Over the past thirty years\, over twenty-five alb ums and hundreds of gigs in dozens of different bands\, drummer Tomas Fuji wara and cornettist Taylor Ho Bynum have developed one of the deeper level s of creative communication in the contemporary music scene – in groups un der Fujiwara’s leadership like Triple Double and Shizuko\, ensembles led b y Bynum including his Sextet\, 9-tette\, and PlusTet big band\, and collec tive projects like Illegal Crowns (with Mary Halvorson and Benoit Delbecq) and the Thirteenth Assembly (with Halvorson and Jessica Pavone). Througho ut this history\, they’ve maintained their duo\, which has released four a lbums: “True Events” (2007)\, “Stepwise” (2010)\, “Through Foundation” (20 14)\, and “Notice” (2022).

Described as “a ubiquitous presence in the New York scene…an artist whose urbane writing is equal to his impressi vely nuanced drumming\,” (Point of Departure) Brooklyn-based Tomas Fujiwar a is an active player in some of the most exciting music of the current ge neration. He leads the bands Triple Double\, 7 Poets Trio\, and Tomas Fuji wara & The Hook Up\; is a member of the collective trio Thumbscrew (with M ary Halvorson and Michael Formanek)\; has a collaborative duo with Taylor Ho Bynum\; and engages in a diversity of creative work with Anthony Braxto n\, John Zorn\, Mary Halvorson\, Tomeka Reid\, Matana Roberts\, Taylor Ho Bynum\, Nicole Mitchell\, Ben Goldberg\, Amir ElSaffar\, Benoit Delbecq\, and many others. In 2021\, he won the Downbeat Critics Poll for Rising Sta r Drummer\, and premiered two suites of new music as part of his Roulette Residency: “You Don’t Have to Try” (with Meshell Ndegeocello) and “Shizuko .” His most recent work is “Dream Up\,” a suite for percussion quartet\, c ommissioned by NYSCA and Roulette Intermedium. “Drummer Tomas Fujiwara wor ks 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 rigoro us scaffolding of restraint…A conception of the drum set as a full-canvas instrument\, almost orchestral in its scope.” (New York Times)