Satoko Fujii Trio plus one

Caught live August 5 at Shinjuku Pit Inn

Satoko Fujii--piano
Jim Black--drums
Mark Dresser--bass
Natsuki Tamura--trumpet

The Satoko Fujii Trio avoids the pitfalls of free jazz. They don’t sacrifice feeling for experimentation, and avoid the pretentious, self-indulgent and hyper-intellectual tendencies of most free jazz. Thank goodness! What they keep from free jazz is mind-boggling creativity and a high standard of musicianship, which are of course the best parts. Their creativity avoids following most of the standards of jazz. The bass takes the center and the drums add percussive textures, but it’s switched around nicely. Jim Black on drums wasn’t afraid of taking a bow string to his cymbals or pounding disruptively on a sheet of metal. Mark Dresser moved from moments of furious power to hushed softness, but was equally disruptive and centering. Natsuki Tamura, who sat in for roughly half the songs, added sharp trumpet lines that cut through the other sounds like shooting stars. His angry intensity poked holes in the sound that helped let out some of the steam. Satoko Fujii on piano was of course the central focus of the trio/quartet. She tolerates no cliches. And if you toss out the conventional harmonic, melodic and rhythmic anchors, it’s hard to find any cliches to play anyway. Without standard chord progressions or arpeggios, the musicians had to find their own way. Fujii moved from high to low on the keyboard with incredible dexterity and speed, landing on unexpected notes that shocked and delighted in equal measure. Their approach worked well because all the musicians were not only high-level but listened closely to each other during the songs. The interaction relied on quick shifts of direction followed by a pleasure in pursuing directions that opened up. The crowd seemed surprised and a little confused by the music. But, the high level of energy won them over even if the subtleties of their unconventional approach were hard to understand. The club was filled to capacity, and the audience clapped enthusiastically. They had just heard a highly original evening of cutting edge jazz--and enjoyed it immensely.