Japanese
Satoko Fujii Orchestra New York
Oscar Noriega, Briggan Krauss – alto sax, Tony Malaby, Ellery Eskelin –
tenor sax, Andy Laster – baritone sax, Herb Robertson, Steven Bernstein, Dave Ballou, Natsuki Tamura – trumpet, Joey Sellers, Curtis Hasselbring, Joe Fiedler – trombone, Satoko
Fujii – piano, Stomu Takeishi – bass, Aaron Alexander –
drums
“This big band packs fierce solo power, but Fujii flexes all that
muscle masterfully. Her suite runs the loud-quiet, sweet-sour gamut, a
model of tight composition and daring arrangement, driven by a rhythm
section that hews close enough to the beat and a trio of trombones that
do the heavy lifting… Grade ‘A’.” ― Tom Hull, The Village Voice
“The muscular riffing of Count Basie, sophisticated harmonies of Carla
Bley, zany irreverence of Frank Zappa, and spasmodic freedom of Sun Ra
are all fused into a wide-ranging aesthetic… Fujii reinvents the big
band tradition, maintaining structural focus with intricate charts and
tight arrangements, while still enabling her soloists maximum freedom
of expression.”⎯Troy Collins, All About Jazz
Formed in 1996 when Fujii lived briefly in the Big Apple, Orchestra New
York boasts a truly all-star line up of the city’s most adventurous
downtown improvisers. Personnel have changed remarkably little since
then and through long familiarity with her music, they play Fujii’s
compositions with amazing depth and expression. Their CDs are
consistently listed on year-end top 10 CD lists in magazines such as
Jazziz, Cadence, Coda, and Swing Journal.
They have released seven CDs: South Wind (1997), JO (1999), Double Take
(2000), The Future Of The Past (2003), Blueprint (2004), Undulation
(2006), and Summer Suite (2008).