Japanese
Satoko Fujii Orchestra Nagoya
Shingo Takeda, Akihiko Yoshimaru – alto sax, Kenichi Matsumoto,
Yoshihiro Hanawa – tenor sax, Yoshiyuki Hirao – baritone sax,
Tsutomu Watanabe, Takahiro Tsujita, Misaki Ishiwata, Natsuki Tamura – trumpet,
Tomoyuki Mihara, Toshinori Terukina –
trombone, Tatsuki Yoshino – tuba, Yasuhiro Usui – guitar,
Atsutomo Ishigaki – bass, Hisamine Kondo – drums
“Improvising ensembles come in all shapes and sizes. Here’s one that
begins with the standard big band instrumentation, adds a powerful
rock-inspired twist to each selection, folds folkloric themes from
around the world into its book, and then launches a hard-swinging free
jazz journey… fireworks from an exceptional body of talented
artists.”―Jim Santella, All About Jazz
“**** (4 stars). There is much dialogue among the sections, creating an
anthemic and occasionally surreal feel. They blend vocabulary that one
might associate with the 70’s and 80’s units of Gil Evans and Sun Ra
with logic structures reminiscent of the orchestral playbooks of
Anthony Braxton and Muhal Richard Abrams to realize Fujii’s fresh
imperatives.” ― Ted Panken, DownBeat
When guitarist Yasuhiro Usui offered to put together a big band in
Nagoya, Japan, to play Fujii’s music in 1999, she gladly accepted. She
and trumpeter Tamura traveled to Nagoya, where they rehearsed and
performed with the group Usui assembled at the city’s jazz hot spot,
Tokuzo. The band explodes out of the box of traditional jazz big band,
with volcanic rock power and total freedom of expression.
They have released three CDs: Nogiyanian (2004), Maru (2006), and
Sanrei (2008).