Bridges, Andrea Centazzo, Akira Sakata, Kiyoto Fujiwara

Bridges is the right name for a recent Ictus recording (162). That's because it puts together a trio from widely diverging geographic origins: the Italian master percussionist-drummer Andrea Centazzo with Japanese improv vets Akira Sakata (alto, clarinet, vocals) and Kiyoto Fujiwara (double bass).

This was the set they played live at JAPZITALY in Milano, a concert to benefit children in Japan. With the exception an allusion to the "Stella by Starlight" theme towards the end, this is a wholly extemporized set. "Bridge #1" was a free ballad that gave Sakata the chance to get a little out lyricism in before his playing got more into a noteful wailing. Andrea and Kiyoto follow sympathetically and raise the temperature of the music as the alto solo climbs.

"Bridge #2" finds Akira playing some pointedly limber and inspired clarinet while Andrea gets into sustained sounds from gongs and cymbals and Kiyoto holds forth arco.

"Bridge #3" has some fine Centazzo wide-range sound coloring and forward charging alto and arco. "Bridge #4" gives us a chance to hear some dramatically out vocalizing from Sakata that is well complemented by extended orchestral percussion and an attractive recurring bass motif.

"Bridge #5" ends the set nicely with some free pulsations that center in and out of the "Stella" theme. It's a Sakara tour de force but everybody by now is relaxed and moving forward with good feeling.

So that's the set. It may not be the free endeavor of the century, but it is very nice to hear these three get a successful and varied series of improvs going. All three are strongly inside of the zones they have carved out for themselves. Together they form some beautifully lively Bridges! Listen and you'll hear it.

Satoko Fujii, Japanese Free Piano Powerhouse

Music aficionados in the United States don't always pay enough attention to what's happening in the rest of the world. Take Japan as an example. There is much going on over there, yet many of us don't really know much about it. Tzadik Records' New Japan series begins to rectify that lack, and we've covered a few of those releases in the various blogs in the last year or so.

Today we look at another one: Satoko Fujii's piano trio-duo-solo record Kitsume-bi. Fujii has magnificent ideas, a huge ear for the possibilities in free piano improvisation, and a style that does not have a derivative foundation. She goes her own way.

For the date she is joined by the always interesting Mark Dresser on bass and the explosive Jim Black on drums. For several cuts Sachi Hayasaka appears on soprano sax, and it's clear from those numbers that Sachi needs to be heard more over here.

But this is Satoko's show. There are some really compelling group presentations to be heard. Like the straight-eight motor-manic section of "Past Life," where a Pandora's Box of eighth notes spin wildly from Fujii's piano while bass and drums provide counter ballasts of sound parcels that contrast as well as complement.

Ms. Fujii has a sureness of execution and a confidence in her own stylistic parameters that translate into controlled yet at times wildly exuberant music, other times (especially in tandem with Ms. Hayasaka) ponderously reflective.

One ignores Satko Fujii at one's own peril. If you miss this CD, you miss a music making document that can be your personal blueprint for what's good about the improvised world today.