All About Jazz – Triad

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4 stars ****

Triad is the fifth of twelve monthly albums to be released as part of pianist-composer Satoko Fujii’s extended celebration of her sixtieth birthday. It is also her second album with the legendary American bassist Joe Fonda
Joe Fonda. Duet (Long Song Records, 2016), recorded live in Portland, Maine in 2015, had brought the pair together at Fonda’s request though the two were barely familiar with each other’s music. Despite the album title, one of the two tracks included Fujii’s trumpeter husband Natsuki Tamura who did not receive upfront billing. On Triad, the cover credits precisely reflect the presence of Italian saxophonist Gianni Mimmo whose music, coincidentally, was also unfamiliar to both Fujii and Fonda.
Mimmo is not well-known outside Europe though he has toured extensively on that continent and in the US. He favors the soprano sax and has developed a reputation for his experimental work with extended techniques. He has been performing with one the UK’s leading improvisational guitarists, John Russell, for ten years, and fellow Italian pianist/experimentalist Gianni Lenoci and German reed player Peter Brötzmann. Mimmo has recorded on two dozen albums as a leader or co-leader. 4 stars ****

Triad is the fifth of twelve monthly albums to be released as part of pianist-composer Satoko Fujii’s extended celebration of her sixtieth birthday. It is also her second album with the legendary American bassist Joe Fonda
Joe Fonda. Duet (Long Song Records, 2016), recorded live in Portland, Maine in 2015, had brought the pair together at Fonda’s request though the two were barely familiar with each other’s music. Despite the album title, one of the two tracks included Fujii’s trumpeter husband Natsuki Tamura who did not receive upfront billing. On Triad, the cover credits precisely reflect the presence of Italian saxophonist Gianni Mimmo whose music, coincidentally, was also unfamiliar to both Fujii and Fonda.
Mimmo is not well-known outside Europe though he has toured extensively on that continent and in the US. He favors the soprano sax and has developed a reputation for his experimental work with extended techniques. He has been performing with one the UK’s leading improvisational guitarists, John Russell, for ten years, and fellow Italian pianist/experimentalist Gianni Lenoci and German reed player Peter Brötzmann. Mimmo has recorded on two dozen albums as a leader or co-leader.

All About Jazz – Triad

Pubblicato il da

Triad is the fifth of twelve monthly albums to be released as part of pianist-composer Satoko Fujii’s extended celebration of her sixtieth birthday. It is also her second album with the legendary American bassist Joe Fonda
Joe Fonda. Duet (Long Song Records, 2016), recorded live in Portland, Maine in 2015, had brought the pair together at Fonda’s request though the two were barely familiar with each other’s music. Despite the album title, one of the two tracks included Fujii’s trumpeter husband Natsuki Tamura who did not receive upfront billing. On Triad, the cover credits precisely reflect the presence of Italian saxophonist Gianni Mimmo whose music, coincidentally, was also unfamiliar to both Fujii and Fonda.
Mimmo is not well-known outside Europe though he has toured extensively on that continent and in the US. He favors the soprano sax and has developed a reputation for his experimental work with extended techniques. He has been performing with one the UK’s leading improvisational guitarists, John Russell, for ten years, and fellow Italian pianist/experimentalist Gianni Lenoci and German reed player Peter Brötzmann. Mimmo has recorded on two dozen albums as a leader or co-leader. Triad is the fifth of twelve monthly albums to be released as part of pianist-composer Satoko Fujii’s extended celebration of her sixtieth birthday. It is also her second album with the legendary American bassist Joe Fonda
Joe Fonda. Duet (Long Song Records, 2016), recorded live in Portland, Maine in 2015, had brought the pair together at Fonda’s request though the two were barely familiar with each other’s music. Despite the album title, one of the two tracks included Fujii’s trumpeter husband Natsuki Tamura who did not receive upfront billing. On Triad, the cover credits precisely reflect the presence of Italian saxophonist Gianni Mimmo whose music, coincidentally, was also unfamiliar to both Fujii and Fonda.
Mimmo is not well-known outside Europe though he has toured extensively on that continent and in the US. He favors the soprano sax and has developed a reputation for his experimental work with extended techniques. He has been performing with one the UK’s leading improvisational guitarists, John Russell, for ten years, and fellow Italian pianist/experimentalist Gianni Lenoci and German reed player Peter Brötzmann. Mimmo has recorded on two dozen albums as a leader or co-leader.

Avant Music News – Triad

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The precursor to Triad, Satoko Fujii and Joe Fonda’s dazzling Duet, was one of 2016’s most delightful records and the first encounter of these two greats. Arriving from opposite sides of the free jazz/improv spectrum—one from the forefront of avant-jazz and free improvisation that flirts with modern composition, the other from the fiery spheres of “traditional” free jazz—Fujii and Fonda immediately clicked, achieving a symbiosis of styles, and crafted an inspired piece of music. For their second album together, they’re joined by Italian soprano saxophonist Gianni Mimmo, a prolific, creative musician whose output should be familiar to anyone following the intriguing label Amirani Records.

