#Todd Loewen

[the-quotable-alberta-hansard]

December 6, 2022

Mr. Schmidt: Can the minister please explain to Albertans why they continue to pay for this pass? Can’t we all just enjoy Kananaskis for free, the way Peter Lougheed intended?

Mr. Loewen: I’d like to talk about our parks here. I like to promote them everywhere. As for the K pass, it’s under review with a new Premier and a new crew. We want to ensure it’s fair and good and accomplishing all that it should. Viewing a mountain, its peaks like a steeple, it’s a fact that parks are for people.

Mr. Schmidt: Given that there once was a man from Nantucket . . .

The Speaker: No preambles.

[allthecanadianpolitics]

The Alberta government will permit selective grizzly bear hunts should they meet certain criteria, raising concerns from environmentalists who worry about the impacts on a threatened species. Forestry and Parks Minister Todd Loewen made the change as part of a June 17 ministerial order. Under the order, the minister may issue what the province refers to as a "grizzly bear management authorization" for the purpose of hunting a grizzly. "This is an overall management strategy for problem wildlife in particular, to make sure that we can respond to rural Albertans, both their concerns of safety but also loss of crop and loss of livestock," Loewen told CBC News.  The provincial government said there has been a rise in reports of "problematic" and dangerous grizzly-human and grizzly-animal interactions. Some recent conflicts, the province suggests, have been predatory in nature.  In 2020, there were three attacks, while 2021 recorded nine attacks by black and grizzly bears. The province said there were 104 attacks from 2000 to 2021. The ministerial order states that authorizations can be issued if a grizzly has been involved in a human-bear conflict situation, or if the bear is located in an "area of concern." The bear must not be accompanied by a cub.

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Tagging: @newsfromstolenland, @abpoli

[immunobiz]

All of the 63 wildfires burning in Alberta's forest right now are human-caused, Todd Loewen, minister for forestry and parks, said on Wednesday.

[college-girl199328]

Alberta's United Conservative Party government has moved on a proposal to split wildlife management responsibilities in the province. This proposal would create an additional department of hunting and fishing in the Forestry, Parks and Tourism Ministry.

The upcoming branch, according to an internal memo obtained and confirmed by The Canadian Press, will "increase focus and capacity on supporting hunting and fishing as an activity on Crown lands."

The memo says the department will now govern the allocation of fish and wildlife, including sport fishing regulations, hunting tags, trapping licences and human-wildlife conflicts.

It leaves population counts, habitat and land use policy, species at risk management and wildlife disease management within Alberta Environment and Protected Areas — splitting work that should be interconnected and taking the province back decades, critics say.

Lorne Fitch, an award-winning biologist and retired University of Calgary professor, said the move will make it difficult to track and manage the overall health of Alberta's wilderness.

"How do you handle sheep, how do you handle elk, how do you manage grizzlies without understanding what land uses are occurring and what the effects of those will be?" he asked. "How do you manage if you don't understand disease risk?"

The memo says the different departments will continue to work together.

"This transition will allow each ministry to be even more focused on their distinct roles and dedicate additional resources to those areas," says the memo, signed by deputy ministers of the departments involved.

Katie Morrison of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society said the move is another example of the UCP government breaking up functions of the province's Environment Ministry. Responsibility for parks has already been moved out of Environment and into Tourism.

"It will be increasingly difficult to ensure that the lands and waters and all the wildlife that depends on them are managed holistically," she wrote in an email.

Fitch said the move smacks of wildlife management from the 1950s when the only species that were managed were sport species or species with commercial value.

"Instead of a package deal where biodiversity is managed for all its intrinsic and exploitative reasons, now we're separating out just the ones that are going to be hunted and fished under a separate branch."

The memo confirms reports earlier this month about the breakup of Alberta's fish and wildlife branch. At that time, government staff confirmed control of provincial fish hatcheries was to be devolved to Alberta Irrigation and Agriculture. However, spokespeople said changes for wildlife were in the works.

