Satoko Fujii GEN

Altitude 1100 Meters

Libra

Less than two months after her previous release, pianist and composer Satoko Fujii returns with, as you might expect, something completely different. In fact, for the first time in her nearly three decade career, she composes music for a string ensemble that she calls GEN. Last time  we labeled Fujii as intense and prolific and later in the piece such descriptors as graceful and gorgeous. This effort, as the  title, “Altitude 1100 Meters,” may convey touches mostly on the gorgeous and graceful but has its share of her trademark intensity as well. Those not well-versed in metrics will find that 1100 meters translates to 3600 feet. That’s where Fujii was when vacationing with her parents in the mountains of Japan. She claims that the special location began talking to her and she composed a five-part suite in less than a month in 2023, in an effort to capture that environment with such titles as “Morning Haze,” “Morning Sun,” “Early Afternoon,” “Light Rain,” and “Twilight.” She says that it isn’t meant to be a musical picture of the imagery of the mountain landscape at those particular times but how the air made her feel.

Even before she composed the suite, she had selected the musicians she wanted to work with, with an eye toward their ability to both improvise and compose. She aimed for a democratic approach where all have an equal role, intent on finding those things that a piano cannot do such as bending notes and producing microtones. The ensemble is comprised of all Japanese musicians and the album was recorded in Tokyo. Violinists are Yuriko Mukoujima and Ayako Kato with Atsuko Hatano on viola and electronics. Hiroshi Yoshino is on bass and Akira Horikoshi is on drums with Fujii, of course, on piano. Yet, the drummer is the only one who has played with Fujii before as a regular member of her mad-do quartet between 2008 and 2011. He, more than others, is thereby familiar with Fujii’s unpredictable composing style, knowing best when to intervene and when to lay out.

Clearly, there are numerous examples of unique sounds on the record. “Morning Haze” has a richly textured bass drone and alternating strident and fluid tones from the violin coupled with interruptive, rumbling drumming, perhaps symbolizing breaks in the misty haze conveyed by the strings. As in some other places, Fujii leaves it mostly to the strings and doesn’t exert a presence on piano. That’s not the case in “Morning Sun” however, a piece that begins gently but builds to frenetic proportions as the string ensemble matches Fujii’s intense runs and trademark obtuse note clusters in the latter half. Violist Hatano adds mostly dark hues to these colorings through her judicious use of electronics. In “Early Afternoon” her use of repetitive chords disturbs the otherwise flowing strings until the piece later morphs into a delightfully swinging piano trio sequence.

The epic “Light Rain” runs for almost twenty minutes, more than double that of the three previous pieces. As the title suggests, this represents an aspect of Fujii’s writing that deserves more consideration – utmost restraint. At times the music grows so quiet, you may think that your player fell victim to a power failure. Here she employs mostly prepared piano as the piece is highlighted by Mukoujima’s lyrical violin, and as if the rain grows heavier, Yoshino’s thunderous drumming toward the end. The drummer takes the initial lead on the closing”Twilight,” another piece with alternating calm and intensity, again featuring Mukoujima’s lyricism, and brought to a dramatic crescendo before fading quietly.

This string oriented “Altitude 1100 Meters” reinforces the notion of Fujii as one of our most formidable sound seekers. Although this is new territory for her, her indelible stamp is ever present.

– Jim Hynes

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