All three Gato Libre albums covers feature a black cat, and “kuro” in Japanese means not only black, but also the blackest black imaginable, and also, according to Tamura, the name of a cat that is “the boss of stray cats.” Gentle and soothing, this closing, title tune, acts both as the bookend to the opening “Sunny Spot,” and a summation of Gato Libre’s aesthetic. Kuro fills the heart while bringing tears to the eyes. — Budd Kopman Continue reading
Tamura’s compositions and his lead horn form the centerpiece of this album. He weaves melodies that retain a classic majesty even when they are stark, and within this mellow setting, he nevertheless inserts ideas that grab your attention. Shira is a Latin-flavored avant garde jazz that soothes, not confronts, and offers a unique melding of differing styles. Tamura proves once again why he has earned a reputation in improvised music circles as a top trumpeter, bandleader and composer. ― Victor Aaron, Something Else Reviews Continue reading
4 ½-stars…. Satoko Fujii. She and her band are the perfect synthesis of modern music, going beyond jazz, integrating anything from classical over folk and traditional music, with jazz, free improvisation and avant-garde, but then pushing it all over the edge. This enables her to explore composition/improvisation with a musical richness which is given to few…. The last piece’s title, “Vapor Trail” is a good descriptive of the music, which comes as a kind of soothing finale, when catharsis has been reached, a moment of acceptance, of resignation, of awe for the beauty that arises after the violence, the fire has died down, after the sun has set. Brilliant!” ― Stef Gijssels, Free Jazz Continue reading
This band’s name, like it’s music, has many layers. Ma-do means “window” in Japanese. But “ma” also means “the silence between notes.” Fujii chose the name to show how the music opens to the outside (just like window) and that silence can have more meaning than notes. In an acoustic setting, the group’s absorbing improvisations explore subtle textures and tone colors, using silence and group interaction to build brilliant collages of sound, melody, and rhythm. They have released two CDs, Heat Wave (2008) and Desert Ship (2010) Continue reading