No one from Alberta Environment and Protected Areas or Alberta Forestry, Parks and Tourism immediately responded to a request for comment on the rationale behind the change.

The newly formed hunting and fishing branch comes under the control of Forestry, Parks and Tourism Minister Todd Loewen. Loewen's political disclosure statement says he receives ongoing income of at least $5,000 a year from an outfitting business.

Loewen has said there's nothing unusual about someone with expertise in an industry being appointed as minister of the department that regulates it.

[kidsandnature]

Tweeted

RT @markusoff: Huge cheers from UCP crowd when Premier Danielle Smith mentioned new Forestry, Parks and Tourism Minister Todd Loewen. He might be Canada's only cabinet minister to have not just supported but participated in the Ottawa convoy. https://t.co/71bxsFNTwA

— Mr Bingley is really more a cider guy, (@mbingley) Oct 22, 2022

[kayla1993-world]

Tonight, the Conservative Party will announce its new leader and the 19th premier. Four months after the leadership contest began, one of seven contenders will emerge as the victor.

124,000 people bought or renewed UCP memberships by the Aug. 12 deadline to qualify to cast a vote. Party members have been voting by mail since early September.

According to UCP sources familiar with the leadership race, 82,000 members—66 percent of the total membership—had cast ballots as of Monday night. Members can vote in person this morning at polling stations across the province.

The party announced Thursday afternoon that the results of the first ballot had been pushed back to 7:30 p.m. Originally, the first results had been expected at around 6 p.m. at the BMO Centre in Calgary.

The candidates are culture minister Leela Aheer; Party leader and MLA Brian Jean; independent MLA and caucus chair Todd Loewen; MLA and former transportation and services minister Rajan Sawhney; MLA and services minister Rebecca Schulz; MLA and finance minister Travis Toews; and Danielle Smith, Wildrose leader.

The ballots ask members to rank their preferred leaders in order of preference, numbered 1 through 7. If one candidate secures more than 50% of the votes on the first ballot, they will win the leadership.

If no one gets more than half the votes on the first ballot, the candidate with the lowest number of votes will be dropped from the ballot, and their votes will be reassigned to the second choice.

The party will repeat that process until one candidate has a majority of support. The UCP called the leadership race in May following a leadership review that saw Jason Kenney receive support from 51.4 percent of members. Kenney said there was not enough support for him to carry on as leader, and he pledged to resign once members chose a new one.

What leads Young to believe Smith is a favourite to win is that all the candidates are acting as if she's the one to catch. In leadership races, ranked balloting has provided unexpected winners: Ed Stelmach became Alberta's premier after scoring an upset victory in the leadership contest. Alison Redford became PC leader and premier in 2011, also after winning on ranked ballots.

Calgary-based pollster Janet Brown said the races' rules are different and more likely to lead to a grassroots-backed leader than a consensus victor. The cutoff date to buy a membership in time to vote was much earlier, for one.

She said in an interview last week that "it's easier to attract those people who feel emotional about issues. It's easier to sell a membership to them. It's harder to sell a membership to people who are more dispassionate."

The UCP was born in 2017 with the merger of the Progressive Conservative and Wildrose parties into a big-tent coalition. A new leader will be tasked with a challenge that some believe led to Kenney's undoing—keeping the party united. Young said a Toews win presents an immediate threat to that unity more than a Smith win.

She said UCP members who bristled at health restrictions and think the Kenney government failed to effectively push back against government policies may feel disenfranchised with a Toews win and believe their concerns about top-down leadership will remain unaddressed.

Young said it may prompt some MLAs who tried to push Kenney out to leave the caucus. Smith has campaigned on introducing a sovereignty act that she says would allow Alberta to refuse to enforce federal laws and court decisions it can't stomach. Young said if she could table moderated legislation MLAs could agree to, she might be able to hold the tent together.

UCP MLAs have said they could not vote in favor of a Sovereignty Act as described, which could create a crisis of confidence, but Smith has yet to release the proposed wording.

Brown said her polling found the issues Albertans care most about now are inflation, health care, and education, and yet, these were not the focus of the leadership campaign.

