On this 67-minute album, Satomi leads a jazz quartet featuring Masaaki Imaizumi on piano, Kunio Oinuma on bass, and Masahiko Osaka on drums. This ambitious violinist released Project-N /in 2017, following up this debut with future releases /A Love Supreme (2019) and Duke String Quartet (2023), two excellent releases that focus her debut’s wide jazz spectrum into clear concept albums.

The music on Project-N consists of twelve tracks, split evenly between jazz covers and originals. Six original compositions from Satomi and six covers span a range of moods. Satomi’s track #1 “Norinori” kicks off in a stimulating gear on this first track, bursting with barely-contained energy. Next, the band sets an elegant, sophisticated mood on #2 “Dinner For One Please, James” — a mood revisited on #8 “Isfahan” and #12 “Yakusoku”.

On “Isfahan”, Satomi and Oinuma perform as a violin-and-bass duo inspired by Joe Henderson/Christian McBride’s duo performance of the lyrical Ellington/Strayhorn classic, delivering an immediate and precious presence from the two related string instruments.

In the same manner, Satomi’s sweet-and-lovely violin sound reaches a peak on the album closer, #12 “Yakusoku”. Satomi’s “Yakusoku” (meaning promise) in particular is a highlight among her originals, featuring her pristine violin tone full of romantic vibrato and sentimental sweetness, perhaps hinting at the importance and vibrancy of the personal commitment she conveys through this composition.

Between the bookend moods, other album tracks include some pleasant swing on #3 “One Note Samba”, #4 “Mr. K.B.”, and #7 “Circulation”, and relaxing modern-vintage feel on #5 “Un Homme Et Una Femme” and #6 “Repetition”. Additionally, the suspenseful #10 “Hexenhaus” and the funky #11 “Red Light, Green Light” are ear-catching and memorable high points on the album.

With twelve tracks and a variety of moods, Project-N may show slight characteristics of a first-timer’s debut album, moving from song to song with none overstaying their welcome. As the album’s bandleader, Satomi and her violin are well-featured in every song through melody and improvisations, marvelously showcasing the versatile player’s musical personality and skill. No doubt, Satomi intended to exhibit plenty on her first album and gets a lot in by granting the listener a number of originals and textures. In addition to her sweet and refined tone, she can also produce a liquid mercury articulation or a bluesy rawness with her violin when it suits the moment.

Naturally, the spotlight focuses on Satomi as the main lead performer, and while there are violin solos on every track, there are also plenty from pianist and arranger Imaizumi, who receives almost an equal number of opportunities to shine. In addition, his song arrangements enhance the music and include novel surprises like breaks for drum fills on #3 “One Note Samba” and a modern 7/4 arrangement of #9 “Night and Day”.

Liner Notes

(Translated from Noriko Satomi’s original Japanese liner notes.)

To my parents who allowed me to learn the violin

To have encountered jazz

To all the musicians who have taught me so many things

To the people who have come to my live performances

To jazz house owners and the staff

To the musicians who accompanied me through the harsh process of recording

To everyone who endeavored to help me release this CD

And to you who were gracious to buy this CD of mine

I am filled with gratitude.

I hope you enjoy this album that is packed with everything that is the person that I am at this moment.

1. Norinori

This is a song that I wrote for my first live performance as a leader, about three years after I started to play jazz. I was dejectedly thinking about how there are so many songs written for sax, so I decided to write a cool song that’s easy to play on violin but hard to play on sax. Eventually, this song ended up being difficult for violin as well, so I chose this title filled with hopes of playing this song with a lively spirit.

2. Dinner For One Please, James

This is a song from the album Eternal by one of my favorite tenor saxophone players Branford Marsalis, and when I first heard it, I felt like I definitely wanted to record it. Branford fell in love with this song after hearing Ben Webster play it. This must be how great songs are passed down…

3. One Note Samba

Imaizumi-san arranged this song for me for my first special performance featuring the music of Antônio Carlos Jobim. It’s a difficult arrangement no matter how many times you play it, with the musicians jumping out in succession. It’s different from the original in that it is played with a light swing beat. The drum fills from Osaka-san really shine.

4. Mr. K.B.

It’s a song that I wrote for Kenny Barron, with whom I was delighted to perform with in 2011. Doesn’t this song describe the personality of a gentleman with a great sense of humor?

5. Un Homme Et Una Femme

This is a song I’ve liked for a long time, but the time signature change in the middle makes it hard to improvise over. I asked Imaizumi-san if it was possible somehow to arrange it all in 3/4 time, and he came up with this wonderful arrangement. Personally speaking, I’m quite fond of the ending.

