"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."

"Japanese drummer, improviser and composer based in France since 2000, Yuko Oshima has developed a highly personal musical universe where jazz, contemporary music, improvisation and experimental creation intersect, strongly marked by the imprint of her native culture. Initially self-taught in Japan, she later trained at the Strasbourg Conservatory and the Percussion School of Strasbourg, where she refined her technique and deepened her relationship with the instrument. She has since shaped an organic and poetic drumming style in which precision, energy and freedom come together in a profound exploration of sound.

Guided by creativity and artistic encounters, she has initiated several personal projects. In 2015, she founded Bishinkodo, a duo with Éric Broitmann (Motus) combining drums and acousmonium, exploring the interplay between acoustic and electronic sound. In 2018, she created Hiyomeki, an improvisation trio with Samuel Colard (piano) and Vincent Robert (modular synthesizer), focusing on instant composition and collective sound construction. In 2024, she launched Ukiyoto, a new project born from her residency at Villa Kujoyama in Kyoto in 2022. This residency strengthened her artistic approach: connecting her cultural heritage with her work as a composer and improviser, and building bridges between ancient rituals and contemporary practices. Within this trio, she explores Nagauta, a traditional music form she studied during the residency and reimagines through a distinctly contemporary compositional language. For this project, she brings together Kazuhisa Uchihashi, a Japanese jazz and experimental guitarist and master of the daxophone, and Olivier Lété, a bassist whose sonic research on electric bass helps shape a singular sound world. As a vocalist, Yuko contributes the poetry and depth of a voice rooted in Japanese musical traditions.

Active on the European scene, Yuko performs in numerous ensembles: a drum duo with Hamid Drake; the trio Hikaeme with Rieko Okuda (piano, voice) and Taiko Saito (marimba, vibraphone, voice); the trio Rouge with Isabelle Duthoit (clarinet,voice) and Soizic Lebrat (cello) ; and the trio Lauroshilau with Pak Yan Lau (piano and electronics) and Audrey Lauro (alto saxophone). She also develops solo performances combining drums, voice and Japanese singing bowls. In Japan, she performs with the trio Gakusei Jikken Shitsu since 1998. Until 2015, she was part of the duo Donkey Monkey with pianist Eve Risser.

She has been seen in many jazz festivals such as; Berlin, Moers, Tokyo, Tampere, Saalfelden, Paris, Moldo, London, Vancouver, Ottawa etc, and also other various artistic places like Museum of Contemporary art Chicago, Centre Pompidou, Festival d'Avignon. Her precise and intense stage presence has made her a distinctive figure in contemporary jazz, improvised music and experimental sound practices, as well as within the worlds of dance and theatre."

"Taiko Saitō (Japanese 易 子 子, Saitō Taiko, 易 子 1976 1976 1976 1976 1976

Taiko began playing Marimba at the age of six; Later came the piano and drums. For eight years she received lessons from the Marimba virtuoso Keiko Abe. She studied at the Tōhō College of Music in Tokyo and then graduated as the first marimbaphone soloist with a diploma. In 1997 she began to deal with improvisation and composition. In 1998, she moved to Berlin to study with David Friedman at the University of the Arts. Rupert Stamm took her 2005 to his vibraphone quartet Xylon (with Tom van der Geld and Franz Bauer ). In 2006 she released her first album Koko together with the pianist Niko Meinhold at Pirouet Records. [1] In the trio Kokotob with Meinhold and the clarinetist Tobias Schirmer, which has existed since 2008, she performed at the Nuremberg Festival Vibraphonissimo in 2017. [2]

Saitō has played with orchestras such as the Sapporo Symphony Orchestra or the Orchester d'Auvergne. At the 5 th International Shostakovich Festival in Gohrisch in 2014, she participated in the premiere of Sofia Gubaidulina's work "So sei es" as a drummer, [3] which appeared with chamber music works by Viktor Suslin in the same year on the album In Memoriam at BIS. She also belonged to various bands, such as Lunatique Asylum around Oliver Potratz, with whom she performed internationally. She also teaches at the New Music School in Berlin.

Saito won first prize at the 3éme Concours International de Vibraphone, Claude Giot, the 3rd prize at the World Marimba Competition, the NTT-DoCoMo Award and the 1st Jazz Jazz Award 2002."