Much like the whole record, Triad’s opening “Available Gravity” is an idiosyncratic improvised cut, uncharacteristic for its performers. It reads as an abstract retelling of haunting and haunted folklore delivered through the voices of Joe Fonda’s romantic wooden flute, the tinkling knocks of Satoko Fujii’s piano strings, and the grating flutter of Gianni Mimmo’s saxophone splurts. This beautifully subdued track, along with three other shorts “Accidental Partner”, “No More Bugs”, and “Joe Melts the Water Boiler”, serves as a comforting satellite for the forty minutes long centerpiece “Birthday Girl”. Performed and recorded in Milan on Satoko Fujji’s 59th birthday, “Birthday Girl” is Triad’s focal point, an enthralling, oft exhilarating tour de force and celebration of improvisation.

While the piece starts calmly, almost carelessly, it soon picks up pace as Fonda’s forceful and playful double bass plucks are accompanied by Fujii’s characteristic forte playing and incisiveness. In a space between them, Mimmo’s saxophone draws lyrical lines interrupted only by the occasional discordant, energetic blow. Throughout, the musicians play in unison rather than against each other, exchanging ideas, evolving them individually, and reconciling them collectively. There’s a wonderful recurring circularity in the way that Fonda, Fujii, and Mimmo fervently repeat notes, imparting more heaviness and resolve in each cycle, whilst also creating an overarching structure. Their individual styles remain recognizable, yet also strain and contort to accomodate this new and unexplored context.

Elsewhere in the track, the trio entertains an accelerating, rhythmical, and oriental-sounding passage that leads into the first of several Fujii’s explosive solos. The solo is disrupted when Mimmo starts screeching and spouting furious lines, betraying the lyricism that came before. Soon Fujii reaches for the insides of her (possibly prepared) piano and the improvisation morphs into a faux chamber piece. Along the way, as the trio shifts in and out of configurations, one of Mimmo’s solos is rendered especially compelling by a sustained tone that gets out of control, while during a charged and wild duet with Fujii, Fonda can be heard shouting out an impassioned “yeah”.

As the song comes to a close, the musicians find themselves in a delicate post-bop section, brimming with emotion, led by Fonda’s galloping bass, Fujii’s tasteful piano accents, and Mimmo’s elongated, tuneful sounds. The players’ approaches warp again as the album closes in a fervent crescendo with Fujii and Mimmo playing faster and harder yet remaining faithful to a certain intermittent musicality.

After the final notes of “Birthday Girl” fade, Fujii, Fonda, and Mimmo showcase three breezy self-contained miniatures. “Accidental Partner” provides some layered and calm respite focused on Fonda’s bowed lines, “No More Bugs” rebukes with nervous and fragmented interplay of instruments dancing spasmodically, while “Joe Melts The Water Boiler” gives the already excellent Triad its exclamation point through a groovy collective improvisation.The precursor to Triad, Satoko Fujii and Joe Fonda’s dazzling Duet, was one of 2016’s most delightful records and the first encounter of these two greats. Arriving from opposite sides of the free jazz/improv spectrum—one from the forefront of avant-jazz and free improvisation that flirts with modern composition, the other from the fiery spheres of “traditional” free jazz—Fujii and Fonda immediately clicked, achieving a symbiosis of styles, and crafted an inspired piece of music. For their second album together, they’re joined by Italian soprano saxophonist Gianni Mimmo, a prolific, creative musician whose output should be familiar to anyone following the intriguing label Amirani Records.

Much like the whole record, Triad’s opening “Available Gravity” is an idiosyncratic improvised cut, uncharacteristic for its performers. It reads as an abstract retelling of haunting and haunted folklore delivered through the voices of Joe Fonda’s romantic wooden flute, the tinkling knocks of Satoko Fujii’s piano strings, and the grating flutter of Gianni Mimmo’s saxophone splurts. This beautifully subdued track, along with three other shorts “Accidental Partner”, “No More Bugs”, and “Joe Melts the Water Boiler”, serves as a comforting satellite for the forty minutes long centerpiece “Birthday Girl”. Performed and recorded in Milan on Satoko Fujji’s 59th birthday, “Birthday Girl” is Triad’s focal point, an enthralling, oft exhilarating tour de force and celebration of improvisation.

While the piece starts calmly, almost carelessly, it soon picks up pace as Fonda’s forceful and playful double bass plucks are accompanied by Fujii’s characteristic forte playing and incisiveness. In a space between them, Mimmo’s saxophone draws lyrical lines interrupted only by the occasional discordant, energetic blow. Throughout, the musicians play in unison rather than against each other, exchanging ideas, evolving them individually, and reconciling them collectively. There’s a wonderful recurring circularity in the way that Fonda, Fujii, and Mimmo fervently repeat notes, imparting more heaviness and resolve in each cycle, whilst also creating an overarching structure. Their individual styles remain recognizable, yet also strain and contort to accomodate this new and unexplored context.

Elsewhere in the track, the trio entertains an accelerating, rhythmical, and oriental-sounding passage that leads into the first of several Fujii’s explosive solos. The solo is disrupted when Mimmo starts screeching and spouting furious lines, betraying the lyricism that came before. Soon Fujii reaches for the insides of her (possibly prepared) piano and the improvisation morphs into a faux chamber piece. Along the way, as the trio shifts in and out of configurations, one of Mimmo’s solos is rendered especially compelling by a sustained tone that gets out of control, while during a charged and wild duet with Fujii, Fonda can be heard shouting out an impassioned “yeah”.