6. Repetition

I fell in love with this song after hearing it on trumpeter Roy Hardgrove’s album Parker’s Mood. It’s a song with a cool, matte-like beauty. The composer is Neal Hefti who wrong songs like “Cute”, “Li’l Darlin’”, and “Girl Talk”. Violin is great for the long tones in the melody.

7. Circulation

This is also a song that I wrote for my first live performance as a leader. I tried to write a short but crisp swing song in the style of Miles Davis.

8. Isfahan

When I heard this song on tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson’s album Lush Life, full of songs written by Duke Ellingson’s right-hand man Billy Strayhorn, I was struck by the greatness of the duo performance of Joe Henderson and Christian McBride. I selected this song because I definitely wanted to record it with Oinuma-san.

9. Night and Day

I wanted to include an odd-meter song so I asked Imaizumi-san to arrange it in 5/4 or 7/4 time, and he came up with this transformed arrangement. I was surprised, and I’m sure Cole Porter would be too (haha)!

10. Hexenhouse

Hexenhouse is the German word for the witch’s house in Hansen and Gretel, meaning a house made of sweets. Doesn’t it appear to be a song where a witch appears? It’s a song I wrote a long time ago and rearranged for this album.

11. Red Light, Green Light

I love “second line” (the rhythm played in New Orleans funerals when returning from funerals and celebrating the ascent of the soul), and I kept thinking that I wanted to write a song that fits this rhythm… I finally completed this about one week before the recording day. The snappy-dressed stop-and-go rhythm is reminiscent of Darumasan ga Koronda, so I chose a title based on an American game similar to Darumasan ga Koronda.

12. Yakusoku

This is the first ballad that I’ve ever written, and I rearranged it for this recording. Every time I play this, people ask me “Who is this a promise for?”, but I chose this title based on a promise that I made to myself.

*PROFILE: *NORIKO SATOMI, Violin 里見紀子

From Kanazawa, Yokohama.

Graduate of Tokyo University of the Arts, Instrumental Music Department, Violin Major.

Active in orchestras, studio work, and the orchestra pit of the Shiki Theater Company during and since university.

“Will I end up having only played other people’s music before I die? That would be sad… There must be some music that is personal to me and that only I can create”. Around the time she was thinking this, she encountered jazz.

She set foot into the jazz world in 1998 as a member of groups including “Shigeharu Mukai (trombone) With Jazz Strings”, “Tatsuji Yokoyama (percussion) Band”, and Denbei Itachiyama’s (vocal, guitar) band “Itachiyama Strings Group”.

In addition, she’s attracted attention in the live scene as a leader of her own unit “Project-N” with musicians including Gene Jackson (drums), Masahiko Osaka (drums), Shuichi “Ponta” Murakami (drums), Toshihiro Nakanishi (violin), and Masahiro Sayama (piano).

In New York in 2011, she recorded an album with Hiromi Shimizu (vocals) and Kenny Barron (piano) which was released on June 25 of the same year.

As one of the few jazz violin teachers in Japan, she also focuses her energy on nurturing the next generation.

As a commercial composer, she’s received the ACC Award for works including “Nippon-Ham”, “Lotte Choco Pie”, “Yomeishu”, and others.

As an arranger for strings, she’s worked on songs by m-flo, TOKU, and others, receiving favorable reviews.

Audio and Video

• Excerpt from “Norinori”, track #1 on this album:

• Excerpt from “One Note Samba”, track #3 on this album:

• Excerpt from “Night and Day”, track #9 on this album:

• Noriko Satomi with pianist Seiji Endo performing “Mr. K.B.” live, track #4 on this album:

• Promotional video for Noriko Satomi’s 2021 album “Duke String Quartet”:

• Excerpt from track #12: “Yakusoku-Yakusoku-”

Two of the six songs are instrument-based tracks that feature Aratake’s expressive playing that supports bluesy harmonica playing together and warm string arrangements. Vocalist Ryutaro Makino joins on the other four songs, including Aratake’s “Family” and “Say We Love”. The violins, violas, and cellos in the string section add a classy texture to much of the album and, together with the song selection and arrangements, shifts the music into orchestral pop territory. The recorded live sound also captures the expansive feeling of a large stage and concert hall filled with an audience of fans.

In addition to bluesy songs, romantic ballads, and pop, the album’s jazzier moments include Makino singing Ellington’s “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)” at a quick finger-snapping pace. Another listener favorite is Aratake’s own “Yuyake (Red Sunset)” with its modern Latin character and irresistible rhythm.

Audio and Video

• Video of “Yuyake”, track #4 on this album:

• Video of “It Don’t Mean A Thing”, track #2 on this album:

• Excerpt from track #1: “Sepia”