New Satoko Fujii Album Recorded a Decade Ago

Cover of the album being discussed (courtesy of Braithwaite & Katz Communications)

Tomorrow will see the release of the latest Libra Records album of a performance by Satoko Fujii. (Presumably, it will then appear on the Bandcamp Web page for her albums.) Those that have followed my articles about her probably know that I usually refer to her as a pianist (as I did this past May with the release of Under the Water, her duo album with Myra Melford, who is also a pianist). However, the full title of the new album is Satoko Fujii’s Bunker Ulmenwall Orchestra; and, according to the details on the jacket, she performs only as conductor. Bunker Ulmenwall is a bar in Bielefeld, Germany that had been built as a bunker, presumably during one of the world wars of the last century. Now it hosts a diversity of music performances, as well as poetry slams; and the performance on this album was recorded there on November 22, 2014.

I have to confess that the use of the word “orchestra” leads me to follow Mister Spock’s lead and raise an eyebrow. (Yes, that probably dates me from the last century!) The string section of the symphony orchestra is represented only by a single cello (Willem Schulz) and a single double bass (Kevin Hemkemeier). On the other hand, there is a generous abundance of saxophones of all sizes, along with three trumpets and two trombones, one of whom doubles on tuba. There are also two drummers, along with Joel Köhn who works with electronics, both synthesized and sampled.

Fujii is also the first and last composer of the compositions on the album. “Shiki” occupies the entirety of the first of two CDs, running just shy of 47 minutes in duration. “Gen Himmel,” on the other hand, is the last track on the second CD, lasting a little more than six minutes. Three different composers account for the preceding tracks on that CD. “Yamantaka” was composed by Andres Kaling, the ensemble’s only bass saxophonist. This is followed by “Jasper” by Natsuki Tamura, who leads the trumpet section. The third track is “Antischwarm,” composed by Luise Volkmann, one of the two alto saxophonists.

Beginning-to-end listening runs slightly short of 90 minutes. That said, there is definitely a “density” to the way in which this music was composed and performed. Furthermore, I have to confess that, while there are a generous number of solos performed, I was not always able to associate what I was hearing with a specific instrument! However, once I put my obsession with details aside, I found that I could just “sit still and listen” and let the sonorities lead my imagination where they may.

Those that have followed past accounts of Fujii’s work probably know that this is not my first confrontation with an orchestral performance. At the end of last year, I wrote about Ninety-Nine Years performed by the Satoko Fujii Orchestra Berlin. However, that turned out to be, as I put it, “a ‘small big band.’” There is nothing small about the Bunker Ulmenwall Orchestra, not in numbers nor in their capacity for full-force sonorities. However, now that I have listened to their album several times, I find that they are beginning to grow on me!