If ever an album needed a video of the performance, “Duet” by pianist Satoko Fuji and bassist Joe Fonda (Long Song Records) is one. Not that the music the duo performs is not strong on its own but it would be enhanced by watching the musicians playing and interacting. Personally, I have seen Mr. Fonda play numerous times and there are few people I have seen who are as “one with their instrument” as he. If you listen closely to this recording, you can hear him breathe and occasionally sing.

This is a recording of the first time Ms. Fujii and the bassist ever met and played together. They certainly knew each other’s works and sense of adventure so it comes as little surprise that this performance goes in so many directions and never loses it’s focus. The first cut, “Paul Bley”, is 37:32 seconds of powerful music, with both musicians really digging in, pushing each other to go deeper, to take musical chances – the closing moments are simply beautiful. The second track, “JSN”, adds the pianist’s husband Natsuki Tamura on amplified trumpet to the duo. Also totally improvised, it’s a meditative piece, moving out of its rubato interaction of trumpet and bass into a poetic piano melody supported by the full bass tones. The trumpeter plays quiet bells in the background and slowly the intensity rises with the insistent piano pushing the others to raise the volume. Later on, Ms. Fujii plays inside the piano as her husband creates a sonic storm and Mr. Fonda moves to flute. The piece fades out at just over 11 minutes.

Satoko Fujii and Joe Fonda meet for the first time yet their mature and and adventuresome musical interactions sound as if they have been together on the bandstand for decades. Because both musicians have long careers creating challenging and rewarding performances, they trust each other to be “free” and honest. For more information, go to www.longsongrecords.com.If ever an album needed a video of the performance, “Duet” by pianist Satoko Fuji and bassist Joe Fonda (Long Song Records) is one. Not that the music the duo performs is not strong on its own but it would be enhanced by watching the musicians playing and interacting. Personally, I have seen Mr. Fonda play numerous times and there are few people I have seen who are as “one with their instrument” as he. If you listen closely to this recording, you can hear him breathe and occasionally sing.

This is a recording of the first time Ms. Fujii and the bassist ever met and played together. They certainly knew each other’s works and sense of adventure so it comes as little surprise that this performance goes in so many directions and never loses it’s focus. The first cut, “Paul Bley”, is 37:32 seconds of powerful music, with both musicians really digging in, pushing each other to go deeper, to take musical chances – the closing moments are simply beautiful. The second track, “JSN”, adds the pianist’s husband Natsuki Tamura on amplified trumpet to the duo. Also totally improvised, it’s a meditative piece, moving out of its rubato interaction of trumpet and bass into a poetic piano melody supported by the full bass tones. The trumpeter plays quiet bells in the background and slowly the intensity rises with the insistent piano pushing the others to raise the volume. Later on, Ms. Fujii plays inside the piano as her husband creates a sonic storm and Mr. Fonda moves to flute. The piece fades out at just over 11 minutes.

Satoko Fujii and Joe Fonda meet for the first time yet their mature and and adventuresome musical interactions sound as if they have been together on the bandstand for decades. Because both musicians have long careers creating challenging and rewarding performances, they trust each other to be “free” and honest. For more information, go to www.longsongrecords.com.

The pairing of pianist Satoko Fujii, 58, and bassist Joe Fonda, 62, for a Duet concert recording in the Meloon Chapel of the Woodfords Congregational Church in Portland Maine was made even more magical than it already was when Fujii’s husband, trumpeter Natsuki Tamura, surprisingly bum-rushed the stage to make the second set into a trio.

There’s only two tracks on Duet (Long Song Records). “Paul Bley” is the duo arresting time and space in reorganizing the molecules of their own environment for a full 37:10. Named after pianist Bley who helped pioneer the kind of free-jazz that Fujii, especially, writes, arranges and performs, it’s a twisting, turning circuitous romp through the imaginations of both participants. Her solos contain sharp angles, even sharper left turns, syncopation run amok and the kind of arpeggios that surprise and delight.

Bassist Fonda is super-attuned to her every tic. When you consider that the two never performed together or never even met, the results are jaw-dropping. No stranger to free-jazz, Fonda was the bassist in Anthony Braxton’s avant-garde band from ’84 to ’99. In the new century, he’s been in, out and back in again with no less than five different ongoing bands while still leading two of his own bands, one of which, From The Source, includes his bass with four instrumentalists, a tap dancer and a body healer who sings. He has recorded 12 CDs under his own name.

Fujii has had her name on over 80 albums in Japan where her music straddles folk, classical, avant-garde pop and, of course, jazz. As a composer, she’s been called “The Ellington Of Free-Jazz” for, not the least of which, her forays into dissonance and chord-less meanderings.

The second set consists of one 11:20 “JSN” jam and, truth be known, her husband steals the show with his woodpecker staccato trumpet. Put aside all your notions of melody, harmony, rhythm and beats. Duet is here to freak you out. And it will. Just give it time.The pairing of pianist Satoko Fujii, 58, and bassist Joe Fonda, 62, for a Duet concert recording in the Meloon Chapel of the Woodfords Congregational Church in Portland Maine was made even more magical than it already was when Fujii’s husband, trumpeter Natsuki Tamura, surprisingly bum-rushed the stage to make the second set into a trio.

