Tomo Fujita's 1996 release `Get Your Funk Face On' is clearly a marker to where he would extend himself in the world of music as an artist as well as a guitar player. It's release debuted his musical sensibilities and playing to those outside of his community within Berklee's academic setting of studies and teaching. As it is, Tomo is an extremely proficient player with a large aptitude who is capable of much finesse from his established gifted ability. He plays with such an emphatic articulation. Most importantly, he feel's the music before playing ahead. He's cognizant of his steps in front of him as well as behind him, and expresses himself with much tasteful emotion that obviously stems from within. His music is not contrived, nor does he play for the sake of show. As he is highly capable of such means his humbled nature appears satisfied in expressing music in a manner appropriate to the structure of a song.
For example, the tune 'Just Funky' is not only funky as its title might imply, but it's entirely "Fluid" as well, all throughout from beginning to end. A stream of musical interaction that is cohesive and united as a whole. Not one instrument is implied as more important than another; they all push forward, and pull backward appropriately in order to add their own colorful textures to the mix. Jazzy tempos are created and intertwined allowing the piece to not be entirely based on what its title might imply with words. At times the relaxed feel speaks with enough clarity that it could form the very backbone to the song and stand on it's own; yet bursts of energetic expression erupt at times adding just the proper "spice" to the mixture to compliment the styling and syncopated nature evolving within it.
Following next, 'Dreaming Of You' has great quirky sensibilities, in that one sense it's in the same vein as a later track, 'I Have No Clue,' yet totally all of it's own. As it does have an entirely different vibe, and overall energy that is present to it. The song's "rolling" textural ambiance speaks in a variety of flavors, and has breadth as well as breath. It is effectively a pictorial landscape of sound.
I generally gravitate to something that can be said in a short amount of time within music, instrumentals specifically. In saying so, 'Cat Walk' and 'I Have No Clue' effectively get the point across in the short time that they were tracked. A creation of universality. An accessible and definite Language in the form of interacting sounds. 'Cat Walk' has and is "Attitude" but playful and confident, not brash or rude. It strolls. It walks what it's talking. Like a Cat proudly with it's tail in the air walking a sure and steady straight line, or perhaps Runway Model's on the walk way / cat walk. It has feel, and is focused. The obscurity and whimsicality of 'I Have No Clue' is expressively fun and cerebral in its very sense, all while staying spontaneous and off-the-cuff-like.
Throughout the disc's offerings there is a great interplay between the organ and guitar. Some tracks, Tomo's guitar and a piano. They all incorporate and exchange a soulful dialogue that is complimentary and beneficial to one another regardless of which piece.
In a time when an artist's music is so easily accessible as individual "singles" to the digital world, any prospective listener, or "fan," owes it to themselves, as well as Tomo, to be familiarized with the original offering as a whole, what the music was intended as, a set series of recordings, the full CD or LP "Long Playing" format. Do yourself a favor and listen intently to what 'Get Your Funk Face On' provides, the enjoyable Universal language and depth deifying communication of Music. That said, it's not solely a "guitar" album in the least bit. `Get your Funk Face On' is a very musical collection of songs which appropriately gives Tomo Fujita the "voice" to express what he creates and envisions at large.
