Satoko Fujii Orchestra in Kobe City

Cover design for After the Storm (courtesy of Braithwaite & Katz)

It is almost exactly a month since the last release of a Libra Records album of music created and performed by Satoko Fujii. On that album she served as only a conductor leading the Bunker Ulmenwall Orchestra. Her latest album is now available through a SquidCo Web page. The title of the album is After the Storm, and Fujii conducts her own fourteen-piece Orchestra Kobe in a composition that may be described as a post-pandemic reflection.

The advance material I received included the following quotation from Fujii, describing her life after the pandemic:

I was dreaming that the world would finally find complete peace. After the pandemic, there were so many wars and so much conflict that I was so disappointed.

Given the intensity of her many compositions, I was more than a little surprised that she would be so optimistic! On the other hand, in After the Storm she seems to have realized her disappointment through a “no holds barred” approach to creation. I was particularly impressed that her percussion required two drummers, Yoshikazu Isaki and Hiromasa Sadaoka.

The Web page describes the music as “a sweeping progression from stately melody and intimate subgroups to dissonant mass, fiery improvisation and a jubilant final theme.” From a personal point of view, I must confess that I found little by way of either stateliness or intimacy. On the other hand, there was no doubt that all fourteen of the musicians were playing their hearts out; and, as an attentive listener, I had no trouble “going with the flow!”

Many readers probably know that I have been following Fujii’s work for a considerable period of time. Unless I am mistaken, she was one of the first musicians to perform at the Center for New Music after it moved to Taylor Street, just above Market Street in downtown San Francisco. (This made for a relatively easy walk from my condo in the Civic Center.) To be fair, we have never conversed; and I am not even sure how comfortable she is with speaking English! (In spite of my tenure with Fuji Xerox in Silicon Valley, I could never get the hang of Japanese!) I now have a generous collection of Fujii’s albums; and I am looking forward to encountering the next one, which is scheduled for release in about a month’s time!