuoso's seemingly limitless creativity led François Couture in All Music Guide to declare that "... we can officially say there are two Natsuki Tamuras: The one playing angular jazz-rock or ferocious free improv... and the one writing simple melodies of stunning beauty... How the two of them live in the same body and breathe through the same trumpet might remain a mystery."

Born on July 26, 1951, in Otsu, Shiga, Japan, Tamura first picked up the trumpet while performing in his junior high brass band. He began his professional music career after he graduated from high school, playing in numerous bands including the World Sharps Orchestra, Consolation, Skyliners Orchestra, New Herd Orchestra, Music Magic Orchestra, and the Satoko Fujii Ensemble, as well as in his own ensemble. He was the trumpeter for numerous national television shows in Japan from 1973-1982, including The Best Ten, Music Fair, Kirameku Rhythm and many others.

In 1986, he came to the United States to study at Berklee College of Music. He then returned to his native Japan to perform and teach at the Yamaha Popular Music School and at private trumpet studios in Tokyo and Saitama, before coming back to the US to study at New England Conservatory. He made his debut recording as a leader in 1992 on Tobifudo.

In 1997 he released the duo album How Many? with pianist Satoko Fujii, who is also his wife. It marked the beginning of an artistic collaboration that continues up to the present. The duo has made a total of five CDs over the years, including 2012's Muku. "Muku contains some truly stunning, spine-tingling music...its sheer beauty and elegance is what lingers most," wrote Dave Wayne in All About Jazz. "Fujii's orchestral technique, clear chromatic lines and "prepared piano" devices contrast effectively with Tamura's arsenal of extended techniques which he executes with a warm, vocalized tone throughout the trumpet's full range," Ted Panken said in his four-star DownBeat review. Tamura's collaborations with Fujii reveal an intense musical empathy, and have garnered wide popular and critical acclaim. Jim Santella in All About Jazz described their synergy well in his glowing review of the couple's 2006 Not Two disc, In Krakow, In November: "... the creative couple forcefully demonstrates what can happen when you let your musical ideas run free... Similarly, Tamura's mournful trumpet can fly high or low in search of his next surprise. Oftentimes, they both issue plaintive moans that sing like angels on high." Their sixth duet album is due out in 2017.

In 1998, Tamura began recording his unaccompanied solo performances. The stunning solo trumpet debut release, A Song for Jyaki earned a Writers Choice 1998 in Coda magazine, and Andy Bartlett wrote in Coda, "A fabulous set of hiccuping leaps, drones and post-bop trumpet hi-jinx. Tamura goes from growling lows to fluid, free solo runs and echoes not only Don Cherry's slurring anti-virtuosic chops but also Kenny Wheeler's piercing highwire fullness." He followed it up in 2003 with KoKoKoKe, which Jon Davis described in Exposé as "Buddhist chants from an alien planet." Grego Applegate Edwards explains that on Tamura's most recent solo album, 2013's Dragon Nat, "he pares down to focus on simple unwinding melodic material, the sound of his trumpet as a sensuous thing, a periodicity. Taken as a whole it is a kind of environmental tone poem for the moment Natsuki is in now."

2003 was a breakout year for Tamura as a bandleader, with the release of Hada Hada, featuring his free jazz-avant rock quartet with Fujii on synthesizer. Peter Marsh of the BBC had this to say about the high voltage CD: "Imagine Don Cherry woke up one morning, found he'd joined an avant goth-rock band and was booked to score an Italian horror movie. It might be an unlikely scenario, but it goes some way to describing this magnificent sprawl of a record." The quartet's 2004 Quartet release Exit was deemed "...a brilliantly executed set with a neon glow," by Dan McClenaghan in All About Jazz.

