Listening to the new release by Japanese trumpeter Natsuki Tamura's Quartet reminds me of the
line Roy Scheider delivered in the movie Jaws when he gets his first glimpse at the great
white
shark he is pursuing. In a deadpan look of shock, he utters, “we have to get a bigger boat.”
Perhaps a larger concert hall or noise attenuates are the order of the day. Tamura, a talented
trumpeter has produced several noteworthy solo projects (check out White & Blue with
drummer Jim Black) and collaborations with his wife, pianist Satoko Fujii. This wall-of-sound
session was forecast in prior discs under Fujii’s names, including Vulcan and Minerva,
released last year on the Japanese label Libra.
Tamura takes the energy of those electric fusion/funk discs and applies a tidal wave of punk
aesthetic via synthesizer and guitar. In what might be her first appearance on synths, Satoko Fujii
abandons her nimble fingered Paul Bley coaching for power chords. Like Vulcan this music
cannot be played low, it begs for volume.
In the tradition of bands like The Ruins, Blind Idiot God, Painkiller, and Massacre, Tamura’s
quartet opts for thundering rock drumming to power this shock and awe session. Takaaki Masuko, a
New England Conservatory graduate, complies saturating the affair. Tamura’s amplified metal
trumpet is enough to scare Miles of the stage at the Fillmore with his raging hardcore.
With the turn of this new century, electronic terror music is satisfying on both visceral and
cerebral levels.
Visit Libra on the web.
~ Mark Corroto