There’s only two tracks on Duet (Long Song Records). “Paul Bley” is the duo arresting time and space in reorganizing the molecules of their own environment for a full 37:10. Named after pianist Bley who helped pioneer the kind of free-jazz that Fujii, especially, writes, arranges and performs, it’s a twisting, turning circuitous romp through the imaginations of both participants. Her solos contain sharp angles, even sharper left turns, syncopation run amok and the kind of arpeggios that surprise and delight.

Bassist Fonda is super-attuned to her every tic. When you consider that the two never performed together or never even met, the results are jaw-dropping. No stranger to free-jazz, Fonda was the bassist in Anthony Braxton’s avant-garde band from ’84 to ’99. In the new century, he’s been in, out and back in again with no less than five different ongoing bands while still leading two of his own bands, one of which, From The Source, includes his bass with four instrumentalists, a tap dancer and a body healer who sings. He has recorded 12 CDs under his own name.

Fujii has had her name on over 80 albums in Japan where her music straddles folk, classical, avant-garde pop and, of course, jazz. As a composer, she’s been called “The Ellington Of Free-Jazz” for, not the least of which, her forays into dissonance and chord-less meanderings.

The second set consists of one 11:20 “JSN” jam and, truth be known, her husband steals the show with his woodpecker staccato trumpet. Put aside all your notions of melody, harmony, rhythm and beats. Duet is here to freak you out. And it will. Just give it time.

Pianist Satoko Fujii coming from Japan, and is, in my opinion, one of the toughest jazz musicians on the planet at present. She moved across the ocean in 1985, to study at Berklee, where she finished in 1985, when she returned to Japan. But where she could not be. So in 1993 she sat in the nose against the United States, where she studied further in New England Conservatory of Music until 1996. Then it was the sea again, to Japan with her husband, trumpeter Natsuki Tamura.

But she has not let go of the United States, and the 15th November 2015, she was in a church in Portland, along with the householder and the American bassist Joe Fonda, to record “Duet.”

Joe Fonda was born in Amsterdam, New York to parents who both played jazz. In his youth he started, like so many others, with guitar, before he went over to bass guitar. He also studied at Berklee, where he started playing acoustic bass. Since then he has been an active bassist in the freer part of the American jazz scene, and he has recorded with, among others, trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith.

In “Duet” we get two long compositions. The first they called “Paul Bley” and is a tribute to the late pianist that lasts throughout the 37 minutes and 10 seconds, and there’s not a moment too long. They get two really shown himself. Fujii inside and piano, as if it was Aki Takase, Eve Risser or Cecil Taylor who held on, and Fonda with his powerful and magnificent bass. All the way improvised it and the song will be created there and then. It is extremely creative and tough. Fujii is a powerful pianist who puts something in between, and with Fonda as accomplice, so this is very exciting and interesting. We can, with a little good will, recognize Paul Bley in the way she spoiller on, when she is staying at the black and white keys, but since she operates as often inside the piano, so she creates something completely separate, which is fascinating and fine.

And Fonda, who I believe has been far too little attention over the years, is a powerful bassist in line with William Parker, although his playing is more European than Parker.

On the second track, “JSN” they have also Natsuki Tamura on trumpet, and the soundstage is a little different. We know him best from the band Gato Libre, but he has also worked with Larry Ochs from Rova Saxophone Quartet, the Dutch pianist Misha Mengelberg, saxophonist Elliot Sharp, pianist Paul Bley and a number of Japanese musicians.

The “JSN” is he who opens, with a bit thin and sore intro before “mistress” takes over the lead, together with Fondas bass. In Fujiis game here I feel like Misha Mengelberg and Thelonious Monk hovering over the waters. But it is constantly distinctive to Fujii, together with Fondas powerful bass dominate. When Tamura enters, together with Fondas flute, the music in a slightly different direction, without excitement or intensity disappears.

The three musicians play is powerful music is creative, beautiful, exciting and challenging, and I can not understand why these musicians have not been placed on any of the jazz festivals in the Nordic countries in recent years.

But it’s never too late! If the three show up at one of the festivals or clubs in your vicinity, it is only to secure a place, for this is one of the most exciting things I’ve heard in a long timePianist Satoko Fujii coming from Japan, and is, in my opinion, one of the toughest jazz musicians on the planet at present. She moved across the ocean in 1985, to study at Berklee, where she finished in 1985, when she returned to Japan. But where she could not be. So in 1993 she sat in the nose against the United States, where she studied further in New England Conservatory of Music until 1996. Then it was the sea again, to Japan with her husband, trumpeter Natsuki Tamura.

But she has not let go of the United States, and the 15th November 2015, she was in a church in Portland, along with the householder and the American bassist Joe Fonda, to record “Duet.”

Joe Fonda was born in Amsterdam, New York to parents who both played jazz. In his youth he started, like so many others, with guitar, before he went over to bass guitar. He also studied at Berklee, where he started playing acoustic bass. Since then he has been an active bassist in the freer part of the American jazz scene, and he has recorded with, among others, trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith.

