SATOKO FUJII 藤井郷子 — Kitsune-bi (1999) Serie New Japan | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Pianist Satoko Fujii leads a beautiful date featuring solo pieces, duets with soprano saxophonist Sachi Hayasaka, and trio numbers with eminent bassist Mark Dresser and ingenious percussionist Jim Black. Kitsune-Bi sounds great the first time through, and becomes more wildly impressive with each listen, revealing multi-layered depths. The pieces are all originals (except Jimmy Giuffre's "Moonlight"). The album opens with "Hizumi," a trio tune that begins with the musicians feeling each other out. They gel within the first minute, and Dresser soon starts performing double duty, moving around rhythmically with Black while simultaneously interacting with Fujii. The clincher is Dresser's ability to mimic all the sounds of the piano theme; it's mind-boggling that he can create these sounds with a bass. "Sound of Stone" is a solo piano piece that Fujii opens by musically chalking out the boundaries. A dark chord signals the end of the sketching, and she proceeds to fill the piece with dramatic runs and stalls, momentous build-up and thinning-out contrasts, and clusters that move up the scale followed by single notes that tinkle back down. This excellent melodic piece showcases her ability without turning into a show of empty virtuosity. "Zauzy" is a duet between piano and soprano saxophone; Fujii and Hayasaka play foil to each other, giving the impression of notes flying from a large, spinning music wheel. About 18 minutes into the trio piece "Past of Life," the group recalls the groove and interaction of Tim Berne's Bloodcount. Altogether, Kitsune-Bi is a stunning album filled with amazing interplay and stellar compositions. The astonishing skill and distinctive style on display here is somewhat surprising, considering that this is only Satoko Fujii's second U.S. release. Kitsune-Bi is an achievement of constantly flowing brilliance and creativity. Joslyn Layne
Tracklist :
1    Hizumi    6:26
 Composed By – Satoko Fujii
2    Sound Of Stone    4:56
 Composed By – Satoko Fujii
3    Zauzy    2:08
 Composed By – Satoko Fujii
4    Past Of Life    6:34
 Composed By – Satoko Fujii
5    Bal-lad    3:02 |
 Composed By – Satoko Fujii
6    Drops    7:09
 Composed By – Satoko Fujii
7a    Moonlight    9:00
 Composed By – Jimmy Giuffre
7b    Sola
 Composed By – Satoko Fujii
8    Kitsune-bi    8:10
 Composed By – Satoko Fujii
9    This Is The Thing That I Have Forgotten    4:32
 Composed By – Satoko Fujii
Credits :
Design – Ikue Mori
Double Bass – Mark Dresser
Drums – Jim Black
Executive-Producer – John Zorn
Painting [Cover] – Ichiji Tamura
Piano – Satoko Fujii
Soprano Saxophone [Soprano Sax] – Sachi Hayasaka (tracks: 3, 5, 8)

SATOKO FUJII ft. PAUL BLEY — Something About Water (1996) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Sakoto Fuji's album of solos and four-handed duets with Paul Bley is perhaps one of the more stunning improv piano recordings of the 1990s. Fuji's style, one of refined maximalism and sharp, angular timbral expansions, is in stark contrast to Bley's resonant, spacious pointillism. And perhaps that's why it works so well. As Bley hovers about in the middle and lower registers on most of these works, Fuji carefully crafts a microtonal series of clustered single, double, and triple note runs constructed of legato phrasing and shimmering glissando. She also digs deep to make the chords in the upper register resonate timbrally with the angular bass patterns Bley is playing. These chords are seldom shrill, but they are poignant, full of raw edges and sharp turns down the scale. For his part, Bley tries to define the space and border it tonally so that Fuji has more room for her explorations. And it works, but the time the duo reach "The Surface of It," the album's third track, they become symbiotic and begin moving to shape space, color, and time in catalogs of notes rather than patterns of them. When they reach they end of their collaboration on "Strings," which is played inside the piano, there is no more telling who is who and where the notes begin or end, only that they resonate -- even in dissonance -- as true and spare and beautiful. On the solo tracks ("Waiting," "Yad Nus," and "Lake") Fuji puts forth her truly individual voice as a soloist and merges her classical technique with a jazzer sense of phrasing and an improviser's sense of place and timing. Of the three, "Waiting" with its vast expanse of colors and inverted counterpoint is the most enjoyable though all of them are lovely. For piano fans, particularly those of the new music ilk, this is an album that is well worth seeking out.
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