Tomas Fujiwara - Triple Double (2017)

Tomas Fujiwara
Triple Double
2017 - Firehouse 12 Records: FH12-04-01-026
http://firehouse12.com/label
https://tomasfujiwara.bandcamp.com/album/triple-double



* Tomas Fujiwara : drums
* Gerald Cleaver : drums
* Mary Halvorson : guitar
* Brandon Seabrook : guitar
* Ralph Alessi : trumpet
* Taylor Ho Bynum : cornet

https://www.tomasfujiwara.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Cleaver_(musician)
http://www.maryhalvorson.com/
http://www.brandonseabrook.com/
http://www.ralphalessi.com/
http://www.taylorhobynum.com/

Recorded by Nick Lloyd at Firehouse 12, New Haven,
Connecticut, USA, on January 31 and February 1, 2017.

Reviews

By Tim Niland
https://jazzandblues.blogspot.com/2017/11/tomas-fujiwara-triple-double-firehouse.html

Tomas Fujiwara is a New York City based drummer and composer who has created a
wide variety of music both as a leader and as a sideman. His new band Triple
Double features Gerald Cleaver on drums, Mary Halvorson and Brandon Seabrook on
guitar, Ralph Alessi on trumpet and Taylor Ho Bynum on cornet. The music they
create is complex and exciting with the twin guitar, brass and percussion setup
offering a great template for the playing of Fujiwara’s compositions. “Diving
for Quarters” is the opening track and the longest on the album, establishing
their bona fides with scratching and scrambling guitars, and smears if brass
with ever shifting percussion underpinning it all. Halvorson and Seabrook are
an explosive combination but one that works well together, as do the trumpet
and cornet in the following track “Blueberry Card.” It is interesting to hear
the instruments weave in and around each other, making bracing and challenging
music, while managing not to step on each other’s toes. “For Alan”, is a drum
duet and it is framed by clips of conversation between a very young Tomas
Fujiwara and the legendary jazz drummer Alan Dawson, who was his teacher. This
works well by placing Dawson’s wisdom alongside the leader showing just what he
learned from his mentor and putting that into action. Family is very important
to Fujiwara and he takes inspiration from his ancestors which leads to more
melodic and thematically centered material such as "Love and Protest" which
uses a yearning statement to develop a stern and serious performance where the
drums rumble ominously under the stoic horns. Shimmering, ghostly guitar comes
through to take the performance in a new direction, reverberating throughout
the improvisation, providing shading and color. Powerful brass and percussion
interplay takes over, making for a potent improvised section, leading to a
collective blowout that is as exciting as it is impressive. "Decisive Shadow"
follows, with skittish guitar and drums creating interesting rhythmic patterns
before the horns enter with a burnished fanfare. The brass stretch out against
the full band with interesting solo statements, then fascinating spidery guitar
playing takes over from there, urgently pushing the music into faster and more
idiosyncratic territory, with declamatory horns framing the frenetic
improvisation leading to a riotous conclusion. This is a very interesting group
that makes the most of the unusual configuration of instruments by developing a
confident group identity and a unique manner of performing. The music often
changes so suddenly that it seems to be in continuous motion, and it's
impressive in its complexity and quite immersive as each member of the band is
focused on the spontaneity of the others.

--

By Paul Acquaro
http://www.freejazzblog.org/2017/10/tomas-fujiwara-triple-double-firehouse.html

By Bill Meyer
http://dustedmagazine.tumblr.com/post/167312326470/tomas-fujiwara-triple-double-firehouse-12

By Troy Collins
http://www.pointofdeparture.org/PoD61/PoD61MoreMoments2.html

By Dan Bilawsky
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/triple-double-tomas-fujiwara-firehouse-12-records-review-by-dan-bilawsky.php

By Glenn Astarita
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/triple-double-tomas-fujiwara-firehouse-12-records-review-by-glenn-astarita.php

By John Sharpe
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/triple-double-tomas-fujiwara-firehouse-12-records-review-by-john-sharpe.php

By Raul da Gama
https://jazzdagama.com/music/tomas-fujiwara-triple-double/

Danny De Bock (nl)
http://www.jazzhalo.be/reviews/cdlp-reviews/t/tomas-fujiwara-triple-double/

Da Vincenzo Roggero (it)
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/triple-double-tomas-fujiwara-firehouse-12-records-review-by-vincenzo-roggero.php

Par Franpi (fr)
http://www.franpisunship.com/archives/2017/12/11/35930312.html

Par Julien Gros-Burdet (fr)
https://www.citizenjazz.com/Tomas-Fujiwara-3475522.html

Por Sergio Piccirilli (es)
http://elintruso.com/2017/10/14/tomas-fujiwara-triple-double/