Satoko Fujii

Futari

Beyond

Libra Records 202-161

Japanese pianist Satoko Fujii somehow manages to interpolate offbeat creativity among her other projects involving multiple big bands, quartets, trios and duos. The fascinating Beyond Futari and Hazuki sessions are examples of that. Hazuki is a new solo session, while Beyond Futari is a first-ever duo recording with Sapporo-born, Berlin-based vibraphone player Taiko Saito. Each had a different genesis. The Futari duo was recorded in Uchiko mid-way through a Japanese tour; while about a year later Covid-19 restrictions forced Fujii to create the solo session in August in her sweltering Kobe City apartment.

A fan and friend of the pianist for more than 15 years, Saito who plays in other bands, never previously had a chance to make music with Fujii. When this finally happened it’s as if each one’s sounds are an extension of the other’s. Both restrained conceptualizers, no superfluous intonations are exerted. Slowed down, Saito’s textures resemble bell tree or bell pealing decorations that emanate from a gamelan ensemble or used in a gagaku performance. This is especially true she responds to when Fujii’s hard hand key stops or strums the piano’s inner strings. The vibist also rubs a violin bow against the sides of her instruments for squeaky resonations or slaps its sides with mallets for Arcadian interjections. Connecting as on “On the Road” log-rolling rhythms from the vibraphone adumbrate swing patterns, which later climax in a decorous do-see-do of clinking keys and metallic echoes. Still there is a drawback to the players seeming ability reflect each other’s impulses: unwillingness to upset. For instance when swift vibraphone ringing or intense keyboard patterning threaten to disrupt simple melodic paths as on “Ame No Ato”, both draw back and the pieces fades into a vertical variant Luckily the two free themselves of politeness by the final “Spectrum”. But while this improvisation begins with the suggestion of menace, as pressurized drones hang in the air, Fujii’s meticulous outlining of a connective theme is decorated with Saito’s bar clinks so the narrative ends as soft not sinewy.

Oddly enough as Fujii explores the knotty intersection in pitches, timbres and stops at home, at times it seems that a partner, who is tougher and more resilient than the vibraphonist has joined her. This is obvious on the sequential “Hoffen” and “Beginning”. The first and longest track initially serves as a reminder of how Fujii can create a pastel chamber music-style exposition. Soon though the methodology gives way to mercurial explorations with darkened, pitches, string and a circle of resonating jabs emphasize the forte part of a piano. The deceptively titled “Beginning” that actually appears in the disc’s middle is more intense. It features cross pulses moving the theme forward and augmenting it with secondary string vibrations. Sonic menace, neutered on the duo session is prominent here as Fujii dips into the darker reaches of the pianos’ keys, strings and soundboard. Perhaps as a response to the pandemic, she frequently begins a track with brooding chords, then squirms, jabs and pecks narratives with contrasting dynamics. This is especially notable on “Expanding”, where limiting tones results in a Free Jazz replication. Although the final “Twenty-Four Degrees” seems more like a requiem than anything else the disc isn’t a downer. Variety is still there. From the very first track as string plucks and key clips give way to theme elaborations which open up into wide spaced and slippery chords. As other narrative march through the disc, the ghost partner makes her presence felt, as expositions are commented upon by animated cascades from other parts of the piano. There are plenty of imposing sounds on both CDs. Yet despite other configurations in which she’s featured and no offence to Natsuki Tamura, with whom she most frequently plays, Hazuki posits that her best duo partner may be herself.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: Beyond: 1. Molecular 2. Proliferation 3. Todokani Tegami 4. Beyond 5. On the Road 6. Mizube 7. Ame No Ato 8. Mobius Loop 9. Spectrum

Personnel: Beyond: Satoko Fuji (piano) and Taiko Saito (vibraphone)

Track Listing: Hazuki: 1. Invisible 2. Quarantine 3. Clusters 4. Hoffen 5. Beginning 6.Ernesto 7. Expanding 8. Twenty-Four Degrees

Personnel: Hazuki: Satoko Fuji (piano)