SATOKO FUJII QUARTET

BURNING WICK

Libra Records

Satoko Fujii, piano/composer; Tatsuya Yoshida, drums; Natsuki Tamura, trumpet/composer; Hayakawa Takeharu, bass.

For nearly three decades, Satoko Fujii has brought her unique and creative music to the world, blending jazz with contemporary classical music and interjecting rock, traditional Japanese music and the Avant-garde into her compositions. On this “Burning Wick” project, the heralded composer and pianist brings her rock quartet back to the studio after a nearly 20-year hiatus.  The quartet was founded in 2001.

“I have more fun playing with this band than ever before. We know each other better, we respect each other, and we enjoy the differences between our respective styles,” Fujii says in her press package.

They open with “Solar Orbit” that takes the listener on a twelve-minute excursion into the space of improvisation and free jazz. I enjoy the movement in this composition that blends excitement and drama into the arrangement. Each musician’s solo inspires us with creativity. What begins delicately builds into a tumultuous clatter.

Bassist, Hayakawa Takeharu opens a Fujii composition called “Rain in the Wee Small Hours” by bowing his bass. It growls and groans electronically. Then, his fingers take over, setting up the tempo and melodic movement of the song, with Satoko’s piano joining in. The song builds, like bricks stacking up to form a house.  The song develops, shapes and grows.  Tatsuya Yoshida pushes the piece ahead on his drums.  For a while, it’s a trio arrangement.  When Natsuki Tamura enters on trumpet, the texture of the arrangement changes and spirals. Then the quartet goes back to the bass. Takeharu leads them into the next plateau.

On Fujii’s tune “Walking Through the Border Town” voices add spice to the production, reminding me of Halloween and other ghostly celebrations.  The drum solo by Yoshida is quite stunning.  Then, the arrangement settles down to a smooth, slow transition that changes both texture and mood.

Satoko Fujii is a pianist, composer and improviser with a long history of performing. She boasted, in 2022, the release of 100 albums as a leader.  With every release, her music is completely fresh and innovative.  She has led some of the most consistently creative ensembles in modern improvised music.  Although this quartet, like all of the groups led by Satoko Fujii, are masters of free jazz and the Avant-garde, there is still deep and undeniable beauty in everything this musician composes and arranges.

She goes from smooth captivating sounds and melodies, to startling transitions and unexpected improvisations that both shock and surprise this listener in sweet ways. Here is improvised music at its best.  Satoko Fujii and her quartet challenge our artistic integrity with their creative freedom. The quartet leads us up untrodden paths of elevated music and unbridled energy.

Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil

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