The Squid's Ear Magazine


Fujii, Satoko Tokyo Trio: Moon on the Lake (Libra)

Pianist Satoko Fujii introduces a new trio with two younger and very active musicians on the Japanese jazz scene--bassist Takashi Sugawa and drummer Ittetsu Takemura--recording in 2020 at Pit Inn in Tokyo for their 3rd live date together, performing five lyrical Fujii original compositions, including "Aspirations" from her album with Leo Smith & Ikue Mori.
 

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product information:

Personnel:



Satoko Fujii-piano

Takashi Sugawa-bass, cello

Ittetsu Takemura-drums


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UPC: 4562162308654

Label: Libra
Catalog ID: 203-065
Squidco Product Code: 30327

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2021
Country: Japan
Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold
Recorded at Pit Inn, in Shinjuku, Tokyo, on September 15th, 2020, by Kazuhiko Misumi.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"Pianist-composer Satoko Fujii brings together a new piano trio on her latest release Moon on the Lake captured live at Tokyo's famous jazz venue, Pit Inn. The Tokyo Trio features Fujii with two of the most in-demand younger musicians on the Japanese jazz scene, bassist Takashi Sugawa and drummer Ittetsu Takemura. They form a lithe, quick witted trio, capable of terrific speed and excitement as well as subtle textures and tone colors. Moon on the Lake puts their wide range and capabilities on full display. Although this new group is a classic jazz piano trio, Fujii isn't primarily concerned with echoing the jazz tradition. "I of course love jazz piano trio; Bill Evans is my favorite," she says. "But I don't try to have an inheritance of tradition in my music. I know it comes out, anyway. I want to hear individual voices in my music." Instead she focuses on the personalities of the musicians she works with, independently of the instrument they play, and how well they might work together.

Her connection to Takemura goes back to 2017, when he became a member of the Japanese edition of the collective quartet Kira Kira, along with Australian keyboardist Alister Spence and trumpeter Natsuki Tamura. They released Bright Force (Libra Records) as one of twelve CDs celebrating Fujii's 60th birthday year in 2018. "I was so fascinated by his playing," Fujii says. "He has super technique, but more importantly he knows how to use his technique musically. He plays straight ahead jazz in many groups, including with Sadao Watanabe, but he loves free improvisation and he's courageous enough to try new things."

"I played with Takashi several years ago with Natsuki," she continues. "He also plays straight ahead but he's very open and loves free improvisation. When he toured Japan with his trio, which included Tom Rainey on drums, I went to see them and was impressed by the sincerity of his playing." The breadth of their experience is something that appealed to Fujii. "They both are very young-Ittetsu is 30 and Takashi is 39. Most of my generation of Japanese jazz musicians are either very conservative or free, sometimes they were like enemies and only a few of them are open to what the others are doing. I like that Ittetsu and Takashi can combine the disciplines and can have fun playing both. They play together in many other groups as well. I can easily imagine that they would sound great together in other settings."

Since both bassist and drummer are so busy, the opportunities for them to play as a trio with Fujii have been limited. They debuted at Tokyo's legendary jazz club, Pit Inn, in August 2019. Another gig followed in December at the jazz club Classics, also in Tokyo. Their third date, on September 15, 2020, again at Pit Inn, was recorded for this album. Fujii had to cancel a planned tour in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. It's clear that even with limited playing time together, they have established a close rapport and a distinctive group sound.

"Hansho" (which means "alarm bell") is a playful, sprinting tune that showcases both the trio's rapid conversational interplay and the individual talents of each member. Takashi's unaccompanied melodic inventions are undergirded by the rhythm of the composition, but even his departures from the tune feel organically connected to it. Ittetsu highlights both his smooth speed and attention to sound, from the tight ping of his snares to his crisp cymbal work. Fujii is in a buoyant mood and her joyful, cascading runs and knotty little phrases are strung into a grand dramatic arc.

