TONE SHOWS
SATAKO FUJII TOKYO TRIO + THE TITILLATORS
Friday, April 4th 2025 / 8pm @ Tranzac (292 Brunswick Ave.)
SATOKO FUJII TOKYO TRIO (bandcamp)
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 (bandcamp)
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.
TARA CLERKIN TRIO + SLOW ATTACK ENSEMBLE + POTIONS
Saturday, April 5th 2025 POSTPONED / 8pm @ Collective Arts (777 Dundas St. West)
TARA CLERKIN TRIO (bandcamp)
Bristol, UK crew Tara Clerkin Trio bring their downtempo jazz inspired avant pop to Toronto for the first time. Their last two records on World of Echo, "On The Turning Ground & "In Spring" live at a rich crossroads of musical ideas and have been flipping heads since they landed. Whimsically languid songs embrace dub and electronic influences that guide their unrushed structures forward. Tara's voice floats on top of errant piano notes, treading beats and shaky electronic touches. The trio moves like a fluid entity as they seamlessly juxtapose sparse sonic textures with the glowing full landscapes of electronic & acoustic sound they become. Though reminiscent of Stereolab and UK sounds of the 90's at times, Tara Clerkin Trio reassembles the elements to create an inviting sonic world all their own.
SLOW ATTACK ENSEMBLE (bandcamp)
Minimalist electronic experimenter and one half of You'll Never Get To Heaven, Chuck Blazevic's Slow Attack Ensemble joins us for a rare live performance. His subtle ambient soundscapes evolve with the soft creeping drift of errant fog as digital delay pulls playful tones out of sampled guitar notes. Hypnotic sounds stretch and warble as if on some cosmic conveyor belt. Slow Attack Ensemble creates an aural world on the verge of mutation, capturing the moment of transformation in its miniature sonic details. Their 2020 record "Music for Turntable, Guitars and Sampled Instruments" still looms large on the platters of today. Don't miss this minimal maverick at work!
POTIONS (bandcamp)
Toronto free folk quartet create meandering songs that flow like a patchwork quilt. Intentionally built, but full of human variance, improvised flourishes and musical side quests that feed into the general sonic mythology of this cohesive unit. Vocals and guitar strings dance together almost mimicking each other in a playfully imperfect way. Electronic elements feel organic as they mingle with acoustic guitar notes and gentle vocals. This music feels like it's the next generation of the Toronto outsider / avant songs scene!