In “Duet” we get two long compositions. The first they called “Paul Bley” and is a tribute to the late pianist that lasts throughout the 37 minutes and 10 seconds, and there’s not a moment too long. They get two really shown himself. Fujii inside and piano, as if it was Aki Takase, Eve Risser or Cecil Taylor who held on, and Fonda with his powerful and magnificent bass. All the way improvised it and the song will be created there and then. It is extremely creative and tough. Fujii is a powerful pianist who puts something in between, and with Fonda as accomplice, so this is very exciting and interesting. We can, with a little good will, recognize Paul Bley in the way she spoiller on, when she is staying at the black and white keys, but since she operates as often inside the piano, so she creates something completely separate, which is fascinating and fine.

And Fonda, who I believe has been far too little attention over the years, is a powerful bassist in line with William Parker, although his playing is more European than Parker.

On the second track, “JSN” they have also Natsuki Tamura on trumpet, and the soundstage is a little different. We know him best from the band Gato Libre, but he has also worked with Larry Ochs from Rova Saxophone Quartet, the Dutch pianist Misha Mengelberg, saxophonist Elliot Sharp, pianist Paul Bley and a number of Japanese musicians.

The “JSN” is he who opens, with a bit thin and sore intro before “mistress” takes over the lead, together with Fondas bass. In Fujiis game here I feel like Misha Mengelberg and Thelonious Monk hovering over the waters. But it is constantly distinctive to Fujii, together with Fondas powerful bass dominate. When Tamura enters, together with Fondas flute, the music in a slightly different direction, without excitement or intensity disappears.

The three musicians play is powerful music is creative, beautiful, exciting and challenging, and I can not understand why these musicians have not been placed on any of the jazz festivals in the Nordic countries in recent years.

But it’s never too late! If the three show up at one of the festivals or clubs in your vicinity, it is only to secure a place, for this is one of the most exciting things I’ve heard in a long time

Daniele Cavallanti e Tiziano Tononi sono fedeli ad un’idea di musica che prende le mosse dai protagonisti della rivoluzione del free jazz, procedendo in avanti con i movimenti e i personaggi che hanno operato in continuità con quello stile, in particolare i rappresentanti della scuola di Chicago, senza dimenticare di stabilire un allacciamento consistente con il suono primitivo della madre Africa, lato sud in specie.
No time left è un disco inciso a Brooklyn nel 2015 e i due Nexus hanno fatto le cose davvero in grande, arruolando tre formidabili strumentisti, perfetti per condividere e arricchire questo tipo di progetto.
Joe Fonda, già membro di orchestre di Anthony Braxton, oltre che contitolare di una formazione con Michael Jefry Stevens, è al contrabbasso.
Steve Swell, al trombone, è uno degli specialisti più richiesti sul suo strumento e vanta collaborazioni prestigiose con tanti nomi che contano, da William Parker a Ken Vandermark.
Herb Robertson ha già registrato altri album dei due italiani ed è noto, principalmente, per aver fatto parte di uno dei primi gruppi di Tim Berne.
Insomma, il forte quintetto messo in piedi in America ha tutte le carte in regola ed è orientato nella direzione indicata, quella di un jazz selvatico, ruvido e cartavetrato. La nota “bella”, pulita, il passaggio liscio, levigato sono, infatti, banditi dall’idioma dei cinque “Brooklyn Express”. La front line, così, dialoga e si contrasta all’interno di un discorso polifonico, dove gli ottoni sputano fuoco e barriscono, coadiuvati dalle sordine. Il sassofono di Cavallanti, invece, parte seguendo il percorso dei binari, per deragliare, secondo necessità, articolando un fraseggio sporco ed eterodosso.
Il contrabbasso di Joe Fonda, poi, accompagna la band fornendo impulso e vigore. La batteria di Tononi riempie tutti gli spazi disponibili con un drummin’ poderoso e invadente, funzionale, però, al sound complessivo del quintetto.
Diversi pezzi sono omaggi ai santoni dell’avanguardia degli anni sessanta, settanta e oltre, da Bill Dixon a Ornette Coleman, dal sudafricano Harry Miller al pellerossa Jim Pepper, da Andrew Cyrille all’intruso, in tanto consesso “di colore”, Gil Evans (di pelle bianca). Si ha la sensazione, però, che le dediche siano servite semplicemente come spunto, come richiamo da seguire, accanto ad accordi minimi ed essenziali per far nascere e progredire lunghe improvvisazioni colettive. Di preordinato, di programmato in anticipo c’è veramente poco. Quasi tutto è frutto della capacità di composizione istantanea da parte dei cinque musicisti coinvolti nell’incisione.
Con questo disco Tononi e Cavallanti compiono un altro passo in avanti nella proposta di un jazz arcigno, a suo modo rigoroso, che non cerca il facile consenso, ma sa parlare ad un pubblico disponibile a lasciarsi trasportare da un flusso sonoro inarrestabile, con la sorgente nel passato, più o meno recente e lo sbocco nell’attualità o nel futuro.Daniele Cavallanti e Tiziano Tononi sono fedeli ad un’idea di musica che prende le mosse dai protagonisti della rivoluzione del free jazz, procedendo in avanti con i movimenti e i personaggi che hanno operato in continuità con quello stile, in particolare i rappresentanti della scuola di Chicago, senza dimenticare di stabilire un allacciamento consistente con il suono primitivo della madre Africa, lato sud in specie.
No time left è un disco inciso a Brooklyn nel 2015 e i due Nexus hanno fatto le cose davvero in grande, arruolando tre formidabili strumentisti, perfetti per condividere e arricchire questo tipo di progetto.
Joe Fonda, già membro di orchestre di Anthony Braxton, oltre che contitolare di una formazione con Michael Jefry Stevens, è al contrabbasso.
Steve Swell, al trombone, è uno degli specialisti più richiesti sul suo strumento e vanta collaborazioni prestigiose con tanti nomi che contano, da William Parker a Ken Vandermark.
Herb Robertson ha già registrato altri album dei due italiani ed è noto, principalmente, per aver fatto parte di uno dei primi gruppi di Tim Berne.
Insomma, il forte quintetto messo in piedi in America ha tutte le carte in regola ed è orientato nella direzione indicata, quella di un jazz selvatico, ruvido e cartavetrato. La nota “bella”, pulita, il passaggio liscio, levigato sono, infatti, banditi dall’idioma dei cinque “Brooklyn Express”. La front line, così, dialoga e si contrasta all’interno di un discorso polifonico, dove gli ottoni sputano fuoco e barriscono, coadiuvati dalle sordine. Il sassofono di Cavallanti, invece, parte seguendo il percorso dei binari, per deragliare, secondo necessità, articolando un fraseggio sporco ed eterodosso.
Il contrabbasso di Joe Fonda, poi, accompagna la band fornendo impulso e vigore. La batteria di Tononi riempie tutti gli spazi disponibili con un drummin’ poderoso e invadente, funzionale, però, al sound complessivo del quintetto.
Diversi pezzi sono omaggi ai santoni dell’avanguardia degli anni sessanta, settanta e oltre, da Bill Dixon a Ornette Coleman, dal sudafricano Harry Miller al pellerossa Jim Pepper, da Andrew Cyrille all’intruso, in tanto consesso “di colore”, Gil Evans (di pelle bianca). Si ha la sensazione, però, che le dediche siano servite semplicemente come spunto, come richiamo da seguire, accanto ad accordi minimi ed essenziali per far nascere e progredire lunghe improvvisazioni colettive. Di preordinato, di programmato in anticipo c’è veramente poco. Quasi tutto è frutto della capacità di composizione istantanea da parte dei cinque musicisti coinvolti nell’incisione.
Con questo disco Tononi e Cavallanti compiono un altro passo in avanti nella proposta di un jazz arcigno, a suo modo rigoroso, che non cerca il facile consenso, ma sa parlare ad un pubblico disponibile a lasciarsi trasportare da un flusso sonoro inarrestabile, con la sorgente nel passato, più o meno recente e lo sbocco nell’attualità o nel futuro.