She said that has led to a disconnect between voters and the UCP, which could leave Rachel Notley and the NDP the winners of the provincial election. "Right now the idea of steady leadership is looking more favorable to Albertans than the circus that is the UCP," Brown said.

[abpoli]

Source

[sachkiawaaj]

2 Alberta United Conservatives removed from government caucus

2 Alberta United Conservatives removed from government caucus

Alberta MLAs Todd Loewen and Drew Barnes have been expelled from the United Conservative Party caucus over allegations they divided the party and undermined government leadership.  Barnes, the MLA for Cypress-Medicine Hat, has become a prolific critic of Premier Jason Kenney’s decisions during the pandemic. Loewen, the MLA for Central Peace-Notley, went public with his dissatisfaction in a letter…

[the-quotable-alberta-hansard]

May 28, 2024

Member Loyola: They pick fights with Ottawa on a whole number of issues, and now they want to turn around and basically tell local authorities what to do instead. Well, where I come from, you know what that’s called? It’s called authoritarian, and it is a characteristic of dictatorships. That’s exactly what it is, and that’s why I’m calling a spade a spade right here today on the record. It is authoritarian.

...

Mr. Loewen: I hear them talking about criteria for emergencies, talking about water transfers, talking about Bill 18 and Bill 20, talking about shovels or spades or something. I’m not even sure what that commentary was about.

[allthecanadianpolitics]

Alberta has called in the Canadian Armed Forces to help assist with the worsening wildfire situation in the province.

As of Wednesday afternoon, 176 wildfires were burning in the forest protection area of the province, which doesn't account for the two wildfires threatening Jasper National Park, which is federal land.

"Alberta is facing significant wildfire activity across the province," Mike Ellis, minister for public safety and emergency services wrote in a social media post.

"I spoke with my federal counterparts today about how this complex situation continues to impact the health and safety of Albertans. My colleague, Minister Todd Loewen, and I have requested assistance from the Canadian Armed Forces to ensure all resources are brought to bear on this situation." [...]

Continue Reading.

Tagging: @newsfromstolenland, @abpoli

Note from the poster @el-shab-hussein: Sorry man they're too busy helping the zionist occupation slaughter my folks in the thousands every week. And lying about the destruction of our hospitals.

[canada4news]

GUNTER: Lockdown frustration understandable, but dissenting UCP MLAs represent areas with some high infection rates

GUNTER: Lockdown frustration understandable, but dissenting UCP MLAs represent areas with some high infection rates

Breadcrumb Trail Links Columnists Author of the article: Lorne Gunter Publishing date: Mar 05, 2021  •  14 minutes ago  •  3 minute read  •  Join the conversation UCP Candidate Todd Loewen speaks to Central Peace-Notley constituents at an election forum in Valleyview’s Memorial Hall in Valleyview, Alta. on Monday, April 8, 2019. Photo by Peter Shokeir / Daily Herald-Tribune SunMedia Article…

[college-girl199328]

Alberta fights Canada government over its crowded parks: Like a tailgate party

On a chilly autumn morning not long ago, Annalise Klingbeil and eight others packed into three cars, departing Calgary in the dark as they drove westward towards the Rockies. They take in the region’s larch season, when the needles of the spiny trees transform a brilliant shade of yellow.

But when they arrived at Moraine Lake, with the sun still hanging behind Banff’s jagged peaks, their adventure was cut short. With the number of visitors growing each year, Parks Canada recently announced it will ban private vehicles along the road to Moraine Lake in 2023 in a bid to ease congestion at Banff’s most popular tourist attraction.

The tension between showcasing the region’s natural wonders and preserving them for future generations is not a new issue for the country’s federal parks agency. Years ago, Parks Canada closed hiking trails and weighed the possibility of visitor caps in more sensitive areas. But the challenges of administering the park have grown more complicated amid a growing political row between the western province of Alberta and the federal government.

