Satoko Fujii’s New Tokyo Trio Album

Satoko Fujii, Takashi Sugawa, and Ittetsu Takemura in performance (photograph by Kazue Yokoi)

If my archives are reliable, my first encounter with the Satoko Fujii Tokyo Trio took place in May of 2021. Led by jazz pianist Satoko Fujii, the other members of her trio are Ittetsu Takemura on drums and bassist Takashi Sugawa. The title of that album was Moon on the Lake. Last month saw the release of a new album performed by that trio, this one entitled Jet Black. As in the past, finding Fujii’s albums involves departing from the “usual suspects;” but, in this case, it is not hard to find the Web page provided by the CDs Vinyl Japan Store. (Just to be clear, this album is available as a CD!)

When I wrote about Moon on the Lake, the first phrase I evoked was “highly energetic jamming.” On Jet Black the jamming is as energetic as ever. This time, however, I found myself drawn to the extended (not to mention highly imaginative) solo passages taken by each of the trio members. I would not go as far as to say that each composition has a chorus-verse structure; but the solo “verses” all involve highly inventive improvisation. As is often the case, I found myself drawn to Takemura’s work, particularly when it involved mind-bending polyrhythms.

Indeed, the name of this group suggests that it is Fujii’s trio. However, she has no interest in dominating over her two partners. Indeed, what makes listening particularly interesting is the interplay between solo and group improvisations. In many respects the album as a whole has a bit of the spirit of opera to it, in which there is an overall background of “ensemble” playing from which the individuals emerge to contribute their own “arias.”

If my memory is correct (big “if”), I first became aware of Fujii when she gave a performance during the opening season of the Center for New Music here in San Francisco. She could not have given a better “fit” to the “new music vision” of the venue! I suppose that it was because I had to get my head around the breadth of her capacity for invention, that I leapt at the opportunity to get to know her work better through her albums. Over a decade later, I am still getting to know her work!