The Squid's Ear
Writing about improvised, contemporary, experimental and unusual music,
following the activities of Squidco...
  •  •  •     Join Our Mailing List!



The Squid's Ear




Heard In

Reviews of artist releases:
cd's, books, magazines, &c.


  Satoko Fujii Tokyo Trio 
  Moon on the Lake
  (Libra Records) 


  
   review by John Eyles
  2021-07-21
Satoko Fujii Tokyo Trio: Moon on the Lake (Libra Records)

Pianist Satoko Fujii made the jazz world sit up and take notice during 2018, the year of her sixtieth birthday, when she released an album every month. Those twelve releases displayed the range of her music from solo playing, through various small ensembles, right up to two separate orchestra recordings, with some groups, such as the quartet Amu and a couple of new trios, being heard for the first time. Ever since, she has kept up a steady flow of impressive new recordings and collaborations. Recorded live at Tokyo's Pit Inn, in September 2020, Moon on the Lake is the debut of Satoko Fujii Tokyo Trio; it marks her first piano-bass-drums trio recording since Spring Storm (Libra, 2013) by Satoko Fujii New Trio with bassist Todd Nicholson and drummer Takashi Itani, that group's only album to date.

For her new trio, the pianist selected two in-demand younger players from the Japanese jazz scene, bassist & cellist Takashi Sugawa — with whom she had played some years before, along with her husband, trumpeter Natsuki Tamura — and drummer Ittetsu Takemura, who was a member of the pianist's Kira Kira quartet which released the highly praised Bright Force in her birthday year. As the bassist and drummer (not to mention the pianist!) are very busy, this trio had few opportunities to play together; they debuted at Pit Inn in August 2019 and played at the Tokyo jazz club Classics in the following December; remarkably, the recording that comprises Moon on the Lake was from their third date together.

Despite that, right from the start of the jaunty, rhythmic opening track, "Hansho", the three have an obvious rapport and sound right for each other, as if they had long experience together. They do not always sound like a conventional piano trio, as is made all too obvious by "Wait for the Moon to Rise", in which all three coax atypical sounds from their instruments which gradually gel into a richly detailed, coherent soundscape. At the heart of the album is a new eighteen-minute version of "Aspiration" the title track of a 2017 album which featured the pianist with Wadada Leo Smith and Natsuki Tamura on trumpets, and Ikue Mori on electronics; the version here is very different, with all three players individually showcased, notably some attention-grabbing arco from Takashi. The album ends on a high with the restraint of the title track highlighting some beautiful piano passages.

On the evidence of this album, we have to hope that this becomes the pianist's trio of choice. Existing fans of Satoko will find plenty here to keep them enthralled; newcomers, eager to know what all the fuss is about, can confidently begin their voyage of discovery here.







Comments and Feedback:



More Recent Reviews, Articles, and Interviews @ The Squid's Ear...


The Squid's Ear presents
reviews about releases
sold at Squidco.com
written by
independent writers.

Squidco

Recent Selections @ Squidco:


Derek Bailey/
John Stevens:
The Duke of
Wellington
(Confront)



Paul Dunmall:
Away With
Troubles And Anxieties!
(Discus)



Shifa (
Musson/
Thomas/
Sanders):
Ecliptic
(Discus)



Natsuki Tamura/
Satoko Fujii:
Ki
(Libra)



Borah Bergman/
Anthony Braxton/
Peter Brotzmann:
Eight By Three
(Mixtery)



Hedvig Mollestad Trio:
Bees In
The Bonnet
(Rune Grammofon)



Acid Mothers Temple &
The Melting Paraiso
UFO:
Black Mountain
ide
(Rolling Heads)



Evan Parker/
Bill Nace:
Branches (
Live at Cafe OTO)[VINYL]
(Open Mouth)



Alexander Hawkins/
Taylor Ho Bynum:
A Near Permanent State
Of Wonder
(RogueArt)



Joseph Holbrooke (
w/ Derek Bailey/
Gavin Bryars/
Tony Oxley):
Last Live 2001 -
In Memoriam
Derek Bailey
And
Tony Oxley
[2 CDs]
(Tzadik)



Zeena Parkins:
Modesty Of
The Magic Thing
(Tzadik)



Dave Douglas (
Douglas/
Ridout/
Adewumi/
Brennan/
Pass/
Royston):
Alloy
(Greenleaf Music)



Ivo Pereleman/
Nate Wooley/
Matt Moran/
Mark Helias/
Tom Rainey:
A Modicum
Of the Blues
(Fundacja Sluchaj!)



Angles 11:
Tell Them
It's The Sound Of Freedom
(Fundacja Sluchaj!)



Sifter (
w/ Lisa Mezzacappa):
Flake/
Fracture
(Queen Bee Records)



Jean-Marc Foussat:
Abbatage
(Fou Records)



Chester Hawkins:
Apsis
(Intangible Arts)



Karl Evangelista's Apura +
Andrew Cyrille:
Bukas
(577 Records)



Frode Gjerstad/
Alexander von Schlippenbach/
Dag Magnus Narvesen:
Seven Tracks
(Relative Pitch)



Kaze (
Fujii/
Tamura/
Orins/
Pruvost) with/ Koichi Makigami:
Shishiodoshi
(Circum-Libra)







Squidco
Click here to
advertise with
The Squid's Ear






The Squid's Ear pays its writers.
Interested in becoming a reviewer?




The Squid's Ear is the companion magazine to the online music shop Squidco !


  Copyright © Squidco. All rights reserved. Trademarks. (6088)