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Brooklyn-based drummer
Tomas Fujiwara emerged during the early to mid-2000s as a valued sideman before forming his own quintet,
Tomas Fujiwara & the Hook Up, which gathered accolades for blending influences such as
Wayne Shorter,
Taleb Kweli, and
Me'Shell Ndegéocello with the experimental and unpredictable spirit of the 21st century Brooklyn creative jazz scene. It's a sound he has displayed on albums like 2010's
Actionspeak, 2017's
Triple Double, and 2018's
Ours with the collaborative
Thumbscrew trio. The many other projects in which
Fujiwara has played as a collaborator or sideman include the
Steve Lacy tribute band
Ideal Bread, the eight-piece "bhangra funk dhol 'n' brass" outfit
Red Baraat, and saxophonist/clarinetist
Matt Bauder's acoustic jazz quintet.
Born in Boston in 1977,
Fujiwara studied for eight years with drummer and educator
Alan Dawson before moving to New York at the age of 17. His first performing experiences included a five-year stint beginning around the turn of the millennium with the off-Broadway show Stomp, but he also began appearing as a sideman on jazz recordings (e.g., Three Souls by
the Adam Rafferty Trio in 2003) and moving in exploratory, adventurous directions.
Fujiwara developed a particularly strong collaborative relationship with New Haven, Connecticut-based cornetist
Taylor Ho Bynum, whose own avant-leaning ensembles have featured a number of top Brooklyn improvising musicians.
Fujiwara first appeared with
Bynum on two 2007 recordings, The Middle Picture by
the Taylor Ho Bynum Sextet (Firehouse 12) and
True Events by
the Taylor Ho Bynum/Tomas Fujiwara Duo (482 Music). During the following years, the drummer appeared on the
Bynum Sextet albums Asphalt Flowers Forking Paths (hatOLOGY, 2009),
Apparent Distance (Firehouse 12, 2011), and Navigation (Possibility Abstracts X & XI) (Firehouse 12, 2013), and the
Bynum/Fujiwara Duo album Stepwise (Nottwo, 2010).
Fujiwara is also a member of
Positive Catastrophe, a ten-piece outfit co-led by
Bynum and percussionist Abraham Gomez-Delgado and inspired by
Sun Ra and Latin jazz; the group has released two albums on
Cuneiform, Garabatos, Vol. One (2009) and
Dibrujo, Dibrujo, Dibrujo... (2012).
Fujiwara has often worked with guitarist
Mary Halvorson, who often travels in the same creative orbit as
Taylor Ho Bynum; like
Fujiwara,
Halvorson is a member of
the Bynum Sextet, and along with
Bynum and violist
Jessica Pavone, the drummer and guitarist formed the collective quartet the Thirteenth Assembly, which has recorded two albums for the Important Records label, 2009's (un)sentimental and 2011's Station Direct.
Fujiwara,
Halvorson, and
Bynum also appeared as members of the Chicago-New York nonet
Living by Lanterns, whose
New Myth/Old Science album -- based on fragments of music recorded by
Sun Ra in 1961 -- appeared on
Cuneiform in 2012. In 2014
Cuneiform released another album featuring
Fujiwara and
Halvorson, the eponymous debut of
Thumbscrew, a collaborative trio also including veteran bassist
Michael Formanek. A second
Thumbscrew album,
Convallaria, was released by
Cuneiform in 2016.
Fujiwara first assembled his
Hook Up quintet in 2008, later describing the bandmembers as "some of the most important musicians in my life" -- and given all of
Fujiwara and
Halvorson's recorded appearances together in various settings, it was no surprise that the guitarist was in the lineup. Also featuring tenor saxophonist
Brian Settles, trumpeter
Jonathan Finlayson, and bassist
Danton Boller,
Tomas Fujiwara & the Hook Up released their debut album,
Actionspeak, on 482 Music in 2010. Featuring
Trevor Dunn on bass in place of
Boller, the group's sophomore album,
The Air Is Different, arrived (also on 482 Music) in 2012.
In 2017,
Fujiwara again emerged as a leader of his own ensemble on the Firehouse 12 album
Triple Double, appropriately titled given its lineup of two drummers, two guitarists, and two trumpeters (or, actually, a cornetist and a trumpeter). Joining
Fujiwara on the fiery, propulsive, and exploratory project were longtime collaborators guitarist
Halvorson and cornetist
Bynum, as well as drummer
Gerald Cleaver, guitarist
Brandon Seabrook, and trumpeter
Ralph Alessi. 7 Poets Trio arrived in 2019 and found
Fujiwara playing with percussionist
Patricia Brennan and cellist
Tomeka Reid. ~ Dave Lynch