A proposito di Paul Bley (che con la sua scomparsa ai primi di gennaio ha aperto l’anno horribilis delle morti di musicisti celebri), è dedicata a lui anche la lunga suite che costituisce l’asse portante del disco “Duet” (Long Song Records) della pianista giapponese Satoko Fujii insieme al contrabbassista americano Joe Fonda (al flauto in un bel frangente del pezzo).
Siamo qui nell’ambito dell’improvvisazione più avventurosa, ambito nel quale entrambi i musicisti – cui si aggiunge nel secondo, più breve, pezzo, la tromba di Natsuki Tamura – eccellono, creando in tempo reale una narrazione di rara evocatività, cui abbandonarsi completamente. Splendido disco.

https://youtu.be/AXpA4K5Hf8EA proposito di Paul Bley (che con la sua scomparsa ai primi di gennaio ha aperto l’anno horribilis delle morti di musicisti celebri), è dedicata a lui anche la lunga suite che costituisce l’asse portante del disco “Duet” (Long Song Records) della pianista giapponese Satoko Fujii insieme al contrabbassista americano Joe Fonda (al flauto in un bel frangente del pezzo).
Siamo qui nell’ambito dell’improvvisazione più avventurosa, ambito nel quale entrambi i musicisti – cui si aggiunge nel secondo, più breve, pezzo, la tromba di Natsuki Tamura – eccellono, creando in tempo reale una narrazione di rara evocatività, cui abbandonarsi completamente. Splendido disco.