"Keep Running" is a similarly jubilant excursion, which finds Ittetsu orchestrating high energy figures all over his kit. The tune alternates between full-steam-ahead sections and splintered, disjointed parts that interrupt the forward momentum but never stop it. Elsewhere the tempos slow and interactions are more subtle but no less astute. "Wait for the Moon to Rise" is a superbly paced tone poem featuring a poignant melody and contrasting textures and colors that unify into a tightly constructed nocturnal revery. The title track is a surprisingly Romantic sounding composition during which Ittetsu's bowed cymbals interject abstract sounds and arco bass makes eerie loon calls to evoke the imagery of the title.

Fujii also revisits "Aspiration," the title track of her 2017 album with Wadada Leo Smith, Natsuki Tamura, and Ikue Mori. Her opening solo is a brilliant example of how she moves from one idea to another to string together phrases into coherent statements. Takamura's bass solo has a vocal lyricism that makes it feel like a song. Once again Ittetsu shows what a musical concept of the drums he has, moving from one idea to the next and developing each one completely. The joint construction of tone colors, rhythms, and textures is a tribute to their imaginations and rapport. Critics and fans alike hail pianist and composer Satoko Fujii as one of the most original voices in jazz today.

She's "a virtuoso piano improviser, an original composer and a bandleader who gets the best collaborators to deliver," says John Fordham in The Guardian. In concert and on more than 90 albums as a leader or co-leader, she synthesizes jazz, contemporary classical, avant-rock, and folk musics into an innovative style instantly recognizable as hers alone. A prolific band leader and recording artist, she celebrated her 60th birthday in 2018 by releasing one album a month from bands old and new, from solo to large ensemble. Franz A. Matzner in All About Jazz likened the twelve albums to "an ecosystem of independently thriving organisms linked by the shared soil of Fujii's artistic heritage and shaped by the forces of her creativity."

During the COVID-19 pandemic, she has recorded three albums-solo, a duet with Ikue Mori, and a duet with Natsuki Tamura. Over the years, Fujii has led some of the most consistently creative ensembles in modern improvised music, including her trio with bassist Mark Dresser and drummer Jim Black and an electrifying avant-rock quartet featuring drummer Tatsuya Yoshida of The Ruins. Her ongoing duet project with husband Natsuki Tamura released their sixth recording, Kisaragi, in 2017. "The duo's commitment to producing new sounds based on fresh ideas is second only to their musicianship," says Karl Ackermann in All About Jazz.

Aspiration, a CD by an ad hoc quartet featuring Wadada Leo Smith, Tamura, and Ikue Mori, was released in 2017 to wide acclaim. "Four musicians who regularly aspire for greater heights with each venture reach the summit together onÊAspiration," writes S. Victor Aaron in Something Else. As the leader of no less than five orchestras in the U.S., Germany, and Japan, Fujii has also established herself as one of the world's leading composers for large jazz ensembles, leading Cadence magazine to call her, "the Ellington of free jazz."-Libra



This album has been reviewed on our magazine:

The Squid
The Squid's Ear!

Artist Biographies

"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)
4/2/2025

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

"Takashi Sugawa (Bass, Cello)

Born in Gunma Prefecture, Japan. Takashi began his music career at age 11 playing classical cello, then switched to bass when he was 18. After graduated Berklee College of Music in 2006, Takashi moved to Brooklyn, NY., where he met Masabumi Kikuchi, whose music and art exerted a strong influence on Takashi. In 2009, Takashi left New York and returned to Japan, settling in Tokyo. He joined the Terumasa Hino Quintet in 2010 and had been become a regular member of the band for 6 years. Takashi is currently playing with several other bands as well, including the Kosuke Mine Quartet, Tamaya Honda Trio, and Michiyo Yagi Trio. He has performed at such jazz festivals as The Montreux (CH), Detroit (US), Tokyo Jazz (JP), Like a jazz machine fest (LU), Brisbane (AU) and the Mores Festival (DE) etc. Takashi has recently released three albums as his leader projects. His debut CD "Outgrowing" (2018) with Leo Genovese (p) and Tom Rainey (ds), "Time Remembered" (2020) and "Ancient Blue" (2021) with Banksia Trio featured Masaki Hayashi (p) and Shun Ishiwaka (ds)."

