The Bombastic Reunion of Natsuki Tamura & Jim Black

News, From the Magazine, Natsuki Tamura, Jim Black

By Bill Milkowski I Oct. 15, 2024

“The musical mission remains the same as it did 25 years ago: to make the best music possible in the given moment,” says drummer Jim Black of working again with trumpeter Natsuki Tamura.
(Photo: Felix Wolf)

It was back in 1999 that volcanic forces were unleashed on White & Blue (Dutch Buzz Records), the second release by Japanese trumpeter Natsuki Tamura under his name. That ferocious free-improv manifesto — released on the heels of his 1997 solo trumpet debut, A Song For Jyaki (on Leo Lab, a subsidiary of the British avant garde jazz label Leo Records) — paired Tamura on different tracks with drummers Jim Black and Aaron Alexander. A showcase of the trumpeter’s highly idiosyncratic vocabulary blending jazz lyricism with extended, otherworldly techniques on the trumpet, it recalled the adventurous, cutting-edge expressions of avant garde trumpet pioneer Wadada Leo Smith, who remains a huge influence on Tamura’s current aesthetic. “He is the musician I respect the most right now,” said Tamura. “He’s also a friend.”

That original White & Blue session emerged organically 25 years ago, as the trumpeter explained: “At the time, Jim, myself and many other musicians were living in the Park Slope area of Brooklyn, and we often hung out together. Jim was already active in various bands. I had experience working in Japan as a Top 40 and studio musician, but I thought I could do something more interesting in New York, so I recorded duos with Jim and Aaron, which became White & Blue.”

Spinning ahead 25 years after that initial encounter, Tamura and Black returned to the studio (this time in Bern, Switzerland) to record NatJim (Libra Records). And again, the sparks flew. “We are simply two more experienced improvisers and human beings,” said Black of their reunion. “The musical mission remains the same as it did 25 years ago: to make what we would consider to be the best music possible in the given moment. And as usual with us, it was a fast and furious session. No wasted notes or output. And we sound-checked the minimum.”

While short motifs and bits of notations that Tamura established at the beginning and end of each piece provided some structural guidance, the rest was wide open for exploration. Only the ninth song, “Bonus,” was completely improvised. Tamura covers a wide swath of textures and tones on NatJim, with Black alternately accompanying and engaging toe-to-toe with the trumpeter on his unusually deep-toned kit. “That’s my one and only Sonor Hilite from 1989,” he said. “I so rarely get to use it on sessions, but it was a treat to play because it responds exactly as I hear the sound in my head, no compromises. And it’s tuned from very high to more low tones, just going for a wall-of-low-dense vibe.”

On the very conversational “Afternoon City,” the trumpeter conjures up the “jungle sound” of early Duke Ellington (courtesy of Bubber Miley and Cootie Williams) with some spectacular plunger mute work. Then, on the tightly crafted “Morning City,” he executes some pristine, crisply articulated passages before engaging in some frantic exchanges with Black as the piece reaches an ecstatic crescendo. Elsewhere on this highly interactive duo outing, Tamura unleashes torrents of breath-driven white noise on “Noisy City,” then mumbles/grunts/screams through the mouthpiece of his instrument on the audacious “Bright City.” As he said, “What kind of sounds can be produced from the trumpet? Does the sound that comes out match the music I’m trying to make? I’m still trying to figure that out. But I think some of those sounds I make are similar to a dog’s howling.”

Black, who first came to prominence in alt-jazz circles of the early ’90s, especially for his work with Human Feel, Tim Berne’s Bloodcount, Dave Douglas’ Tiny Bell Trio and the downtown collective Pachora, is the perfect complement to Tamura throughout NatJim. Whether doubling tightly crafted unisons on his kit, underscoring with deep Ginger Baker-like grooves, engaging in scattershot exchanges with Tamura on the energetic “City Of Night” or settling into a meditative zone on “Calm City,” Black is fully engaged. “Nothing was really spoken about beforehand,” he said. “And we came up with different rhythms and dynamics and velocities on the spot. That’s the beauty in working with the greatest improvisers.”

Pianist-composer Satoko Fujii, who produced the album and is also Tamura’s wife and musical soulmate, pointed out in her liner notes to NatJim: “They sound like whirling dervishes, playing with a vigor that utterly belies their ages [Tamura is 72, Black is 56]. Their fearless creativity is inspiring.” Regarding her trumpeter husband, she added, “Today, 55 years after his first playing gig in Japan, his playing is as powerful as ever.”

Tamura, who played in his high school brass band before gigging on Kyoto’s infamous negligee salon circuit as a young man, ended up joining the popular Tokyo big band New Herd Orchestra at age 26. He later became a ubiquitous session musician on Tokyo’s busy studio scene during the 1970s and finally came to the States, at age 35, to study at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, where Fujii also had studied.

The couple returned to Japan for six years before relocating to the States once again, this time to study at New England Conservatory, where Fujii studied with Paul Bley. Tamura made his debut recording as a leader in 1993 on Tobifudo with a quartet featuring Fujii on piano. They released their first duo album, How Many? (Leo Lab), in 1997 and have now recorded 11 duet projects together, the most recent being 2024’s Aloft. Tamura has also appeared on a dozen recordings by his wife’s acclaimed Satoko Fujii Orchestra New York and another half dozen by her Sakoko Fujii Orchestra Tokyo. The couple currently resides in Kobe, Japan.

So, how was septuagenarian Tamura able to attack each tune on NatJim with such vigor? “I think the biggest factor is that I have been able to stay healthy,” he said. “Also, I know many older musicians around me who are still playing well, so maybe I am unconsciously playing in the same way. Really, I just love the music, and I love playing my instrument. I think that along with staying open to new sounds and approaches helps keep things fresh.”

And for Black, “The key to staying vital is to surround yourself with younger people and play music with them, share music with them and allow yourself to be influenced by them as much as possible. Also, further question, re-investigate and develop all of your knowledge and hard-earned, experienced wisdom. Stay an eternal student. Keep working and looking forward while also going back to the practice shed.” DB