As the song comes to a close, the musicians find themselves in a delicate post-bop section, brimming with emotion, led by Fonda’s galloping bass, Fujii’s tasteful piano accents, and Mimmo’s elongated, tuneful sounds. The players’ approaches warp again as the album closes in a fervent crescendo with Fujii and Mimmo playing faster and harder yet remaining faithful to a certain intermittent musicality.

After the final notes of “Birthday Girl” fade, Fujii, Fonda, and Mimmo showcase three breezy self-contained miniatures. “Accidental Partner” provides some layered and calm respite focused on Fonda’s bowed lines, “No More Bugs” rebukes with nervous and fragmented interplay of instruments dancing spasmodically, while “Joe Melts The Water Boiler” gives the already excellent Triad its exclamation point through a groovy collective improvisation.

The Free Jazz Collective – Triad

Pubblicato il da

4 stars 1/2 ****1/2
The precursor to Triad, Satoko Fujii and Joe Fonda’s dazzling Duet, was one of 2016’s most delightful records and the first encounter of these two greats. Arriving from opposite sides of the free jazz/improv spectrum—one from the forefront of avant-jazz and free improvisation that flirts with modern composition, the other from the fiery spheres of “traditional” free jazz—Fujii and Fonda immediately clicked, achieving a symbiosis of styles, and crafted an inspired piece of music. For their second album together, they’re joined by Italian soprano saxophonist Gianni Mimmo, a prolific, creative musician whose output should be familiar to anyone following the intriguing label Amirani Records.

Much like the whole record, Triad’s opening “Available Gravity” is an idiosyncratic improvised cut, uncharacteristic for its performers. It reads as an abstract retelling of haunting and haunted folklore delivered through the voices of Joe Fonda’s romantic wooden flute, the tinkling knocks of Satoko Fujii’s piano strings, and the grating flutter of Gianni Mimmo’s saxophone splurts. This beautifully subdued track, along with three other shorts “Accidental Partner”, “No More Bugs”, and “Joe Melts the Water Boiler”, serves as a comforting satellite for the forty minutes long centerpiece “Birthday Girl”. Performed and recorded in Milan on Satoko Fujji’s 59th birthday, “Birthday Girl” is Triad’s focal point, an enthralling, oft exhilarating tour de force and celebration of improvisation.

While the piece starts calmly, almost carelessly, it soon picks up pace as Fonda’s forceful and playful double bass plucks are accompanied by Fujii’s characteristic forte playing and incisiveness. In a space between them, Mimmo’s saxophone draws lyrical lines interrupted only by the occasional discordant, energetic blow. Throughout, the musicians play in unison rather than against each other, exchanging ideas, evolving them individually, and reconciling them collectively. There’s a wonderful recurring circularity in the way that Fonda, Fujii, and Mimmo fervently repeat notes, imparting more heaviness and resolve in each cycle, whilst also creating an overarching structure. Their individual styles remain recognizable, yet also strain and contort to accomodate this new and unexplored context.

Elsewhere in the track, the trio entertains an accelerating, rhythmical, and oriental-sounding passage that leads into the first of several Fujii’s explosive solos. The solo is disrupted when Mimmo starts screeching and spouting furious lines, betraying the lyricism that came before. Soon Fujii reaches for the insides of her (possibly prepared) piano and the improvisation morphs into a faux chamber piece. Along the way, as the trio shifts in and out of configurations, one of Mimmo’s solos is rendered especially compelling by a sustained tone that gets out of control, while during a charged and wild duet with Fujii, Fonda can be heard shouting out an impassioned “yeah”.

As the song comes to a close, the musicians find themselves in a delicate post-bop section, brimming with emotion, led by Fonda’s galloping bass, Fujii’s tasteful piano accents, and Mimmo’s elongated, tuneful sounds. The players’ approaches warp again as the album closes in a fervent crescendo with Fujii and Mimmo playing faster and harder yet remaining faithful to a certain intermittent musicality.

After the final notes of “Birthday Girl” fade, Fujii, Fonda, and Mimmo showcase three breezy self-contained miniatures. “Accidental Partner” provides some layered and calm respite focused on Fonda’s bowed lines, “No More Bugs” rebukes with nervous and fragmented interplay of instruments dancing spasmodically, while “Joe Melts The Water Boiler” gives the already excellent Triad its exclamation point through a groovy collective improvisation.4 stars 1/2 ****1/2
The precursor to Triad, Satoko Fujii and Joe Fonda’s dazzling Duet, was one of 2016’s most delightful records and the first encounter of these two greats. Arriving from opposite sides of the free jazz/improv spectrum—one from the forefront of avant-jazz and free improvisation that flirts with modern composition, the other from the fiery spheres of “traditional” free jazz—Fujii and Fonda immediately clicked, achieving a symbiosis of styles, and crafted an inspired piece of music. For their second album together, they’re joined by Italian soprano saxophonist Gianni Mimmo, a prolific, creative musician whose output should be familiar to anyone following the intriguing label Amirani Records.

