Gato Libre - Koneko (2020)

The eighth record for the Japanese trio led by trumpet player
and composer Natsuki Tamura, Gato Libre (a quartet until 2015,
when guitarist Kazuhiko Tsumura passed away), develops
dreamlike atmospheres that are sometimes, but not always,
conducive to a certain form of meditation. With Satoko Fujii on
accordion and Yasuko Kaneko on trombone, the trio’s sound
universe is truly unique, and the very “natural” production by
Tatsuya Yoshida (the drummer of The Ruins) paradoxically bathes
the whole thing in a surreal atmosphere – the sewing machine
and the umbrella are not far away.

Fujii is best known as a pianist, of course, who celebrated her
60th birthday two years ago (to celebrate her kanreki in 2018,
she released a record every month, from solo to orchestra), but
she uses the accordion admirably. In this music that alternates
composed passages and improvised moments, she is often in the
accompaniment, placing herself behind the trumpet and trombone,
a role quite different from what the pianist does in her Kaze
quartet, for example, with two trumpeters (including Tamura, her
husband by the way). Trombonist Yasuko Kaneko offers an
excellent counterpart to the voluntary simplicity of the
trumpet, and makes her instrument resonate with a virtuosity
that effectively complements Tamura’s own.