In 2005, Tamura made a 180-degree turn in his music with the debut of his all acoustic Gato Libre quartet. Focusing on the intersection of European folk music and sound abstraction, the quartet featured Fujii on accordion, Kazuhiko Tsumura on guitar, and Norikatsu Koreyasu on bass. The quartet's poetic, quietly surreal performances have been praised for their "surprisingly soft and lyrical beauty that at times borders on flat-out impressionism," by Rick Anderson in CD Hotlist. Dan McClenaghan in All About Jazz described their fourth CD, Shiro, as "intimate, something true to the simple beauty of the folk tradition...Tamura's career has largely been about dissolving musical boundaries. With Gato Libre and Shiro, the trumpeter extends his reach even deeper into the prettiest, most accessible of his endeavors." After the unexpected passing of Norikatsu in 2012, Tamura added trombonist Yasuko Kaneko to the group. The new configuration has toured Europe and Japan and released its debut recording, DuDu, in 2014. "DuDu follows the winning formula of its predecessors but, as with the other discs, eschews the formulaic. The result is another sublimely satisfying, elegant record that brims with raw excitement and a reflective nostalgia," writes Hrayr Attarian in All About Jazz. With the tragic death of guitarist Kazuhiko Tsumura, Gato Libre is now a trio. They will release a CD and LP in 2017.

In 2010, Tamura debuted a new electric quartet, First Meeting, featuring Fujii, drummer Tatsuhisa Yamamoto and electric guitarist Kelly Churko. Their first release, Cut the Rope, is "is a noisy, free, impatient album, and ranks among Fujii and Tamura's most accomplished," according to Steve Greenlee in the Boston Globe.

While fronting groups and recording as a leader, Tamura has also played an integral role in nearly all of Satoko Fujii's many projects. He is featured on all of the CDs by Satoko Fujii's various orchestras (NY, Tokyo, Nagoya, Kobe, and Berlin) and has contributed original compositions and arrangements to each of their 19 critically celebrated albums. In addition, he was a featured soloist in the Satoko Fujii Quartet, her avant-rock free jazz group that also included Tatsuya Yoshida of The Ruins. Of his work on the quartet's 2003 release Minerva, Mark Keresman wrote in JazzReview.com, "Natsuki Tamura's trumpet has some of the stark, melancholy lyricism of Miles, the bristling rage of late 60s Freddie Hubbard and a dollop of the extended techniques of Wadada Leo Smith and Lester Bowie."

Tamura is a vital member of Fujii's Min-Yo Ensemble as well. "Tamura tempers his avant-garde antics with an innate lyricism," wrote Steve Smith of Time Out New York in his review of Fujin Raijin, the intimate acoustic quartet's debut CD. He's also been singled out for his contributions to Fujii's ma do ensemble. "With Tamura's brash and glowing lines, the band incorporates mesmeric ostinatos and thrusting opuses into the grand schema," Glenn Astarita wrote in Ejazznews about their first CD, Desert Ship.

Collaborative groups also play an important role in Tamura's career. Most recently, Tamura joined Fujii and two French musicians, trumpeter Christian Pruvost and drummer Peter Orins, to form Kaze, which made their recording debut in 2011. In 2015, they released their third album, Uminari, which Jazz Magazine (France) called, "a compelling example of free jazz today. Compositions are perfectly scripted, with a well-oiled interaction and playing of beautiful power..." The collaborative trio Junk Box, which he co-founded in 2006 along with pianist Fujii and drummer John Hollenbeck, plays Fujii's "composed improvisations," graphic scores that take "ensemble dynamics to great creative heights," says Kevin Le Gendre in Jazzwise. Their music "is full of bluster and agitation that nonetheless retains moments of great melodic beauty, usually by way of concise, pertly pretty motifs that trumpeter Tamura plays in between bursts of withering roars that often dissolve into austere overtones." Their premiere CD, Fragment, appeared in 2006. As Daniel Spicer wrote of Fragment in JazzWise, "Tamura spits out gloriously rude Lester-Bowie-like snorts, lows like a herd of robotic cattle or makes like a wheezy howler monkey... Cool and clever." Glenn Astarita of All About Jazz declared it "Required listening."

