Japanese born, but Berlin based, Masayoshi Fujita is no stranger to acclaim with either his El Fog project or through collaborative work, but 'Stories' represents what is being presented as his first solo album proper. A student of the vibraphone, an instrument so largely ignored within the sphere of contemporary music that even the most indulgent seventies prog rock artists struggled to find a use for it, Fujita takes influence predominantly from the world of classical and jazz, something apparent throughout 'Stories'.
Indeed it would seem appropriate to describe 'Stories' as an attempt to use the vibraphone within similar contexts to many of today’s most prominent neoclassical minimalist pianists. The likes of Nils Frahm (who mastered this release) and Dustin O’Halloran have reinvigorated interest in classical piano over recent times but it would be wrong to see them as having done anything particularly revolutionary with the instrument. By contrast then, Fujita’s use of the vibraphone as lead instrument makes for a refreshing change.
The delicacy of the instrument means that subtlety is largely the order of the day here. 'Stories' is a hushed, contemplative record in which the capacity of a single instrument and its player to carry the depth of each composition relies more on the specifics of tone than on bombastic dynamics. Fujita recognises this through occasionally choosing to treat the instrument in a similar fashion to the prepared piano, by using beads or rubbing aluminium foil on it for example, but for the most part he lets the vibrations do the work. Fujita clearly understands the range of his instrument exceptionally well. 'Stories' does well never to sound heavy handed or clumsy.
In fact what 'Stories' proves is that work for solo vibraphone has plenty of mileage. You could be forgiven for presuming, or even assuming, that the vibraphone, as a percussion instrument primarily, would be unable to hold up the weight of an entire record but it proves just as, if not more, capable of melodic and textural diversity than more traditional lead instruments. It probably isn’t going to start a subgenre of solo vibraphone classicism but 'Stories' is a delightful little record.
'Stories' is out now via flau.
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Indeed it would seem appropriate to describe 'Stories' as an attempt to use the vibraphone within similar contexts to many of today’s most prominent neoclassical minimalist pianists. The likes of Nils Frahm (who mastered this release) and Dustin O’Halloran have reinvigorated interest in classical piano over recent times but it would be wrong to see them as having done anything particularly revolutionary with the instrument. By contrast then, Fujita’s use of the vibraphone as lead instrument makes for a refreshing change.
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