Satoko Fujii

Born on October 9, 1958, in Tokyo, Japan, Satoko Fujii is an avant-garde jazz pianist and composer. She began playing the piano at the age of four and started studying classical piano early on. At the age of 20, she switched her attention from classical studies to jazz improvisation, studying under pianist Fumio Itabashi. In 1985, she moved to Boston, Massachusetts to attend the Berklee College of Music. She graduated in 1987 and went back to Japan before returning to the U.S. in 1993 to attend the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. During this time, she also studied under jazz pianist Paul Bley, releasing the duo album Something About Water with him the same year she graduated with a diploma in Jazz Performance. Satoko Fujii married trumpeter Natsuki Tamura and returned to Japan. She played in various big bands before forming Orchestra New York in 1997. She became a prolific artist, releasing more than 40 albums over the course of the next 13 years. Her albums featured her performing solo or with her husband, Orchestra New York, the Satoko Fujii Quartet, and her trio featuring Mark Dresser (bass) and Jim Black (drums). Her catalog includes Looking Out of the Window (1997), Past Life (1998), Kitsune-bi (1999), April Shower (2001), Blueprint (2004), In the Tank (2005), Tornado (2013), Invisible Hand (2016), and Moon on the Lake (2021). During the COVID-19 pandemic, Satoko Fujii recorded a series of albums with her husband, releasing them digitally either monthly or bi-monthly.

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