Biography
Tomas Fujiwara, a drummer rooted in Brooklyn, first gained notice in the early to mid-2000s through sideman work before launching his quintet Tomas Fujiwara & the Hook Up. The group received recognition for fusing touches of Wayne Shorter, Taleb Kweli, and Me'Shell Ndegéocello with the experimental and unpredictable character of the twenty-first-century Brooklyn creative jazz scene. That approach surfaces on recordings such as 2010's Actionspeak, 2017's Triple Double, and 2018's Ours, the last of these issued with the cooperative Thumbscrew trio. Other settings in which Fujiwara has performed as collaborator or sideman encompass the Steve Lacy tribute band Ideal Bread, the eight-piece "bhangra funk dhol 'n' brass" ensemble Red Baraat, and the acoustic jazz quintet of saxophonist/clarinetist Matt Bauder.
Fujiwara was born in Boston in 1977 and trained for eight years under drummer and educator Alan Dawson before relocating to New York at age seventeen. Early performance credits include a five-year engagement that began near the turn of the millennium with the off-Broadway production Stomp, yet he simultaneously appeared as a sideman on jazz sessions such as the Adam Rafferty Trio's 2003 release Three Souls and pursued more exploratory, adventurous paths.
A particularly close partnership developed with New Haven, Connecticut-based cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum, whose avant-leaning groups have included numerous leading Brooklyn improvisers. Fujiwara's first appearances with Bynum occurred 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). Subsequent years found the drummer 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), as well as the Bynum/Fujiwara Duo album Stepwise (Nottwo, 2010). Fujiwara also belongs to Positive Catastrophe, the ten-piece ensemble co-led by Bynum and percussionist Abraham Gomez-Delgado and drawing inspiration from Sun Ra and Latin jazz; the collective issued two Cuneiform albums, Garabatos, Vol. One (2009) and Dibrujo, Dibrujo, Dibrujo... (2012).
Fujiwara has frequently collaborated with guitarist Mary Halvorson, who shares the same creative sphere as Taylor Ho Bynum. Like Fujiwara, Halvorson participates in the Bynum Sextet; together with Bynum and violist Jessica Pavone, the drummer and guitarist formed the collective quartet the Thirteenth Assembly, which recorded two albums for Important Records: 2009's (un)sentimental and 2011's Station Direct. Fujiwara, Halvorson, and Bynum further appeared as members of the Chicago-New York nonet Living by Lanterns, whose New Myth/Old Science—drawn from 1961 fragments recorded by Sun Ra—appeared on Cuneiform in 2012. In 2014 Cuneiform released another album featuring Fujiwara and Halvorson, the self-titled debut of Thumbscrew, a collaborative trio completed by veteran bassist Michael Formanek. A second Thumbscrew album, Convallaria, followed on Cuneiform in 2016.
Fujiwara assembled the Hook Up quintet in 2008 and later characterized its members as "some of the most important musicians in my life." Given the pair's many joint recordings across projects, guitarist Halvorson's presence in the lineup was unsurprising. The group also included tenor saxophonist Brian Settles, trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson, and bassist Danton Boller; Tomas Fujiwara & the Hook Up issued its debut, Actionspeak, on 482 Music in 2010. With Trevor Dunn replacing Boller on bass, the quintet's sophomore effort, The Air Is Different, arrived on the same label in 2012.
In 2017 Fujiwara returned as leader with the Firehouse 12 album Triple Double, whose title reflected the lineup of two drummers, two guitarists, and two trumpeters (or, more precisely, a cornetist and a trumpeter). Joining Fujiwara on the intense, forward-moving project were longtime associates guitarist Halvorson and cornetist Bynum, along with drummer Gerald Cleaver, guitarist Brandon Seabrook, and trumpeter Ralph Alessi. 7 Poets Trio appeared in 2019 and presented Fujiwara alongside percussionist Patricia Brennan and cellist Tomeka Reid.
Fujiwara was born in Boston in 1977 and trained for eight years under drummer and educator Alan Dawson before relocating to New York at age seventeen. Early performance credits include a five-year engagement that began near the turn of the millennium with the off-Broadway production Stomp, yet he simultaneously appeared as a sideman on jazz sessions such as the Adam Rafferty Trio's 2003 release Three Souls and pursued more exploratory, adventurous paths.
A particularly close partnership developed with New Haven, Connecticut-based cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum, whose avant-leaning groups have included numerous leading Brooklyn improvisers. Fujiwara's first appearances with Bynum occurred 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). Subsequent years found the drummer 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), as well as the Bynum/Fujiwara Duo album Stepwise (Nottwo, 2010). Fujiwara also belongs to Positive Catastrophe, the ten-piece ensemble co-led by Bynum and percussionist Abraham Gomez-Delgado and drawing inspiration from Sun Ra and Latin jazz; the collective issued two Cuneiform albums, Garabatos, Vol. One (2009) and Dibrujo, Dibrujo, Dibrujo... (2012).
Fujiwara has frequently collaborated with guitarist Mary Halvorson, who shares the same creative sphere as Taylor Ho Bynum. Like Fujiwara, Halvorson participates in the Bynum Sextet; together with Bynum and violist Jessica Pavone, the drummer and guitarist formed the collective quartet the Thirteenth Assembly, which recorded two albums for Important Records: 2009's (un)sentimental and 2011's Station Direct. Fujiwara, Halvorson, and Bynum further appeared as members of the Chicago-New York nonet Living by Lanterns, whose New Myth/Old Science—drawn from 1961 fragments recorded by Sun Ra—appeared on Cuneiform in 2012. In 2014 Cuneiform released another album featuring Fujiwara and Halvorson, the self-titled debut of Thumbscrew, a collaborative trio completed by veteran bassist Michael Formanek. A second Thumbscrew album, Convallaria, followed on Cuneiform in 2016.
Fujiwara assembled the Hook Up quintet in 2008 and later characterized its members as "some of the most important musicians in my life." Given the pair's many joint recordings across projects, guitarist Halvorson's presence in the lineup was unsurprising. The group also included tenor saxophonist Brian Settles, trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson, and bassist Danton Boller; Tomas Fujiwara & the Hook Up issued its debut, Actionspeak, on 482 Music in 2010. With Trevor Dunn replacing Boller on bass, the quintet's sophomore effort, The Air Is Different, arrived on the same label in 2012.
In 2017 Fujiwara returned as leader with the Firehouse 12 album Triple Double, whose title reflected the lineup of two drummers, two guitarists, and two trumpeters (or, more precisely, a cornetist and a trumpeter). Joining Fujiwara on the intense, forward-moving project were longtime associates guitarist Halvorson and cornetist Bynum, along with drummer Gerald Cleaver, guitarist Brandon Seabrook, and trumpeter Ralph Alessi. 7 Poets Trio appeared in 2019 and presented Fujiwara alongside percussionist Patricia Brennan and cellist Tomeka Reid.
Albums