-Takashi Sugawa Website (https://www.tsgw.net/about)
4/2/2025

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

"Ittetsu Takemura was born in Sapporo City in 1989 (Heisei era). Middle School.From 9 years old he studied drums with Yoshi Oyama at YAMAHA.

Mainly playing rock, fusion etc. At the same time as graduating from junior high school, he started professional activities mainly in Sapporo.

In 2006, he participated in the "Yokohama JAZZ PROMENADE" jazz competition at Mikio Ishida trio, and won the Grand Prix and the citizen prize double. CD release on the same trio.

Since around 2009, Fumio Itabashi trio FIT! Act as a member of. Trio, the nationwide tour in large formation also continued to the present, and has gained high evaluation in every place.

In 2010, I participated for the first time as a tour member of the group Watanabe Sadao.

For about 2 years since 2011, he acted as a regular member of Sadao Watanabe Quintet.

From 2015 he is still active as a regular member of the group Sadao Watanabe.

He is also an idol entity since about 2016, and also acts as a regular member of the quartet of Mt. Amosaku who had co-starred in tours and sessions in Tokyo until then.

Currently I mainly have a base in Tokyo, but I love the local Hokkaido well, and there are many activities in Sapporo and Hokkaido.

Young band "MAZIWARIS" who is in a leader position is also formed from Hokkaido-born Yamada Takeshi, Usui Yuji and Ochi Shunsuke.

The CD of live recording is also sold out with the success of Hokkaido tour.

Currently, he participates in various bands such as Sadao Watanabe, Masakazu Mine, Itsui Itabashi, Shun Sakai, and is active all over the country.

Major collaboration history (in no particular order), Fumio Itabashi, Sadao Watanabe, Eiichi Hayashi, Eiichi Oyama, Akita Koyama, Akihiro Ishigari, Hiromaki Katayama, Tomoki Takahashi, Katsumasa Uemura, Carmen · Maki, Shun Sakai, Atsushi Ikeda, Oguchi Junichiro, Sakai Yoshihiro, Sakai Ryuichi, Yoshida Ryuichi, Watanabe Takao, Umezu Kazuyoshi, Kato Takayuki, Sugadairo, Kosugi Satoshi, Fukuda Shigeo, Inoue Yosuke, Kudo Seiji, Kudo Noboru, Tamura Natsuki , Akira Onozuka, Koichi Aramaki, Shigeo Aramaki, Shigeyuki Honda, Tamiya Honda, Nobimasa Tanaka, Hiroshi Fukumura, Tetsuro Fukumura, Akira Kawashima, Akira Toyama, Yaso Sakai, Nasunomitsuru, Ritsuo Eto, Hideaki Kanazawa, Takaoka Daisuke, Oshida Toshinobu, Ota Toshiyuki, Okada Tsutomi, Atsushi Goto, Atsushi Goto, Hiroyoshi Murata, Hiroshi Yoshino, Masafumi Yamaguchi, Isao Tsukamoto, Atsushi Inoue, Hugues Vincent, Greg McKenzie, Mikio Ishida, Takashi Seo, David Mathews, and many others."

-Ittetsu Takemura Website (http://ittetsu2.web.fc2.com/profile/newfile.html)
4/2/2025

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


Track Listing:



1. Hansho 9:37

2. Wait For The Moon To Rise 10:40

3. Aspiration 18:09

4. Keep Running 8:52

5. Moon On The Lake 9:59

Related Categories of Interest:


Satoko Fujii & Natsuki Tamura's Libra Label
Improvised Music
Jazz
Free Improvisation
Melodic and Lyrical Jazz
Asian Improvisation & Jazz
Trio Recordings
Piano Trio (Piano Bass Drums)
Staff Picks & Recommended Items
Jazz & Improvisation Based on Compositions

Search for other titles on the label:
Libra.


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