This week, minister of forests, parks, and tourism, Todd Loewen, called on Parks Canada to reverse its decision, suggesting the ban would harm tourism, give residents less access to the backcountry, and mark the end of sunrise and sunset hikes or night photography.

In response, Parks Canada said the Moraine Lake parking lot is at capacity 24 hours a day and that while 900 vehicles successfully gain access to the lake each day during the summer, nearly 5,000 are turned away, with drivers often directing their frustration at park staff. The agency said the sheer demand for parking spaces far exceeds capacity and will rely on a shuttle option for visitors. Speaking to a local radio station, Loewen pushed back, suggesting instead that the federal agency build a parking lot.

The idea prompted scorn from Klingbeil, who pointed out that such a move would be banned by law. "With this suggestion he comes across like, he knows absolutely nothing about this issue," she said. She argued that an urgent need to ban private vehicles creates a cultural shift in public spaces.

The row over parks has come amid broader political tensions between the federal government and Alberta, which recently passed a controversial "sovereignty act" that could allow the province to ignore federal laws--setting the stage for potential conflict with Ottawa and Indigenous nations. In November, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said she wanted tourism money generated in the five national parks within Alberta to remain in the province rather than being used to maintain other parks across the country.

But Smith’s governing United Conservatives have a checkered record on parks in the province. In 2020, as austerity measures took hold in the oil-rich province under former premier Jason Kenney, the provincial government announced plans to shutter several parks. Alberta also proposed allowing private businesses to operate other parks to save money, arguing that the parks fail to generate significant revenues. The idea prompted an outcry and was later dropped.

But the future of Canada’s parks--and who uses them and sets the rules--is set to become an increasingly tense issue as the cost of popularity takes its toll on vulnerable ecosystems.

[conjuringjustice]

Thankfulness & Appreciation Series -- Part 1

Thankfulness & Appreciation Series — Part 1

It’s November 16th, and a bit late to start giving thanks but better late than never.

I am thankful that I have the ability to do what I do. My family doesn’t always understand but nevertheless, I have the leeway to jump out on a limb for things I care about without condemnation.  Appreciation is taken for granted but I am beholden to my husband and family for letting me be me. Not they had much…

[kayla1993-world]

On Thursday morning, four United Conservative Party leadership candidates at the Westin Hotel in downtown Calgary attacked the perceived frontrunner in the race, Danielle Smith, and her flagship policy.

At the event, fellow candidates Brian Jean, Leela Aheer and Rajan Sawhney also spoke.

Candidates Rebecca Schulz and Todd Loewen were invited but did not attend, with the former tweeting that she, too, opposes the policy but is concerned about party division.

All four people present at the Westin Hotel said that if Smith is elected, they will not support the proposed legislation in its current form.

"Either the sovereignty act is a symbolic gesture, like motions passed by Quebec's National Assembly, or it is blatantly unconstitutional and the equivalent of starting a bar brawl in the middle of confederation," Aheer explained.

"In any case, Danielle Smith is risking her life and selling a fantasy to her supporters."

Speaking to reporters after the event, Toews was asked how the caucus would support the act if it came to the floor, given that his campaign has received the most endorsements.

Smith has stated that the bill's actual language will be drafted with the full participation of the caucus. However, at this point, caucus support for the legislation is far from certain, complicating its passage.

Yao said he understands Smith's desire to be more aggressive in negotiations with Ottawa but is skeptical of this specific mechanism.

Smith's campaign said "tens of thousands" of UCP members had endorsed the plan to introduce the act. She stated that she respected her fellow leadership candidates' right to criticize the plan.

The candidates took particular aim at a news release issued earlier this week by the Smith campaign. Smith argued in that release for the mechanisms that, in her opinion, would allow the act to be implemented.

However, the candidates claimed that the act would not prevent equalization, the carbon tax, federal travel mandates, or allow the province to build interprovincial corridors.

Jean claimed that the sovereignty act focuses on "things that could never happen" or "things that she could never change."

The race has largely revolved around the act in recent weeks, which has alarmed legal experts and drawn criticism from Premier Jason Kenney, who said earlier this week that it would turn the province into a "banana republic."

