Released to coincide with the S.F.Q. European tour, Minerva is the second album from the outfit and features compelling, challenging music that is a unique combination of jazz, contemporary classical and traditional Japanese folksong.
Like the first album Vulcan, this is very much a group effort with all four musicians pushing the music in new directions and to new heights.
Minerva was not only the Roman goddess of thunder, but also the goddess of domestic arts, and it is no coincidence that four of the track titles refer to weaving terms.
Internationally acclaimed pianist/composer Satoko Fujii formed her all-Japanese quartet in 1998 comprising of her trumpeter husband Natsuki Tamura, bassist Takeharu Hayakawa (John Zorn's Japanese Unit) and drummer Tatsuya Yoshida (singer/drummer with The Ruins).
Her playing has been compared with pianists as important as Cecil Taylor, Keith Jarrett and Paul Bley, while her band-leading abilities have been compared to George Russell. In the past six years she has released thirteen CDs as a leader, all of which have constantly been making jazz critics 'best of' lists around the world.