Much like the whole record, Triad’s opening “Available Gravity” is an idiosyncratic improvised cut, uncharacteristic for its performers. It reads as an abstract retelling of haunting and haunted folklore delivered through the voices of Joe Fonda’s romantic wooden flute, the tinkling knocks of Satoko Fujii’s piano strings, and the grating flutter of Gianni Mimmo’s saxophone splurts. This beautifully subdued track, along with three other shorts “Accidental Partner”, “No More Bugs”, and “Joe Melts the Water Boiler”, serves as a comforting satellite for the forty minutes long centerpiece “Birthday Girl”. Performed and recorded in Milan on Satoko Fujji’s 59th birthday, “Birthday Girl” is Triad’s focal point, an enthralling, oft exhilarating tour de force and celebration of improvisation.

While the piece starts calmly, almost carelessly, it soon picks up pace as Fonda’s forceful and playful double bass plucks are accompanied by Fujii’s characteristic forte playing and incisiveness. In a space between them, Mimmo’s saxophone draws lyrical lines interrupted only by the occasional discordant, energetic blow. Throughout, the musicians play in unison rather than against each other, exchanging ideas, evolving them individually, and reconciling them collectively. There’s a wonderful recurring circularity in the way that Fonda, Fujii, and Mimmo fervently repeat notes, imparting more heaviness and resolve in each cycle, whilst also creating an overarching structure. Their individual styles remain recognizable, yet also strain and contort to accomodate this new and unexplored context.

Elsewhere in the track, the trio entertains an accelerating, rhythmical, and oriental-sounding passage that leads into the first of several Fujii’s explosive solos. The solo is disrupted when Mimmo starts screeching and spouting furious lines, betraying the lyricism that came before. Soon Fujii reaches for the insides of her (possibly prepared) piano and the improvisation morphs into a faux chamber piece. Along the way, as the trio shifts in and out of configurations, one of Mimmo’s solos is rendered especially compelling by a sustained tone that gets out of control, while during a charged and wild duet with Fujii, Fonda can be heard shouting out an impassioned “yeah”.

As the song comes to a close, the musicians find themselves in a delicate post-bop section, brimming with emotion, led by Fonda’s galloping bass, Fujii’s tasteful piano accents, and Mimmo’s elongated, tuneful sounds. The players’ approaches warp again as the album closes in a fervent crescendo with Fujii and Mimmo playing faster and harder yet remaining faithful to a certain intermittent musicality.

After the final notes of “Birthday Girl” fade, Fujii, Fonda, and Mimmo showcase three breezy self-contained miniatures. “Accidental Partner” provides some layered and calm respite focused on Fonda’s bowed lines, “No More Bugs” rebukes with nervous and fragmented interplay of instruments dancing spasmodically, while “Joe Melts The Water Boiler” gives the already excellent Triad its exclamation point through a groovy collective improvisation.

From The Roots To The Sky

Pubblicato il da

A fantastic double CD featuring legendary Allman Brothers Band drummer JAIMOE and his long time pal, bass giant JOE FONDA, plus a selection of Italian jazz aces (Tiziano Tononi, Alberto Mandarini, Gianluigi Paganelli, Beppe Caruso) and Finnish/American guitar master Raoul Björkenheim, and some other guests.

A massive effort that covers a fantastic spectrum of creative music: soulful jazzy ballads and instrumentals, Southern funk rock covers, complex avant jazz rock pieces, extended improvised jams and more.

Joe Fonda: bass, vocals

Jaimoe: drums and percussion

with

Tiziano Tononi: drums & percussion

&

Raoul Björkenheim: guitar, backing vocals

Beppe Caruso: trombone

Alberto Mandarini: trumpet

Gianluigi Paganelli: tuba

Special guests:

Daniele Cavallanti: tenor sax (West Bufalino)

Fabio Treves: harmonica (Roz, See You On The Moon!)

Antonio Zambrini: Fender Rhodes (Super Jam)

Pacho: percussion (Super Jam)

Bruce P.Reese: ghost guitar (Gone Too Soon; Super Jam)

Recorded at Orlando Music Studio, Milano, February 3,4 2018

Sound Engineer: Stefano Spina

Mixed by Maurizio Giannotti, Tiziano Tononi and Fabrizio Perissinotto at Newmastering Studio, Milano

Mastered by Maurizio Giannotti at Newmastering Studio, Milano

Tiziano Tononi plays Premier drums and Meinl “Byzance” Cymbals

Produced by Fabrizio PerissinottoA fantastic double CD featuring legendary Allman Brothers Band drummer JAIMOE and his long time pal, bass giant JOE FONDA, plus a selection of Italian jazz aces (Tiziano Tononi, Alberto Mandarini, Gianluigi Paganelli, Beppe Caruso) and Finnish/American guitar master Raoul Björkenheim, and some other guests.

A massive effort that covers a fantastic spectrum of creative music: soulful jazzy ballads and instrumentals, Southern funk rock covers, complex avant jazz rock pieces, extended improvised jams and more.

Joe Fonda: bass, vocals

Jaimoe: drums and percussion

with

Tiziano Tononi: drums & percussion

&

Raoul Björkenheim: guitar, backing vocals

Beppe Caruso: trombone

Alberto Mandarini: trumpet

Gianluigi Paganelli: tuba

Special guests:

Daniele Cavallanti: tenor sax (West Bufalino)

Fabio Treves: harmonica (Roz, See You On The Moon!)

