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Biography
Born: October 9, 1958
Critics and fans alike hail pianist and composer SATOKO FUJII as one of the most original new voices in jazz. A truly global artist, she splits her time between New York City and Japan and has toured internationally leading several different ensembles. Just as her career spans international borders, her music spans many genres, blending jazz, contemporary classical music, and traditional Japanese folk music into an innovative synthesis instantly recognizable as hers alone. “I would like to try many things with my compositions,” she told Don Williamson in a jazzreview.com interview. “I believe anything can be music... sound colors are as important to me as the melody.” Fujii's compositions are full of surprises with sudden shifts in direction and mood that challenge player and listener alike. Yet the extremes are always part of a greater conceptual whole, never mere exercises. The emotional demands are as great as the technical ones. She uses melodies as simple and straightforward as a folk song, as well as the harmonic sophistication of great jazz, and she can manipulate the extended forms of symphonic composers. As an improviser, Fujii is equally wide-ranging and virtuosic. In her solos, explosive free jazz energy mingles with delicate melodicism and a broad palette of timbre and textures. Her phrasing is clean and clear and delivered with a bright, nuanced touch that's equally indebted to her classical training and her jazz experience. She has showcased her astonishing range and ability on 29 CDs as leader or co-leader since 1996.
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