All artists filed by last name under T, U and V :
Top 10 for 2005… An indefinable droning mishmash of sounds that feels like a young universe struggling to swirl itself into a semblance of order. ― Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz Continue reading
This album is f***ing wild. Part free jazz a la Zorn, part experimental rock, Satoko’s improvisatory collection is wonderfully chaotic, percussive and dissonant. That is, when she isn’t laying down dark and delicate harmonies, like in the opening to “collage – in the night,” a composition that streams off her kinetic piano melodies and builds with flowing, Maria Schneider-esque grandeur. Whether she’s furiously smacking the piano around or gently caressing harmonies out of it, Satoko uses the full tonal and dynamic range of the instrument, and it’s an exhilarating thing to hear. Named for the ancient goddess of secrecy, Angelona indeed feels mythical, as well as raw, transcendent, and wonderful. ― Michael Gallant, Keyboard Magazine Continue reading
In many improvised music sessions or bands, playing a diatonic scale can get you some evil looks. First Meeting, however, is completely free in that respect. The range of volume and expression is also as broad as we can make it. If you want to see for yourself, come to one of our gigs. And bring 15 or 20 friends, please. — Natsuki Tamura (Translation by Alan Gleason) Continue reading
There are several outstanding qualities that emerge in pianist Satoko Fujii’s big band writing. She has an extraordinary sense of color that plays upon the moist exquisiteness of muted shades, as well as recognizing and utilizing the vivid ends of her palette of colors. She also combines ingenious use of the timbre of various elements of a big band – brass, reeds nad woodwinds, strings that replicate the rhythmic nature of the piano and those in the lowest register, and brilliant use of percussion coloring. She combines all of this like a visual artist working on a gigantic canvas, infusing it with unique color and ensuring that it remains wet so that it appears to change shape and hue every time it presents its arresting sight to the inner eye… The result is a dish so wild and flaming that it burns with the fever of artistic fission. ― Raul d’Gama Rose, All About Jazz 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
The music of Tamura and Fujii moves in many directions. With Muku, the duo has created one of its loveliest and most engaging recordings to date. — Dan McClenaghan Continue reading
The alternating Fujii/Tamura pieces are complex frameworks from which she is able to invoke dynamic sound ranges. Fujii opens the gates to permit a considerable amount of collective improvisation while still maintaining control of the reins by injecting stellar ensemble statements on top. ― Frank Rubolino, Cadence Continue reading
Typical Japanese sentiments sprinkled here and there are as impressive as, or sometimes more impressive than, the exoticism of artists of the underground scenes of Chicago and Niels Petter Molvaer. ― Takehiro Oshizuka, Musee
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If you turn up the volume and attune your antennae to the tonal and textural subtleties of Natsuki Tamura’s trumpet and Satoko Fujii’s piano, you’ll hear a rare breed of mood-derived propulsion. — Sam Prestianni, Jazziz Continue reading
Mark Taylor is one of a handful of talented young performers carrying on the improvisational tradition pioneered by the great (french) hornist, Julius Watkins. Taylor’s sound has been described as “rapturous” and “golden” (Coda Magazine); “as fluid and limpid as (the) flute, and as gnarly as (the) alto.” (JazzTimes). His innovative style has won him recognition by such legendary artists as Max Roach, who said, “Mark Taylor is a virtuoso instrumentalist…there is no one dealing with the french horn or the music the way he is.” Continue reading