Antonio Zambrini: Fender Rhodes (Super Jam)

Pacho: percussion (Super Jam)

Bruce P.Reese: ghost guitar (Gone Too Soon; Super Jam)

Recorded at Orlando Music Studio, Milano, February 3,4 2018

Sound Engineer: Stefano Spina

Mixed by Maurizio Giannotti, Tiziano Tononi and Fabrizio Perissinotto at Newmastering Studio, Milano

Mastered by Maurizio Giannotti at Newmastering Studio, Milano

Tiziano Tononi plays Premier drums and Meinl “Byzance” Cymbals

Produced by Fabrizio Perissinotto

Beautie on the Waters

Pubblicato il da

Mc’n’Mac is Jim McAuley and Mary MacQueen, two Los Angeles-based musicians whose music reflects their shared love of folk, blues, free improvisation and classical music. Their approach is intuitive and heartfelt, mercifully free of cynicism and irony. From Renaissance art songs to ’60’s protest, this is music that speaks directly to our contemporary lives with urgency and passion.

Mary MacQueen is a singer and virtuoso multi-instrumentalist (acoustic bass, recorders, guitar, whistling and animal sounds) with wide ranging experience as a performer, composer and teacher.
She was raised in a home filled with poetry, music, and games from around the world and devoid of television and commercial radio. From teen-age experiences in Cape Breton Nova Scotia, immersed in farming and Gaelic culture, to studies with contemporary bass master Bertram Turetzky and an MA in cross-cultural studies of Yoruba and Celtic music, she has continued to explore the connections and intersections of traditional music across different cultures and centuries. Her paintings and original compositions reveal her love of nature and commitment to the environment.

Jim McAuley began his musical life as a classical guitarist, but was soon seduced by the sound of finger-picked blues, folk and jazz. His original work combines these influences into a highly personal improvisational style. His previous Long Song release, “Gongfarmer 36”, was named by Acoustic Guitar Magazine as one of the top CD’s of 2012. The current album returns him to his 60’s roots.

Mary and Jim have been making music together for nearly a decade. Their joy in playing together is palpable, their synergistic bond amazing. After years of relative obscurity playing privately and in local venues, Long Song Records is proud to offer this beautiful music to a worldwide audience.

credits

released September 25, 2018

Mary MacQueen: vocals, guitar, acoustic bass
Jim McAuley: acoustic and electric guitars
plus other musicians

Mc’n’Mac is Jim McAuley and Mary MacQueen, two Los Angeles-based musicians whose music reflects their shared love of folk, blues, free improvisation and classical music. Their approach is intuitive and heartfelt, mercifully free of cynicism and irony. From Renaissance art songs to ’60’s protest, this is music that speaks directly to our contemporary lives with urgency and passion.

Mary MacQueen is a singer and virtuoso multi-instrumentalist (acoustic bass, recorders, guitar, whistling and animal sounds) with wide ranging experience as a performer, composer and teacher.
She was raised in a home filled with poetry, music, and games from around the world and devoid of television and commercial radio. From teen-age experiences in Cape Breton Nova Scotia, immersed in farming and Gaelic culture, to studies with contemporary bass master Bertram Turetzky and an MA in cross-cultural studies of Yoruba and Celtic music, she has continued to explore the connections and intersections of traditional music across different cultures and centuries. Her paintings and original compositions reveal her love of nature and commitment to the environment.

Jim McAuley began his musical life as a classical guitarist, but was soon seduced by the sound of finger-picked blues, folk and jazz. His original work combines these influences into a highly personal improvisational style. His previous Long Song release, “Gongfarmer 36”, was named by Acoustic Guitar Magazine as one of the top CD’s of 2012. The current album returns him to his 60’s roots.

Mary and Jim have been making music together for nearly a decade. Their joy in playing together is palpable, their synergistic bond amazing. After years of relative obscurity playing privately and in local venues, Long Song Records is proud to offer this beautiful music to a worldwide audience.

credits

released September 25, 2018

Mary MacQueen: vocals, guitar, acoustic bass
Jim McAuley: acoustic and electric guitars
plus other musicians

Mizu

Pubblicato il da

Pianist Satoko Fujii and bassist Joe Fonda deepen their dialogue on a new duet album Mizu

“The degree of intimate listening and deep exchange between Fujii’s piano and the woody, natural-sounding bass of Fonda is breathtaking.” — Robert Bush, NBC San Diego

“The conversation is intuitive, at times seemingly telepathic — and it creates an enormous amount of drama and joy.” — Steve Feeney, The Arts Fuse

On Mizu, pianist-composer Satoko Fujii and bassist Joe Fonda pick up where they left off two years ago when they released their first duo album, titled simply Duet, to rave reviews. Mizu, recorded live on a 2017 European tour, finds them delving deeper into their musical connection. There’s a surprise around every corner as these two play with even greater emotional abandon, lyricism, and freedom.  The album will be released July 27, 2018 via Long Song.

At the urging of a festival producer in Europe, Fonda contacted Fujii in 2015 to see if she’d like to get together to play. They eventually were able to coordinate their busy international performing schedules for a New England tour later in the year. They managed two other concerts before their next opportunity to play together for an extended period emerged, on a 2017 four-city European tour. The tour produced the music on this new duet CD, as well as Triad, a trio recording with Italian saxophonist Gianni Mimmo released earlier this year as part of Fujii’s 60th birthday celebration.