Meanwhile, Smith has accused the "'woke' media, entrenched interests and the "political establishment" for using fear-mongering to delegitimize the act.

On October 6, the UCP will disclose the results of the leadership election.

[jazzworldquest-blog]

JAPAN/CANADA : Pianist/composer Satoko Fujii debuts new trio This Is It! with recording and Canadian tour

Pianist/composer Satoko Fujii debuts new trio This Is It!

with recording and Canadian tour

September 15 – October 8, 2018

Appearances in Guelph, Montreal, Kingston, Ottawa, Vancouver

1538, the trio’s debut CD, earning wide acclaim

4.5 stars “A rambunctious stew of explosive group dynamics and interludes of gorgeous piano ruminations beside prickly percussive keyboard moments. There are also fleeting, bright splashes of notes, odd noises from extended techniques…and driving rhythms in a wide array of time signatures.”—Dan McClenaghan All About Jazz

“The music is of the utmost simplicity, yet the works produce an effect of extraordinary voluptousness, as simple tonal chords drift in and out of focus, while the soloists describe a slow and wayward ascent, climbing higher by infinitesimal degrees.”—Raul da Gama, Jazzdagama

Acclaimed pianist/composer Satoko Fujii, celebrates her new trio This Is It! (Fujii, trumpeter Natsuki Tamura, and percussionist Takashi Itani) with a Canadian tour from Saturday, September 15 – Monday, October 8, 2018. The band’s debut CD, 1538, is part of Fujii’s 60th birthday celebration for which she is releasing a new CD every month during 2018.  The group will also tour to six US cities including Philadephia, PA; Cambridge, MA; Portland, ME; Brooklyn, NY; Mission Viejo and Los Angeles, CA.

Canadian performances include:

• Sat, Sept. 15, 2 p.m. ­– Guelph Jazz Festival, Cooperators Hall, River Run Centre, 35 Woolwich St.  Guelph, Ontario.

Tickets $20-$25. GJF: Groven/Lumley/Sadhouders will also perform. For information visit http://riverrun.ca/whats-on/gjf-groven-lumley-stadhouders-satoko-fujis-this-is-it/ or www.guelphjazzfestival.com. 

• Tues, Sept. 18, 8 p.m. – La Sala Rossa, 4848 St. Laurent, Montreal, Quebec.

The Craig Pedersen Quartet will also perform. Presented by Suoni Per Il Popolo and CKUT. Tickets $12. For information visit https://www.lfttckt.com/tickets/lfttkt-casa-1511276966-20703 or https://casadelpopolo.com/en/la-sala-rossa/.

• Wed, Sept. 19, 7 p.m. – St. Marks Church, 263 Victoria Street, Kingston, Ontario.

Presented by Kingston Jazz Society. Tickets $15 at the door. https://kingstonjazz.ca/2018/08/20/sep-19-satoko-fujii-trio-st-marks-church/

• Fri, Sept. 21, 7 p.m. – Natsuki Tamura Solo, Improvising Musicians of Ottawa Fest, General Assembly, Ottawa.

http://www.improvisedmoo.com/

• Sat, Sept. 22, 3 p.m. – Natsuki Tamura, trumpet; Satoko Fujii, piano; Jesse Stewart, drums, Glebe St. James United Church, 60 Lyon St. S., Ottawa.

https://www.glebestjames.ca/

• Sat, Sept. 22, 10 p.m. – Improvising Musicians of Ottawa Fest, Gigspace, 953 Gladstone Ave., Ottawa.

Tickets $75 festival pass, $40 Saturday only. For information visit http://www.improvisedmoo.com/imoofest-2018/this-is-it/. In addition to the concert by This Is It!, Tamura will perform solo on Friday, September 21, 7 p.m. at General Assembly; Fujii will also perform solo on Sunday, September 23.