https://youtu.be/AXpA4K5Hf8E

Musicians are a diverse, changing and unstable community. Take for example this record that sees the duo composed by late lamented guitarrist Garrison Fewell and Italian saxophonist Gianni Mimmo playing togheter. Garrison Fewell was gone July 5, 2015, exactly one summer ago. Fewell was an expert guide, an outstanding soloist, a teacher, an author and an extraordinary talent. And, of course, the best way to know him is through his music. This meeting with Gianni Mimmo comes from an email exchange between the two artists, an Italian meeting that the Italian indipendent label Long Song Records documented with this nine titles’ cd, with the addition of a ghost track.
There are some musicians who like to fight with their instrument: for them instrument is a limit, a boundary beyond which it’s right and necessary to go beyond the usual concepts related to it. One way can be to playing their instrument in a completely different way, by playing it as a “no instrument”, using it like a sound generator, often with noise as a limit. Another way, more complex is to play it, adopting an unconventional technique but remaining within some already defined musical genres, the third, much more complex, in my personal opinion, is to adopt a traditional technique but inventing phrases completely different. Playing it in a not ideomatic way.
The result is an iconic record, where the two musicians abundantly exceed their limits, sometimes becomes difficult to distinguish Mimmo’s sax from Fewell’s guitar, their interplay is complex, articulated and innovative, definitely not idiomatic, definitely not trivial.
A heartfelt salute to Garrison Fewell, we miss a great guitar player.Musicians are a diverse, changing and unstable community. Take for example this record that sees the duo composed by late lamented guitarrist Garrison Fewell and Italian saxophonist Gianni Mimmo playing togheter. Garrison Fewell was gone July 5, 2015, exactly one summer ago. Fewell was an expert guide, an outstanding soloist, a teacher, an author and an extraordinary talent. And, of course, the best way to know him is through his music. This meeting with Gianni Mimmo comes from an email exchange between the two artists, an Italian meeting that the Italian indipendent label Long Song Records documented with this nine titles’ cd, with the addition of a ghost track.
There are some musicians who like to fight with their instrument: for them instrument is a limit, a boundary beyond which it’s right and necessary to go beyond the usual concepts related to it. One way can be to playing their instrument in a completely different way, by playing it as a “no instrument”, using it like a sound generator, often with noise as a limit. Another way, more complex is to play it, adopting an unconventional technique but remaining within some already defined musical genres, the third, much more complex, in my personal opinion, is to adopt a traditional technique but inventing phrases completely different. Playing it in a not ideomatic way.
The result is an iconic record, where the two musicians abundantly exceed their limits, sometimes becomes difficult to distinguish Mimmo’s sax from Fewell’s guitar, their interplay is complex, articulated and innovative, definitely not idiomatic, definitely not trivial.
A heartfelt salute to Garrison Fewell, we miss a great guitar player.

4 stars 1/2.
Two of creative music’s most inventive forces come together on Duet. Musical restiveness is at the core of pianist/accordionist and composer Satoko Fujii. With a catalogue three-score deep, she has covered formations from large orchestra to solo where the common denominator is her wide and daring exploration of improvisational spaces. Her adroit aptitude for moving through—and sometimes combining—elements of her native Japanese folk music, classical and discordant free improvisation, have made her one of the more consistently interesting artists in music. When not leading her own groups (or partnering with her husband, trumpeter Natsuki Tamura) Fujii has recorded with pianist Myra Melford, Tin Hat’s violinist Carla Kihlstedt, and fronted a trio with bassist Mark Dresser and drummer Jim Black.

The renowned bassist Joe Fonda has a dream resume including a long musical relationship with Anthony Braxton, and diverse associations with Wadada Leo Smith, Archie Shepp and a duo with Xu Fengxia who plays the Chinese guzheng -a sixteen-string zither. Fonda has shared the billing with pianist Michael Jefry Stevens for the past fifteen years of the globally focused Fonda-Stevens Group. More recently, Fonda recorded—and continues to perform with—Barry Altschul’s 3dom Factor on Tales of the Unforeseen (TUM Records, 2015), a trio that includes Mostly Other People Do the Killing saxophonist Jon Irabagon. Dating back to the mid-70s, the prolific Fonda has released a dozen recordings as a leader.

Neither Fujii nor Fonda had been familiar with the other’s music at the time that the bassist reached out to Fujii for some New York shows, a collaboration that immediately clicked and led to Duet. The album consists of two extended tracks, recorded live in Portland, Maine in 2015 as part of the Portland Conservatory of Music’s Dimensions in Jazz series. Occupying three-quarters of the album, at more than thirty-seven minutes, is the improvised tribute, “Paul Bley.” Opening with Fonda’s deep, resonant plucking, Fujii lyrically joins in but quickly moves to a more angular approach. As their techniques broaden, the pianist works the inside of the instrument as Fonda plums the depths of the bass, scratching surfaces and ingraining sharp edges. Midway through the piece, the duo has morphed into an avant-garde classicalism, Fujii slowing to longer melodic lines, Fonda, briefly switching to flute. The pair slowly, tentatively rebuild the intensity before closing on a serene note.

Tamura joins the duo for part of “JSN,” the acronym for each player’s given name. The trumpeter’s idiosyncratic fluctuations blending with, then giving way to, Fujii’s searching passage where fragments of melody share space with technical flourishes. As the piece progresses, Fonda’s bass—even at its sharpest—retains a full, round sound. He later returns to the flute as he and Tamura join in some high-pitched dissonance, Fujii adding the percussive effects.

