A young Japanese player with chops to burn and a vibrant, post-Cecil Taylor-style imagination, Satoko Fujii has a fantastic feel for the pacing and drama of headstrong piano jazz. This set is made up of duos and trios with drummer Jim Black, bassist Mark Dresser, and soprano saxophonist Sachi Hayasaka. Black's rattle trap drumming is an excellent foil for Fujii's dense pianism, her love of the bellowing low end on the keyboard. And Dresser extends the harmonic searching, proving himself ever the multifaceted player who can bow his bass into a singing frenzy and plunk it into a rhythmic steam. Fujii plays jumping lines and calmly dropped clusters around the whole affair, as if the setting were ideal for her to engage each player on terms unique to the instrument. The sound is lovely and wide open, and this might be one of Tzadik Records' best forays into the "New Japan" scene that has become one of label founder John Zorn's main inspirations. --Andrew Bartlett