• Sun, Sept. 23, 6 p.m. – Satoko Fujii Solo – Improvising Musicians of Ottawa Fest, Gigspace, 953 Gladstone Ave., Ottawa.

http://www.improvisedmoo.com/imoofest-2018/satoko-fujii//

• Sun, Sept. 23, 9 p.m. – Satoko Fujii directs IMOO Orchestra with tenor saxophonist Bernard Stepien, alto and/or baritone saxophonist Linsey Wellman, trumpeter Natsuki Tamura, trombonist Rory Magill, guitarist David Jackson, cellist Mark Molnar, drummer Takashi Itani, Scott Warren on sound inspiration – Improvising Musicians of Ottawa Fest, Gigspace, 953 Gladsone Ave., Ottawa.

http://www.improvisedmoo.com/imoofest-2018/imoo-orchestra/

• Fri, Oct. 5, 8 p.m. – NOW Society Creative Music Series #5 at 8EAST, 8 E Pender St., Vancouver, BC

By donation $10-$20. Also performing are two duos: Nikki Carter and Kenton Loewen; Meredith Bates and Elsa Thorn.  https://www.nowsociety.org/event/now-society-creative-music-series-5-october-3-5

• Mon, Oct. 8, 4-6 & 6:30-8:30 p.m. Improvisation Workshops – Western Front, 303 E. 8th Ave., Vancouver, BC. Suggested donation $5-$20.

Satoko Fujii leads improvisation workshops. https://www.nowsociety.org/2018-fall-workshops

Pianist-composer Fujii is always searching for new colleagues to help her in her quest “to make music that no one has heard before.” She found what she was looking for on 1538 featuring her latest trio with trumpeter Natsuki Tamura and drummer Takashi Itani. She calls the band This Is It!, and it’s little wonder why. After a long search, she’s found one of her most free-spirited ensembles, capable of playing her compositions with a natural élan as well as soloing with emotional intensity. The album was released June 22, 2018 via Libra Records.

This Is It! evolved slowly over several years from Fujii’s New Trio with bassist Todd Nicholson and drummer Itani. After their 2013 debut CD, Spring Storm, Tamura joined them in concert to form Quartet Tobira, which recorded Yamiyo ni Karasu in 2014. With the departure of Nicholson, the remaining band members played as Tobira – 1 (Tobira Minus One), but as they continued to play, a distinctive trio identity emerged and Fujii rechristened them with an original name. “I always like to have smaller units that can play my compositions,” Fujii says. “I have led small groups like Satoko Fujii Quartet, Satoko Fujii Trio, ma-do, and others since the beginning of my career. Right now, this trio is the one I really like to work with, so I just named it This Is It!.”

Fujii wrote some material especially for the group, but most of the compositions come from what she calls her diary. “When I sit at the piano, I always compose for 15 minutes before I begin to practice. After doing this for more than 10 years, I have 12 books of written compositions. The short pieces in these books can help me to make long pieces. I often turn to my diary books when I start to compose something.”

As Tamura attests in his CD liner notes, these pieces are often fiendishly difficult to learn but they always have structure and flow that sound unforced and that open up new possibilities for improvisers. The trio fully inhabits Fujii’s pieces, taking different approaches to each one. The trust and confidence among them create deeply layered performances that blend melody, sound, and rhythm in endlessly inventive ways. For instance, they each twist and bend the melody of “Prime Number” as they solo, creating variations that build a unified performance. They take the high-intensity title track (1538 is the melting point of iron in degrees Celsius) in multiple directions as they improvise. Tamura shrieks and brays with tormented abstractions while Fujii alternates between high energy thundering and a melancholy lyricism, and Itani’s unmoored rhythms ebb and flow.

Some of the most otherworldly sounds to issue from a Satoko Fujii band are heard on this album (and that’s saying something). It’s often hard to tell who is making what sound. The opening of “Yozora” (which means “night sky” in Japanese) and the dreamy abstractions of “Riding on the Clouds” are bravura examples of the trio’s ability to manipulate pure sound and tone color into emotionally satisfying music. A highlight of “Swoop,” a feature for Itani, is the drummer’s virtuoso command of timbre and his sure sense of construction.