As occasionally happens in live recordings of extended works, “JSN” fades out shortly past the eleven-minute mark. Duet, especially where “Paul Bley” is concerned, is a masterful outing where Fujii and Fonda work with empathy and inspiration. The music is by turns reflective and intense, always focused and often striking in its complex beauty.4 stars 1/2.
Two of creative music’s most inventive forces come together on Duet. Musical restiveness is at the core of pianist/accordionist and composer Satoko Fujii. With a catalogue three-score deep, she has covered formations from large orchestra to solo where the common denominator is her wide and daring exploration of improvisational spaces. Her adroit aptitude for moving through—and sometimes combining—elements of her native Japanese folk music, classical and discordant free improvisation, have made her one of the more consistently interesting artists in music. When not leading her own groups (or partnering with her husband, trumpeter Natsuki Tamura) Fujii has recorded with pianist Myra Melford, Tin Hat’s violinist Carla Kihlstedt, and fronted a trio with bassist Mark Dresser and drummer Jim Black.

The renowned bassist Joe Fonda has a dream resume including a long musical relationship with Anthony Braxton, and diverse associations with Wadada Leo Smith, Archie Shepp and a duo with Xu Fengxia who plays the Chinese guzheng -a sixteen-string zither. Fonda has shared the billing with pianist Michael Jefry Stevens for the past fifteen years of the globally focused Fonda-Stevens Group. More recently, Fonda recorded—and continues to perform with—Barry Altschul’s 3dom Factor on Tales of the Unforeseen (TUM Records, 2015), a trio that includes Mostly Other People Do the Killing saxophonist Jon Irabagon. Dating back to the mid-70s, the prolific Fonda has released a dozen recordings as a leader.

Neither Fujii nor Fonda had been familiar with the other’s music at the time that the bassist reached out to Fujii for some New York shows, a collaboration that immediately clicked and led to Duet. The album consists of two extended tracks, recorded live in Portland, Maine in 2015 as part of the Portland Conservatory of Music’s Dimensions in Jazz series. Occupying three-quarters of the album, at more than thirty-seven minutes, is the improvised tribute, “Paul Bley.” Opening with Fonda’s deep, resonant plucking, Fujii lyrically joins in but quickly moves to a more angular approach. As their techniques broaden, the pianist works the inside of the instrument as Fonda plums the depths of the bass, scratching surfaces and ingraining sharp edges. Midway through the piece, the duo has morphed into an avant-garde classicalism, Fujii slowing to longer melodic lines, Fonda, briefly switching to flute. The pair slowly, tentatively rebuild the intensity before closing on a serene note.

Tamura joins the duo for part of “JSN,” the acronym for each player’s given name. The trumpeter’s idiosyncratic fluctuations blending with, then giving way to, Fujii’s searching passage where fragments of melody share space with technical flourishes. As the piece progresses, Fonda’s bass—even at its sharpest—retains a full, round sound. He later returns to the flute as he and Tamura join in some high-pitched dissonance, Fujii adding the percussive effects.

As occasionally happens in live recordings of extended works, “JSN” fades out shortly past the eleven-minute mark. Duet, especially where “Paul Bley” is concerned, is a masterful outing where Fujii and Fonda work with empathy and inspiration. The music is by turns reflective and intense, always focused and often striking in its complex beauty.

5 STARS!
The story behind the creation of the miraculous album, Duet by pianist Satoko Fujii and bassist Joe Fonda is one of those things that makes one a believer in karma.

Although both have played with reed man Gebhard Ullmann in various configurations, Fujii and Fonda had never met, and had not heard much, if any, of each other’s music. Now, this might seem strange since both are acknowledged leaders of free/avant-garde jazz, and both have powerful musical personalities and immediately recognizable sounds. However, that such highly creative and directed musicians, closely focused on their own playing, composing and touring, had never met is almost natural, despite knowing each other by reputation.

The meeting ended up happening because of a suggestion made to Fonda that he should listen to Fujii’s music and would then want to play with her. Fujii’s music made a deep impression on Fonda, and he contacted her. For her part, Fujii was surprised to hear from Fonda and they managed to get together on November 14, 2015 at the Buttonwood Tree Performing Arts & Cultural Center, in Middletown, Connecticut for the 10th Annual Jazz CT Composers and Improvisers Festival.

This recording was made the next night in Portland, Maine at the Woodfords Congregational Chapel for the Dimensions in Jazz Series run by Paul Lichter. The superb quality of the sound is immediately evident—the piano sings and the bass is woody and fully focused; you are there.

The music created de novo is reminiscent of an earlier Fujii encounter with Carla Kihlstedt, recorded as Minamo. It is just as intense and just as amazingly organic in its development. Fujii spoke of how she and Kihlstedt connected, and in that mysterious manner of supreme improvisors, create coherent music with no preparation; the same happens here with Fonda. In the former, Kihlstedt floats above Fujii, while here Fonda bubbles below her.

Fonda is an extremely powerful player, and from a good playback system, will almost knock you over. He is quite used to playing in loose co-operative groups, but, in recordings at least, not so much in such a completely free and exposed venue, which could be said to be Fujii’s forte. In any case, Fonda matches Fujii as far as being a “force of nature” and pushes as much as he is pulled. The energy flowing between them is palpable, exciting and occasionally almost unbearable.

The only quibble is that there is “only” just under forty-nine minutes of music presented in two tracks, the first over three times as long as the second. Perhaps the rest of the music will appear someday.

The first track is a bravura performance that features many of the musical mannerisms that will be familiar to those who follow Fujii and Fonda. The duo produces astonishing musical textures that arise out of the mists. They engage in what sounds like joyous battle at times, only to swerve in a flash to produce ethereal sounds that float in mid-air.