Along the way, there have been one-off cooperative groups and sideman appearances for Tamura as well. In the Tank, an ad hoc quartet with Fujii and electric guitarists Takayuki Kato and Elliott Sharp, is a "triumphant electro-acoustic adventure" according to Daniel Spicer of Jazzwise. "Think AMM meets blues guitar meets 1970s Miles Davis and you get some idea of the disc's flavor: a slow-moving panorama for the ears, where sounds are systematically added, repeated, refined, and replaced in turn," wrote Nate Dorward in Cadence. Tamura and Fujii were one of two piano/trumpet duos featured on the Double Duo Crossword Puzzle CD, a live recording with Dutch trumpeter Angelo Verploegen and pianist Misha Mengelberg. Tamura has also toured and recorded with saxophonist Larry Ochs' Sax and Drumming Core, and appeared on albums by drummer Jimmy Weinstein, saxophonist Raymond McDonald, and CDs by Japanese free-jazz pioneers trumpeter Itaru Oki and pianist Masahiko Sato. In 2014 he released Nax, a duet album with bassist Alexander Frangenheim. Tamua has toured throughout Japan, North America, and Europe, appearing at major jazz festivals, concert halls, and clubs."

-Natsuki Tamura Website (http://www.natsukitamura.com/bio)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Born on October 9, 1958 in Tokyo, Japan, Fujii began playing piano at four and received classical training until twenty, when she turned to jazz. From 1985-87, she studied at Boston's Berklee College of Music, where her teachers included Herb Pomeroy and Bill Pierce. She returned to Japan for six years before returning to the US to study at the New England Conservatory in Boston, where her teachers included George Russell, Cecil McBee, and Paul Bley, who appeared on her debut CD Something About Water (Libra, 1996).

Since then Fujii has been an innovative bandleader and soloist, a tireless seeker of new sounds, and a prolific recording artist in ensembles ranging from duos to big bands. She has showcased her astonishing range and ability approximately 80 CDs as leader or co-leader. With each new recording or new band, she explores new aspects of her art.

Regular collaborations include her New York trio with bassist Mark Dresser and drummer Jim Black, augmented by trumpeter/husband Natsuki Tamura to form the Satoki Fujii Four; her duo with Tamura; the Satoko Fujii Quartet featuring Tatsuya Yoshida of the Japanese avant-rock duo, The Ruins; Orchestra New York, which boasts the cream of New York's contemporary avant garde improvisers, including saxophonists Ellery Eskelin and Tony Malaby, trumpeters Herb Roberton and Steven Bernstein, and trombonist Curtis Hasselbring, among others; Orchestra Tokyo, drawing on that city's best improvisers; Orchestra Nagoya; Orchestra Kobe; the co-operative trio Junk Box with Tamura and percussionist John Hollenbeck; ma-do, a quartet including Tamura on trumpet, bassist Norikatsu Koreyasu, and Akira Horikoshi; the Min-Yoh Ensemble with Tamura, trombonist Hasselbring, and accordionist Andrea Parkins; the Satoko Fujii New Trio, featuring bassist Todd Nicholson and drummer Takashi Itani― plus countless engagements and collaborations with some of the world's most important improvisers."

-Satoko Fujii Website (http://www.satokofujii.com/bio.html)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Takashi Itani started playing jazz drums after he first heard Max Roach on a Charlie Parker record. Inspired by the music of Cuba, Brazil and West Africa, Itani also plays conga, bongo, djambe, cajon, pandeiro, framedrum, and Darbuka. His drumming Using his unique creativity and wide range of performance skills, Itani conduct and records tirelessly with a number of bands in a variety of genres." (English Bio)

"Koji Iriya (Takashi Toyoshi) / percussionist, drummer
Listen to Max Roach at Charlie Parker 's album and start drumming.
After that, it comes to treat percussion by touching folk music.
Participate in various domestic and international live recordings, with unique feelings and broad expressive power not stuck to existing areas.
She is actively performing performances and productions with artists other than musicians, such as Butoh dancers, video writers, painters and poets.
The main activities in recent years,
Nakahara Nakaya Prize, Hagiwara Sakutaro Award Poet Michiko Triangular project, Yoshio Hayakawa, Masahide Sakuma and Hiroshi Mikami, joined the Endo Michirou Amami archipelago tour. Live in Hawaii, Slovenia, Berlin, Bielefeld, New York. Music director of Mr. director's movie, providing sound source for solo exhibition. Mr. Mr. Miyoshi Endo attended the film festival "JAPAN CUTS" in New York as a performer of "Director Miyoshi Endo, I have forgotten your face" Performance before screening.
Cool Jazz 's Heavy Ted Brown' s Japan Live Recording Participated as a member of Sextet Hirai Yoichi.
Participated in recording of Utada Hikaru "Hymne a l'amour - Anthem of Love" (produced by Kikuchi Norihiro).
Jazz drummer Masahiko Osaka participate in recording "Novie / Confetto" produced.
JiLL - Decoy association Join the recording of 'Giordeco 6 ~ Just a Hunch ~' 'World and I Love You' 'Giordeco 7 ~ voyage ~' Participated in recordings 1 to 4 of Kazue Gyarantiku 'Anthology'.
In the project with Satoko Fujii (pianist, composer) and Natsuki Tamura (trumpeter, composer), I will perform Europe tour, North America tour, South American tour, Kyushu tour. Appear in the Vision Festival, the Vancouver Jazz Festival, the Buenos Aires Jazz Festival.
Self-tone generator "Seems like a dream" announced.
In his own solo performance, he is invited to France, Lille." (Japanese Bio translated by Google)

