July 2, 2002
Tatsu Aoki, Rooted: Origins of Now (Southport) REVIEW
by Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune

For several years, bassist-bandleader Aoki has been a leader in merging elements of ancient Japanese music with the spirit of avant-garde improvisation. With "Rooted: Origins of Now," Aoki has created the most important work of his career, a major statement on the nature of Asian-American jazz. Premiered in Chicago last year, "Rooted" explores the place where Japanese taiko drumming, traditional swing-band rhythm and cutting-edge reed improvisation intersect. In a score that easily might serve as the backdrop for an epic film, Aoki's suite layers ferociously dissonant horn work atop viscerally exciting taiko-drum backbeats. Essentially, Aoki has conceived a big-band tone poem showing the links between East and West, past and present, America and Asia. But even beyond the philosophical underpinnings of this music, the piece proves riveting on purely sonic terms. To hear the reed choirs braying freely while distinct percussion units articulate fantastically complex rhythms is to savor ground-breaking writing for large ensemble.