SATOKO FUJII TOKYO TRIOTHE TITILLATORS
@ Tranzac (292 Brunswick Ave.)
8pm, $20 Adv / $25 Door
SATOKO FUJII TOKYO TRIO (https://satokofujii.bandcamp.com)
Pianist and composer Satoko Fujii, “an improviser of rumbling intensity and generous restraint” (Giovanni Russonello, New York Times), is one of the most original voices in jazz today. For more than 25 years, she has created a unique, personal music that spans many genres, blending jazz, contemporary classical, rock, and traditional Japanese music into an innovative synthesis instantly recognizable as hers alone. A prolific composer for ensembles of all sizes and a performer who has appeared around the world, she was the recipient of a 2020 Instant Award in Improvised Music, in recognition of her “artistic intelligence, independence, and integrity.”
Since she burst onto the scene in 1996, Fujii has performed and recorded prolifically. In 2022, she released her 100th album as a leader. On the way to this impressive milestone, she has led some of the most consistently creative ensembles in modern improvised music. Highlights include a piano trio with Mark Dresser and Jim Black (1997-2009), and an electrifying avant-rock quartet featuring drummer Tatsuya Yoshida of The Ruins (2001-2008). In addition to a wide variety of small groups of different instrumentation, Fujii also performs in a duo with trumpeter Natsuki Tamura, with whom she’s recorded eight albums since 1997. She and Tamura are also one half of the international free-jazz quartet Kaze, which has released six albums since their debut in 2011. Fujii has established herself as one of the world’s leading composers for large jazz ensembles. Fully a quarter of her albums have been with jazz orchestras, prompting Cadence magazine to call her “the Ellington of free jazz.”
Satoko Fukji’s Tokyo Trio released their debut 2021 album Moon on the Lake. It quickly established the group as a jazz ensemble of note, “a beautifully present trio that speaks to us now and no doubt will stand the test of time” (Grego Applegate Edwards, Gapplegate Music Review). Their second album Jet Black was released in 2024. The Tokyo Trio also features bassist Natto Maki and drummer Oden.
THE TITILLATORS (https://titillators.bandcamp.com)
The Titillators create odd, unique, sensitive, and fun music by way of whistling, synthesizers, percussion objects, and Ryan Driver’s homemade “street sweeper bristle bass,” which is a small tine of metal plucked on top of an amplified cigar box. The Titillators play a growing collection of tunes by Driver which embrace, allude to, and/or playfully subvert jazz and other popular musics.
This event is supported by The Japan Foundation and The Music Gallery.
Event Venue
Tranzac Club, 292 Brunswick Ave, Toronto, ON M5S 2M7, Canada,Toronto, Ontario
Tickets