- Website (Translated by Google) (http://itanitakaside.gozaru.jp/ )
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.


Track Listing:



CD



1. Megosona 17:44

2. Nesimo 6:06

3. Ubega 7:46

4. Bittagando 5:17

5. Gorondari 8:04

6. Rimaketo 10:47

7. Hajori 6:06

DVD



1. Megosona 17:44

2. Nesimo 6:06

3. Ubega 7:46

4. Bittagando 5:17

5. Gorondari 8:04

6. Rimaketo 10:47

Related Categories of Interest:


DVD
Improvised Music
Jazz
Free Improvisation
Asian Improvisation & Jazz
Quartet Recordings
Satoko Fujii & Natsuki Tamura's Libra Label
Satoko Fujii 60th Birthday Releses

Search for other titles on the label:
Libra.


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Confluence
(Libra)
Having played in trio settings before, pianist Satoko Fujii and Spanish drummer Ramon Lopez seized the opportunity to record as a duo in the studio in NY, bringing just two Fujii compositions to guide them, they began freely improvising, creating this stunning album of elegant interaction, peaceful yet detailed, intuitively beautiful and sophisticated music.
Fujii, Satoko
Ninety-Nine Years
(Libra)
Composer-pianist Satoko Fujii's new Orchestra Berlin, a ten-piece ensemble, presents a powerful work written specifically for this group in thought-provoking compositions of and uninhibited energy, with performers including saxophonists Gebhard Ullmann, Paulina Owczarek & Matthias Schubert, trombonist Matthias Muller, bassist Jan Roder, and drummers Peter Orins and Michael Griener.
Fujii, Satoko Orchestra New York
Fukushima
(Libra)
Diverse aspects of the 2011 disaster at the Japanese Fukushima nuclear power plant brought on by a tsunami orchestrated in sound by composer/pianist Satoko Fujii and rendered in remarkable ways from some of New York finest improvisers, including Tony Malaby, Ellery Eskelin, Oscar Noriega, Herb Roberts, Joe Fiedler, Stomu Takeishi, Nels Cline, &c &c.
Fujii, Satoko / Natsuki Tamura
Kisaragi
(Libra)
On their 5th album together, pianist Satoko Fujii and trumpeter Natsuki Tamura push the limits on approach and technique with their instruments, creating otherworldly and captivating improvisations, both players deciding against using "normal instrumental sounds", instead using preparations and textural approaches to create truly unique music.
Gato Libre (Fujii / Tamura / Kaneko)
Neko
(Libra)
Trumpeter Natsuki Tamura's Gato Libre in its 5th album brings a beautiful light-through-the-leaves melodic melancholy to their unhurried pace, now the trio of Tamura, Satoko Fujii on accordion, and Yasuko Kaneko on trombone, as the cats on the cover stop to find allure in the late day while bringing profound and introspective music to our ears.
Trouble Kaze (Fujii / Agnel / Tamura / Pruvost / Lasserre / Orins)
June
(Helix Circum-Disc)
Drummer Peter Orins expands the Kaze quartet of trumpeters Natsuki Tamura and Christian Pruvost and pianist Satoko Fujii, with a second drummmer--Didier Lasserre--and a second pianist--Sophie Agnel--for a live recording of a 5-part suite of magnificently epic collective improv.



The Squid's Ear Magazine

The Squid's Ear Magazine

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