 “I just let the band play in their own way,” Fujii says. “I just love to hear how Natsuki and Takashi play my pieces. In music, I like to feel 120 percent free and I think we can do whatever we like. This is the advantage of the music!”

Drummer Takashi Itani plays everything from jazz (Max Roach was an early inspiration) to folk music, to rock. He’s been a sideman with a truly bewildering range of musicians, including singer-songwriter Yoshio Hayakawa; new wave rock guitarist Masahide Sakuma; singer-actor Hiroshi Mikami; Michiro Endo, front man of the influential punk band The Stalin; West coast jazz saxophonist Ted Brown; and best-selling Japanese American pop star Hikaru Utada. In addition he has performed with some of Japan’s most prominent poets, including Mizuki Misumi, Shuntaro Tanikawa, Gozo Yoshimasu, and the late Takaaki Yoshimoto.

Japanese trumpeter and composer Natsuki Tamura is internationally recognized for his unique musical vocabulary blending extended techniques with jazz lyricism. This unpredictable virtuoso “has some of the stark, melancholy lyricism of Miles, the bristling rage of late ’60s Freddie Hubbard and a dollop of the extended techniques of Wadada Leo Smith and Lester Bowie,” observes Mark Keresman of JazzReview.com. Throughout his career, Tamura has led bands with radically different approaches. On one hand, there are avant rock jazz fusion bands like his quartet. In contrast, Tamura has focused on the intersection of folk music and sound abstraction with Gato Libre since 2003. The band’s poetic, quietly surreal performances have been praised for their “surprisingly soft and lyrical beauty that at times borders on flat-out impressionism,” by Rick Anderson in CD Hotlist. In addition, Tamura and pianist (and wife) Satoko Fujii have maintained an ongoing duo since 1997. Tamura also collaborates on many of Fujii’s projects, from quartets and trios to big bands. As an unaccompanied soloist, he’s released three CDs, including Dragon Nat (2014). He and Fujii are also members of Kaze, a collaborative quartet with French musicians, trumpeter Christian Pruvost and drummer Peter Orins. “As unconventional as he may be,” notes Marc Chenard in Coda magazine, “Natsuki Tamura is unquestionably one of the most adventurous trumpet players on the scene today.”

Critics and fans alike hail pianist and composer Satoko Fujii as one of the most original voices in jazz today. She’s “a virtuoso piano improviser, an original composer and a bandleader who gets the best collaborators to deliver," says John Fordham in The Guardian. In concert and on more than 80 albums as a leader or co-leader, she synthesizes jazz, contemporary classical, avant-rock, and Japanese folk music into an innovative music instantly recognizable as hers alone. Over the years, Fujii has led some of the most consistently creative ensembles in modern improvised music, including her trio with bassist Mark Dresser and drummer Jim Black, the Min-Yoh Ensemble, and an electrifying avant-rock quartet featuring drummer Tatsuya Yoshida of The Ruins. Her ongoing duet project with husband Natsuki Tamura released their sixth recording, Kisaragi, in 2017. “The duo's commitment to producing new sounds based on fresh ideas is second only to their musicianship,” says Karl Ackermann in All About Jazz. Aspiration, a CD by an ad hoc band featuring Wadada Leo Smith, Tamura, and Ikue Mori, was released in 2017 to wide acclaim. “Four musicians who regularly aspire for greater heights with each venture reach the summit together on Aspiration,” writes S. Victor Aaron inSomething Else. She records infrequently as an unaccompanied soloist, but Solo (Libra), the first of her 12 birthday-year albums, led Dan McClenaghan to enthuse in All About Jazz, that the album “more so than her other solo affairs—or any of her numerous ensembles for that matter—deals in beauty, delicacy of touch, graceful melodicism.” As the leader of no less than five orchestras in the U.S., Germany, and Japan, Fujii has also established herself as one of the world’s leading composers for large jazz ensembles, leading Cadence magazine to call her, “the Ellington of free jazz.”

www.satokofujii.com/

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