Episode #80: Tomas Fujiwara

Tomas Fujiwara is a Brooklyn-based drummer and composer. Described as “a ubiquitous presence in the New York scene…an artist whose urbane writing is equal to his impressively nuanced drumming” (Troy Collins, Point of Departure), Tomas is an active player in some of the most exciting music of the current generation, with his bands Triple Double (with Gerald Cleaver, Mary Halvorson, Brandon Seabrook, Ralph Alessi, and Taylor Ho Bynum), Tomas Fujiwara & The Hook Up (with Jonathan Finlayson, Brian Settles, Halvorson, and Michael Formanek) and The Tomas Fujiwara Trio (with Alessi and Seabrook); his collaborative duo with cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum; the collective trio Thumbscrew (with Halvorson and Formanek); and a diversity of creative sideman work with forward-thinking peers like Tomeka Reid and Matana Roberts. In The New York Times, Nate Chinen writes, “Drummer Tomas Fujiwara works with rhythm as a pliable substance, solid but ever-shifting. His style is forward-driving but rarely blunt or aggressive, and never random. He has a way of spreading out the center of a pulse while setting up a rigorous scaffolding of restraint...A conception of the drum set as a full-canvas instrument, almost orchestral in its scope.”

Born and raised in Boston, MA, Tomas studied with legendary drummer and teacher Alan Dawson for eight years before moving to New York at the age of 17. He is currently a member of ensembles led by Taylor Ho Bynum, Mary Halvorson, Matana Roberts, Nicole Mitchell, Matt Bauder, and Tomeka Reid, in addition to projects with artists such as Anthony Braxton, John Zorn, Michael Formanek, Ben Goldberg, and Benoit Delbecq, and has performed at festivals and venues across North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and the Middle East. He also has many experiences outside the jazz realm, including a five-year run with the Off-Broadway show Stomp and performances with the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical Fela!, featuring Patti Labelle and members of Antibalas.

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