Every summer growing up Tomas Fujiwara would go to Japan to visit his father in Osaka and his grandparents in Shimane. The sound of taiko (Japanese percussion) was part of that summer soundtrack, accompanying the various music and dance festivals as people of all ages filled the streets, surrounded by food stalls, games, and fireworks. There is an incredible range of instruments represented in Dream Up, consciously or not, inspired by those early memories: drumset, donso ngoni, kamale ngoni, calabash, temple blocks, timbale, djembe, castanets, balafon, found objects, o-jimedaiko, uchiwadaiko, shimedaiko, and shinobue, and vibraphone. 

While his involvement in the show is lesser known in the jazz community, the influence of Fujiwara’s long tenure in the Off-Broadway musical STOMP on Dream Up can’t be overstated. He was a part of the company from 2000-2005 and he credits his run with the show with teaching him many of the essential skills like blend, groove, and feel that make him an in-demand ensemble member today.

Fujiwara is regularly a member of multi-percussion ensembles, in his own Triple Double, 7 Poets Trio, and Shizuko, and in groups like Mike Reed’s Living By Lanterns, Tomeka Reid’s Stringtet, and Billy Martin’s Meshes, or the Broadway show Fela. Dream Up is both the continuation and culmination of those collaborations, and the fruit of a seed planted the very first time he heard Max Roach on record, nurtured by his teach and mentor, Alan Dawson. But, with Dream Up, what he presents combines elements unique to him alone, and from a range of influences never heard on record. 


PRESS QUOTES:

"This suite is an engaging celebration of storytelling, freedom, interaction, and rituals through the transformative power of rhythm. Fujiwara’s inclusive sonic vision allows the percussion quartet to play with intricate yet rich, odd-meter textures, blur the distinction between the ancient and the modern, and suggest an exciting, peaceful, and compassionate new rhythmic ecosystem." Eyal Hareuveni, Salt Peanuts

"Fully in command of his vision, Fujiwara thrives on rhythmic intelligence, dazzling virtuosity, and fearless imagination. With this ensemble, he shows one foot planted in folk tradition and the other firmly in 21st-century innovation." Felipe Freitas, JazzTrail

"These are ambitious, polyrhythmic, sonically rich, freely mixing influences in pursuit of a sound that is, much like Threadgill and Douglas, both personal and unclassifiable." David R. Adler, Jazz Times

"The all-percussion ensemble might have been around a while, but there’s probably no one better today than Tomas Fujiwara for taking this idea further. With Dream Up, he showed the great extent of his musicianship, knowledge and imagination." S. Vitor Aaron, Something Else

"Fujiwara has an estimable track record as a bandleader and composer, and here is where I think he’s been a bit undervalued. I’d submit Pith and March On — two strong albums he released in 2023 — as recent evidence for the jury. Now we’re about to get a more idiosyncratic effort, Dream Up, from his Percussion Quartet — a group that harnesses global folkloric traditions in a modern framework of his design.' Nate Chinen, The Gig

4 stars - Downbeat

#8 album of 2025 - Stereogum