Satoko Fujii Tobira | Yamiyo Ni Karasu | Libra Records

The Satoko Fujii New Trio (Fujii-Nicholson-Itani) released its debut CD, “Spring Storm” in 2013. Since then, we have performed throughout Japan, Europe and North America. Sometimes Natsuki Tamura joined the trio as a guest artist. He brought energy and humor, so the band had more color. So I decided to change the band name from “New Trio” to “Tobira.” “Tobira” means door in Japanese. I wanted to open the door to bring some fresh air to the music and keep it from becoming closed. I wrote the music on paper and this band made it sound so alive. They know which spices to use. I am so lucky to always can get such great collaborators. I really like our music which is full of energy and hope you also enjoy it. — Satoko Fujii Continue reading

Satoko Fujii Orchestra Berlin | Ichigo Ichie | Libra Records

Orchestra Berlin In January 2014, we had an unusually warm winter in Berlin. The exception was the three days that we had the concert and recording for this project. We could see the diamond dust that night and it showed how cold it was. Fujii, who’s been living in Berlin since 2011, started the orchestra project there after founding orchestras in four other cities: New York, Tokyo, Nagoya and Kobe. Fujii had written “Ichigo Ichie” to perform at the Chicago Jazz Festival and wanted to record it in Berlin with the musicians she’d met there. — Natsuki Tamura Continue reading