Leader
Projects
BAND NAME
Tomas Fujiwara’s Dream Up​
MEMBERS
Drums and Compositions Tomas Fujiwara
Found Objects Tim Keiper, Donso Ngoni, Kmale Ngoni, Calabash, Temple Blocks, Timbale, Djembe, Castanets, Balafon
Vibraphone Kaoru Watanabe, O-Jimedaiko, Uchiwadaika, Shimedaiko, Shinobue and Patricia Brennan​
EDITORIAL
​“…a group that harnesses global folkloric traditions in a modern framework of his design.” Nate Chinen, Take Five​
BAND STATEMENT
​“Dream Up” is a Roulette Intermedium / NYSCA commissioned suite for percussion quartet. The studio album of this music, with support provided by the Robert D. Bielecki Foundation, is out on Out of Your Head Records on September 12, 2025.​​
LINKS
PHOTO CREDIT
Photo Don Stahl © The Noguchi Museum / ARS
BAND NAME
Solo for Acoustic Drum Set
MEMBERS
Drums and Compositions Tomas Fujiwara
EDITORIAL
"A former student of the legendary drummer/instructor Alan Dawson, Fujiwara's approach to the trap set shares a passing similarity to one of Dawson's more famous pupils – Tony Williams. Like Williams, Fujiwara employs the drum kit as more than a mere time keeping instrument, adding nuances of shade and timbre to understated passages with a dynamic sensibility that suggests an orchestral awareness of space and sound."
Troy Collins, Point of Departure
BAND STATEMENT
Composed and improvised performances, limiting myself to a small acoustic drum set. Studio album, produced by Meshell Ndegeocello, in the works.
PHOTO CREDIT
Photo © Peter Gannushkin / DOWNTOWNMUSIC.NET
BAND NAME
Tomas Fujiwara’s 7 Poets Trio
MEMBERS
Drums and Compositions Tomas Fujiwara
Cello Tomeka Reid
Vibraphone Patricia Brennan
EDITORIAL
“The way this plays out harmonically is just one of many intriguing outcomes. The melodic development behaves as a relay system, the baton passed seamlessly between the trio members, sometimes unobtrusively, other times quickly tossed a short distance, causing thrilling instances of gaps left to the ear to fill in the blanks... Sometimes it’s a shared direction, and other times a giant splash in every direction at once. Pith is a recording that leaves you wanting more.
Dave Sumner
BANDCAMP
7 Poets Trio (Rogue Art, 2019) and Pith (Out Of Your Head Records, 2023)
LINKS
PHOTO CREDIT
Photo © TJ Huff
BAND NAME
Tomas Fujiwara's Triple Double
MEMBERS
Drums, Vibraphone, and Compositions Tomas Fujiwara
Drums Gerald Cleaver
Guitar Mary Halvorson
Guitar Brandon Seabrook
Trumpet Ralph Alessi
Cornet Taylor Ho Bynum
EDITORIAL
“Deliberately seeing double in the cause of exploratory jazz, Fujiwara brings together instrumentalists primed to rub each other in all the right and creatively wrong ways.”
The New Yorker
BAND STATEMENT
Triple Double (2017), March (2022), and March On (2023) originally released on Firehouse 12 Records, now available at SG3 Records.
LINKS
PHOTO CREDIT
Photo © Nicki Chavoya
BAND NAME
Tomas Fujiwara & The Hook Up
MEMBERS
Drums and Compositions Tomas Fujiwara
Guitar Mary Halvorson
Tenor Saxophone & Flute Brian Settles
Trumpet Jonathan Finlayson
Bass on “After All Is Said” Michael Formanek
Bass on “The Air Is Different” Trevor Dunn
Bass on “Actionspeak” Danton Boller
EDITORIAL
“Insightful, invigorating, hard to put a finger on…music with a history, smartly informed and firmly moored.”
Nate Chinen, The New York Times
BAND STATEMENT
This ensemble has recorded three studio albums of my original compositions: Actionspeak (2010), The Air Is Different (2012) and After All Is Said (2015), all now available on Bandcamp.
LINKS
PHOTO CREDIT
Photo © Peter Gannushkin / DOWNTOWNMUSIC.NET
BAND NAME
Tomas Fujiwara Trio
MEMBERS
Drums and Compositions Tomas Fujiwara
Guitar Brandon Seabrook
Trumpet Ralph Alessi
EDITORIAL
“In his writing and playing with this band, Fujiwara unshackles a visceral, explosive side of his aesthetic, and his top-flight collaborators seems to take a gleeful pleasure in helping him fuck shit up.”
Peter Margasak, The Chicago Reader
BAND STATEMENT
Variable Bets (Relative Pitch Records) recorded live at Barbes in Brooklyn.
LINKS
Collaborative Projects
BAND NAME
Thumbscrew
MEMBERS
Guitar and Compositions Mary Halvorson
Double Bass, Electric Bass, and Compositions Michael Formanek
Drums, Vibraphone, and Compositions Tomas Fujiwara
EDITORIAL
"It is neither hierarchical the way a soloist with accompaniment is, nor anti-hierarchical… The balance of governance and acquiescence is in constant flux, governed by a jointly shared sense of responsibility engendered by trust."
Bill Meyer, The Wire
BAND STATEMENT
Formed in 2012, this is a true collective band. 6 albums of originals, 1 album of Anthony Braxton material, and 1 album of covers, all on Cuneiform Records.
LINKS
PHOTO CREDIT
Photo © Brian Cohen
BAND NAME
Mary Halvorson and Tomas Fujiwara
MEMBERS
Guitar and Compositions Mary Halvorson
Drums and Compositions Tomas Fujiwara
BAND STATEMENT
Improvisations, and compositions by Halvorson and Fujiwara, as well as a focus on compositions from “New Standards: 101 Lead Sheets by Women Composers” by Terri Lyne Carrington.
LINKS
PHOTO CREDIT
Photo © Ernest Stuart
BAND NAME
Tomas Fujiwara and Taylor Ho Bynum Duo
MEMBERS
Cornet and Compositions Taylor Ho Bynum
Drums and Compositions Tomas Fujiwara
EDITORIAL
“The playing is not just typically excellent, it’s conversational and buoyant, engaging the listener not through forceful attention-grabbing but rather coherence and seductiveness.”
Trevor Hunter, NewMusicBox
BAND STATEMENT
Individually and collectively composed compositions and improvisations from over 30 years of music making.
LINKS
PHOTO CREDIT
Photo © Kelly Jensen
BAND NAME
Illegal Crowns
MEMBERS
Cornet and Compositions Taylor Ho Bynum
Piano and Compositions Benoit Delbecq
Guitar and Compositions Mary Halvorson
Drums and Compositions Tomas Fujiwara
EDITORIAL
“Together they form a collective of supreme talent, united by a lyrical streak which surfaces even amid invigorating
improv vigor.”
John Sharpe, All About Jazz
BAND STATEMENT
Compositions by all. Illegal Crowns (Rogue Art, 2016), The No-Nosed Puppet (Rogue Art, 2019), and Unclosing (Out of Your Head Records, 2023).
LINKS
CURRENT SIDEMAN PROJECTS