Despite a lengthy gap between performances, the chemistry between Fujii and Fonda has grown. “I find that the more we play together, the more free we feel to take risks. We talk to each other in music,” says Fujii.

Fonda agrees. “Now that we’ve had a chance to play together more, the vocabulary and the possibilities that we’re using have expanded,” he says. “We trust and respect each other, that’s where the freedom comes from.”

The freedom results in exhilarating music that is both inviting and challenging. On “Rik Bevernage,” a dedication to the late Belgian concert producer and label owner, there’s an elastic give and take between Fujii and Fonda as they exchange ideas and develop them. Sharp percussive motifs give way to flowing waves of music and then to sounds of unusual timbre. Fonda sounds especially inspired on this track, joyfully springing off in his own direction one minute, then curling around Fujii’s piano inventions like a vine. “Long Journey” also finds bass and drums in perfect sync, playing in parallel without ever directly echoing or following the other. “Mizu” is focused and unhurried as it winds its way through one fascinating musical landscape after another. Throughout the album, the pianist and bassist are co-equal creators, with no sense of a leader and an accompanist, just two voices intertwined in a profound dialogue.

“I would not get the same inspiration from Joe if he played only like an accompanist,” Fujii says. “For me instrumentation and traditional soloist-accompanist roles are not that important. Who I play with and the quality of their ideas and willingness to work together are far more important to me.”

“I feel free to play whatever I want and so does she,” Fonda says. He points to a moment on the title track to illustrate what he means. “There is a place where I start singing. I remember all of a sudden Satoko started playing something that sounded like opera to me. And I said to myself, wow, someone’s gotta sing—and that’s what I did. This is the kind of freedom we’ve arrived at.”

Pianist Satoko Fujii and bassist Joe Fonda deepen their dialogue on a new duet album Mizu

“The degree of intimate listening and deep exchange between Fujii’s piano and the woody, natural-sounding bass of Fonda is breathtaking.” — Robert Bush, NBC San Diego

“The conversation is intuitive, at times seemingly telepathic — and it creates an enormous amount of drama and joy.” — Steve Feeney, The Arts Fuse

On Mizu, pianist-composer Satoko Fujii and bassist Joe Fonda pick up where they left off two years ago when they released their first duo album, titled simply Duet, to rave reviews. Mizu, recorded live on a 2017 European tour, finds them delving deeper into their musical connection. There’s a surprise around every corner as these two play with even greater emotional abandon, lyricism, and freedom.  The album will be released July 27, 2018 via Long Song.

At the urging of a festival producer in Europe, Fonda contacted Fujii in 2015 to see if she’d like to get together to play. They eventually were able to coordinate their busy international performing schedules for a New England tour later in the year. They managed two other concerts before their next opportunity to play together for an extended period emerged, on a 2017 four-city European tour. The tour produced the music on this new duet CD, as well as Triad, a trio recording with Italian saxophonist Gianni Mimmo released earlier this year as part of Fujii’s 60th birthday celebration.

Despite a lengthy gap between performances, the chemistry between Fujii and Fonda has grown. “I find that the more we play together, the more free we feel to take risks. We talk to each other in music,” says Fujii.

Fonda agrees. “Now that we’ve had a chance to play together more, the vocabulary and the possibilities that we’re using have expanded,” he says. “We trust and respect each other, that’s where the freedom comes from.”

The freedom results in exhilarating music that is both inviting and challenging. On “Rik Bevernage,” a dedication to the late Belgian concert producer and label owner, there’s an elastic give and take between Fujii and Fonda as they exchange ideas and develop them. Sharp percussive motifs give way to flowing waves of music and then to sounds of unusual timbre. Fonda sounds especially inspired on this track, joyfully springing off in his own direction one minute, then curling around Fujii’s piano inventions like a vine. “Long Journey” also finds bass and drums in perfect sync, playing in parallel without ever directly echoing or following the other. “Mizu” is focused and unhurried as it winds its way through one fascinating musical landscape after another. Throughout the album, the pianist and bassist are co-equal creators, with no sense of a leader and an accompanist, just two voices intertwined in a profound dialogue.

“I would not get the same inspiration from Joe if he played only like an accompanist,” Fujii says. “For me instrumentation and traditional soloist-accompanist roles are not that important. Who I play with and the quality of their ideas and willingness to work together are far more important to me.”

“I feel free to play whatever I want and so does she,” Fonda says. He points to a moment on the title track to illustrate what he means. “There is a place where I start singing. I remember all of a sudden Satoko started playing something that sounded like opera to me. And I said to myself, wow, someone’s gotta sing—and that’s what I did. This is the kind of freedom we’ve arrived at.”