The audience is silent, and must have been holding its collective breath. At the end of thirty-seven continuous minutes of intense concentration, the condensed atmosphere virtually melts as everyone murmurs in amazement at what had just taken place.

The second track, taken from the second set, includes Fujii’s husband and musical partner, trumpeter/sound-maker Natsuki Tamura, and so naturally the textures produced are different. As might be expected, Fujii and Tamura know each other extremely well, but Fonda is definitely not a third wheel, and indeed, matches Tamura’s virtuosic sound production when playing the flute in the last third of the track.

Duet is a perfect example of the paradox that is Creative Improvised Music in that the recording captures and seals in amber a spontaneous musical happening which can never, ever occur again. Those familiar with this genre will revel in its easy virtuosity and deep musical spirituality; for those unfamiliar, both Duet and Minamo are phenomenal performances.5 STARS!
The story behind the creation of the miraculous album, Duet by pianist Satoko Fujii and bassist Joe Fonda is one of those things that makes one a believer in karma.

Although both have played with reed man Gebhard Ullmann in various configurations, Fujii and Fonda had never met, and had not heard much, if any, of each other’s music. Now, this might seem strange since both are acknowledged leaders of free/avant-garde jazz, and both have powerful musical personalities and immediately recognizable sounds. However, that such highly creative and directed musicians, closely focused on their own playing, composing and touring, had never met is almost natural, despite knowing each other by reputation.

The meeting ended up happening because of a suggestion made to Fonda that he should listen to Fujii’s music and would then want to play with her. Fujii’s music made a deep impression on Fonda, and he contacted her. For her part, Fujii was surprised to hear from Fonda and they managed to get together on November 14, 2015 at the Buttonwood Tree Performing Arts & Cultural Center, in Middletown, Connecticut for the 10th Annual Jazz CT Composers and Improvisers Festival.

This recording was made the next night in Portland, Maine at the Woodfords Congregational Chapel for the Dimensions in Jazz Series run by Paul Lichter. The superb quality of the sound is immediately evident—the piano sings and the bass is woody and fully focused; you are there.

The music created de novo is reminiscent of an earlier Fujii encounter with Carla Kihlstedt, recorded as Minamo. It is just as intense and just as amazingly organic in its development. Fujii spoke of how she and Kihlstedt connected, and in that mysterious manner of supreme improvisors, create coherent music with no preparation; the same happens here with Fonda. In the former, Kihlstedt floats above Fujii, while here Fonda bubbles below her.

Fonda is an extremely powerful player, and from a good playback system, will almost knock you over. He is quite used to playing in loose co-operative groups, but, in recordings at least, not so much in such a completely free and exposed venue, which could be said to be Fujii’s forte. In any case, Fonda matches Fujii as far as being a “force of nature” and pushes as much as he is pulled. The energy flowing between them is palpable, exciting and occasionally almost unbearable.

The only quibble is that there is “only” just under forty-nine minutes of music presented in two tracks, the first over three times as long as the second. Perhaps the rest of the music will appear someday.

The first track is a bravura performance that features many of the musical mannerisms that will be familiar to those who follow Fujii and Fonda. The duo produces astonishing musical textures that arise out of the mists. They engage in what sounds like joyous battle at times, only to swerve in a flash to produce ethereal sounds that float in mid-air.

The audience is silent, and must have been holding its collective breath. At the end of thirty-seven continuous minutes of intense concentration, the condensed atmosphere virtually melts as everyone murmurs in amazement at what had just taken place.

The second track, taken from the second set, includes Fujii’s husband and musical partner, trumpeter/sound-maker Natsuki Tamura, and so naturally the textures produced are different. As might be expected, Fujii and Tamura know each other extremely well, but Fonda is definitely not a third wheel, and indeed, matches Tamura’s virtuosic sound production when playing the flute in the last third of the track.

Duet is a perfect example of the paradox that is Creative Improvised Music in that the recording captures and seals in amber a spontaneous musical happening which can never, ever occur again. Those familiar with this genre will revel in its easy virtuosity and deep musical spirituality; for those unfamiliar, both Duet and Minamo are phenomenal performances.

5 STELLE!
Abbiamo già parlato due volte di questo strepitoso quartetto di Emanuele Parrini e di questo disco, preparato due anni orsono con un concerto che ne precedette la registrazione e presentato quest’inverno con un altro live. E ne avevamo parlato bene. Adesso, dopo l’attento ascolto del CD, non possiamo che ripeterci.

L’album ripresenta infatti fedelmente quel che si era potuto ascoltare dal vivo, senza perdere né forza, né comunicativa, grazie alla ricchezza delle composizioni -quattro del leader, tre del contrabbassista Giovanni Maier -e della straordinaria vena dei quattro interpreti, perfettamente affiatati nel produrre una musica complessa ma godibile, libera ma drammaturgicamente lucida e coerente, incentrata su un suono che da individuale si fa collettivo.

