Exposé print issues (1993-2011)
Satoko Fujii Gen — Altitude 1100 Meters
(Libra 206-077, 2025, CD / DL)
by Jon Davis, Published 2025-01-24
Satoko Fujii has been celebrating a lot of milestones in the past few years. Readers may recall her commemoration of 2018 as the year of her 60th birthday, which she marked by releasing 12 albums in 12 months; she marked the release of her 100th album as a leader with Hyaku - One Hundred Dreams in 2022; and the occasion of her 65th birthday is now the impetus for her to try something new to her: writing for a string ensemble. The title Altitude 1100 Meters is given in honor of the place where the music was composed, in the highlands of Nagano prefecture, and the five sections of the suite relate to the atmosphere of the highlands as the days progress and the weather changes. “Morning Haze” starts quietly with sliding tones on the strings, quiet and eerie, and meditative drums played with soft mallets. Eventually a melody emerges, and there are some brief moments of chaotic climax, perhaps signifying sudden bursts of sun through the fog. Fujii’s string parts, like her piano playing, are definitely in a modern idiom, utilizing varying bow techniques (lots of spiccato, sautillé, tremolo, and other things I only learned the terms for while researching this review) and ambiguous tonality. With the second track, “Morning Sun,” the piano enters, and the piece proceeds with a combination of long ambient tones and short flurries of notes that jump out from time to time. Some parts sound improvised but are suddenly revealed to be composed when multiple instruments join in for coordinated lines. In the middle section, the music approaches something like jazz, with plucked bass and Fujii’s wild piano, then the strings come in with a unison melody that ties it all together. “Early Afternoon” finally brings us a steady tempo from the drums for a significant portion of its length, coming off like a kind of free bop with many changing sections. “Light Rain” lasts nearly 20 minutes, and sets the mood by starting with seemingly random pizzicato notes like raindrops falling. Fujii plays inside the piano at times, producing dulcimer-like tones and resonant clusters of notes. The rain dissipates into mist as the music takes on a floating quality. “Twilight” ends the suite with some of the most string-forward writing on the album. Fujii’s collaborators on this journey are Yuriko Mukoujima (violin), Ayako Kato (violin), Atsuko Hatano (viola, electronics), Hiroshi Yoshino (bass), and Akira Horioshi (drums), with Yoshino and Horioshi getting the most obvious standout moments. Altitude 1100 Meters is yet another milestone in the remarkable career of Satoko Fujii.
Filed under: New releases, 2025 releases
Related artist(s): Satoko Fujii
More info
http://satokofujii.bandcamp.com/album/altitude-1100-meters-2
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