“This is It!”, a declaration previously used for a Kenny Loggins hit and Michael Jackson’s planned final tour, is now the moniker of Satoko Fujii’s newest combo. Her music couldn’t be any further from pop but also can’t get much closer to improvisational music perfection, either. Their debut album 1538 Libra Records formally introduces the pianist/composer in a setting that also includes husband and trumpeter Natsuki Tamura on trumpet and Takashi Itani on drums and percussion.
This is It! is hardly an ensemble built from scratch: it’s actually an unplanned permutation of Fujii’s New Trio that had comprised of herself, Itani and Todd Nicholson on bass. Tamura joined them and the trio became “Quartet Tobira.” Nicholson left and it became “Tobira – 1.” As this combination began to develop its own imprint, Fujii felt that a distinctive name should reflect that (and also reflect her enthusiasm for having the right musicians to perform her small ensemble compositions). Thusly, “This Is It!” is what it’s called now.
As with any Fujii project but especially the smaller combo ones, telepathy and simpatico are the two main ingredients that elevate her music well beyond the notes penned on sheet music. A sonic storm immediately approaches at the start of “1538,” all three making controlled disturbance. Fujii embarks on a climb of chords, which is not very noticeable until Tamura and Itani briefly halt their activities. When they return, so do the dark clouds. It’s a deft display of passion conveyed with earnestness.
Tamura enunciates in sharp staccato jabs in “Prime Number,” prodding the other two to react to his playful expressions in a similar fashion. Eventually, Fujii crafts something of a defined melody out of it. Itani gets a spotlight that’s accompanied by percussion from Fujii’s piano. On “Climb the Rapids,” Fujii jumps right into the theme, an elliptical figure that Tamura gamely follows along. “Riding on the Clouds” is an example of a Fujii song organically progressing through passion and all its subtleties in discreet phases like a well-conceived symphony.
It’s well established that Fujii and Tamura are master manipulators of the timbral properties of their instruments, but so is Itani. He’s able to resemble a bowed bass probing its lower notes with remarkable accuracy at the beginning of “Swoop.” He bends the ‘notes’ on his toms and then attacks them with hit-hat accents to presage the piano and trumpet jumping in with statements that act as punctuation marks to Itani’s ever-evolving solos. Finally, the trio closes ranks and performs as a tightly knit unit.
Sometimes it’s impossible to ascertain where a sound is coming from, such as the mystical intro of “Yozora,” which could have well been emitted from an organ. Fujii does eventually assert herself forcefully — for certain, on piano — and rather melodically but never too predictably so.
1538 was recorded live in Tokyo, but you might not know that except from reading the liner notes. Natsuki Tamura also opined in the notes that this was a “spirited performance, a few off-notes notwithstanding.” It was certainly a spirited performance…but the off-notes can’t be detected because the sentiment was always right.
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