Il disco è intitolato e dedicato ad Amiri Baraka, che aveva suonato con Parrini nel Dinamitri Jazz Folklore (ed è uscito un CD che lo documenta), essendo il suo cuore la suite eponima, in tre parti (anche se, curiosamente, la terza è staccata dalle altre due), che ha anche un’unità tematica che la differenzia dal resto del disco -peraltro stilisticamente assai coerente.

Infatti, fin dal primo brano -“Disk Dosk,” di Maier -il lavoro si sviluppa lungo una molteplicità di linee che si incrociano: quelle “portanti” del contrabbasso, che resterà protagonista per tutto il lavoro con Maier che vi offre una prestazione davvero spettacolare; quelle del violino del leader, libere e drammaticamente espressive; quelle del sax contralto di Dimitri Grechi Espinoza, ora altrettanto libere, ora invece liriche, ma sempre comunicativamente molto efficaci. Il brano, molto bello, alterna intensità dinamica collettiva a momenti più riflessivi -splendido il solo del contrabbasso -e ha una mirabile compiutezza. Dopo un brano più sospeso, sempre di Maier, inizia la suite “The Blessed Prince,” a firma di Parrini, la prima parte della quale si avvia sommessamente in modo corale per poi impennarsi con un tema teso che dà il via a improvvisazioni molto coinvolgenti. Un lungo solo di contrabbasso segna l’inizio della seconda parte, invece tutta su dinamiche moderate e condotta dal gruppo quasi sempre frammentato. La terza parte -che arriva dopo “San Frediano,” brano di Maier—riprende inizialmente la frammentarietà con un duetto tra Parrini ed Espinoza, poi si riapre su scenari collettivi più veloci e dinamicamente intensi, dalla forte libertà espressiva che richiama il clima anni Settanta caro a Parrini, dove eccelle la batteria di Andrea Melani, autore anche di un pregevole assolo. Il disco si chiude con un blues di Parrini, che unisce complessità e lirismo, scandito di nuovo da un magistrale Maier al contrabbasso e reso imprevedibile dalle corde del violino di Parrini.

Un disco davvero notevole, complesso e coinvolgente, a suo modo classico ma freschissimo, suonato in modo splendido. Da mettere senz’altro nella rosa delle cose migliori del 2016, non solo italiane.5 STELLE!
Abbiamo già parlato due volte di questo strepitoso quartetto di Emanuele Parrini e di questo disco, preparato due anni orsono con un concerto che ne precedette la registrazione e presentato quest’inverno con un altro live. E ne avevamo parlato bene. Adesso, dopo l’attento ascolto del CD, non possiamo che ripeterci.

L’album ripresenta infatti fedelmente quel che si era potuto ascoltare dal vivo, senza perdere né forza, né comunicativa, grazie alla ricchezza delle composizioni -quattro del leader, tre del contrabbassista Giovanni Maier -e della straordinaria vena dei quattro interpreti, perfettamente affiatati nel produrre una musica complessa ma godibile, libera ma drammaturgicamente lucida e coerente, incentrata su un suono che da individuale si fa collettivo.

Il disco è intitolato e dedicato ad Amiri Baraka, che aveva suonato con Parrini nel Dinamitri Jazz Folklore (ed è uscito un CD che lo documenta), essendo il suo cuore la suite eponima, in tre parti (anche se, curiosamente, la terza è staccata dalle altre due), che ha anche un’unità tematica che la differenzia dal resto del disco -peraltro stilisticamente assai coerente.

Infatti, fin dal primo brano -“Disk Dosk,” di Maier -il lavoro si sviluppa lungo una molteplicità di linee che si incrociano: quelle “portanti” del contrabbasso, che resterà protagonista per tutto il lavoro con Maier che vi offre una prestazione davvero spettacolare; quelle del violino del leader, libere e drammaticamente espressive; quelle del sax contralto di Dimitri Grechi Espinoza, ora altrettanto libere, ora invece liriche, ma sempre comunicativamente molto efficaci. Il brano, molto bello, alterna intensità dinamica collettiva a momenti più riflessivi -splendido il solo del contrabbasso -e ha una mirabile compiutezza. Dopo un brano più sospeso, sempre di Maier, inizia la suite “The Blessed Prince,” a firma di Parrini, la prima parte della quale si avvia sommessamente in modo corale per poi impennarsi con un tema teso che dà il via a improvvisazioni molto coinvolgenti. Un lungo solo di contrabbasso segna l’inizio della seconda parte, invece tutta su dinamiche moderate e condotta dal gruppo quasi sempre frammentato. La terza parte -che arriva dopo “San Frediano,” brano di Maier—riprende inizialmente la frammentarietà con un duetto tra Parrini ed Espinoza, poi si riapre su scenari collettivi più veloci e dinamicamente intensi, dalla forte libertà espressiva che richiama il clima anni Settanta caro a Parrini, dove eccelle la batteria di Andrea Melani, autore anche di un pregevole assolo. Il disco si chiude con un blues di Parrini, che unisce complessità e lirismo, scandito di nuovo da un magistrale Maier al contrabbasso e reso imprevedibile dalle corde del violino di Parrini.

Un disco davvero notevole, complesso e coinvolgente, a suo modo classico ma freschissimo, suonato in modo splendido. Da mettere senz’altro nella rosa delle cose migliori del 2016, non solo italiane.