TRIAD

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The second CD in a series of compelling releases featuring the lady of avant jazz Satoko Fujii and bass giant Joe Fonda, now with the addition of sax soprano master Gianni Mimmo. The result of a totally improvised one day studio session, “Triad” is a marvellous achievement in daring and spectacular avant jazz music.
What better way for pianist-composer Satoko Fujii to celebrate turning 60 than with an album recorded on her birthday. Last year, Fujii, bassist Joe Fonda, and Italian soprano saxophonist Gianni Mimmo went into the studio to record Triad (May 25, 2018, Long Song Records) on Fujii’s 59th birthday. Though they had only played together once, in concert the night before, the trio is remarkably confident and communicates on a deep level. The music is unhurried and graceful, yet always challenging.
Fujii and Fonda were planning a European tour in October 2017 and asked Long Song label owner Fabrizio Perissinotto, who released their 2016 album, Duet, if he knew of any opportunities to perform in Italy. Perissinotto talked with his good friend Mimmo and a concert and recording session were arranged. (In July, Long Song will release another Fonda-Fujii duet album recorded later on the same tour.) They had never heard Mimmo before, but “Joe and I listened to his music and we both had the feeling this would be great,” Fujii says.
They were wise to trust their feelings; the album is consistently engaging. The music they make transforms and flows effortlessly while always maintaining focus. There is no sense of Mimmo intruding on established duo partners, but instead there’s a beautiful, almost classical, balance to the ensemble, with each musician engaging equally in an intimate conversation. The centerpiece of the album is the 40-minute long improvisation, “Birthday Girl,” a title which highlights Fujii’s youthful spirit. The music evolves organically as the trio splits into different instrumental combinations and shifts between lyricism and abstraction, highly rhythmic passages and gently flowing ones.
It’s just amazing how we can communicate with other musicians even if we don’t speak the same language,” Fujii says. “Of course, there are certain things we only can say with spoken language, but musical language is a more direct communication between soul and soul.”
After their marathon improvisation, they decided to play several shorter pieces to round out the album. Each one is distinct in character. “Accidental Partner” is a quiet little gem that unfolds over Fonda’s rich bowed tones. “No More Bugs” is a busy piece in which the players scurry around one another. The spare, powerfully atmospheric “Available Gravity” neatly balances abstraction and pure sound with lyrical wood flute and soprano sax. “Joe Melts the Water Boiler” is a tightly integrated collective improvisation.
I think all my musical experience prepares me for improvisations like this album,” Fujii says. “Practicing and composing both feed into improvisation. I just need to trust myself and accept myself. Actually, my whole my life is practice for free improv.”
Joe Fonda “is a serious seeker of new musical horizons,” says the Boston Phoenix. From 1984 to 1999, he was the bassist with composer-improviser and NEA Jazz Master Anthony Braxton. Fonda also has been an integral member of several cooperative bands, including the Fonda-Stevens Group with Michael Jefry Stevens, Herb Robertson, and Harvey Sorgen; Conference Call, with Gebhard Ullmann, Stevens, and George Schuller; the Fab Trio with Barry Altschul and Billy Bang; and the Nu Band with Mark Whitecage, Roy Campbell, and Lou Grassi. He is currently a member of The 3dom Factor, Altschul’s trio with saxophonist Jon Irabagon, and guitarist Michael Musillami’s trio, among others. He has led some truly unique ensembles of his own including From the Source, which features four instrumentalists, a tap dancer, and a body healer/vocalist; and Bottoms Out, a sextet with Gerry Hemingway, Joe Daley, Michael Rabinowitz, Claire Daly, and Gebhard Ullmann. He has released twelve recordings under his own name.
Improviser and composer Gianni Mimmo has built an international reputation for his unique treatment of musical timbre and his exploration of advanced techniques on the soprano saxophone. Based in Milan, Italy, Gianni is known for his innovative cross-disciplinary projects with poetry, photography installations, and film, as well as solo performances and international collaborations with improvisers in the US and throughout Europe. He has worked in duos with US cellist Daniel Levin, Basque guitarist Xabier Iriondo, English violinist Alison Blunt, pianist Gianni Lenoci, and fellow soprano saxophonist Harry Sjöström. He is a member of improvising ensembles the Shoreditch Trio and the Wild Chamber Trio. He performs improvised scores for film, composes graphic scores for chamber quintets ands of poetry and spoken word texts. He has operated Amirani Records since 2005.
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 80 albums as a leader or co-leader, she synthesizes jazz, contemporary classical, avant-rock, and Japanese folk music into an innovative music instantly recognizable as hers alone. 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, the Min-Yoh Ensemble, and an electrifying avant-rock quartet featuring drummer Tatsuya Yoshida of The Ruins.
Fujii exhibits a kind of boundless exploration that finds her often in new pairings or with new lineups, a never-ending pursuit of new sounds, new groups, and new collaborations.” – Lee Rice Epstein, The Free Jazz Collective
Joe Fonda is a real virtuoso and composer of the highest order.” – Anthony Braxton
Mimmo’s music . . . is based on balance. Not only the moment-to-moment balance of register, phrasing, dynamics, and articulation, but a larger, more fundamental balance of abstraction and direct lyricism.” – Daniel Barbiero, Avant Music NewsThe second CD in a series of compelling releases featuring the lady of avant jazz Satoko Fujii and bass giant Joe Fonda, now with the addition of sax soprano master Gianni Mimmo. The result of a totally improvised one day studio session, “Triad” is a marvellous achievement in daring and spectacular avant jazz music.
