INTERNATIONALLY RENOWNED PIANIST/COMPOSER SATOKO FUJII TOURS NORTH AMERICA, AUGUST 20 - SEPTEMBER 8, 2013

INTERNATIONALLY RENOWNED PIANIST/COMPOSER SATOKO FUJII
TOURS NORTH AMERICA, AUGUST 20 - SEPTEMBER 8, 2013

Performances in Canada September 7 at Guelph and September 7 in Montreal

* Also Performing at both Chicago Jazz Festival, in a Week-long Residency at The Stone in NYC and in Boston, MA; Portland, ME & Oakland, CA *

 "Satoko Fujii is one of the most original pianists in free jazzŠ"
- Steve Greenlee, Boston Globe

"A virtuoso piano improviser, an original composer and a band-leader who gets the best collaborators to deliver." - John Fordham, The Guardian

Internationally acclaimed pianist/composer Satoko Fujii - one of the most compelling voices in music today - performs with the renowned international quartet Kaze in Guelph and Montreal. The passionate and adventurous performer appears:

o Saturday, September 7  at 10:30 a.m. - Guelph Jazz Festival, Canada
http://guelphjazzfestival.com/

o Sunday, September 8  doors open at 8 p.m. - La Sala Rossa, Montreal, Canada
http://www.casadelpopolo.com/

Melodic, abstract, mysterious, beautiful, and confrontational, Kaze plays free jazz at its most creative and powerful. The members of this international quartet share an insatiable appetite for sonic experimentation, boundless energy and enthusiasm, and the disciplined intelligence of accomplished spontaneous composers. "Štwists and turns, noise followed by lyrical beauty; nuanced percussion followed by powerhouse drumming; and wild cacophonies that lead into introspective solo slots. Expect the unexpected." - Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz.  "9 out of 10Š. an explosive sound that's also impressive in its movementŠ Can't come more recommended." - John Garratt, Pop Matters.

Fujii also performs August 20 - 25 during a week-long residency featuring Fujii with 12 different bands, some of which are brand new, at John Zorn's NYC club The Stone; August 27 at The Spectrum in NYC; and in three Chicago performances including August 28 at Chicago Temple, August 30 at Heaven Gallery and August 31 at the Chicago Jazz Festival with her brand new Satoko Fujii Orchestra Chicago.  In addition, she's touring with her French/Japanese quartet Kaze with performances September 1 at Woodfords Congregational Church in Portland, ME; September 2 at the Lily Pad, Cambridge, MA; September 4 & 5 at Duende in Oakland, CA; September 7 at Guelph Jazz Festival and September 8 at La Sala Rossa in Montreal, Canada.

Fujii's most recent CDs include Spring Storm (Libra, May 28), the first record with her New Trio featuring Todd Nicholson on bass and Takashi Itani on drums/percussion, which All About Jazz calls "her best work to date" and Time Stands Still (Nottwo, May 28) the final record with her Ma-Do quartet featuring Natsuki Tamura on trumpet, the late Norikatsu Koreyasu on bass and Akira Horikoshi on drums. She's also featured on two CDs coming August 20: Gen Himmel (Libra), Fujii's third solo record featuring Fujii on piano performing a dozen of her original compositions; and Tornado (Circum-Libra) Fujii's second CD with Kaze, featuring French and Japanese musicians.

Critics and fans alike hail pianist and composer SATOKO FUJII as one of the most original voices in jazz today.  She's "a virtuoso piano improviser, an original composer and a band-leader who gets the best collaborators to deliver," says John Fordham in The Guardian.  In concert and on nearly 60 albums as a leader or co-leader, the Japanese native (now based in Berlin) synthesizes jazz, contemporary classical, avant-rock and Japanese folk music into an innovative music instantly recognizable as hers alone.

Since she burst onto the scene in 1996 after earning her graduate diploma from New England Conservatory, Fujii has led some of the most consistently creative ensembles in modern improvised music. Her latest ensemble, the Satoko Fujii New Trio featuring bassist Todd Nicholson and drummer Takashi Itani, is the first piano trio she has led since her trio with Mark Dresser and Jim Black last played together in 2008. The all-acoustic Satoko Fujii ma-do quartet, together from 2007 to 2012, showcased the latest developments in her composition for small ensembles in an intimate acoustic setting. Another acoustic quartet, the Min-Yoh Ensemble with her husband trumpeter Natsuki Tamura, trombonist Curtis Hasselbring, and accordionist Andrea Parkins is dedicated to developing written and improvised music in the collective spirit of Japanese folkloric music. Fujii also led an electrifying avant-rock quartet featuring drummer Tatsuya Yoshida of The Ruins from 2001 to 2007.

Fujii has also established herself as one of the world's leading composers for large jazz ensembles. Since 1996, she has released a steady stream of acclaimed releases for large ensemble and in 2006 she simultaneously released four big band albums: one from her New York ensemble, and one each by three different Japanese bands.

In addition to playing accordion in Tamura's Gato Libre quartet, she also performs in a duo with Tamura, as an unaccompanied soloist, and in ad hoc groupings with musicians working in different genres. Her special projects have included collaborations with ROVA saxophone quartet, violinist Carla Kihlstedt, pianist Myra Melford, and Junk Box, a collaborative trio with Tamura and percussionist John Hollenbeck. She has also toured and recorded with saxophonist Larry Ochs' Sax and Drum Core, and appeared on albums by drummer Jimmy Weinstein, saxophonist Raymond McDonald, and Japanese free jazz legend, trumpeter Itaru Oki.

"Whether performing with her orchestra, combo, or playing solo piano, Satoko Fujii points the listener towards the future of music itself rather than simply providing entertainment," writes Junichi Konuma in Asahi Graph. She tours regularly appearing at festivals and clubs in the U.S., Canada, Japan, and Europe. Her ultimate goal: "I would love to make music that no one has heard before."

http://satokofujii.com/