What better way for pianist-composer Satoko Fujii to celebrate turning 60 than with an album recorded on her birthday. Last year, Fujii, bassist Joe Fonda, and Italian soprano saxophonist Gianni Mimmo went into the studio to record Triad (May 25, 2018, Long Song Records) on Fujii’s 59th birthday. Though they had only played together once, in concert the night before, the trio is remarkably confident and communicates on a deep level. The music is unhurried and graceful, yet always challenging.
Fujii and Fonda were planning a European tour in October 2017 and asked Long Song label owner Fabrizio Perissinotto, who released their 2016 album, Duet, if he knew of any opportunities to perform in Italy. Perissinotto talked with his good friend Mimmo and a concert and recording session were arranged. (In July, Long Song will release another Fonda-Fujii duet album recorded later on the same tour.) They had never heard Mimmo before, but “Joe and I listened to his music and we both had the feeling this would be great,” Fujii says.
They were wise to trust their feelings; the album is consistently engaging. The music they make transforms and flows effortlessly while always maintaining focus. There is no sense of Mimmo intruding on established duo partners, but instead there’s a beautiful, almost classical, balance to the ensemble, with each musician engaging equally in an intimate conversation. The centerpiece of the album is the 40-minute long improvisation, “Birthday Girl,” a title which highlights Fujii’s youthful spirit. The music evolves organically as the trio splits into different instrumental combinations and shifts between lyricism and abstraction, highly rhythmic passages and gently flowing ones.
It’s just amazing how we can communicate with other musicians even if we don’t speak the same language,” Fujii says. “Of course, there are certain things we only can say with spoken language, but musical language is a more direct communication between soul and soul.”
After their marathon improvisation, they decided to play several shorter pieces to round out the album. Each one is distinct in character. “Accidental Partner” is a quiet little gem that unfolds over Fonda’s rich bowed tones. “No More Bugs” is a busy piece in which the players scurry around one another. The spare, powerfully atmospheric “Available Gravity” neatly balances abstraction and pure sound with lyrical wood flute and soprano sax. “Joe Melts the Water Boiler” is a tightly integrated collective improvisation.
I think all my musical experience prepares me for improvisations like this album,” Fujii says. “Practicing and composing both feed into improvisation. I just need to trust myself and accept myself. Actually, my whole my life is practice for free improv.”
Joe Fonda “is a serious seeker of new musical horizons,” says the Boston Phoenix. From 1984 to 1999, he was the bassist with composer-improviser and NEA Jazz Master Anthony Braxton. Fonda also has been an integral member of several cooperative bands, including the Fonda-Stevens Group with Michael Jefry Stevens, Herb Robertson, and Harvey Sorgen; Conference Call, with Gebhard Ullmann, Stevens, and George Schuller; the Fab Trio with Barry Altschul and Billy Bang; and the Nu Band with Mark Whitecage, Roy Campbell, and Lou Grassi. He is currently a member of The 3dom Factor, Altschul’s trio with saxophonist Jon Irabagon, and guitarist Michael Musillami’s trio, among others. He has led some truly unique ensembles of his own including From the Source, which features four instrumentalists, a tap dancer, and a body healer/vocalist; and Bottoms Out, a sextet with Gerry Hemingway, Joe Daley, Michael Rabinowitz, Claire Daly, and Gebhard Ullmann. He has released twelve recordings under his own name.
Improviser and composer Gianni Mimmo has built an international reputation for his unique treatment of musical timbre and his exploration of advanced techniques on the soprano saxophone. Based in Milan, Italy, Gianni is known for his innovative cross-disciplinary projects with poetry, photography installations, and film, as well as solo performances and international collaborations with improvisers in the US and throughout Europe. He has worked in duos with US cellist Daniel Levin, Basque guitarist Xabier Iriondo, English violinist Alison Blunt, pianist Gianni Lenoci, and fellow soprano saxophonist Harry Sjöström. He is a member of improvising ensembles the Shoreditch Trio and the Wild Chamber Trio. He performs improvised scores for film, composes graphic scores for chamber quintets ands of poetry and spoken word texts. He has operated Amirani Records since 2005.
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 80 albums as a leader or co-leader, she synthesizes jazz, contemporary classical, avant-rock, and Japanese folk music into an innovative music instantly recognizable as hers alone. 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, the Min-Yoh Ensemble, and an electrifying avant-rock quartet featuring drummer Tatsuya Yoshida of The Ruins.
Fujii exhibits a kind of boundless exploration that finds her often in new pairings or with new lineups, a never-ending pursuit of new sounds, new groups, and new collaborations.” – Lee Rice Epstein, The Free Jazz Collective
Joe Fonda is a real virtuoso and composer of the highest order.” – Anthony Braxton
Mimmo’s music . . . is based on balance. Not only the moment-to-moment balance of register, phrasing, dynamics, and articulation, but a larger, more fundamental balance of abstraction and direct lyricism.” – Daniel Barbiero, Avant Music News

Furore

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Nels Cline about Furore:
With his new record “Furore”, my good friend and über-talented guitarist Simone Massaron has drawn inspiration from the writings of John Steinbeck – specifically from his epic best-seller “The Grapes Of Wrath”.

Nels Cline about Furore:
With his new record “Furore”, my good friend and über-talented guitarist Simone Massaron has drawn inspiration from the writings of John Steinbeck – specifically from his epic best-seller “The Grapes Of Wrath”. Continua a leggere→